The golden, early morning sunshine highlighted the beauty of Kolli Hills. On one side, the rocks were awash in sunshine, while the elongated shadow presented a strange contrast on the other. The scene was cheerful, annotated by the chirping of birds and the pleasant sounds of the river as water splashed around the rocks.
Two majestic white horses were walking along the hills. The two
riders were familiar characters - Ponnan and the sage. They were chatting as they
rode on the trail hugging the wild river. The sage pointed to a barren rock,
and asked, “Ponna, what does that rock remind you of?”
Ponnan replied, “Nothing. It’s just a barren rock. It does not look
like anything.”
“Do you know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of Lord Nandi,
the guardian in a bull’s form who guards Lord Shiva’s abode. The bull has its
front legs folded. Now, see the shadow of that rock.”
Ponnan was startled when he looked. “Your holiness, you are right.
It looks like Nandi!”
“This is the difference between a common man’s vision and a
sculptor’s. When a sculptor looks at a rock, he sees an elephant, lion, or a
deity. He can easily visualize the steps he needs to go through to get the form
that he has in mind.”
“Your holiness, are you by any chance…”
“Yes, I am a sculptor. Among all jobs in the world, that would be
the most fulfilling job for me. If only I can finish the job at hand… Leave
that aside. Have you seen Mamallapuram?”
“Yes, your holiness, Just once.”
“What did you think?”
“I thought I had slipped into a fantasy world!”
“But those sculptures are not fantasy. They are more real than we
are. They are going to outlive us by a considerable length. People are going to
admire them a thousand years from now. Ponna, once I dreamt of transforming the
whole country using Mamallapuram as the model.”
“Your holiness, you had a dream as well?”
“Yes, dreaming is not the sole prerogative of your King Parthiban!
He dreamt of the glory of Chozha land. I dreamt of the glory of the entire
Tamil land. Ponna, this holy land of Bharat is divided into south and north. In
stories and epics, the north has a prominent presence. The northern kings are
better known in history. There is no one in the south comparable to
Chandragupta of Pataliputra, Emperor Asoka or Vikramaditya. Even in the recent
past, Emperor Harshavardhana was far better known than Emperor Mahendra Varman.
Do you know why that is? The south has been divided for centuries into small
kingdoms – Emperor Harshavardhana’s Empire was eight hundred kilometers in
length and breadth. Here, you encounter three kingdoms within two hundred
kilometers. Emperor Mahendra Varman wished to change this. He wished that the
entire Tamil region be brought under a single rule. He wanted the Tamil
empire to be known through the civilized world. My dreams were in the same
vein. I wanted it all to happen in my lifetime. I was building castles in the
air, but they collapsed on the face of the pure bravery of one man.”
“Your holiness, who are you talking about?”, asked Ponnan.
“I’m talking about your King Parthiban of course. I can still
visualize the battlefield of Vennar. It was some battle! On that night
of the full moon, the river Vennar seemed to run with blood. It was a
horrific battle. Some ten thousand warriors left Uraiyur that day, but no one
stayed alive to carry the report of the war back”, said the sage with emotion.
“Alas, I was not fortunate to fight as one of those ten
thousand!”, said Ponnan.
“Ponna, you need courage to fight a war and die. You need greater
courage to stay alive and keep your conviction. You are courageous on that
count. Valli is even more courageous. You are both blessed that way!”.
“Your holiness, can you tell me one more time of the battle on the
banks of Vennar?”, asked Ponnan. He never tired of hearing of the battle, and
the boon Parthiban asked of the sage. The sage had not tired of telling that
story, so he obliged.
In a while, they reached the spot where the waterfall fed into the
wild river. The terrain was not suitable for riding, so they left the horses in
the wooded area.
“Shouldn’t we tie the horses up?”, asked Ponnan.
“Horses of such breed are smarter than most men. When your prince
was swept by the river, the horse Pushpak came to me and gave me an implicit
message, didn’t it? If we leave the horses here, they will stay put. If we tie
them up, we’d be endangering them. If they sense wild animals, they can’t
escape.”
The sage patted the horses. The two men started the climb,
tracking the waterfall.
The rocks were of varying sizes and shapes. The sage walked on
them, and jumped between them easily. He was also able to wade through water.
Ponnan had trouble keeping up with him.
Awed, Ponnan asked, “Is there anything that you can’t do, your
holiness?”.
“Just one. I can’t break a promise I made!”, said the sage. Before
Ponnan could fully interpret what he said, he added, “See how the promise I
made to your King Parthiban has ruined my dreams!”.
“How can your dream be ruined by King Parthiban, your holiness?”
“When I returned from Vatapi, I was determined to unify the whole
southern country into a single empire. The Tamil nation is not big enough to
have more than one ruler. I was going to root out the Chera, Chozha and Pandiya
dynasties and make the Pallavas the lone rulers. Parthiban’s bravery won me
over. I pledged to make his son an independent, brave warrior. Hence, I have
had to make efforts to make Chozha country independent. Now I regret looking
for Parthiban’s body in that battlefield. I must have been driven by what they
call destiny!”
They climbed on. Around noon, they reached the part of the
mountain where the waterfall fell noisily over a vertical rock face. Ponnan
indicated that this was the dead end that he had mentioned.
The sage looked around thoughtfully. He got into the water body at
the foot of the waterfall. He walked on the ridge towards the waterfall by
holding on to the rough edges of the rock. He walked and swam in the water to
get closer to the waterfall. Ponnan was watching this with a sense of wonder.
As he was watching, the sage disappeared behind the curtain of water. Ponnan
was rattled enough for a cry to escape his throat. As he waited, he began to
wonder if the sage would return. As time ticked by, his despair grew. His
imagination boggled as he started thinking of all that could go wrong if something
had happened to the sage. ‘I can’t return without him’, he thought. ‘It is
better to meet the same fate by following him than to return empty handed’. He
followed the sage’s path and stepped into the deep body of water.
Parthban Kanavu: The Tamil version of the novel is in the public domain. Copyright for the translation is reserved by the translator..
Art by Sujatha, unless otherwise credited.
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