Siruthondar looked straight at him, and called out, “You phony Kapalik!
On the altar of the Holy Mother Kali, tell everyone who you really are!”.
Kapala Bhairavan stepped back two paces, seemed to lose his
strength, stumbled and fell to the ground.
The assembly of Kali worshippers seemed to grow restless at this
and uttered a collective groan. Vikraman was concerned that the fanatical
assembly could cause trouble. Ponnan, on the other hand, was watching the scene
with a mixture of wonder and devotion.
The Kapaliks rushed towards the fallen Kapala Bhairavan.
Siruthondar quickly climbed up the sacrificial altar. He said,
“Devotees of Mother Kali, please come closer. I am going to tell you the truth
about the one-handed man, who has been deceiving you with the false identity of Kapala Bhairavan!”.
People were already bemused on seeing Kapala Bhairavan’s panic on
encountering Siruthondar. On hearing this, they surrounded him and looked at
him with curiosity. Siruthondar addressed them in a loud, commanding voice.
“Listen, my people. We were all born in this holy Tamil land. Many
great spiritual leaders were born here and have imparted their wisdom. They
have provided discourses on the true nature of God, and our true path to God.
Thirumoolar said,
“Anbum Sivamum irandenbar arivilar!”
This translates to ‘those who speak of God and Love as two
separate things are ignorant’.
The Vaishnavite sage has said,
“Anbe Thagaliyai, Arvame Neyyaga
Inbugu Sinthai Iduthiriyai – Nanburugi
Gnana Chudar Vilakketrinen”
This translates to: “I lit the light of wisdom using love as the
lamp, enthusiasm as clarified butter, my blissful mind as the wick, my soul
melting in the process”.
Amidst such spiritual thoughts that have flourished in our
country, we also have beliefs such as Kapalikam and Bhairavam that
pollute people’s minds. Some people are promoting terrible practices such as
human sacrifice and meat-based offerings to Gods. How ignorant is it to believe
that Lord Shiva, who is love personified, and Shakti, who is characterized by
kindness will appreciate human sacrifice! Scriptures say things like ‘Lord
Shiva holds a skull in his hand’, and ‘Shakti wears a garland of skulls’.
Learned people have taught us that these are said in a symbolic and
metaphysical sense rather than in a crude, literal sense. Despite the best
efforts to such wise people, how did human sacrifice take hold in this holy
land? Who has been evangelizing these evil practices? My friend here, the
Shaivite sage, and I have been working to find answers and get to the root of
such evil. My friend succeeded in those efforts and has discovered the truth”.
A voice asked, “But who is he?” Several voices added, “And where
is he?”
The sage appeared to have slipped away quietly in the confusion
caused by Siruthondar’s appearance.
Siruthondar continued, “If you attend the event in Uraiyur in two
days, you will discover the holy sage’s identity. Now, you should hear the
truth on Kapala Bhairavan, the man lying here on the ground trembling. Do you
recall that Pulikesi, the King of Vatapi marched with his forces on the Tamil
country in Emperor Mehendra Pallava’s days?”
Many voices assented, “Yes, we remember!”
“Then you may also remember the atrocities that the tyrant
Pulikesi and his armies committed in the Tamil countryside, and how his army
breached our trust. After Emperor Mahendra Pallava passed away, our Emperor
Narasimha Varman and I marched on Vatapi for a retaliatory attack, as you know.
In the battle that took place near the fort of Vatapi, the Tamil forces
destroyed the armies of Vatapi. Emperor Narasimha Varman had ordered us not to
let any Vatapi soldier escape alive. In contravention of those orders, I had
let a man escape. The man had lost his arm in the battle. He fell on my
feet and begged for refuge. I did not have the heart to kill a man who had
sought refuge. I had let him escape. He was Neelakesi, the brother of Pulikesi.
Neelakesi was even more cruel than his tyrannical brother!”
There were loud exclamations from the crowd. Words such as “such a
betrayal!”, “fraud” were heard in the chatter.
Siruthondar waited for the noise to die down and resumed. “When I
told the emperor that I let him escape, the emperor felt that I had made a big
mistake. He warned me there would be dire consequences for my action. He turned
out to be right. This man, Neelakesi, took advantage of the confusion and
disillusionment among people during the time of the great draught. He came to
this holy land and started spreading the dark practices of Kapalikam and
human sacrifice. Do you know why? What he could not achieve with his might, he
wanted to achieve with his guile. He wanted you to revolt against our
Emperor. He had been accumulating dangerous weapons, thousands of axes and
swords in the caves of the Kolli hills.”
Kapala Bhairavan uttered a loud, angry exclamation of “Aargh!”
“Yes, and all those have been removed upon our emperor’s
orders. He had also planned to use Vikraman, the Chozha prince as a part
of that conspiracy. He had imprisoned King Parthiban’s wife, Vikraman’s mother,
Queen Arulmozhi to use as leverage in his efforts.”
Kapala Bhairavan got to his feet at this point. He seemed to have
recovered his poise. He asked, “This is all a lie! Where is your proof?!”
“I am the proof!”, said a voice. It was Marappan, who walked to
the middle from the shades of a tree. “Yes, I can serve as a witness. This man,
Neelakesi is not really a Kapalik. He is an impostor. He has been conspiring
against our great Emperor. He asked me to participate in his schemes. I
refused. Then he tried to get this banished Chozha prince to help with his
conspiracy. He arranged to intercept the soldiers who were taking the arrested
prince to Kanchi and bring him here.”
Siruthondar said, “That is enough Marappa!”
It is impossible for us to guess Marappan’s motives. He might have
wanted to distance himself from Kapala Bhairavan. Or he may have been incensed
that Kapala Bhairavan spoke of crowning Vikraman as the prince of the new
kingdom. Regardless of the motive, he did something unexpected. He pulled
out his sword. He stepped closer to Kapala Bhairavan, and spoke, “This man
conspired against our great Emperor. Let me sacrifice him to Mother Kali!”
Before anyone could react, he swung his sword and beheaded Kapala Bhairavan.
Everyone stood stunned. Marappan turned towards Siruthondar and
fell on his feet. He said, “My Lord, I did that out of anger. Please forgive
me!”
Another unexpected event followed. Chitraguptan, the dwarf jumped
up and landed near the sacrificial altar. He threw his knife at Marappan, who
was still lying prostrate on the ground. The knife pierced Marappan’s neck. The
Pallava soldiers surrounded Chitraguptan and captured him. Chitraguptan just cackled.
Vikraman was revolted beyond words at these events that had
happened in a few moments. Although he was accustomed to soldiers killing each
other on a battlefield, he had found these senseless murders disturbing. He
turned to Ponnan and said, “Ponna, let’s go!”. Then he noticed the Pallava
soldiers who had surrounded him as well.
The leader of the soldiers showed him a palm scroll. The scroll
had the emperor’s seal. It had the orders for Vikraman to be brought to
Uraiyur, where his trial would take place.
Vikraman read the scroll and looked around. His hand went to his
sword. Ponnan said, “My king, please don’t act in haste!”
Siruthondar saw all this and asked, “What is in that scroll?”. The
lead soldier showed him. After reading the message, Siruthondar addressed
Vikraman, “Vikrama, comply with these orders and go to Uraiyur. I am going to
take your mother and go there as well. When the Emperor hears what happened
here, he is bound to change his mind. Don’t do anything hasty”.
Ponnan and Vikraman left the area, surrounded by the soldiers.
Siruthondar stayed a little longer and provided a discourse on the
kindness of God and how misguided the notion of sacrifice was. The crowd, which
had a mixture of people who came to sacrifice themselves and who came to
sacrifice others, went home, discussing the noble man who effected a timely
intervention. There was also considerable speculation as to who the sage might
really be.
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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