As Ponnan and Valli walked on the streets, people stopped them.
Many people asked, ‘Ponna, what is going to happen today?’ Ponnan denied
any special knowledge; and urged them to be patient until the evening.
Valli too was questioned, and she replied in a similar vein as well. The
two happily basked in the limelight.
The assembly hall was magnificently decorated. No one who has reached heaven and observed Lord Indra’s celestial court has returned to tell us about it. Those who saw the Emperor’s assembly that day agreed that the assembly must have been a good approximation.
Everyone had taken the
assigned seats at the scheduled time. The lone exception was the emperor. On
one side of the Emperor’s throne, the Shaivite sage and Siruthondar were seated,
resembling the divine advisors, sages Vashishta and Vamadeva. On the other
side, prince Mahendran and princess Kundavi were seated. Near them were Queen
Arulmozhi and the Lady of Thiruvengadu, the wife of Siruthondar. Siruthondar’s
beloved son, young Seerala Devan was seated between the two women, and was
surveying the scene with wonder. Ponnan and Valli were standing behind these
seats.
In front of the Emperor’s throne, Vikraman was seated with his
head held high, surrounded by the Pallava general, and a few soldiers. He
was determined not to look at Kundavi. But on occasions, his eyes spontaneously
went to her. At the same time, Kundavi would look at him. They would both
quickly divert their eyes, ashamed at their own lack of discipline.
In the august assembly, other prominent people had assigned seats
too – ministers, army officials, treasurers, poets, scholars, learned gurus,
traders and the village officials. Another distinguished member was seated
behind prince Mahendran. His appearance and clothing suggested he was not from
the Tamil region at all. He was a traveler from China. People found his name amusing – Hsuan Tsang.
There were other foreigners present. They looked like foreigners,
but they seemed to be talking in Tamil. On closer inspection, we realize that
they were the people who sailed from Senbaga Island with Vikraman. It was
natural that they were anxious to learn the outcome from the trial.
Servants and maids were spread out through the assembly hall,
distributing sandalwood paste, serving betel leaves and fanning the
distinguished visitors.
The crowd started speculating on the reason the Emperor had not
arrived. Siruthondar sensed the restlessness of the crowd, silenced the assembly
with a gesture, and started speaking in a commanding voice.
“Dear audience. I have received word that the Emperor will be
delayed a little longer. He has asked me to clarify the purpose of this
assembly”.
The crowd grew silent and started listening to him with due
respect.
Siruthondar resumed, “My friend King Parthiban has attained the heaven
of warriors. His son Vikraman is standing here, as he was caught breaching
the terms of his banishment. The emperor wishes to investigate the motives
behind his return, consult you, and then arrive at the appropriate punishment
for the violation. Before you provide your input, let me explain the background
events so everyone is clear. Although prince Vikraman is guilty of breaching
the terms of banishment, it appears that he was not entirely responsible for the violation. My
friend seated here has assumed a significant amount of responsibility for the
prince’s acts.”
Everyone’s attention went to the sage. Members of the assembly,
impressed by the aura he exuded, wondered who he was. ‘Who is this sage? Sage Appar
has reached the heavenly abode. Sage Sambandar is too young. Siruthondar
is here. Who else could this be? And why would he want to assume responsibility
for prince Vikraman’s guilt?’, they wondered.
Siruthondar reminded them how King Parthiban marched to the battle.
He spoke about the terrible battle at the banks of river Vennar. The members
were moved to goosebumps when he described how the ten thousand men fought bravely to attain the heaven of the warriors. He talked about how the
sage went looking for King Parthiban’s body on that full moon night of month Purattasi.
He described how the sage had found Parthiban alive, how King Parthiban expressed
a dying wish, and how the sage had promised to bring Vikraman up as a brave,
independent man. Many members of the assembly were moved to tears.
He resumed to describe how the sage came to Uraiyur to meet
Arulmozhi; how Vikraman was captured in an attempt to raise the Chozha flag in
the Chirappalli hill; how he was deported; how he wished to return to see his
mother and homeland; how he survived several hurdles after his return; how
Neelakesi, under the guise of Kapala Rudra Bhairavan managed to abduct queen
Arulmozhi and imprison her in the caves; and how the sage worked tirelessly to
uncover Neelakesi’s conspiracy. Finally, he described how Vikraman risked his
life to free the sage.
After this summary, he addressed the audience. “Members of the
assembly! Now I have a question for you. Do you think my friend, the Shaivite
sage has redeemed the pledge he made to King Parthiban on the battlefield? Do
you believe Prince Vikraman has been brought up as a brave, independent
warrior?”
The members of the assembly responded with a resounding, “Yes!”.
Their voices were heard well beyond the vast assembly hall.
After the noise died down, Siruthondar raised his arm to silence
the assembly. He resumed, “I have one more important piece of information for
you. After the sage granted the dying wish of King Parthiban, the king asked,
‘Your holiness, may I know who you are?’. This sage removed his guise by
removing his fake beard and hair. The king died peacefully, satisfied that his
wish would be fulfilled.”
There was palpable
excitement in the assembly on hearing this.
Siruthondar resumed. “You must be eager to discover the identity
of this sage. Here you go!”. He quickly reached out and removed the sage’s
beard and the wig. The audience gasped as they saw the majestic face of Emperor
Narasimha Varman.
The audience erupted with cheers. Kundavi cried, “Father!”, as she
ran to embrace the Emperor. Queen Arulmozhi was overcome with emotion, and
Siruthondar’s wife supported her as she was about to faint. Vikraman was
staring, open-mouthed at the Emperor. Ponnan grabbed Valli’s hand and shook it,
without being conscious of what he was doing.
Someone shouted, “Victory to Emperor Narasimha Pallava!” and the
audience repeated the chant. Ponnan spontaneously shouted, “Victory to King
Vikraman!”. The audience echoed that too.
In this melee, the audience discovered that the sage was no longer
at his seat.
Siruthondar rose again and spoke. “Dear members of the assembly,
there is one more item on the agenda. Emperor Narsimha Varman will sit on the
seat of justice and pronounce his verdict on Prince Vikraman’s offence”.
In a while, the Emperor returned to the assembly, clad in his
royal clothes. As he occupied the seat of justice, the members of the assembly
chanted “Victory to the Emperor!” again.
After the noise settled down, the Emperor rose. “I have learnt
your opinion on Prince Vikraman’s actions. When someone violates the terms of
banishment, they deserve the extreme penalty. So, I award Vikraman the extreme
penalty of wearing the Chozha crown all alone! The Chozha nation is independent
with immediate effect. I rule that Vikraman and his offsprings will bear the
burden of ruling the nation!”.
The cheers that rose from the audience was indescribable!
Click here for the audiobook version
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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