Child is the father of man

 

 In the kingdom of Pallava, there lived a king by the name Adiveera Pallava. True to his name he was a valiant and courageous King. But what made him stand apart was his extreme loyalty to his queen. Queen Ezhinayaki was not only beautiful, but she was wise and patient. They had a daughter by the name Yazhini. 

Yazhini was both wise like her mother and brave like her father. The entire kingdom dotted on their little princess. It was rumoured that she will become the future queen of the Pallava kingdom.

One day the kingdom came under attack from the neighbouring kingdom and despite the valour shown by King Adiveera, they lost the battle and hence the Kingdom to the neighbouring King Arumuga Pandiya. Arumuga Pandiya was a cunning and greedy King. He was not satisfied with capturing the kingdom; he also wanted to marry the Queen. Knowing that the King was loyal to his wife he decided to play a trick on King Adiveera. It so happened that the best of King Arumuga Pandiya was killed in the battle by King Adiveera. Citing this as an excuse, King Arumuga told that it was the Dharma of the Raja to avenge his friend’s loss. 

He made the entire Kingdom believe in that if he did not avenge his best friend’s death, he would not be able to face him in his next birth.  So saying, he climbed down from his throne and walked to where Adiveera was standing as a prisoner. “But”, he continued, “Since you have been a very brave king, I would like to give you one last chance. You can take back your kingdom and perform the duty of a King by saving your subjects or surrender your kingdom and take back your queen, fulfilling the duty of a good husband. The choice is yours”, concluded the malicious Arumuga Pandiya.

King Adiveera was flabbergasted. He did not know what choice to make. He could not make either of the choices as both his subject and his queen were dear to him. He tried arguing with Arumuga Pandiya. He told his ruthless counterpart to take away his life and spare his subjects and the queen. But the stubborn King would not budge an inch from his position. He wanted to consult his ministers which request was immediately put down. Even his Queen was imprisoned and prisoners were not allowed to speak in the court. As the argument in the court continued, the little princess Yazhini walked into the courtroom accompanied by an enemy soldier. She had been demanding to meet her parents. On seeing her father chained the little girl started questioning King Arumuga Pandiya. 

Arumuga Pandiya initially dismissed her questions. But as the little girl bravely continued questioning him, he began answering her queries.  “What crime did my father commit”, the princess wanted to know.  Arumuga Pandiya’s answers only opened the doors to another question from the girl. 

After understanding the situation, the little girl, with all her charm told the enemy King that he should free her father unconditionally, if he failed to answer her next question. The King, by now filled with extreme pride and ego, agreed. 

The princess told Arumuga that in his previous birth, King Adiveera had been his best friend. The friend whom her father killed in the battle was the man who had killed Arumuga Pandava in his previous birth. Since her father could not avenge his best friend’s death in the previous birth, did so in this birth. 

She stood upright and looked directly into Arumuga Pandiya’s eyes and asked him, “Are you going to punish the man who avenged your death in the previous birth or are you going to acknowledge his valour and continue the friendship from your previous birth?”

Not only was King Adiveera unconditionally set free, he also earned an undying friendship of his neighbour.