Paari- the great giver

        One of the seven great ‘givers’ of the Sangam Era, was King Paari. I am tempted to narrate this story at a time when every school going kid is talking of ecology and how to save it.

      There cannot be a more apt example than this story of King Paari to emphasise the need to give more to nature than take as we have taken a lot in the past, giving very little.

       King Paari was believed to have reached Tamil Nadu as a refugee from Dwaraka. After the Dwaraka deluge, a group of refugees were believed to have reached Kashmir, while the other group set southwards. King Paari was believed to have followed the great sage Agasthya from Dwaraka. He was said to have ruled the Parambu Nadu.

         Paari belonged to the Velir clan and he had a heart of gold. He could not see anyone suffering and did what he could within his might to help them. One day Paari was going around the hill in his chariot. Suddenly a strong wind blew and a lone Jasmine creeper which was violently tossed in the wind caught the eye of the generous King.

         The creeper had no support and would not have withstood the strong wind which is usually a feature of the hills. It did not take the King long to decide what needed to be done. He asked his charioteer to move the chariot close to the creeper. He gently bent down and took the creeper wrapping it carefully around the chariot that gave him the status and honour that every King rightfully deserves.

         He set his horses to roam freely and walked to his palace along with his charioteer. This simple act of Paari, without any expectations or reward for his kindness, earned him a respectful place in history.

       Though it is an oft heard simple tale of chivalry, there are quite a few lessons for us to learn from it. Of course the lessons that a simple story carries are also simple. But most of the times simple lesson are difficult to practice.

     The act of saving a creeper and setting his horses free were simple eco-friendly theory put to practice. Being a refugee himself Paari was always kind towards every life form around. Only when we experience pain are we able to appreciate the pain and suffering of others. The words of Dr. Christiaan Barnard’s father, as quoted by him in “In celebration of being alive”go thus:

         “Suffering ennobles you- makes you a better person.”

        Definitely, the hardships that King Paari went through had made him a better human being!

 

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.

A friend in need

We have all heard stories about friendship and what it takes to be a good friend. Here is a story that we have often heard, but have never been sure how it ends.

Ramu and Shyamu lived in a village called Karimpur. They were very good friends and were always seen roaming together. Their parents were worried about them as they would disappear into the forest for long periods. Since they were both always together they were not afraid of the forest and seemed to know their way in and out of the forest well.

They picked pebbles all the way to the forest and upon reaching the banks of the river threw the pebbles into the river. They competed with each other in throwing the stones far into the river.

One day as they were walking, they saw a wild bear and both of them froze to the spot. Never have they seen a bear in the forest and both of them were unsure of what they had to do. Shyamu ran to the nearest tree and climbed the tree to protect himself from the bear. Ramu was stranded and did not know what to do. Finally as the bear approached him closely he fell to the ground and acted as though he were dead.

The bear sniffed him all over, yet Ramu remained still and held his breath. After examining him for a couple of minutes the bear lost his interest in him and went away. After ensuring that the bear was nowhere in sight, Shyamu climbed down the tree. He went near Ramu, who by then had sat up. Shyamu apologised to Ramu for running away and asked him what the bear did to him.

Ramu patted Shyamu and told him to calm down. He then put an arm around his shoulder and started walking homeward. Ramu told Shyamu that the bear told him to forgive Shyamu and continue to be his friend. The bear told him at times of danger how a person behaves is not under his control. So that should not be the basis of friendship. Ramu told Shyamu that the bear asked him to remember the good times that we have had together and forget this one incident as a bad dream.

Shyamu hugged his friend, tears rolling down his cheeks. All that Shyamu could manage to tell was, “How lucky I am to have a friend like you!”

Vibhishanan vs. Kumbakarnan Part II

 

 In reply to the invitation extended by Lord Rama, Kumbakarnan tells Vibhishanan that life itself is like a little design on water. It will dry up soon. 

Kumbakarnan says, “Vibhishana, do you think that the love for life will make me take up a position against the one whose home has been my shelter all these years?” Kumbakarnan tells Vibhishanan that he will lay down his life for the sake of the man who has fed him all these years. He tells Vibhishanan to join Rama without hesitation as he, the more learned has to be on the side of truth. He calls Vibhishanan the embodiment of truth and the leader of the world. But, he says, if fighting for the truth befits Vibhishanan, fighting for the sake of the brother who has brought him up, befits him.

If the King commits a crime, it is well if we can change him. If not the only other thing to do is to take up arms, fight for him and die before the one that gave you food and shelter all your life.

Ravana’s actions might have brought dishonour and disrepute, nevertheless a man like him who has ruled the entire universe and has been living a glorious life otherwise, cannot be seen dying alone in the battlefield, without his brothers.

Such greatness belonged to Ravana that he could shake even the mountain of Lord Shiva through his prayers. A valiant man like Ravana cannot die like a lone man on the battle field.

Kumbakarnan tells Vibhishanan that the lust for a kingdom will not make him bow down in front of the enemy of his brother. Kumbakarnan tells Vibhishanan that he has fought the Lord of death and won over him too! So during the war the entire enemy troop will have to bow in front of him. He says he is more powerful than Hanuman, Vaalli’s son Angada, Neelan, Samban and the rest of Rama’s troop, all put together.  

He says that he is like the sun that will wipe away the fog called Rama’s army. He roars that the monkey army will run on seeing him, akin to devas who ran away on seeing the poison while churning for nectar. The rivers will run. The fire and all the elements of the earth will run away in front of his valour. “Then in victory I will float like the kite around the world” thunders Kumbakarnan. If anyone that does not fear the battlefield appears in front of me, then barring Rama and Lakshmana, I will destroy everyone else, challenges Kumbakarnan.

He then calms down and tells Vibhishanan not to wait any more and leave the place. He asks Vibhishanan to resign to the fact that no more pleading will make him change his mind. He hugs his brother one last time and looks at him with love brimming in his heart for his brother. Finally he manages to tell his brother that their relationship ends and he has to move on.

Vibhishanan, being the wise man that he was knew that any further argument is futile and left the camp without uttering one more word.

After Vibhishanan leaves Kumbakarnan stands a broken man. The tears that roll down his cheeks were the blood from his body, as he watches his brother leave one last time.