"I first met Nandhini at the age of twelve. One day my sister and my brother and I were playing in the stream behind our palace in Pazhaiyarai. After the game we got down from the boat and went to the palace through the garden. On the way, we heard the voice of our great grandmother Chempian Madevi. All three of us had grown up as a pet of our grandmother. We heard his voice and entered the house to tell Grandma that we had sailed. There were three others besides Grandma. One of the three was a little girl of the same age as us. The other two, it turned out, were her parents. They were telling the Madevadigal about the girl. As soon as we entered the flaghouse, everyone there looked at us. But all I could see was the little girls wide eyes staring at us. Even today when I think of that scene, it stands in front of my mind's eye..."
Saying this, Karikalan looked up at the sky and remained silent. I don't know if he saw the little girl's face in the thin curtains of clouds that hovered in the sky at that moment.
"Sir! Then tell me!" asked Parthipenthiran, and Karikalan came to this world and continued the story:
"It was my sister Kundavai who told my grandmother about playing with the boat. After hearing that, Madevadigal said, "My darling! Have you seen this girl? How hot is she? They have come from Pandya country to our Eesana Sivapattar's house. They will be here for a while. This girl's name is Nandhini, sometimes include her in your games. She will be a good friend to you!" But I knew that my sister did not like it. When the three of us went to the palace from there, Kundavai said, 'Anna! Was there a woman standing there? See how ugly she was? Why is her face like that of a gotan? Does he want me to play with her, grandmother? I couldn't help but smile when I saw her face. What should I do?" Hearing this, I came to know an important fact. This means that women are born with jealousy. No matter how beautiful one woman may be, it is unbearable to see another woman beautiful.
"It is well known that my sister is the most beautiful of the women of our clan. She too could not bear to see another beautiful woman. Otherwise, why say that about the woman? I didn't let my sister down. Just to make her angry, I insisted that the other woman was pretty. We often argued and quarrelled about it. Our brother Arulmozhi was stunned not knowing the reason for this quarrel. A few days later, I went with my father who had gone to the Pandya Nadu war. We defeated the Pandya army and the army sent by the Ilankai king to help the Pandyas in many places. In the end, it is not known whether Veera Pandyan ran away and hid or died in the battlefield. When Veera Pandiyan disappeared, the Ilankai soldiers who came to the aid of the Pandya army retreated and fled. We chased them up to Sethkarai. Except for the dead, the others escaped by ship. My father wanted to teach a lesson to the Ilankai kings who often sent armies to help the Pandyas. He decided to send a large army under the command of Kodumbalur Siriya Velar to Ilankai. It took some time to procure ships and supplies. We delayed, however, and loaded the ships with troops. Only after knowing that our soldiers had landed safely at Mathottam did we return to Chola Nadu.
"It has been more than two years since I came back to Pazhaiyarai. I had completely forgotten the priestess girl who had come from the Madurai side. When I came to Pazhaiyarai, I saw that my sister and the girl had grown beyond recognition. I saw that they were very friendly. Nandhini had not only grown up but was also shining with her clothes and ornaments. I knew it was my sister's business. Unlike before, Nandhini was now shy to look at me and talk to me. I worked to get rid of it. I found more pleasure in talking to her than in anything else. I cannot tell you how surprised I at that early age. Like a new flood in the Kaveri, something new was flooding in my heart. But I soon discovered that none of my peers liked it. Since my arrival, Kundavai has started showing hatred towards the girl. One day my grandmother Madevadigal called me and said, 'Nandhini is the daughter of the priest's house. But you are the emperor's son; Both of you are old now. Therefore, it is not advisable for you to associate with Nandhini,' advised him. Until then, I had revered my grandmother as a goddess and was angry with her and insulted at her words. Against his advice, I used to search for Nandhini and talk to her. This did not last long. Suddenly one day he came to know that Nandhini and her parents had left for their village in Pandya Nadu. Then I was filled with sorrow; Anger overcame me. I kept my grief to myself and vented my anger on my sister. Fortunately for a few days I had to travel north. I also set out with the Chola army to drive out the Rashtrakuta forces occupying Tirumunaipadi and Tondaimandalam. That's when you and I met; We became inseparable friends.
"With the help of King Malaiamman, you and I fought with the Rashtrakuta forces. We chased them north of Palar and captured Kanchi town. At that time bad news came from Sri Lanka. It turned out that our army had been routed there and that Kodumbalur Siriya Velar was dead. Hearing this, Veera Pandyan, who had been hiding in a rock cave in the middle of the desert, came out like a snake coming out of the anthill. He again gathered his army and captured Madurai and hoisted the Meena flag. Do you remember the fury you and I felt when I heard all this? Both of us left immediately and went to Pazhaiyarai. My father Chakravarthy had already begun to fall ill. The legs were less strained. But the emperor was ready to leave for the Pandya Nadu battlefield. I stopped him. I vowed in front of my father that I would not return to Chola Nadu until I defeated the Pandyan army, recaptured Madurai and brought back Veera Pandyan's head. You were with me then. Accepting my vow, my father sent us to the battlefield of Pandya Nadu. He ordered us to fight under the leadership of Kodumbalur Poothi Vikrama Kesari, who was already in command of the army. We agreed and went. On the way we met the elder Pazhuvertaraiyar. We learnt that Pazhuvertaraiyar was dissatisfied with the appointment of the Chancellor of Kodumbalur instead of making him the commander of the army.
"Seeing our war fury, Colonel Poothi Vikrama Kesari has entrusted the responsibility of conducting the war to us. Friend! There is nothing wrong in boasting that you and I performed incredible feats of heroism in that battle. We defeated the Pandya army and captured Madurai. We are not satisfied with that. We wanted to destroy the Pandya army so that it could not raise its head again. We ordered our troops to pursue the scattered soldiers in all directions and destroy them without a soul. We alone chased Pandiyan with a strong army. The fish flag flying high showed us in which direction Pandiyan was running. We went in that direction and caught him. All around Veera Pandiyan the dangers were like a wall. The dangers of the Pandya country were a step superior to the Velakara army of the Chola country. They vowed not to retreat and to save the Pandya king even with their lives. If that was not possible and the Pandya king was in danger, they vowed to cut off their own heads and sacrifice them. Such soldiers fulfilled their debt. We slaughtered them with no one left. Mountains of dead bodies piled up. But we did not see Veera Pandyan among them. We were fooled by the fish flag. An elephant stood holding a fish flag. But there was no Pandya king in its name or nearby! Isn't Veera Pandyan good at escaping from the battlefield and hiding? Suspecting that he might still be on the run, we divided the troops and sent them in all directions.
"All of you rushed along the two banks of the Vaigai river. I wasn't idle either. I got down in the Vaigai river and walked on the sand and went south. The hoofprints of a lone horse were embedded in the sand in some places. There were blood stains on the sand along the horse's path. I grabbed it and went. I reached a grove that looked like an island in the middle of the Vaigai river. There was a temple of Lord Vishnu in that grove. There were a couple of priestly houses adjacent to it. There were plenty of flowering trees in the grove for Perumal worship. A small lotus pond was in full bloom. Friend! You probably remember. I pointed to the grove and gave strict orders that none of our soldiers should slip into it. The reason for this was not only that I did not want any disturbance to the pooja of that Perumal temple. There was a woman queen in Pattar's house who won my heart and held a temple in my heart."
"One day when I entered that grove, I saw Nandhini. Her posture had changed slightly. Her hair was tied as a crown in front like an idol of Andal and a garland of flowers was wrapped around it. She also wore a garland of flowers around her neck. I said, 'What is this?' After she left me, she said that she had vowed not to marry any human being, but to marry Krishna like Andal. It seemed to me like sheer madness. To marry a human woman or to marry God? – But I don't want to make a fuss about it at the time. 'Let the war end; We'll see later,' I thought. I asked her if she needed any help. "Make sure none of your soldiers come here. Only my elderly parents are here. They are blind. I have a brother who is strong. He has now gone on a pilgrimage to Tirupathi!" I promised to see that none of our soldiers came there, as she asked, and returned. Then I went to see her two or three times. My old infatuation with her burned tenfold. But I exercised patience. You have to finish what you have come up with. We have to go to Pazhaiyarai with Veera Pandyan's head; In return, I decided to ask my father's permission to marry Nandhini.
"Having thus decided, I was amazed and indignant when I saw that the hoof of a single horse had gone into the grove. Looking further, I saw the horse tied under the cover of the dense trees. So the escapee must be in one of those hut houses. I went to Nandhini's house and looked through the window. Friend! What I saw there is imprinted on my chest as if it had been painted with hot iron. Veera Pandiyan was lying on an old rope bed. Nandhini gave him water to quench his thirst and made him drink. Her face shone with an unprecedented lustre. There were two tears in her eyes. I kicked open the door in a fit of rage and went in. Nandhini, who was dressing her wounds, stopped it when she saw me and came forward. She prostrated herself before me and got up. With folded hands, he said, 'Sir! I swear by the love you once had for me. Don't do anything to him! Don't kill him with your own hands as he is lying badly injured!"
I stammered and said, 'What have you to do with this man? Why are you asking me to save his life?'
'This is my lover; This is my God; He is a generous man who has agreed to marry me!' said Nandhini.
"The slight sympathy I felt for the injured Veera Pandyan has also left me. This wretched Chandala – how he has avenged me! There is no harm even if I have captured my kingdom; Didn't he snatch away the queen of my heart? How could you have pity on him? Impossible!
"I kicked Nandhini away, took her past and cut off Veera Pandyan's head with a single stroke of my sword. I am ashamed to think of that outrageous act now. But at that time I was possessed by hostility in addition to the lust of war. In that rage, I killed Veera Pandyan and when I was crossing the threshold of that house, I looked back at Nandhini. She looked at me without blinking her eyes. I have never seen such a sight on earth. In it, the six kinds of passions, lust, greed, lust, religion, and religion burned like flames. I have thought many times about what that means, but to this day I do not know!
"By then you and several others had come looking for me. Seeing Veera Pandyan's headless body and bloody head, you all shouted jayakosham. But a heavy weight weighed on my chest as if I had placed the Vindhya mountain...