Centuries ago, when King Mahendra Pallava was ruling at Kanchi, he had arranged for the reading of Mahabharatha throughout the country. He made this arrangement so that the spirit of heroism could be revived in Tamil Nadu, where the people had become sadhus due to the propagation of Buddhism and Jainism. He built Bharatha Mandapams in many places for reading Bharatha Katha. The arrangement he had begun was still going on uninterrupted in the Thondaimandalam. At night people gathered in the halls or in the open air and listened to the story of Bharata. There were many singers who could tell the great story of Bharata and its branch stories in song, song and verse with great fervour.
When Arjuna was on a pilgrimage, he saw Chitrangi, the princess of Manipuri, in the forest near Manipuri. The two fell in love. Chitrangi had a son named Aravan. Aravan was a great warrior because he was the son of Arjuna to the hill country countess. Knowing that the Bharatha war was going to take place, he also came to join the Pandava army. Before the start of the war, when there was talk of sacrificing a young man, a great warrior of all qualities, he said, "Here I am; Give me as a field sacrifice!" said Aravan. Since there was no better warrior on the side of the Pandavas, he had to sacrifice Aravan himself.
The story of Veera Aravan, who sacrificed his life for the victory of his party, captured the hearts of the Tamil people. Wherever they built a temple for Dropathai Amman, they built a temple for Aravan nearby and celebrated festivals.
The story of Aravan that night near the five chariots of Mamallapuram seemed to have come to an end. "Long live the emperor Sundara Chola who has three worlds!" "Long live Kopparakesari Athitha Karikalar!" were the slogans of many voices floating in the air. The listeners got up and began to disperse.
"The story is over. Malaiamman will be back in a little while," said Karikalan.
"The story of Aravan is over; But the story you have been telling is not over yet," said Parthiban.
"Look at Malaiamman's fortitude at this age! See, he is still going to stay awake till midnight listening to stories!" said Karikalan.
"Is it such a wonderful thing to live to the old age! There are so many old people in town. They are going to listen to the story at night without sleeping...."
"Are you mixing Thirukovalur Miladudaiyar with ordinary old men like that? How many battlefields has he seen? It is doubtful whether we will be alive at Malaiamman's age. But we will not be as strong as he is."
"King! There is a reason why the old-timers are strong..."
"What's the reason?"
"They don't fall in love with women. He does not lose his heart to the daughter of a priest and then melt for her. If they go to any woman like that, they will grab her by the hair, put her in the harem and look for other work...
"Parthipa! Nandhini is not really a priest's housewife; There must be some mystery about her birth..."
"What if Nandhini is someone's daughter? What if she is the daughter of a priest? What if she was the king's daughter? Or what if she is an orphan girl? Look at that other old man, the elder Pazhuvertaraiyar! Somewhere along the way he saw her; He immediately dragged her and put her in the harem for eight to nine..."
"Friend! It's amazing to me...."
"Think of what? How did the old man fall into her trap?"
"No, no! How did she who once said that she loved me, then fell in love with Veera Pandyan and tried to save his life, agreed to marry this old man? It's amazing to think about."
"It doesn't seem strange to me, sir! It is amazing to think of what they have done! Pandian, the arch enemy of the Chola tribe – the coward who runs away after defeat and even if he is a coward, he named himself 'Veera Pandyan' – you just left the woman who gave him shelter and begged for his life? It is the wonder of all wonders to think of it. One must have slashed her there with a knife; If he didn't want to, he would have tied his hands and legs together! You just left it without doing either of these two... Now I remember, Your Majesty. You carried Veera Pandyan's body to the entrance of that hut. We all shouted triumphantly like maniacs. In the meantime came a sob from inside the hut. 'Who is it?' I asked. 'Some priest's family women. Already they are frightened and terrified. Don't let any of you go in!" We were in a frenzy of victory and didn't care. Immediately we all took Veera Pandyan's head and left, you also came with us. But you did not take much part in our rejoicing and celebration. You were discouraged. I asked the reason. You made some excuses. Now I remember even asking if I suspected that you had suffered any serious injury!" said Parthipenthiran.
"There is no injury to my body, Parthipa! The sight of her coming to the bed where Veera Pandiyan was lying and begging for her life with folded hands did not leave my mind. 'Alas! We didn't give her what she asked for! My mind was agitated. If by giving my life I could bring Veera Pandyan back to life and bring him to her, I would have done so. I reproached myself for not being able to do this. Parthipa! We think a lot about our powers. We feel that nothing is impossible for us. When we hear it written in palm leaf manuscripts that 'kings have the aspect of Maha Vishnu', we believe even that to be true. But do we have the power to bring back a departed spirit? Has anyone ever been born into the royal family? We can only buy life; But no one born human has the power to give life..."
"It's best not to be like that. If you had that power, how much wrong thing could have happened? You would have given life to Pandiyan again. He would have gone back to hiding in a hole in the mountain. Perhaps the Pandya Nadu war is still going on! All this for a woman's false tears!" said Parthipenthiran.
"Pallava! You are the unfortunate one who hates womanhood! You don't know what love is! That's why you talk like this!"
"Yes; I have never been caught in the eye of any woman. But your intimate friend Vandhiyathevan would smile at anything with a yellow-smeared face. That is why you like him more than me. Isn't it, King!"
"Aha! You have finally come to Vandhiyathevan, haven't you? Why, I saw that you had forgotten him all this time!"
"Yes, it would be bitter for you to tell the truth about him. I will leave that talk. What happened then, Your Majesty? Didn't you meet Nandhini again? Didn't you ask her how she who melted for Veera Pandyan married old man Pazhuvertaraiyar?"
"On the night of killing Veera Pandyan, after the victory celebrations, all of you slept in the camps. I couldn't sleep. Every nerve in my body ached to see her again. I wanted to see her and make some excuse and apologize. On another occasion I wanted to vent my anger against her. It seemed that unless he saw her somehow, he would not have peace of mind and would not be able to return to Chola Nadu. So I left the camp in the middle of the night and rode away without any of you noticing. I reached the island in the middle of the river Vaigai. Trembling in my mind, trembling all over my body, my legs wobbly, I got down from my horse and walked slowly to the Perumal temple. I saw that all the huts were burnt to ashes. An old man and an old woman were sitting beside the burnt hut, moaning. When I went a little closer, I came to know that they were the ones who had brought Nandhini to the Pazhaiyarai palace garden once before. Their grief and terror multiplied when they saw me.
At first they couldn't say anything. Little by little I encouraged them to interrogate them. Their eldest daughter lived in the village across the river. They had gone to see her knowing that she was about to give birth. Nandhini refused to accompany them. Unable to do anything to the obstinate woman, they went away and came back. On the way, they saw some ruffians trying to force a woman on a burning pyre with her hands and legs tied. They thought that such things were normal in wartime, and they were afraid to go near them, so they hurried here. When they arrived, they found the huts on fire. Nandhini is also missing. After telling this information, the priest and his wife said, 'Prince! Where is our daughter? Where is our dear daughter?' I already knew that they were not Nandhini's real parents. Now it was all certain. If they had really been parents, would they have left them alone? So I had no pity or sympathy for them. Nandhini's heart choked with unspeakable grief. 'Go in search of the funeral pyre where your daughter was burnt and you too will be burnt to death!' I cursed them and returned to the camp before dawn. You were all sleeping soundly. None of you know that I have gone or come back..."
"Yes; Prince! I don't know. It is amazing to think that they kept all this to themselves for so long. I never dreamed that you would be so contrary to the dharma of friendship. If I were in your position, I would not have refrained from telling you," said Parthiban.
"But you are not in my position, Parthipa! No one in the world could have been in my position. If you were in my position, who can say how you would have behaved?" said Karikalan.
"King! Let us not argue among ourselves about what has happened. What happened then? When did you see Nandhini again? After Pazhuvur became Ilaiyarani? Before that?"
"If I had seen her before, she would not have become Pazhuvur Rani. You and I were not in town when Pazhuvertaraiyar's wedding took place. You remember how we had a disgusting exchange when the news came? A few days after that, I was crowned princely. It was arranged by my father, grandmother and other elders so that there should be no doubt as to who would be next. Perhaps they were afraid that someone would preach to Mathuranthakan and burn incense? They crowned me prince and gave me the title of Parakesari and the right to erect an inscription in my name. 'From now on, the responsibility of ruling this Chola empire is entirely yours,' said my dear father sincerely. Folk, townspeople, ministers and generals all agreed and shouted slogans. In this excitement I had completely forgotten Nandhini. But shortly after the coronation ceremony, something happened that I shall never forget her.
"The emperor took me to the anthapuram with the crown of an ancient Chola tribe. He took me to my mother, grandmother and the other harem mothers for their blessings. My brother, the chief minister and the Pazhuvertaraiyars followed me. In the harem stood a crowd of older mothers, my sister and her friends, and several young women. All stood eagerly awaiting our arrival, their faces beaming with joy and glittering with dress and ornaments. But among all the faces, I could see only one face, that was Nandhini's. She was the angel of my heart that I thought she had burnt to ashes! How did she get into the palace harem? How could she stand there as the central queen among queens, dressed in such magnificent attire? What was the look on her face? How could her beauty be ten times greater than before? In a few moments my heart had built many castles in the sky! Is the day I was crowned as the owner of the Chola empire really going to be the lucky day of my life? Am I going to have the queen who won my heart as my queen as my queen? Is it going to happen by some magical magic?... While I was thinking like this, my mother Vanamadevi walked two steps in front of me and blessed me saying 'Child!' At the same time, something unexpected happened. My father uttered a cry of 'Ah!' and suddenly collapsed on the floor and fainted. Immediately, there was chaos in the place. I and everyone else concentrated on getting the emperor to sit up and faint. Except for my mother and grandmother Chempian Madevi, all the other women had gone inside. Father soon fainted.
"I took my sister Kundavai to a secluded place and asked, 'How did Nandhini come there?' Kundavai said that Nandhini had married the elder Pazhuvertaraiyar and was now Pazhuvur Ilaiyarani. A sharp spear pierced my chest. Friend! I have been wounded many times on the battlefield. But the wound in my heart caused by Kundavai's statement that 'Nandhini is Pazhuvur Illayarani' has not healed yet!' said Athitha Karikalan and held his chest tightly. It was obvious that he still had a pain in his chest.