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 One of the finest jewels of Tamil poetry", the epic poem
Manimekalai by Poet Sathanar, 2nd century A.D., is unique
for the deep spirituality and mysticism it unfolds against
the historical and geographical background of South India
and of adjacent Jaffna.
The death of her father, Kovalan, under tragic
circumstances, weighs upon the mind of young Manimekala and
she resolves on a life of renunciation. At every turn she is
obstructed. Running through her life story are a set of
counteracting forces — on the one hand is her passion to
enter holy orders of a Buddhist bhikkuni and on the other,
the infatuation of Udaya Kumaran, the Chola prince, to win
her favours.
The first scene is laid in the garden of the capital
city, Puhar, with Manimekala and her companion, Sutamati,
gathering flowers. With all the daring of his princely rank,
Udaya Kumaran gives vent to his deep love. Faced by a
situation from which there is no escape, spiritual aid comes
to her in the person of the Goddess Manimekalai, her
guardian deity. The Goddess charms her to sleep, and while
in a state of trance, spirits her away to the Island of
Manipallavam,1 down
South. Leaving her there, the Goddess gets back to Puhar,
the Chola capital. Appearing before Prince Udaya Ku maran,
she tells him of the unrighteousness of his conduct,
unbecoming of a prince. The Goddess now appears to Sutamati
in a dream and tells her of her flight to the Island of
Manipallavam with Manimekala, and how the Goddess has set
her on the road to spirituality.
Bewildered at her loneliness in strange surroundings
Manimekala roams about the place until she comes upon the
site hallowed by the visit of the Buddha. This was the site
where according to legends, the Buddha landed and settled a
growing strife between two warring Naga. Princes for a
gem-set throne left to them by an ancestress. The episode of
the Buddha's visit to the Island of Nagadipa, where he
preached a sermon of reconciliation between the two Naga
princes, is sung in Buddhist legends of Ceylon, chronicled
in Sinhalese Mahavamsa. Circumambulating the holy seat, and
prostrating herself before it, memories of her past life
miraculously dawns on her.
One of her righteous deeds in her past life, is here
recounted. Lakshmi, as she was in her previous birth, comes
upon a Buddhist Charana by name Sadhu Sakkaram flying across
the air. As he landed, Lakshmi and her husband, Rahula,
prostrated before the sage, and Lakshmi offered the sage
food. The merit that she thus acquired gained for her the
reward of acquiring nirvana, in her next birth, destined to
live the life of a Bhikkuni. Rahula, her husband, was reborn
as Prince Udaya Kumara. This accounts for his amorous
advances to her.
To release her from this attachment and to help her
to fulfil the Karma, was the mission of Goddess Manimekalai
who spirited her away to the Island of Manipallavam. In her
past birth she was one of the three daughters of King
Ravivarman and his Queen Amudapati, of Yasodharanagari. The
other two daughters were Tarai and Virai, married to King
Durjaya. On a certain day returning from a visit to the
hills by the side of the Ganges, the royal party came upon
Aravana Adigal, the great Buddhist saint.
The latter persuaded the king and his daughters, to
worship the footprints of the Buddha in Padapankaja Malai of
the Giridharakuta hills. The story of the footprints finds
mention in these words : " The Buddha stood on the top of
the hill and taught his Dharma to all living beings, and as
he preached in love, his footprints became imprinted on the
hill, which thus got the name Padapankaja Malai (the Hill of
the Lotus feet)." The king and his queens were advised to go
and worship the sacred footprints. As a result of the merit
thus acquired, the two daughters Virai and Tarai, were
reborn as Sutamati and Madhavi.
To resume our story. Initiated in Buddha Dharma, the
goddess prevails on Manimekala to complete her spiritual
education by learning the teachings of other religious
persuasions. Towards this end, she instructs her in a mantra
the chanting of which would enable her to fly through the
air, disguised as a hermit. With these pronouncements, the
goddess again leaves her.
Walking about the place, Manimekala meets the goddess
Tivatilaki who recounts her own experiences. " On the high
peak of Samanta Kuta, in the adjoining Island of Ratnadipa,
there are the footprints of the Buddha. After offering
worship to the footprints, I came to this Island long ago.
Since then, I have remained here keeping guard over this
seat under the orders of Indra. My name is Tiva-tilaki, the
Light of the Island. Those who follow the Dharma of the
Buddha strictly and offering worship to this Buddha seat
will gain knowledge of their previous birth."
" In front of this seat there is a little pond full of
cool water overgrown with lotuses. From that pond will
appear a never failing alms bowl, by name Amrita Surabhi
(Endless Nectar). The bowl once belonged to Aputra and
appears every year on the full moon day in the month of
Rishabha, in the fourteenth asterism, the day on which the
Buddha himself was born. That day and hour are near. That
bowl will presently come into your hand. Food put into it by
a pure one will be inexhaustible. You will learn all about
it from Aravana Adigal, who lives in your own city."
Circumambulating the pond, the bowl emerges from the water
and reaches her hands. Delighted at this, Manimekala chants
praises of the Buddha. The last line of the chant alludes to
the Buddha's services to the Nagas : " Hail holy feet of Him
who rid the Nagas of their woes."
How the bowl found its way to Nagadipa is another story
2 Manimekala now flies back to
Kaveripattinam. Meeting her mother and Sutamati, she
recounts her experiences. All three go to the Sage Aravana
Adigal. The sage narrates to her the story of the miraculous
bowl. As the story ends, Manimekala dons the robes of a
Bhikkuni and with the begging bowl in her hand, makes her
way through the streets of the city.
The news reaches Prince Udaya Kumaran of Manimekala's presence in her own Madurai
and her attentions to the poor and forlorn. The prince goes
to find her. Seeing her as a Bhikkuni, he asks her why she
has taken to this austere life. She makes appropriate reply.
Unable to resist the prince's advances, she disguises
herself as Kayasandigai, so as to escape his attentions.
Meanwhile, Kanjanan, the husband of the real Kayasandigai,
mistakes Manimekala in her disguise, as his wife. Manimekala
does not respond to Kanjanan's words. This infuriates
Kanjanan, who suspects Udaya Kumaran to be his wife's lover,
and kills him.
Manimekala now continues in her wanderings and finally
reaches Conjeeveram. Here she waits upon Aravana Adigal, who
instructs her in Buddha Dharma. Manimekala from now settles
herself to the dedicated life of a Buddhist Bhikkuni.
1
Of the character and functions of this Goddess,
Paranavitana enlightens us : " This Goddess appears in a
number of Sinhalese and Pali works. Her chief job
appears to be the guardianship of the sea." Quoting
Rajavaliya' we are told, " Viharamahadevi, the mother of
Duttugemunu, who was offered by her father as a
sacrifice to the sea Goddess, was brought ashore by this
very Goddess at Magama in Ruhuna where she found her
future husband." (Paranavitana : Ceylon Literary
Register, 1931).
That Manipallavam is an Island, is
obvious from the reference in the Manimekalai to " the
sea girt land of Manipallavam," the Island where " stood
the seat of the Buddha " — the seat for which " there
appeared in contest two Naga kings from the Southern
Regions each claiming the seat for himself." This
specific allusion to the gem-set seat and the Buddha
appearing and making peace between the warring princes,
make it abundantly clear that the Island meant is
Nagadipa, or the Jaffna Peninsula itself, for at this
time the name seems to have been extended to refer to
the whole Peninsula as the Mahavamsa has it. Another
pointer is the name Pallavam, Tamil for the sprout of a
tree, the projecting top of the Peninsula thrusting
itself into the sea, having all the look of the sprout
of a tree. There is also the view that this idea may be
at the back of the names of the later Pallavas bearing
the suffix "ankura" meaning in Sanskrit, a sprout, in
their surnames. (Rasanayagam, C.: Ancient Jaffna, p.
81).
2
Salli, the faithless wife of a Brahmin Appachikan,
deserted her husband. She gave birth to a child whom she
left by the wayside. Attracted by the cries of the
child, it was looked after by a cow. In time, the child
was adopted by a kind Brahmin. The child thus got the
name Auputhiran — the cow's son. The boy, as he grew up,
denounced animal sacrifices. Matters came to a head one
night when he rescued a cow consecrated for sacrifice
the next morning. He was discarded by his adopted
parents. Auputhiran fled to Madurai and took refuge in a
pilgrims' rest home. Touched by his charitable
disposition to feed the poor, Saraswati bestowed on him
the miraculous rice bowl, with which he fed man and
beast. In time, Indra moved by his charities, appeared
before Auputhiran and volunteered to grant him whatever
boon he desired. " What greater boon can you give me
than the pleasure of feeding the hungry " he replied.
This curt reply displeased Indra. The land soon grew so
fertile with seasonal rains, that the people had no more
need for Auputhiran's rice bowl. Seeing his mission in
this land at an end, he decided to leave the country and
took ship.
The ship weighed anchor at the
uninhabited island of Manipallavam and sailed away
without him. Thus stranded on the island, Auputhiran
starved himself to death. Before he died, he deposited
the bowl in a pond nearby with the prayer that it should
appear once a year and come into the hands of the
virtuous. His prayer was fulfilled in time on a
particular Vesak day when Manimekala got possession of
it.
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