Aim perum Kaappiyankal (The five big tamil epics)

Aim perum  Kaappiyankal (The five big  tamil epics)

 

Compiled  in a very summarized   fashion  by

P.R.Ramachander

 

  ( It is believed  that the names  of these  five epics are  based on women’s ornaments of those  days-

Chilappathikaram-  Chilambu   anklet

Mani mekhalai-  Waist belt

Kundala kesi -  ear globe

Valayapathi-  bangles

Cheevake chinthamani(The gem on crown)

 

       Except Sipaathikaram    all of them give in detail the  principles  of Budhism  and Jainism.Only Silappathikaram   and Mani mekhalai     are well preserved, and only a part of the book is available as of now

     I have  studied tamil in school and   have come across   the story of Silappathikaram and did not have an inkling about  what  the four books  are about, Based on my  online search  I am giving small  summary of  these epics as   I understood them)

 

1.Silappadhikaram

 

(The book is a poem of more  than 5000 lines)

 

Kovalan married  Kannaki and they lived happily,

Later  Kovalan fell  in love with madhavi the courtesan

Kannaki  was heart broken and  in a singing  competition,

When Madhavi sang about  a vacillating lover, Kovalan leaves her

 

Kannak i and Kovalan join together  and go to Madurai,

And Kannagi encourages Kovalan to rebuild   their shattered life

She gives him  one of her anklets   to sell  in the market,

But this anklet unfortunately  resembled that of queen’s stolen anklet

 

The gold smith reported   Kovalan   and he was hung to death,

Kannaki rushed  to the queen and broke  her  remaining anklet,

And proved  to the  queen that , it was  different from that of hers,

The king realized his mistake and died  and so does  the queen

 

Kanaki’s anger burst  and she burnt   the city  of Madurai,

And goes from there  to Chera nadu(kerala)  and dies   and goes to heaven,

And the  Chera king  , builds a huge temple   for her,

By  bringing a stone  from Himalayas and she  is worshipped there.

 

Chilappathikaram tells   story  of Kovalan, his wife Kannaki

And his lover  the courtesan Madhavi . Kovalan deserts  Madhavi,

And unjustly killed by a Pandya king and Kannaki  ,

Condemns  the king, burns  his capital   and goes to kerala,

 

2.Mani Mekalai

 

(Mani mekalai  is the daughter of Madhavi  the courtesan and Kovalan. . At the end of the story  Manimekalai goes  to preach Budhism . This book  has 4861  lines  and is well  preserved.)

 

Madhavi turned  in to a Buddhist nun and her    daughter ,

Manimekalai  , the very pretty girl   also became  a budhist

But the prince of the kingdom  Udhayakumara  falls in love with her,

And the goddess  of ocean Manimekalai  cast   a spell on  Manimekalai.

 

She then took   her  to an island Manipallavam    and left  her  there,

She also gave  her hope  to live in that island     as a Buddhist

The goddess  sends a message to Madhavi   through  a close friend

And told her  that Manimekalai   will come back and is destined to be an ascetic

 

In the island her  destiny was  revealed  to Manimekhalai  by the Budhist pedestal              ,

And she also gets a magic pot which will get filled    up    at her command

The chola prince who was  pursuing her  gets killed by accident,

And when Manimekalai   returns she   was put in prison by his mother

 

Her Guru Aravana  adikal advised her to wander  all over the world,

Feeding poor people   and learning more about    all religions

Manimekalai is taught to take any disguise   she wants

And reaches the kerala town of Vanchi(Kodungallore)   and took form  of a man

 

After learning about all relegions in Vanchi  , She decided  none of them,

Provided for proper   solution of life, She learnt   all the Buddhist   teachings ,

Of how suffering would lead  to freedom of desires, through detachment

And she lived  in the monastery , following   the  Buddhist Dharma

 

Kundala kesi (Kundala is  ear gobe and Kunthala means pretty curved long hair)

 

(Only a small part of this book survived)

 

There   was girl named  bhadra  but called

Kundala kesi*Possibly kunthala)  because she had long   curly hair

She lost her mother at very young    age  ,

And was brought up   by  her  very rich father

 

One day she saw a criminal called “Kala” being lead to gallows,

She   fell  in love with him and her  rich father  after giving,

Weight for weight gold   got  him    released  and

Kundala kesi    got     married to him

 

“Kala’ the criminal was   only after  money ,

And one   day he took her to a steep mountain top,

And when he was  about to push her down ,

She  wanted  to go round him  before death,

And while behind  , she pushes  him to his death

And she becomes  a budhist  nun

 

Valayaa  Pathi

 

(This book is almost lost. This is  what the  available fragments indicate)

 

 

There was a rich  merchant with two wives,

He abandoned  one of them and sent her away

In the new land  , that lady   gave  birth to a boy,

Who was called Valaya pathi

 

When the boy grew up , other  children

Started   teasing  him  saying he was fatherless

Then he cried   and requested  his mother,

And she told   the name and place of his father

 

When he traced that person   and told  him,

That he was his father , he refused  to acknowledge,

Then with aid of  goddess he got  his  mother there

And merchant acknowledges and makes him a merchant

 

Civaka   chithamani

 

(This  book is well preserved  and has 3145 quartrains)

There was a king who was over thrown in a coup

The king allowed  the pregnant   queen  to escape

Later  the queen gave  up this world  became an ascetic,

But she gave  her son who is born  to a trusted   servant

 

That boy not only   grew  up in to  a man

But a superman excelling  in all skills  ,

He   exceled in war ,  regained  his kingdom , defeated  all kings,

And makes  all women he met   to fal  for him

 

He regained   the kingdom that  his father lost,

Became   a great king , married  very many girls

And after   enjoying   his love  life  to the hilt,

He later  gives up this world  and becomes an ascetic