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Home > Devotees > 63 Nayanmar Stories
manu nIthich chOzan
(thirun^agarach chiRappu - The fame of the town)
This incident in periya purANam explains an event that happened
in the life of the chOza king who became known as manu n^Ithich chOzan
because of the glorious justice he made. This exemplifies the impartial
judicial practice the ruler or the ruling system in the land should follow.
When the king is that much involved in spirit and action in upholding the
justice irrespective of the personal agony he would get, the people would
live in love and the land would prosper.
In the solar tradition of chOzas was this king born. He lived like
the eye and soul of the lives in the land. He propitiated the powers of the
nature with a numerous rituals. Devoid of enemies the land prospered. His
name itself became known as the chOza of manu justice. He donated a lot for
the worship of the Bull flagged Lord of thiruvArUr. He got a son who was
like a lion-cub in valor, skilled in various arts, disciplined and had
the lovable characters. With the king feeling proud of his loving son he
grew up as a youth who would deserve to be entitled as the prince. One
day that young son of the king was riding his chariot on the main roads
of the capital thiruvArUr along with the friends and the
forces. That time a calf which did not realize the movements on the
road suddenly entered in between. Alas, that small creature got hit by
the wheel of the chariot and was crushed to death. The cow which saw
its calf killed on the street was stricken with grief. It licked, cried
and sat in grief near the dead calf.
The son of the king was appalled at what had happened. He
couldn't come out of the shock of what happened and felt he had born to
defame his father who stood for justice. He rushed to the scholars in
order to do the deeds of penance for this deed before facing his father.
Meanwhile the grief stricken cow went to the palace and rang the bell
hanging in the front with its horn. (Calling the king to do justice).
The king rushed to the gate and saw the crying cow ringing the bell. A
minister of keen knowledge told the king about the death of the
calf when it entered beneath the chariot abruptly. On hearing that the
king underwent unexplainable sorrow. Unable to bear the sight of the
crying cow he sat there in sadness and asked the ministers what he
could do to correct the misdeed. The ministers said he should make his
son undergo the penance that the vedic scholars made for the killing
of cows.
The king who did not follow the rules of justice just for the sake
of following but who ruled involving himself in the essence of them, was
irked by the answer of the ministers. "How could I do injustice to this
poor cow because it was my son who did the misdeed. When I do not leave
somebody who kills a life how can I show a different attitude towards my
son ? Isn't it the responsibility of the king to ensure that the lives
that live in his kingdom are protected against the fear of him, his
associates, enemies, thieves and other creatures ? If I make another
rule for my son won't the ancient system of justice be scoffed at ?"
the king shouted. The ministers told that the practice had been that
the peanancial rites are done in order to come out of this sin and
hence it would be just to observe that tradition. The king was annoyed
at their response and said, "You speak not understanding the spirit
and truth behind the justice. A big sin has been committed by killing
the creature that was associated with the appearance of the holy abode
of Lord shiva at thiruvArUr. The compensation for this deed would be to
execute my loving son the same way the calf was killed." The ministers
were terrified and went away. The king ordered a son of a minister to
run over his son with the chariot. He unwilling to do that, suicided.
The king not bothering that his son was only one for the royal
family, he himself overrun his son under the wheels of the chariot.
That splendid king stood in the history for doing justice to all
creatures living in his kingdom. The subjects of the land wept
wondering the king's stand on justice; The Lord who raised the Flag of
Bull indicating the divine justice that Lord of thiruvArUr appeared in
the horizon amidst the praise of the divines with His consort pArvatI.
The king saluted the Lord of creatures. The Supreme blessed the king
for his sincerity towards justice and by His grace the calf, son of
the king and the minister came back to life. The cow and the king got
relieved of their agony. The devotees for whom such magnificent deeds
were possible lived in that holy town thiruvArUr. Let the
adherence of the great chOzA king to justice in its true spirit stay in
the mind.
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