The Colas c12.33

c12.33

Its place in the administration of justice, especially in the capital city of the king, is well attested. The sons of Malaiyamān were tried and sentenced, and later released by the intercession of Kōvūr-Kiḻār, in the *manṟam* of Uṟaiyūr;^30 and Pottiyār, after the death of his friend Kōpperuñjōḷan, could not bear the sight of the same *manṟam* bereft of him. The *Porunar-āṟṟuppaḍai*^31 makes a pithy statement about adults setting aside their feuds while they entered the *sabhā*, which might mean either that they got their disputes adjudicated or laid their private quarrels aside for the discharge of common duties. We can infer naturally that the *sabhā* or *manṟam* was also availed of by the king for purposes of general consultation; Tiruvaḷḷuvar lays stress on the importance of ready speech in the assembly by saying that the learning of a man who is afraid to speak out in the assembly is like a bright sword in the hands of a eunuch on the field of battle.³²