The Colas c12.83

c12.83

The burning of the Three Cities (*tripura*) by Śiva, a feat often attributed also to a mythical Cōḷa king; Śibi saving the dove from the claws of a falcon; perhaps also the excavation of the eastern ocean by the Sagaras, and the stories of the *Rāmāyaṇa* and the *Mahābhārata* are among the legends known to the poets of the anthologies. In the *Śilappadikāram* and the *Maṇimēkalai* we come across a much larger body of Aryan myth and legend more freely used by the authors in many contexts. The whole cycle of Kṛṣṇa legends including his adventures with shepherdesses, Viśvāmitra eating dog’s flesh, Indra’s misconduct with Ahalyā and the curse of Gautama, the incarnation of Viṣṇu as a dwarf to bring ruin on Bali, the demon king¹⁰⁸—these and other stories are used in these epics in so casual a manner that there can be no doubt about their common currency in the Tamil land at the time they were composed.