War in Ancient India c4.s6.t6.1

c4.s6.t6.1

If the fear impulse is of the defence-complex, angry behaviour is of the aggression-complex.⁵⁴ Śenguṭṭuvan wanted to lead an expedition to the North and show off to the kings there his prowess. But no activity is aroused by the motive alone. Given the right stimulus and the motive, there comes automatically the response.⁵⁵ While the king was sitting in the audience hall filled with resentment at the insult offered to him by northern kings in their joint social meeting, there came the suggestion to found a temple to the chaste Kannaki by carving the deity on a stone taken either from the Podiyil or the Himalayas. When it was agreed to consecrate the temple in honour of Pattini Devī, Śenguṭṭuvan said that he would get the slab of stone from the Himalayas after duly bathing it in the Ganges and reducing to subjection the northern kings if they should resist him. Soon he made elaborate preparations for the expedition and set out for the north. He extended his arms successfully, defeated a confederacy of northern kings, and after imprisoning the chief monarchs, Kanaka and Vijaya, he made them bear on their heads the slab of stone to his distant capital at Vañji in Tamil India.⁵⁶