Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.10

c7.10

Uruvappaḥrēr-iḷanjēṭceṇṇi (l. 130). He inherited the right to his estate while he was in his mother's womb, (l. 132, *tāy vayirrirundu dāyam eydi*)—a statement which the annotator Nacciṉārkkiṉiyar interprets as meaning that Karikāla's birth was delayed by unnatural means, and that he was retained in his mother's womb until the auspicious moment came for his being delivered. The battle of Veṇṇi in which he defeated two great kings (Pāṇḍya and Cēra) on the same field is narrated in some detail (ll. 141-48). For the rest, the poem describes at length the liberality of Karikāla and the fertility of the Kāvēri country and other matters of no immediate concern to this study. The clause *mudiyōr* * avai puku poḷudirram pakai muraṇ śelavum (ll. 187-8) must, however, be noted specially here. It occurs in the general description of Karikāla's rule and is, in itself, simple enough if we understand it to mean that the older men laid aside their differences when they entered the *sabha* of the king, or, if the alternative reading ‘*śolavum*’ of the last word is accepted,—that the older men went to the *sabha* to state their disputes (and get them adjudged). Here again the annotator sees an allusion to the tradition † that a young Cōḻa king, dressed himself as an old man, and surprised by his correct judgment two greyhaired litigants who laid their cause before him. It may be observed in passing that the words in our poem, taken in their context, do not clearly mention any dispute or its settlement by the king; whereas the traditional stanza of the *Paḻamoḻi* and the reference in the *Maṇimēkalai* contain no mention of Karikāla.