Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.52

c7.52

Here, the verse on the construction of the embankment of the Kāvēri must be considered somewhat closely. Mr. Kanakasabhai translated the verse thus: * " Mukari was destroyed when he rubbed it out of the map, finding that it did not suit the place prepared for the banks of the Kāvēri which were being constructed by vassal kings." This ingenious translation is open to many objections. It seems to import the details of modern engineering practices such as drawing maps and plans into the days of Karikāla. It does violence to the actual words in the verse which imply that Mukari did not follow up something or somebody (toḍara vandiḍā mukari), and then a picture was asked to be drawn of Mukari (vandiḍā mukariyai ppaḍatte-ḷuḍuka); the action that was taken afterwards consisted in something being wiped out in the picture, most probably an extra eye (idu mikaikkaṇ) which resulted in a similar consequence to the object represented by the picture. † Lastly, Mr. Kanakasabhai’s interpretation ignores the literary tradition on the subject which waxes strong from this time that a three-eyed king lost his superfluous eye in this episode, as will be seen from what follows:—