Chapter 20 - "The First Enemy!"

Azhvarkadiyan appreciated the help of the owl at the right time. For the conspirators, assembled in the middle of the forest, looked at the owl flapping its wings and growled, and thought it was the noise.

"Oh! This gotan has frightened us! Cut it!" said one.

"Don't! Store your knives for other important purposes. Sharpen our enemies to exterminate! The owl and the goat are not our enemies; They are our friends! We are awake when humans are normally asleep. Owls and crows are awake with us!" said Ravithasan.

Listening to him, Thirumalaiappan walked slowly from step to foot and reached a big Marudham tree. The large roots of the hundred-year-old tree ran in all directions. There was a gap in the ground between one root and the other; There was also a good pit at the base of the tree. Azhvarkadiyan stood leaning against a tree in one such pit.

"As long as the treasure of the Thanjavur kingdom remains, there is no dearth of what we need. You have to have the courage to complete the task. You have to have the power to keep the secret until the matter is done! We have to divide ourselves into two groups. One group should go to Ceylon immediately and the other should go to Tondaimandalam and wait for the right time for the accomplishment of the task. Both things should be completed at the same time. If you give time after finishing one enemy, the other enemy will be careful! There should be no room for it. Do you see? Who among you is ready to go to Ilankai?" said Ravithasan.

"I'm going!" and "I'll go!" several voices heard at once.

"Next time we will meet in Pandya Nadu and decide who is going! Until then, there are still some arrangements to be made here!" said Ravithasan.

"Which way is better to go to Eelam?" someone asked.

"Let's go via Kodikarai, it's a good way to cross the sea. But it is difficult to go from here to Kodikarai. Spies here and there. Therefore it is better to go to Sethu and cross the sea and land near Mathottam. Those going to Sri Lanka should know how to row, row and swim in the sea. Who knows how to swim here?"

Voices of "I know" and "I know" were raised.

"First of all, the king of Ilankai should talk to Mahinda and then get down to business. Aa! Our Soman Sambavan, hasn't he arrived yet? Did anyone see him today?"

"Here I am!" said a voice close to Azhvarkadiyan.

The servant clung to the tree and clung to the tree. Damn! How embarrassing it is that this wretched body has grown so much! Two new men joined the crowd. Azhvarkadiyan stuck only a small part of his face out of the tree and peeped out. He came to know that the two new arrivals had met under the pipal tree on the banks of Kollidam.

When Ravithasan saw the new people, he said, "Come! Come on! I was afraid that some danger might befall you, or that you might not come; Where did you come from which way?"

"We came along the Kollidam shore and on the way a group of foxes surrounded us. It's time to escape from the foxes!" said Soman Sambavan.

"If you are afraid of tigers and lions, there is meaning. What can those who are afraid of the fox accomplish?" asked one of those who had already come to the meeting.

"Don't say that, father! A fox is worse than a lion or a tiger! For the lion and the tiger are separate enemies who can fight and deal with them. But the foxes come in flocks; Therefore, they have a lot of strength. Wasn't it because the jackals of Chola Nadu came in large numbers that our illustrious king Mannathi had to be defeated and killed? Otherwise, would that have happened?"

"Let's destroy that fox tribe! We will destroy the garlic!" shouted Soman Sambavan.

"Here are the equipment!" said Ravithasan, pointing to a pile of gold coins.

Soman Sambavan picked up some coins and looked at them and said, "Ah! A tiger on one side and a palm on the other!"

"Chola's gold; Pazhuvertarayan's seal. I have done as I was told. What is your message? Our Idumbankari must have brought some news," said Ravithasan.

"Yes; He has brought; Listen! He will tell you!"

Idumbankari began to say; "As per your orders, I am sitting and working as a servant in Sambuvaraiyar's palace. The result was only last night. There was a big party at Sambuvaraiyar's palace yesterday. The elder Pazhuvertaraiyar, Vanangamudimunaraiyar, Mazhapadi Mazhuvaraiyar and many others had come. Kuravai Koothu and Velanattam were performed. Sannatham came to Thevaralan who was dancing Velanattam and told him the sign. What he said was in harmony with our cause. Everyone thought that Pazhuvertaraiyar's Ilayarani had come in a covered palanquin. Pazhuvertaraiyar said that Sundara Chola Maharaja was not well and would not live long. All of them decided that Mathuranthaka Thevar and not Athitha Karikalar would be the next successor. But some asked whether Mathuranthaka Thevar would agree to this. 'I will make him answer it with his own mouth,' said Pazhuvertaraiyar and opened the curtain of the covered palanquin. Mathuranthaka Thevar came out of it! He said he was willing to be crowned..."

"They are going to crown a valiant man who disguises himself as a woman! Let it be well; Everything is going as we expected. It is very good for us to create such confusion in Chola Nadu itself. No matter what happens, no matter what happens, no one will suspect us, right? Idumbankari! You have brought very important news. But how did you know all this? How did you get the opportunity for this?" asked Ravithasan.

"When they met in the middle of the night, they put me on guard to make sure no one else came near. I was using my eyes and ears while policing."

"Did you find anything else in that use?"

"I see, another stranger was watching from the castle wall what happened at that midnight meeting!"

"Wow! Who is he?"

"A Vaishnava with a tuft of hair in front of..."

"Aha! Is he? That's what I thought! What did you do to him? Didn't you give it to Sambuvaraiyar?"

"Nope. I thought maybe he was ours. I thought you sent it yourself."

"You have made a big mistake; He is not ours. He will be short and short; The fighter's name is Thirumalaiappan; He will say 'Azhvarkadiyan'."

"That's him. This afternoon I realized for myself the mistake I had made; I knew he wasn't one of us."

"How did you know that?"

"Last night, a childhood friend of Kanthamaran also came to Kadampoor palace. It turned out that he had nothing to do with the Pazhuvertaraiyar gang. He lay there in the corner and slept peacefully. This morning the little master came up to the banks of Kollidam to take his friend away. Knowing that he was coming, I often went and stood before him; He asked me to come. He returned along the northern bank of Kollidam. He asked me to come to the south shore and buy the young man a horse and return. From there I said that I would go to Kudanthai and see my aunt. That is why I was undoubtedly able to come here.

"That's right, that's right! How did you come to know about that brave Vaishnava?"

"When the boat was about to leave in Kollidam, that brave Vaishnavan came and got into the boat. From the few harsh words he spoke to Kanthamaran's friend, I had a slight suspicion that he also belonged to us. And he seemed to be waiting for me on the southern bank of Kollidam. I made our private gesture. But he did not understand. So I decided that he is not ours..."

"What you have done is a great mistake! We should not make a signal to strangers. Friends! Listen to this; Our work is in Kanchipuram! It is also in Sri Lanka. Our archenemies are in these two places. But our worst enemy, the foremost enemy, is Thirumalaiappan, who goes around under the false name of Azhvarkadiyan. He can destroy us and our purpose. He is trying to take away the Goddess who is our unparalleled leader. Next, wherever any of you find him, in whatever condition you meet, immediately plunge the weapon in your hands into his chest and kill him. If there is no weapon, twist his forehead with your hand and kill him. Or poison it by trickery. Or push the crocodile into the flood and make it a prey to hunger. Or make some excuse and take him to the top of the rock and push him away and kill him. Kill them as you would if you saw a scorpion, a nut parrot, a snake, etc., without mercy! If you sacrifice to Goddess Durga or Kannagi Amman, it is even more special. In any case, as long as he lives, he will stand in the way of our cause...

"ரவிதாஸரே! நீங்கள் இவ்வளவு தூரம் வற்புறுத்திச் சொல்வதற்கு அவன் பெரிய கைகாரனாயிருக்க வேண்டும் அப்படிப்பட்டவன் யார்?"

"யாரா? அவன் பயங்கர ஆற்றல் படைத்த ஒற்றன்!"

"யாருடைய ஒற்றன்?"

"எனக்கே அது வெகு காலம் சந்தேகமாகத்தானிருந்தது. சுந்தர சோழரின் ஒற்றனோ, ஆதித்த கரிகாலனின் ஒற்றனோ என்று சந்தேகப்பட்டேன்; இல்லையென்று கண்டேன். பழையாறையில் இருக்கிறாளே, ஒரு கிழப் பாதகி, அந்தப் பெரிய பிராட்டியின் ஒற்றனாயிருக்கலாம் என்று இப்போது சந்தேகிக்கிறேன்."

"ஆகா! அப்படியா? சிவபக்தியில் மூழ்கி, ஆலயத் திருப்பணி செய்து வரும் அந்தச் செம்பியன் தேவிக்கு ஒற்றன் எதற்கு?"

"That's all a lie, just as the heroic Vaishnavism of this fore-pitched man is a disguise, so is the old queen's devotion to Shiva. Is it not the devil who is the greatest enemy of the child who gave birth? Isn't that why even her own brother Mazhavaraian fought with her and joined Pazhuvertarayan's party?"

"Ravidas! Is there anyone else like that Munkudumi Vaishnava?"

"There is an astrologer in Kudanthai. I am suspicious of him, too. He plucks out his mouth and learns many things as if he were telling fortunes to those who come and go. None of you should go to him; If you go, you'll definitely be fooled anyway."

"Whose spy do you think he is?"

"I still can't find it. Maybe he is a spy for the fake prince who is currently in Sri Lanka. But I don't care so much about the astrologer. No great harm can be done by him. I am afraid of a Vaishnava! Wherever you find him, you should kill him mercilessly like a scorpion, a nut and a snake!"

Azhvarkadiyan who was listening to all this from behind the Arjuna tree trembled; His whole body was sweating. He wondered if he was going to escape alive from under that tree. As if that wasn't enough, he sneezed. No matter how much I tried to restrain myself, I couldn't. He put the cloth in his mouth and sneezed. At that moment the west wind had ceased; The clatter of the forest trees had ceased. So the sound of Thirumalaiappan's suppressed sneeze was a little heard by the conspirators who were talking nearby.

"There is a noise behind that Arjuna tree. Take the sparrow and see what it is," said Ravithasan.

The man with the sprained man came to the tree. The closer he came, the brighter the light became. Ahhh Here he is going to turn at the top of the tree. As soon as he turned, the light was going to fall on him. What happens then? If you survive, you will be reborn!

Thirumalaiappan's chest was pounding. He looked around to see if there was any way to escape; I don't see the way. He looked up; There was a giant bat hanging upside down from a branch of a tree that had broken away from the tree, doing penance! Immediately an idea occurred to me. Suddenly he stretched out his hands and grabbed the bat and held it ready in his hand. When the shooter came over the tree, he threw the bat in his face. The swivel fell down and the light dimmed.

Hit in the face by the wing of a bat, he said, "Hey! Hey! What! What?" I heard several people running. Azhvarkadiyan also ran; The next moment he disappeared into the dense forest. Many joined in and said, "What? What? They shouted. The man with the sparrow began to describe how the bat had attacked him. All this was heard in Thirumalaiappan's ears for some distance.