Pride and arrogance lead to the downfall of man! But most people are oblivious of the enervating nature of this quality! Adi Sankara aptly warns of this evil quality in his “ Bhajagovinda” stotra. “ Ma kuru dhana Jana youvana garvam harati nimeshath Kalam sarvam” Do not be arrogant that you have wealth, money and property, kith and kin, and youthfulness for all these are lost in a minute! They are all transient and cannot last for ever! History is full of people who have been undone by their pride and arrogance! One should understand his own limitations and conduct himself properly. Pride and arrogance are a part of our inner adversaries called “ Arishadvargas.” It is very difficult to repress our inner enemies. At one time or other, one of the six enemies will raise its ugly head and destroy the individual.
There was a great scholar, court poet in the Chola period by name Aakki Azvan. He had a mad ambition that he should defeat all the vidwans and scholars in the world. He wanted to demolish all of them by his debating prowess. He wanted to humiliate them and establish his superiority over them. When a person comes and declare himself as a great scholar, he would conduct a test for him before accepting him for an argument! The king didn’t approve of this mentality of Aakki Azvan. But he didn’t want to stand in his way. Accordingly the king sent out messages to different scholars and invited them for participating in the debate. He made arrangements for the arrival of these scholars. The message of the king reached a gurukulavasa- a residential school where the acharya was absent. There was a student by name Yamuneyan in the school who later became the famous Azhavandar! “ Why does the king invite me?” questioned the lad. “ You are required to debate with the patron scholar of the king” said the servant. “Why should my acharya come for this purpose? I will come to debate” replied the boy.
The king and the Queen were stunned at the sight of the young lad! While the King said that the boy would lose, the queen maintained that the lad would surely win over the court scholar. Aakki Azvan was shocked to see such a young boy come to argue with him. He was sure that he will defeat the boy in no time. “What is my scholarship and what is the age and ignorance of the boy!” he thought. The boy declared that he is well read in all the shastras and challenged Aakki Azvan. Yamuneyan told AakkiAzvan that whatever he says should be disproved by AakkiAzvan. The boy was given the first chance to make a statement.
In the king's court, in the presence of many courtiers, young Yamuneyan said, “ Your mother is not barren!” All were shocked! Now, according to the accepted conditions, Akki Azvan has to prove that his mother is a barren woman! How is it possible? He had no clue to disprove the statement made by the boy. He looked crestfallen and remained silent and stupefied. “ Shall I make the next statement?” continued Yamuneyan. “This King is called “Sarvabhouma.” Akki Azvan has to argue and prove that the king is not “ Sarvabhouma.” It was very difficult to argue against the statement! Akki Azvan felt he was losing ground. Yamuneyan was at his best. He made the final statement which blew off Akki Azvan! “The Queen is a great chaste woman.” AakkiAzvan's fate was sealed! He has to prove that the Queen is not a chaste woman! How can he establish this? His arrogance has now led him to his downfall! He could not argue against the three statements made by Yamuneyan! He accepted defeat but wanted to know how Yamuneyan's statements could be disproved or legitimized.
Yamuneyan was not without answers! The crow that lays a single egg and theplantain tree that flowers only once are considered barren by the sastras! Similarly being the only son of the mother she is clubbed with them and called barren! The king and the gathering accepted the explanation of Yamuneyan! A king can be called an Emperor or “ Sarvabhouma” if he has conquered all the kingdoms nearby. But here the king is the ruler of Chola kingdom only! There are other kings ruling the Pandya and Chera kingdoms! As such how can this king be called “Sarvabhouma?” The third answer was very interesting. According to Sastras, before the birth of the woman, her Soul resides with the Moon! Next it remains with the Gandharvas, a class of Devas! They hand over the woman to Agni God of Fire! Such a woman is married to a groom on Earth! How can a woman be called chaste if she had remained with three heavenly persons? Hence, the Queen, according to Sastras, cannot be called very chaste and pure!! The mantras during the marriage ritual stress on the state of the woman before her birth! The Queen was overwhelmed with joy and ran to receive Yamuneyan and said that he has come to rule them! She exclaimed in Tamil, “ Yemmai aazha vandiro!” From that time onwards Yamuneyan came to be called “Azhavandar!”
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