This lesson tells you all about KUNDALAKESI and VALAYAAPATHI, the fourth and fifth of the great epics in Tamil. Both are not available to us in their entirety. Both deal with two different religions. KUNDALAKESI is based on Buddhism while VALAYAAPATHI is based on Jainism. The story of these epics too, is not clear. However, from what is available, we know that epics belonging to other religions were destroyed, though they have their own literary merits.

    ‘Kesi’ means a lady’s plait. As her hair was curly, she was called Kundalakesi. Her name has been taken as the title of this epic.

    The poet who composed this epic was Nagakutthanaar. He was an ardent Buddhist, who is believed to have known all about his previous births. He is supposed to have lived during the 10th century A.D. The basic idea of the epic is, ‘‘If someone tries to kill you, there is nothing wrong in killing him first’’. Another major concept is that, from the moment we are born, we are getting closer to death everyday. Hence, human life is impermanent.

    A copy of VALAYAAPATHI is believed to have existed till the 19th century in the Thiruvaavaduthurai Aadeenam. U.V.Swaminatha Iyer claimed to have seen it. Subsequently, it seems to have disappeared.

    We therefore do not know who wrote this epic VALAYAAPATHI, when it was written, who the hero is, and what the story of the epic is. From the fragmentary verses available to us, we can only gather that it was a Jainist work. The epic claims that human life is the greatest form of creation, that it is impossible to plumb the depths of a woman’s mind, and that children are the most valuable assets of man. This epic also contains excellent descriptions of nature.

    Thus, this lesson teaches you all about the last two major epics, KUNDALAKESI and VALAYAAPATHI, and how we can understand their greatness from the fragments available to us.