5.4. Syanandurapuravarnana-samuccaya

[Full title: Works written in Puranic (Legendary) style: Syanandurapuravarnana-samuccaya ]

Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya [syanandurapura-varnana-samuccaya]^[1] is an unpublished poetic composition, in the usual puranic style, that deals with some aspects of the history of the Padmanabhaswami Temple. The intention of the author is not merely to celebrate the sacredness of the temple, but also to give a faithful account of the temple and its association as known to him. The author of the Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya makes an effort to bring about a combination of the puranic and historical aspects in respect of the Padmanabha Swami Temple. The colophon of the temple highlights many astonishing facts of Travancore history, Political, social and cultural and thereby makes a unique impact on the hitoriography of Travancore of the 11th 12th centuries AD.

The name of the person who composed this excellent work is not revealed any where in the work. Still in the colophon he is said to have belonged to Manigrama in the Tulu country. Also it is recorded that he was the son a certain Vishnu and pupil of one Madhava.

These facts are contained in the verse^[2] :—

grāme mahājanapade tulurājyalakṣmī
  bhūte maṇau mahitapādaparasya viṣṇoḥ |
putrasya mādhavapadasya mahāmahimnaḥ
  pādābjasaṅgi śirasā kṛtinīdṛśī yā ||

This is historically very significant that the author belonged to Manigrama, a fact which is astonishing to all students of Kerala History, since, the word Manigrama occurs in various historical records of South India, especially those that hail from the west cost. A lot of confusion prevails over the import of the word, and scholars have variously interpreted it according to their own taste and out look. Still, the general tendency of scholars, is to interpret the Manigrama as a guild of Christian marchants^[3].

Gramam means a company or guild inscriptions^[4] have proved that Manigramam was a guild of first class marchants. Mani means great and therefore Manigramam may mean ‘great guild’^[5]. Gopinatha Rao wrote that ‘Manigramam never meant or implied a community of immigrated Christian marchants, who wer received and settled by a Malabar king in his country and that they were not peculiar only to the Malabar court^[6].

The mention made in the Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya brings to light the following new point. (1) Manigramam was the name of a village in the Tulu country. The poet, who must have been an Empran (Tulu Brahmin) belonged to that.

The date of the Syanandurapura-varnana-Samuccaya is clearly indicated in the colophons. It is stated below.

antye yuge'tipatiteṣu catussahasrasaṃvatsarādhikaśatadvayavatsareṣu
aikonasaptatisamāsu ca pañcaviṃśabhūyo dine kadayite vimalagrahaughe
abhyāgate surajananyadhidaiva tārāsaṃkrāntacandralagitāmara pūjyatuṃge
paṅkeruhodbhavasaronikaṭembujākṣasaṃsthapanādhikṛtajanmamahāphalena
dakṣeṇa velaviṣayeśa vaṭatsamākhyāśreṇi kuleddhamaṇināmitadakṣiṇena
ākarṇitā guṇagaṇārjitakarṇavairiyantṛpraṇītamanasā sasabhāsadeyaṃ

From the above one learns that on the specified day the samuccaya, on its completion, was heard by king Udaya Martanda Varma in court, examined by the scholars present there and duly dedicated at the fact of Sripadmanabha. The day specified was the 25th day the kali year 4269 and Punarvasu asterism. So it is clear that the poet was alive on that day and the composition was over before that.

The whole work consists of 25 Adhyayas. The first chapter is devoted for Syanandura ksetravarnana. It gives a general account of the temple.

It is historically interesting that in this chapter the author tries to give an etymology for the place name Syanandura^[7] -

ānandosya na dūre syāt purasyeti mumukṣubhiḥ
purāṇermunibhirbhaktaiḥ syānandūrapuraṃ smṛtam ||

According to this etymology to place came to be known by that name, because the ancient sages considered Ananda (transcendental bliss) as not far from there. The original name seems to be Anandapura, a mislection of which was Anantapura. This samuccaya derives the place name from Ananda, meaning bliss. Obviously the author’s attempt is to create a spiritual halo around the name. Whatever be his interpretation of the import of the word Andanda, as related to the place name, it remains a point that he too speaks of the place as Anandpura.

The broad boundaries of the Ksetra are specified thereafter.

yaduttaraṃ dakṣiṇa sindhurājāt yaddakṣiṇaṃ vā malayānmahādreḥ |
pratyak ca yata kuṇḍamavacchinatti paitāmahaṃ prāk ca saridhṛtasrak ||

The country north of the southern sea, south of the Malaya mountain, west of the Paitamahakunda and east of the sea has been specified as the Ksetra of Padmanabha.

The second chapter described Padmanabasayana or the reclining posture of Visnu as Padmanabha. The third chapter deals with Padmanabharadhana. In the fourth chapter the poet describes the four limits of the city of Syanandura, that was marked by the Brahmakunda in the south west and the Paitamahathirta in the north east. The specification of the limits is continued the fifth chapter that goes by the title of Syanandura maryadavarmana. In the sixth, seventh and eighth chapter, the various tirta tanks with in the said limits are described.

The ninth chapter is devoted exclussively for a description of the jatakunda. The tenth describes, the Cakratirtha. The 11th deals with the tirthasnanavidhi. The 12, 13, 14 & 15 expound the rare merits of the various Danas such as Vidyadana, Godana, Hiranyadana & Kanyadan. Matters like ksetravasaniyamavidhi, Padmanabha yogopanyasa, ksetralaksana, Jambukopakhyana, Syanandurastava, Ksetrasamarthya, Poojotsava varnana, Balisevaprasamsa and Ksetrasamarthyaika presamsana are dealt with in the subsequent chapters and lastly, the colophon, that possess supreme historical importance.

The light shed by the Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya on the history of Venad, in the 12th century AD is really treamendous. All such details spring from the colophon -which has proved itself to be a mine of information for Travancore history.

The historical verses^[8] are produced here under.

śrīpadmanābhapadapaṅjadhūlibhājā velādhipenaguṇaratnasadākareṇa
mārtāṇḍe ityudayaśabda purassareṇa nāmnaiva vairitimirapravilāpakena
godasya yādavakulottamabhūṣaṇasya dharmārthakāmasadṛśeṣu mahāguṇeṣu |
jāteṣu citracariteṣu suteṣu tena prāduṣkṛtena dadhateva ca mokṣasiddhi
svaiḥpauruṣairabhinavīkṛtapadmanābhasanmandirottama guṇāgrajakeralena
uddaṇḍadaṇḍabalimaṇḍitapāṇḍyacoladaṇḍā vakhaṇḍana śarāsanamaṇḍalena
dorddaṇḍadaṇḍacakitedvidha diśamaulī saṃghṛṣṭapādasarasīruhapīṭhikena
paṅkeruhākṣapadapaṅkajapīṭhapāda vanyāsadeśaviluṭhan maṇimaulanālaḥ
nanāśrutismṛtipurāṇa samastaśāstraśāsyena viprajanapūjanasannatena
padmopamānanayanena mukundabhaktibhānūdayonmiṣadudāramukhāṃbujena
vidvajjanānanasarojasudhāpravāhakāntāmanaḥ kumudinī rajanīkareṇa
satpātrasannihitaśuddhaghanaprabhedasampāditākhilasureśvaravaibhavena

King Goda of the Yadavakula, was the ruler of the Velavisaya^[9], to be identified with Venad. He had four sons. The first was named Vira Kerala. He rebuilt the Padmanabhaswami temple. The fourth was Udaya marthandavarma who extended liberal patronage to the author of the samuccaya. Udayamarthanda varma was a devottee of Sripadmanabha. He was the abode of many good qualities. He struck terror on his foes. He defeated the forces of the Pandyas and colas. He was wellversed in the various Srutis’, Smrtis, Puranas and all the sastras. He bowed his head in the addoration of Brahmins. He was a patron of men of letters and a unique philanthropist.

The genaelogy, as given in the Syanandura-pura-varnana-Samuccaya, is perfectly correct, because, the contemporary epigraphs provide excellent corroboration for these facts. They also furnish the names of the two princess that had not been revealed in the Samuccaya. Chronologically also the mention in the Samuccaya is found very scientific. This may be known from the following:

The Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya reveals that Kota varma had four sons, among whom Udayamarthanda Varma was the fourth. The first was Kerala Varma. It is also known that Udaya Martanda Varma was reigning in 354 M.E. Inscriptions of the king, dated from 343 to 371 M.E. have been noticed. So, it is clear that the Udayamartanda Varma of the Samuccaya was identical with the namesake who figures in the inscriptions cited above. The Colapuram inscription of 302 M.E. belongs to one Vira Kerala Varma. He may be rightly identified with the Kerala Varma mentioned in the Syanandurapura-varnana-Samuccaya. Thus we get 302 M.E. as the earliest known date of the elder brother and 371 M.E. as the latest known date of the youngest. Of the period between these two we have got inscriptions of two more rulers Kotai Aditya Varma and Kotai Ravi Varma by name. In the Suchindram inscription of 320 M.E. Vira Kerala is mentioned as Kotai Kerala. So also is the Trivandrum Gosala inscription of Vira Udaya Marthanda Varma. From all this it could be learnt that Kota Varma’s four sons were Kotai Kerala Varma, Kotai Aditya Varma, Kotai Iravi Varma and Kotai Martanda Varma. The surname Kotai had been applied to all the four brothers. Moreover, the earliest known date of the first son happens to be posterior to 292 M.E., the known date of the Kuparkon mentioned in the verse inscription spoken of by Nagam Ayya, and therefore Kota Varma of the Samuccaya has to be identified with the Kuparkon.

The general effect of the colophon on the political history of Travancore is four-fold. They are:-Kotavarma, who is not known to history from other sources, has been introduced in history. He serves as the connecting link between Ramavarma Kulasekhara and Virakerala Varma. Virakerala of the Colapuram inscription dated 302 M.E^[10]. and Vira Kotai Kerala of the the Suchindram inscription^[11] of 320 & 325 M.E. are proved to be one and the same. The myth that Vira Kerala Varma was the son of Ramavarma Kulasekhara has been exploded. It is found that Virakerala Varma alias Virakotai Kerala Varma, Virakotai Aditya Varma, Virakotai Ravivarma and Vira Udaya Martanda Varma alias Kotai Martandavarma were brothers.

As regards the history of the Padmanabhaswami Temple, the Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya furnishes very useful information. Such items of information relate to 5 importants aspects of temple history, namely the royal benefactions, the major ceremonies, glorious of the temple, the antiquity of some of the temple leagends and the various tanks attached to the temple.

The most important informations furnished by the Syanandura-pura-varnana-Samuccaya in this ragard is about the re-construction of the Padmanabhaswami Temple by Virakerala Varma. This is revealed by the adjective—abhinavīkṛta padmanābha sanmandirottama—applied Virakerala Varma.

The second half of the nineth verse of the Colophon describes Vira Udaya Martanda Varma as to have installed the image of amburuhākṣa in the precincts paṅkeruhodbhavasaras to be identified with Brahmakunda^[12].

The verse^[13]:—

paṅkeruhodbhavasaronikare amburuhākṣasamastāpanādhikṛtajanma mahāphalena ||

The Samuccaya speaks of many rites and ceremonies that were in vogue in the Padmanabhaswami Temple foremost among them being trikālabaliseva, referred to in the—pūjotsava varṇanā |—The ceremonies like—balisevā dhvajoddhāpanā, pūjāvasānapraṇāmā etc.—also been described. The festival of Padmanabha is said to have been attended not only by the Kupakas. Pandya and Cola Kings, but also by all pious rulers. Also the Samuccaya contains the earliest documentary mention of the Arat procession of Sri Padmanabha at the end of the festival.

yātrābhirgrāmavidhiṣu puṇyairavabhṛtairapi reveals the fact.

The glories of the temple have been some commonly in the work on all releavant occassions. The antiquity of two leagends about the Padmanabhaswami temples has been attested by the Samuccaya. One is the Fox-tale and the other the reclining stretch of Sripadmanabha. The Jambukopakhyana has been narrated at some length in the 20th chapter. According to tradition Pamanabha reclines in his abode at Trivandrum, stretching northward, with his head at Tiruvallam and feet at Trippadapuram or Trippappur. In the Samuccaya it is stated that Pura and Ksetra are identical and so the Pura of Padmanabha is not different from his ksetra which is the same as his Sarira.

Padmanabha is stated to be the ksetrajna.

purakṣetraśarīrādiśabda ekārthavācakaḥ
mama kṣetraṃ śarīraṃ me tatra kṣetrajñātā mama ||

It is also said:

kṣetrajñābhūtacaitanyaṃ vyāptamekaṃ vidurbudhāḥ
asmin kṣetre ca varttehaṃ vyāpakatvena sarvadā ||

The latter verse refeals the old belief that Padmanabha’s reclining Sarira occupies the whole of his Pura namely the Syananduraksetra. Again, the Syananduraksetra has been defined in the Samuccaya as the whole of the territory lying between the Matsyatirtha, to be identified with Tiruvallam, in the south, and the Mahanadi, to be identified with the Attingal river on the South bank of which is located the Sripadam palace, the permanent residence of the female members of the Travancore royal palace. The Samuccaya testifies to the prevalenfe of the popular belief even in those days.

Many of the temple tanks considered as Tirthas are mentioned in the Samuccaya they are the:

1. brahma-kuṇḍa [brahmakuṇḍaṃ],
2. agastya-kuṇḍa [agastyakuṇḍaṃ],
3. pitṛ-tīrtha [pitṛtīrthaṃ],
4. śūrpākara-tīrtha [śūrpākaratīrthaṃ],
5. rāmasaras,
6. varāha-tīrtha [varāhatīrthaṃ],
7. kaṇvatīrtha [kaṇva-tīrtha],
8. jaṭā-kuṇḍa [jaṭākuṇḍaṃ], and
9. cakra-tīrtha [cakratīrthaṃ]

The light shed by the Samuccaya on the social history of Travancore is also great and remarkable. While discussing the endless merit of making gifts of young girls of Kanyadana, the author says emphatically that the gift of girls to others was an honourable deed.

It is evident that he is pleading for it says:—

kanyādānaṃ tu manyante manyaṃ munigaṇeśvarāḥ
kanyā hi dharmakāmārthā bhartuḥ puṣṇāti sarvadā ||

Then he speaks of the dedication of girls as Dasis to temples.

devālayeṣu dāsyaśca dātavyāḥ śuddhayonijāḥ
nṛttagītaratā kaścit parivāraratā parāḥ
sevārthaṃ kalpanīyāstā mama kṣetre viśeṣataḥ ||

It has been prescribed that young girls of the described qualities should be dedicated to temples, subject to the condition that only Sudra girls should be made so. More interesting is the statement that such Sudra girls should be given as Dasis to temples in general and to the Padmanabhasvami temple in particular. Equally interesting is the mention of the two divisions of the girls dedicated. They are (1) those who dance and sing and (2) those who attend the deity as the Parivara.

From this we are to understand that an intending devotee could purchase a Sudra woman and dedicate her to the temple. No question of voluntary dedication is implied, because girls of the first three Varnas are declared unqualified to be dedicated.

The passage:—

dānaṃ samastaṃ upabhogaguṇaṃ viśiṣṭaṃ
bhogaṃ manoharataraṃ vanitāśarīraṃ ||

Clearly indicates that the dedication of a girl as Devadasi has nothing to do with her will, spirit, mind and personality. It was nothing higher than sham purchase.

The availability of Sudra girls for such purchase would also indicate the plight of the lower sections of society. This is corroborated by another fact also. The Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya prescribes that the girls of the fourth order would be given away to men of the upper orders only as Dasis. Since it had already been doctrinised that the Vanitasarira should have upabhogaguna, it could not be supposed that such Dasis were maid-servants or attendants of non-menial service. So we are to infer that such Dasis were neither wives, nor attendants, but concubines or, in a restricted sense, consorts.

The Syanandurapura-varnana-Samuccaya says:

traivarṇikeṣu dātavyāḥ
dāsītvena caturthajāḥ ||

The social implication of this kind of purchase and gift and also the said kind of sexual co-habitations is that it presupposes the existence of a social set up in which the lower stratum of the populace was in the clutches of a powerful aristocracy. Also, the existence of patriarchy among the lower sections of the society and the strength of the paternal right even to sell or surrender a daughter to somebody against her will have been indicated. This also suggests that matriarchy had not evolved as a social institution among the Sudras, with whose women the men of the first three Varnas were authorised to have co-habitation. In matriarchy, every girl is born with a right to individuality and a title to the family wealth which could not be denied so long as she is alive.

That the Sudra folks of South Travancore had not been taken to matriarchy in the 12th centuary AD. is attested to by the Samuccaya. While speaking about the Pitrtirtha, the Syanandura-pura-varnana-Samuccaya adverts to the Sraddha being offered there. It has also been proved that Pitrtirtha was the same as Tiruvallam. So, the Sraddha referred to therein was identical with the Amavasisraddha performed at Tiruvallam by the Sudras. It must be noted that, by custom, the Traivarnikas never performed this rite. Also, the low caste people, inferior to the Sudras, were not authorised to perform the Sraddha in the tirtha. Therefore, it is evident that those who performed the oblation were the Sudras only. The Samuccaya says that by eating the pinda by Visnu in the form of the Matsya -prabhus the ‘sons’ of the dead were purified and the dead transcended to heaven. Here we find the ‘sons’ performing the pinda of the dead. This would be irregular in a matriarchy in which the nephew alone had that right.

This has been further evidenced by another fact mentioned in the Samuccaya. Kota Varma’s four sons reigned after him in their order of age. This is proved by inscriptions.

Therefore, it becomes abundantly clear that in those days the Venad royal house followed patrilineal succession. The system of succession of the native population was the same as that followed by their king.

As regards the political geography of Venad in that period, the Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya has two important mentions -identity of the Venad & Kupaka kingdomes, boundary of the Kupaka and Pandya territories. The identity of the Kupaka kingdom with Venad is a disputed point in Kerala history. Some scholars are reluctant to accept their identity has undoubted fact. Dr. K.K. Pillai, while discussing the establishment of the sovereignty of Venad rulers in Nancinad writers; “Mr. T.K. Velupillai says that the Venad kings are often described, as belonging to the Kupaka dynasty. If this is true, it may be tentatively accepted that Vira kerala was the victor”^[14]. But the Syanandurapura-varnana-Samuccaya proved beyond all doubts they were not different from each other. Speaking about the Malaya mountain from which the river Tamraparni takes her course the Samuccaya says that he said mountain marks the boundary of the Kupaka and Pandya kingdoms. That means the territorry west of the source of the Tamraparni formed part of the Kupaka-Rastra.

The passage is:—

pāṇḍya kūpaka rāṣṭre dve
vibhajanniva saṃsthitaḥ ||

Moreover, the river Ghrtamala or the Neyyar is said to have its source in the same mountain:

syānandūrapurakṣetravaprakārāḥ priyo mama
avatīrya gireśṛṅgān malayasya mahānadī
ghṛtamālā svanāmnaiva samudramabhisarpati
kumbhayonipadāmbhoja prakṣālana śubhodaka |

It is stated that the Ghrtamala also takes her course from the Malaya and that her waters are sanctified by the treads of sage Agastya. Actually, the Neyyar starts from the Agastyakuta and falls in the western sea. So, the name Malaya has been applied to a portion of the western ghats, from the Agastyakuta peak to the source of the Tamraparni. The territory west of the specified mountain range is located to the south and north-east of Trivandrum. If this area is mentioned as comprised in the Kupaka-rastra we cannot think of the two as different kingdoms.

The statement that the Malaya seperated the Pandya and Kupaka countries is very significant because, even now the Agastyakuta marks the boundary of the Kerala and Tamilnadu states.

The limits of the syananduraksetra have been specified in the Samuccaya in these words:

ghṛtamālābrahmakuṇḍamalayāmbodhi madhyagam
yatkṣetraṃ prathitaṃ pṛthvī tatra tiṣṭhāmi me śṛṇu |

The limits of the ksetra are the Ghrtamala, the Brahmakunda, the Malaya and the sea. while describing the Ghrtamala, the author says that the river serves as a line of moats of Syanandurapura.

Again, it has been stated that the Ghrtamala forms the southeastern boundary Syanandura, while the sea marks the south-western boundary.

pūrvadakṣiṇabhāgasya maryādātvaṃ bibharti yā
pratyag dakṣiṇabhāgasya maryādāmbhonidhisvayam ||

The western boundary has been further specified as the sea between two stations, the Brahmakunda in the north and the spot of the confluence of the Chritamala and the sea in the south.

abrahmakuṇḍāt pūrvoktāt ā ca nadyā ghṛtasarajaḥ
saṅgamādambudhissīmā mama kṣetrasya sundarī!

Of the four limits specified above the northern limit is not clear, even though the Brahmakunda is mentioned as the northern limit. But, the other three are natural boundaries and the northern line is not of that kind, since the Brahmakunda is a lake on the sea coast, and the line running from that to the Malayacalanta is left unspecified. We may take it to be a line running eastwards from the Brahmakunda to the source of the Vamanapuram river.

This extent is much significant for history because it forms the territory held by the Trippappur svarapam in later periods. This area forms not only a compact geogrphical unit but also a separate cultural, linguistic and racial compartment. The social institutions, habits and manners of the people of this territorial unit have much in common.

The main contributions of the Samuccaya to cultural history in the mention of the royal court in which Udaya Marthanda Varma heard the Syanandurapuravarnana-Samuccaya recited. Further, the scholars present there inspected the work.

The colophon says:

ākarṇitā guṇagaṇārjitakarṇavairiyantraprapitamanasā sasabhāsadayaṃ
ālocitā yatibhiḥ kṛtirevameṣā saṃsthapitā jalajanābhakṛte ca tena ||

From this it has to be understood that even in the 12th century AD, the rulers of Venad entertained a court of poets and scholars. This is very important for history because this forms the earliest documentary reference to the Travancore court, which in later days, acquired universal fame and admiration.^[15].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Maharaja’s palace library 521, 522,523 (Vol. II); Descriptive catalogue 237 (Vol. 2); Bibliography of Sanskrit Literature of Kerala -P -494—Some verses of the Colophone were pub.for the first time in the Travancore Administration Report for the year 1113ME.—Later on S. Sanku Ayyar pub. the historically important porttions of the colophone, with a brilliant explanation in his book ‘Kerala charithrathile chila ajnatha bhagangal’, Kottayam 1963, P -58 -60. But the complete text of the Colophone is still unpub.

[2]:

S. Sanku Ayyar, op. cit, P -58

[3]:

Epi-In -Vol. XVIII, PP-69 -72

[4]:

The Kottayam plate of Stanu Ravi (Travancore Arceological Series Vol. II -P -8)
Kottayam grant of Vira Raghava Chakravarthi (Epi -in -Vol. IV -P -295)

[5]:

There were also other similar guilds like the Anchuvanam, Nanadesi, Valanchiyar etc.all of which disappeared after the 13th century.

[6]:

Epi-in -Vol. XVIII -P -72

[7]:

S. Sanku Ayyar op. cit. -P -108

[8]:

S. Sanku Ayyar Op-cit -P. -59

[9]:

The expression ‘Velavisaya’ is very significant. It is obviously the Sanskrit ren dering of the vernacular name Vel-nadu. This lends support to the argument that the name Venad has to be derived from Vel-Nadu and not from Ven-nadu.

[10]:

Travancore Arceological Series Vol. IV-P -17

[11]:

Travancore Arceological Series Vol. IV -pp -19 -20

[12]:

Brahmakunda has to be identified with Varkala, and so we are to understand that the Visnu temple located there was founded by Udayamartandavarma.

[13]:

S. Sanku Ayyar op-cit-P -60

[14]:

Dr. K.K. Pillai, ‘The Sucindram Temple, Madras, 1953, P -30

[15]:

For more details see—
a) S. Sanku Ayyar -Kerala caritrattile cila ajnatabhagangal, Kottayam 1963 Pp -57 -80, Pp -105 -107
b) Sanskritic sources -Mahesvaran Nair -P 43 -78