4. The Mayura-sandesa by Udaya

The Mayura-sandesa [Mayurasandesa]^[1] of Udaya deserves a really high position among the Sandesakavyas. The poet is a member of a royal family and the author of a commentary, ‘Kaumudi’ on Abhinavaguptas Locana to Dhvanyaloka. It has been established beyond doubt that Udaya belonged to the Manakkulam royal family of Kerala the member of which has hereditary ‘Srikantha’. The date of the work can be assigned to the beginning of the 16th C.

The subject matter of this poem is the hero Srikantha, identified with the auother send a message of love to Maracemantika at Annakara near Kunnamkulam.

This poem refers the route from Trivandrum to Annakara in the north. The messenger has to proceed along the coastal route from Varkala to Quilon. Then turning slightly to the east he is to go to Kottayam via Kantiyur, the capital of the Kayamkulam kings. Passing by Ettumanur and crossing the river Pulla (Muvattupuzha) he is to reach Trippunithura, the residence of the Cochin rulers. After crossing the Alwaye river and passing through Cennamangalam, Crangannore and Irinjalakkuda, the messenger is to reach Brahmakkala where the heroine Maracandrika alias Uma resides. The description of the towns temples rivers and kingdomes on the way through which the Sandesahara passes is of great historical value.

Kings, Poets and other reputed persons

This poem refers to a king Srikantha. Dr. C. Kunhan Raja identifies the hero of the poem with the author of the work^[2]. He also says that the real name of the author in Udaya who is also the author of the commentary called Kaumudi on the Dhvanyaloka and that Srikantha is the hereditary title of the eldest member of the royal family to which Udaya belonged. This is the Manakkulam royal family in central Kerala. The Malayalam equivalent of this title is Kantan tota and is seen in the famous Malayalam poem Chandrotsavam. Mayura refers to a rich scholar named Sankara. He is described as a great scholar on Sukranti and Brahaspatiniti. Dr. C. Kunhan Raja doubts whether he is the author of the Jayamangala commentaries on the Kamandakiya and Arthasastra. Uddanda Sastri, one of the court poets of Maravikrama and the author of the Mallikamaruta and Kokila sandesa is also mentioned in the Mayura of Udaya. Uddanda scholarly elocution is remarked in this poem as similar to the flow of the river Ganges.

The royal family of Kocci came into political prominence only in the beginning of the 16th C, but it has its origin as an independent principality after the fall of the Kulasekhara empire^[3]. The traditional view is that it came into existence by the division of Kerala by Ceraman Perumal^[4]. The first king of Cochin was the son of the sister of the last perumal. The dynasty is called Perumpatappu svarupam or Balya country.

The Balya country and its capital Bhutivahini are described in this poem^[5]. The Balya country is identified with the Perumpatappu principality the modern Cochin family and Bhutavahini with Vellarappilly, the seat of the Perumpatuppu family for a long time. The hero speaks of this country and its capital as his own. The author is a king himself. He belonged to the Manakkulam royal family which had the title ‘Srikantha” for its eldest member^[6].

From the words of hero about the country as ‘his own’ one can understand that it was the place of his overlord.

draṣṭuṃ pṛthvīvibhavamavatīrṇā kimu svargalakṣmīrāloketāḥ kimu nijapadādudghaṭo nākalokaḥ
āste mūrtā kimu janadṛśāṃ bhāgyasīteti manye sandehaste manye bhavitā paśyatosyā vibhūtim ||

In this verse the glories of Kollam have been described. This indicates that Kollam, the biggest city in Venad in those days, famous as an emporium of trade, was the very seat of prosperity and splendour.

In another verse the poet tries to give a Sanskritic derivation of the name Kolamba.

ko alam vaktuṃ kaviranupamāṃ vṛddhimityarthasaṃśaḥ
kolambeti dhramavikalo yatra jāgarti śabdaḥ ||

The derivation is “Ko alam vaktum iti kolamva bhavayorabhedat kolamba” ie, no poet is competent to describe Quilons prosperity and so the place came to be know as that which could not be described whatever be the acceptability or otherwise of the derivation to remain a fact that this is the first known attempt of a Sanskrit writer to derive the non-Sanskrit word kolamba in the characteristic Sanskrit fashion.

The poem does not mention the Kupaka kings name, but says that Kolamba was the city of the Kupakas, the usage being—

“kolambākhyaṃ praviśa nagarīṃ kūpakakṣmāpatīnām |”

For more details see Kerala Sahitya Caritram, Ullur Vol. II -Pp 77 -80; Keraleya Samskrita Sahitya Caritram IV -Pp 226 -231

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ed. Dr. C. Kunhan Raja -Poona Oriental Series No. 84, 1944 with introduction, Sanskrit commantary and notes. Ullur Sahityaparishat Traimasikam Tulam lakkam 1119 Dr. Kunhan Raja Sahityaparishat Traimasikam Makaram 1119—Journal of Oriental Research, Madras 15 P 14, Puna orientalist, XXII, P 54

[2]:

Mayurasandesa intro. P. 20

[3]:

Studies in Kerala History -P 169

[4]:

Vide PKS Raja -Medieval Kerala, 1953 P. 70

[5]:

Mayurasandesa I -78 -85

[6]:

Kerala Sanskrit Literature -P 228