Ponniyin Selvan - The Crown - Part 4

By Varalotti Rengasamy

When I started translating Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan in 2010, blissfully unaware of the depth and the magnitude of the work, several people tried to dissuade me. One potential publisher even lured me with an offer to translate another work of Kalki. Reason: there were already many translations around. Yes, there were. But most of them, though done with utmost sincerity, failed to create the emotional bond with the readers which the original author had effortlessly done in the Fifties when Ponniyin Selvan was serialised in a popular magazine.

I did not rush up. I did not have a target or deadline. I let the translation work progress in its own pace. That explains the six long years I spent for this project. I read and re-read the first draft a dozen times before handing it over to my editors. There were many points of contention. There were issues where we could not reach a consensus easily. Finally the hard copy was ready for publication in 2016. The publisher had jitters and so did I.

We got ready rough copies of two volumes. I gave it to two of my friends, who had read the original more than sixty times, with a mandate to read them in one go. They did and said “This is the best you can do in English.”

The work culminated not when the book was released by a former Central Minister in 2016, not even when it went for three editions but when an ardent fan of Kalki sent a mail to me in 2019.

“It was as if Kalki himself rendered his great work in English.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pustaka Digital Media
• Release date: Apr 2, 2021
• ISBN: 6580542406721

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Ponniyin Selvan Part 4

The Crown

Author:

Kalki

Rendered In English By:

Varalotti Rengasamy

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - On The Banks of River Kedilam

Chapter 2 - The Grandfather And The Grandson

Chapter 3 - The Falcon And The Dove

Chapter 4 - The Ayyanar Temple

Chapter 5 - The Deadly Underground Tunnel

Chapter 6 - Manimekalai

Chapter 7 - The Monkey Without A Tail

Chapter 8 - Two Hands In The Dark

Chapter 9 - The Dog Barked

Chapter 10 - The Manhunt

Chapter 11 - Is He A Friend Or A Traitor?

Chapter 12 - The Broken Spear

Chapter 13 - The Secret in  Manimekalai’s Heart

Chapter 14 - Will Her Dream Come True?

Chapter 15 - The Royal Hospitality

Chapter 16 - Malaiyaman’s Worry

Chapter 17 - Poonkuzhali’s Heart

Chapter 18 - The Arrow

Chapter 19 - The Laughter And The Fire

Chapter 20 - The Doctor’s Son Once Again

Chapter 21 - The Palanquin Ride

Chapter 22 - Chief Minister Aniruddhar Disappointed

Chapter 23 - Can a Dumb Woman Speak?

Chapter 24 - The Anxiety Of The Princess

Chapter 25 - The Chief Minister’s Fault’

Chapter 26 - The Commotion In The Streets

Chapter 27 - In the Subterranean Treasury

Chapter 28 - The Subterranean  Chamber

Chapter 29 - The King’s Dharshan

Chapter 30 - The Charge

Chapter 31 - The Evening Dream

Chapter 32 - Why Do You Torment Me?

Chapter 33 - The Goddess Of The Chozha Clan

Chapter 34 - Ravana In Danger

Chapter 35 - The Emperor’s Anger

Chapter 36 - Late In The Night

Chapter 37 - Kadambur Agitated

Chapter 38 - Nandini Refused

Chapter 39 - Calamity Ahead

Chapter 40 - Water Sports

Chapter 41 - Karikalan’s Murderous Frenzy

Chapter 42 - She Is Not A Woman

Chapter 43 - Where Is The Leopard?

Chapter 44 - Love And Revenge

Chapter 45 - You Are My Sister

Chapter 46 - The Boat Moved Away

Acknowledgements

Translating a timeless epic like KALKI’S PONNIYIN SELVAN into English is a humongous task by any standard. The classic historical novel runs into 2400 plus pages and around a few hundred characters.

And that explains the six years taken to render the work in a culturally different language. My editors and I had a meticulous eye on the accuracy of the word-meaning; but never thought twice to sacrifice it  for emotional correctness whenever the context warranted. Our aim is to give the English reader the same excitement which the Tamil reader had when this novel was first serialised in a weekly magazine more than sixty years ago.

I am grateful to my devoted editors –Ms Jayashree Maniyil, Australia, who took enormous pains to edit the draft of the first four parts,  Shri R Narasimhan, my father-in-law for his priceless labour of love in reading the raw script and removing the glitches in it and Shri Suresh Ramasundaram (aka CA Yegnasubramanian) who apart from editing the script also laid down the standard for the spellings of the proper names used in the novel.

Special thanks are due to Artist Shyam for the captivating covers.

I am grateful to my family, particularly my wife Indhu, for putting up with me when I was fanatically engaged in this venture.

About the Original Author - KALKI

Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 - 5 December 1954), better known by his pen name Kalki, was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist.

He derived his pen name from his wife’s name Kalyani and his name Krishnamurthy in Tamil to form Kalki -கல்கி  - (கல்யாணி and கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி).

His  writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews. (Courtesy - Wikipedia)

Kalki is particularly known for his two great works - Sivakamiyin Sabatham and Ponniyin Selvan. The latter was serialised in the Tamil weekly Kalki during the period 1951 to 1954. That was the last work written by him.

Ponniyin Selvan, written in five volumes, narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman (later crowned as Rajaraja Chozhan) , one of the kings of the Chozha Dynasty during the 10th and 11th centuries. The cast includes several other characters, some of them real, some imaginary but none boring. The author’s influence on his readers  is borne by the fact that many children born during that time (and even much later) were named after the characters of this story. Ask someone whose name is Nandini or Kunthavai; her father would be a fan of Kalki and would have read Ponniyin Selvan at least half-a-dozen times.

Kalki’s another novel Alai Osai, set at the time of the Indian Independence Struggle, got him the Sahithya Academy Award posthumously in 1956.

Chapter 1 - On The Banks of River Kedilam

Many rivers ran through the country of Thirumunaippadi and made it fertile. River Kedilam was one of them. Lord Shiva who won over the heart of one of the greatest Nayanmars, Thirunavukkarasar was in Thiruvadikai Veerattanam which was on the banks of River Kedilam. The Lord who won over another great Nayanmar Sundaramurthy resided in Thirunavalur which was very close to the river. Between these two holy places ran the highway that connected the Thondai Mandalam, the Chozha Kingdom and the Central Provinces. The place where the highway crossed River Kedilam would be buzzing with activity throughout the day all round the year. The passengers would stop there for rest. The bullocks would be unyoked from the carts. People would have their food in that place. When they ate they would playfully throw cooked rice in the air which would be eagerly picked up by the hungry crows. Children seeing this sight would applaud and make strange sounds with their mouths - aahoo...aahoo.

It was the beginning of the Tamil month of Aippasi which corresponded to October-November of English calendar. There was more water in the river than usual. The travellers who had stopped there for lunch were excited. The excitement resulted in a loud conversation. The whole place was noisy. And then came a noise which subdued all other sounds. The travellers were startled by the sudden noise. Some of them climbed up the bank to check the source of the sound. At first they could see only a screen of dust. Then they saw the Royal paraphernalia. There were elephants, horses, palanquins and standard bearers. When the retinue came near them they could hear the sound of the person heralding the royal dignitary.

Hail the greatest of warriors who entered the battle-field at the age of twelve, the Kopparakeasari who beheaded Veerapandiyan, the lion feared by those in the Twin Provinces even in their dreams, the Head of the Northern Armed Forces, the first born of Emperor Sundara Chozhan who reigns over the three worlds, the one and only Adithya Karikala Chozhan!

When the booming voice of the herald echoed in all the directions all the people on the banks of River Kedilam ran up to meet the Crown Prince. They stood on either sides of the road leaving a clear way of passage for the royal retinue.

Heralds, the trumpet blowers and the standard bearers reached the river first. Three horses came in the rear. The horses carried young warriors. Even when they were at a distance people started pointing at them to identify them.

The one who comes in the middle is Adithya Karikalan. You should know by the golden crown that adorns his head. See how the crown shines in the rays of the sun.

You are praising this crown! You should see him wearing the grand crown of Karikal Valavan. They say that it will shine like a million suns.

"Thambi that’s not the crown of Karikal Valavan. It is so described more to honour a tradition. The truth is that our emperor Sundara Chozhan is wearing the crown which was made during the times of Emperor Paranthaka. Nobody knows how long he will wear that crown."

Looks like everyone is worried about the life of Sundara Chozhan for quite some time. I have an intuition that he will live long.

May your words come true. Let him live long. So long as he lives there won’t be any chaos in the Kingdom.

Well, I don’t buy that stuff, brother. Since the news of Ponniyin Selvan’s death the whole Chozha country is in a state of turmoil. A war may break out at any time. So say the people coming from the Chozha country.

Who’s going to fight with whom? What for?

They say that a war might break out between the Pazhuvettaraiyars and the Kodumbalur Chieftain. The Chieftains are assembling at the Kadambur Sambuvarayar Palace to prevent that war. Our Crown Prince too is going there.

The horses have come near. Don’t be so loud. It’ll land us in trouble. - warned another guy. He also added:

See the grief in the face of the Crown Prince.

How can it be otherwise? His brother is dearer to him than his own life. And if there’s no news about such a dear brother how can he be happy? See his plight. His father is in death bed. His brother’s fate is not known.

That’s not the reason for his grief. He wants to invade the Twin Provinces. He is frustrated because that could not happen.

Why? Who prevented him from waging a war against those Provinces?

Who else but the Pazhuvettaraiyars? They refuse to give him the weapons and supplies necessary for a war of such magnitude.

Everyone has his own reason. No one knows the real reason behind the Prince’s grief.

Oh, here comes the great Mr. Know-all. We give up. You tell us the real reason.

Adithya Karikalan fell in love with a girl from the Pandya Kingdom. When the Prince went for the North Pennai War the Senior Pazhuvettaraiyar forcibly married that girl. And that girl is now the Junior Queen of Pazhuvur. And she has unleashed a reign of terror in Chozha Kingdom. The Crown Prince has lost his mind after all these developments.

May be. May be. Who knows? You know our elders have said that all the wars in the world are caused by a woman.

Which elders told you that? That’s nonsense. If a Prince had fallen in love with a girl do you think that the girl would marry a sixty year old man? People may say a thousand things. Shouldn’t we use our brains?

Ok, agreed. Now you tell me why Adithya Karikalan is not yet married?

Shut up. They have come near. The one who comes to the right of the Prince is Parthibendra Pallavan. Who’s in the left? Isn’t  that Vallavaraiyan Vandhiya Thevan of the Vaana clan?

No. That’s Kandhanmaran, son of Kadambur Sambuvarayar. Sambuvarayar knew very well that if he sent a message the Crown Prince may not come. So he sent his own son as the messenger.

Which means the matter is very, very important.

The matter could be political. Or concerning the marriage of the Crown Prince. The Chieftains would be casting their net for the Prince - to marry off their daughters to him. The girl who marries him first would be the Queen of the Chozha Empire.

The spectators at the banks of River Kedilam were talking so many things. The three horses stood near the bank. The chariot stood a little away under the shade of the pupil tree. The sole occupant of the chariot was the eighty-year old warrior Thirukkovilur Malayaman, the Emperor’s father-in-law and Karikalan’s grandfather.

Adithya Karikalan turned back to look at his grandfather without getting off his horse.

Chapter 2 - The Grandfather And The Grandson

The old man in the chariot signalled to Adithya Karikalan. The Crown Prince turned his horse and went towards the chariot.

Karikala, my child! It is time to take leave of you. I am going back to Thirukkovalur. I want to share something important with you before I go. Get down from the horse and come to that platform below the pupil tree over there.

"As you please, Thaatha."

The grandfather and the grandson dismounted and walked towards the platform.

Parthibendran spoke to Kandhanmaran.

Thank God the old man decided to leave us. I was afraid that he might cling on to us till we reach our destination.

"If only he did I had decided to push him into Vellaru and drown him."

The young men laughed together.

Malainadu Udaiyar, also known as Thirukkovalur Malaiyaman, started a long narration:

"Adithya, you were born twenty four years ago. You were born in my palace at Thirukkovalur. Oh My God! I can’t forget the celebration to mark your birth.  It appears as if they happened only yesterday. People from your clan, my clan and all the Chieftains of the Chozha and Thondai Mandalam Kingdoms had come. Thirty thousand soldiers had come along with those Kings. I hosted a feast for all of them. I don’t have words to describe the grandeur of the feast. It was grander than even the coronation ceremony of your father. What my ancestors had accumulated in the treasury for a hundred years, I spent in the three-day-celebration to mark your birth.

"Your great grandfather Emperor Paranthaka visited Thirukkovalur on the occasion. Your grandfather’s brother Kandaraathithar and your father Sundara Chozhan had come. When they learnt that a boy had been born, their joy knew no bounds. They were happy that you came into this world to continue the line of Chozha clan unbroken. Your grandfather’s elder brothers did not have sons till then. Your father was the only son to your grandfather Arinjaya Chozhan.

Your father at your age was as handsome as the Love-God. Nobody had seen such a handsome man either in the Chozha clan or in any other clans of Tamilnadu. Of course your father had some troubles on account of his good looks. He was the most favoured child in the family. The women in the palace would dress him up as a woman. ‘If only he were a woman!’ they used to tell often. When he came of age all the kings from Srilanka to Vindyas were ready to offer their daughters to him. Not only was your father as handsome as Arjuna and the Love-God, he was the heir apparent of the Chozha throne. So there was a fierce competition amongst the Kings to have your father as their son-in-law. I was the lucky one to have that unique honour.

"We, Malaiyamans, whether men or women, are not known for our looks. We were a race who always thought that a man’s beauty is directly proportional to the number of war-wounds on his body. For our women, beauty only meant character and morality.  When it was decided that your father should marry my daughter, my Kingdom erupted into such a grand celebration that the Chieftains of Tamilnadu were burning in jealousy over our good fortune. I could not care less. Your parents got married in Thanjavur. The whole world was amazed by the way the wedding was celebrated. The only event that was celebrated in a grander manner than your parents’ wedding was your birth. The happy discussion and debate we had to decide on your name still lingers in my memory. Some said that you should be named after your illustrious ancestor Karikal Valavan. I and a few others insisted that you should be named after your grandfather’s brother, Rajadithya. Finally we arrived at a compromise by having the best of both the worlds - you were named Adithya Karikalan.

"Look over there, Adithya! You can see Thirunavalur’s temple tower. That was the place where Nambi Aarooran was born. Twenty five years ago your grandfather’s brother Rajadithya Chozhan camped there. I have heard many stories of warriors. I have seen many of them in Tamilnadu, a country known for its valour. But I have not seen anybody as valiant as Rajadithya Chozhan. Whosoever watched him fighting on that day would agree with me.

He camped here to gather a large army and invade the provinces in the North. He had vowed to defeat the King of the Twin Provinces, Kannara Devan and raze his capital Maniyakedam to ground. You know, once in the past the Pallava Emperor destroyed the capital of Vathaapi. Rajadithyar wanted to do the same to Maniyakedam to teach a lesson to the Twin Provinces. And if he did that he too will become popular like Mamallan, the great Pallava King who conquered the Pulikesis. Do you think it’s an easy task to gather army for such an ambitious war? It is said that the Pallava King Mamallan spent seven years to gather an army to invade Vaathapi. Rajadithya said that he did not need such a long time and that he would have the army ready in three or four years. He chose the area between River Kedilam and River Thenpannai as the best place to recruit the army and train them in warfare.

Adithya, you are not fortunate enough to witness the scene that unfolded in a place between the two rivers. And those who saw it could not forget it for the rest of their lives. Rajadithya stayed in Thirunavalur along with thirty thousand soldiers. A chieftain from the Chera Kingdom by name Vellan Kumaran was camping on the banks of Pennai River along with twenty thousand soldiers. Your grandfather Arinjaya Chozhan was with me in Thirukkovalur. Arinjayan and I recruited and trained fifty thousand soldiers for the war. Along with us were the Senior Velar of Kodumbalur, the Pazhuvettaraiyar - who has now become the curse of Chozha Kingdom, Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar - the chieftain of this place, Thirumunaippadi, Munaiyatharaiyan, Mazhavaraiyar of Mazhanadu, the Kundrathur Kizhar and Vaithumbarayan, along with their vast armies. Huge battalions of cavalry, armies of elephants and the three great infantry regiments of Kaikolas also camped along with us.

We had a lot of mock battles amongst ourselves for training. When elephants crashed against elephants the sound and the shock would resemble that of an earth quake. When the soldiers wielding shining spears rode on the horses the resultant sound would resemble the roar of the oceans during an apocalypse. When the soldiers shot a barrage of arrows in the air the skies would be covered by a screen of arrows. When the infantry marched ahead shouting battle cries it would appear that the end of the world was near. Scores of civilians would come there to witness the feats.

The people of this Thirumunaippadi country and the Middle Provinces are very good. They are known for their valour. While the army was stationed here, their agricultural activities were affected. But they did not mind. As a measure of expressing his gratitude to these people Rajadithya ordered his people to dig a lot of lakes in these countries. He brought the Coleroon River up to Veera Narayanapuram and filled the lake with the water from the river. The one person who derived the maximum benefit from that project was Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar. In those days he used to be very humble and subservient before Rajadithya. When I see his pride and vanity today I am greatly surprised."

Adithya Karikalan intervened.

Thatha, why should you worry about Sambuvaraiyar’s pride? You tell me about the war at Thakkolam. How did the vast army gathered at the banks of river Kedilam leave this place? Why did our army face defeat in spite of the vast arrangements and meticulous planning? Rajadithya was one of the greatest warriors of our times. And he was heading such a mighty army. How did the enemy manage to defeat them at Thakkolam? I know, Thatha, you also took part in the war. You must have seen what happened at the great battle field.

Yes, my child. I was there. I was about to describe the scene.

"Rajadithya gathered a vast army here. He also went to distant places to train the soldiers. Due to some reason which I do not remember now he could not leave the place as planned. Meanwhile we got the news that there was a war in Srilanka. A part of the army had to go there. When there was a strong enemy in the South the Chozha Emperor did not want the Chozha Generals and the soldiers go farther in the North. The Emperor suggested that the army could leave after the Lankan war was over. Rajadithya did not want to go against the words of his father, the then Chozha Emperor. He waited patiently for the Lankan war to end. But the enemies were not patient. The King of the Twin Provinces, Kannara Thevan, came with a huge army to invade the Chozha Kingdom. As he travelled south to invade us, Boothukan, the Kanga King joined forces with him. Those were two huge armies. At a glance it looked as if the North and the South seas merged into one great ocean eager to swallow the Chozha Kingdom. In that vast ocean of their army there were many, many giant whales, I mean the elephants, and many sharks, I mean the horses. At one time it appeared that the vast ocean would drown the entire Chozha Kingdom, as the seas would swallow the earth at the time of apocalypse. Our spies ran all the way up here to break the devastating news of invasion.

"Even that happened for good, said Emperor Paranthaka. If our armies had travelled up north to fight the enemy they would have been fatigued by the long journey and would have lost the enthusiasm to fight. That way it was better to face the enemy in the home ground. It was easy to corner them on all the four sides and vanquish them in our homeland. The Emperor allowed us to travel only when we got the news that the enemy’s army had reached Thirupathi.

"Rajadithya was raring to go. And the moment he got the Emperor’s permission he headed a huge army up North. The army consisted of three hundred thousand infantrymen, fifty thousand horsemen, ten thousand elephants, two thousand chariots, three hundred and twenty generals and thirty two Chieftains. I was fortunate to be one of them; and was unfortunate to come back alive.

After three days of travel the armies clashed against each other at a place called Thakkolam which was two miles north from Kanchi.

"Adithya, we have heard about the war between Devendra and Vrithirasura in our mythology. We also know about the Rama - Ravana war and the Pandava - Kaurava war. But those who saw the Thakkolam war would say that the mythological wars were nothing but small skirmishes. We were outnumbered in the ratio of one to two. I came to know later that the army of the enemy had five hundred thousand infantry men and thirty thousand trained elephants. So what? There was no one on the enemy side who was half as valiant as your ancestor Rajadithya. So the Goddess of Valour and the Goddess of Victory were clearly on our side.

"The war lasted for ten days. It was difficult even to take a count of the soldiers who lost their lives in the war. Dead elephants resembling black hillocks were scattered all over the battle field. Both the sides had lost heavily. But the enemy’s side became weak quite soon. The enemies soon found out the reason. Wherever Rajadithya’s elephant went proudly displaying the Tiger flag, the Goddess of Victory was following suit. Whenever a section of our army felt disheartened Rajadithya would go there along with his elephant. As soon as the soldiers saw the huge beast and the greatest warrior of our times sitting on it, they became excited and attacked the enemy with three times' greater ferocity than what they did before.

The enemies who were closely following the events of the war hatched a mean conspiracy. We came to know of it only much later. The person who hatched the conspiracy and the one who executed it was none other than the Kanga King, Boothukan. Suddenly the treacherous king hoisted the white flag of peace on his elephant, lifted both his hands above his head and approached our army repeating the words, surrender again and again. Rajadithya was near him. I think he must have done that only after seeing Rajadithya’s elephant. Rajadithya’s heart melted when he saw the enemy king surrendering to him. He wanted to know whether the King of the Twin Provinces himself wants to stop the war or was the Kanga King parting ways to save him.

He blew his conch. He ordered his body guards to stand away. He asked the enemy king Boothukan to approach his elephant. Boothukan kept his hands folded till he approached Rajadithya. Rajadithya even saw tears in his eyes. His heart melted more.

The greatest warrior of his times, the one and only Rajadithya forgot the sane advice given by the great Tamil sage Thiruvalluvar - Hidden inside the hands of an enemy folded in supplication will be a weapon to kill; even an enemy’s tears are of the same kind.

Rajadithya was moved by the enemy’s tears. So he let Boothukan come very close to him and asked him, What is the news? Boothukan’s response made Rajadithya hate him.

The treacherous king told him that he knew for sure that the armies of the Twin Provinces would be crushed in the encounter. Hence he advised Kannara Devan to surrender to the Chozha forces. Since Kannara Devan refused he came alone to surrender. Rajadithya was furious.

He told him that he would never have such a traitor on his side. He advised him to go back to his side and fight on the side of his ally, Kannara Devan. As Rajadithya was talking Boothukan committed the meanest treachery ever recorded in the history of Kings. He took out this bow and shot a poisoned arrow into the chest of Rajadithya. The great Chozha warrior fell down. Nobody was prepared for that mean act of betrayal from Boothukan. The Chozha warriors and Rajadithya’s bodyguards could not understand what happened. Everything happened in a flash. They heard Rajadithya telling the enemy king to go back to his side. The next moment they saw Boothukan driving his elephant hard to run away from the scene.

Rajadithya died while remaining seated on the elephant. It was the most devastating news for our army. It was as if a giant lightning had struck every soldier in the army. The grief of our army was so much that for a moment they simply forgot to fight. Chieftains, generals and soldiers stopped fighting and started wailing. No wonder the enemy gained an upper hand. Very soon our army was forced to retreat from the war. And it was quite easy to drive away an army which was fleeing the battle field. I am ashamed to say that I was one of those who fled the battle at that time. The enemy’s army had reached up to the banks of River Kedilam.

We regained our consciousness only when we reached here. I took my family from Thirukkovalur and left them at my fort in Malainadu. I started gathering an army on the slopes of the mountains. I came back here every now and then to drive away the enemy forces that had set up their base here. Even then the enemy did not leave this place for a long time. They stayed here and were quite a nuisance to our Kingdom. Kanchi was under their control. Three years ago you killed Veerapandiyan and came here to reclaim the city of Kanchi."

Thatha, I know the entire history. Even then I love to hear about Rajadithya’s story again and again. It never ceases to amaze me. But tell me this, Thatha. Why did you remind me now of Rajadithya?

"My Child, your grandfather’s brother, Rajadithya wanted to extend the Chozha Empire up to the banks of River Ganges. He died without realizing his dream. Now the whole Kingdom says that my grandson is no less than his illustrious ancestor Rajadithya. People are saying that you are going to fulfil Rajadithya’s dreams. I don’t want you to fall to treachery as he did. That’s why I reminded you of his story.

Thatha! My grandfather’s brother lost his life because of a mean conspiracy. Why do you remind me of that story? After all I am not going to war. I am not going to the enemy’s place to be betrayed.  I am just going to see my father’s friends. I don’t think they’ll cheat me, Thatha.

"Listen to me, my child. Our sage Thiruvalluvar said that there might be an arm hidden inside the hands folded in supplication or in the tears of an enemy. The same sage says elsewhere that the internal enmity is more dangerous than the external one.

‘You need not fear the enemy who like a sword is coming to attack you; but beware of the enemy in the guise of a friend.’

"My Child, you are now going in the midst of your enemies who are hiding under the cloak of friendship. I have tried my best to stop you. But