Episode 13: The Book of Fate

In this feature, we outline the chapters of The Legend of Ponnivala as we've laid them out in the animated and print series. The sub-story descriptions are those that occur in each episode, and are drawn from our Teacher's Handbook.

The Queen of Ponnivala finds herself alone at the gates of heaven. There she undergoes a twenty one year rite of pennance. Lord Shiva tests her determination repeatedly. But finally she persuades him to call off his curse of barrenness. The great Lord then places three magical children in her womb. The Queen returns to Ponnivala, rejoining her husband on the way.

The Queen Sits Deep In Prayer For 21 Years

The queen now sits on her pillar of penance for twenty one years. She is so motionless that a family of heavenly parrots build a nest in her nose. Eventually Lord Vishnu comes to check on her, and as he waves his arms the parrots leave the queen’s nose and fly off to earth. They go directly to the palace of the hill-dwelling hunter king. His sister greets them warmly and they settle in her forest.

The Queen Is Tested Seven Times

The supreme god, Lord Shiva, now pushes the queen to the brink of death. He then revives the poor queen only to put her through the same cycle again and again. Finally she has experienced a complete cycle of seven “rebirths.”

Lord Vishnu Intervenes

Lord Vishnu sees all this and becomes worried about the woman he has helped so much. So he takes the form of a beggar and goes before his sister, the wife of Lord Shiva. After being screened by a maid he is allowed in at last. There he complains to Shiva’s wife about the queen’s treatment. She then promises him that she will intercede with Lord Shiva himself. But Shiva is angry about the “heat” generated by the penitent who is requesting the gift of sons. His body is now covered with sores. He does not cede to Vishnu’s request for mercy easily.

The Queen’s Prayers Are Answered!

Finally Shiva allows his brother-in-law to bring the queen before him. He has his accountant check his records and then grants the penitent three children. The two boys will each reincarnate the spirit of an important hero in India’s famous classical epic: the Mahabharata. The girl will reincarnate one in a set of seven “virgin sisters” who live near Shiva’s counsel chambers. But there are two provisos:

1. All three children will have lives lasting only 16 years. 
2. Vishnu must give up his sacred conch shell and leave it “in hock” with the great god Shiva. 

He will only get this important possession back when he physically brings the lives of the three divine children back to Shiva’s chambers when their sixteen years of life are over. After these matters are finalized the couple start their long journey back to earth. Lord Vishnu revives the heroine’s “dormant” husband when she reaches the spot where he rests. The couple continue on to their palace together.

Episode 12: The Gates of Heaven

In this feature, we outline the chapters of The Legend of Ponnivala as we've laid them out in the animated and print series. The sub-story descriptions are those that occur in each episode, and are drawn from our Teacher's Handbook.

The King and Queen of Ponnivala set out on a long walk towards the gates of heaven, hoping for an end to their childless condition. They meet with many adventures. The Queen even carries her husband on her back. Unfortunately he grows too weak to continuee and has to stop part way. Finally, with Lord Vishnu’s help, the Queen reaches their destination alone.

A Great Insult & Its Consequences

The king and queen set off on their long journey. But they have gone only a short distance when a large sow blocks their path. It is the same she-boar that the queen had earlier purchased and raised on her lands, in hopes of its bearing offspring. The heroine is impatient now. She is eager to get on with her travel plans and feels that the boar is being rude. So she kicks it with her right foot. The boar takes this as an insult. The huge animal now acts as a soothsayer who can see the future. She predicts that the queen will eventually bear two sons and one daughter in return for her good deeds. But the mother boar also says that she will bear a son too, an extraordinarily large male who will kill the queen’s sons. With this curse spoken, the mother-boar jumps off the path and runs away. Next a little palace dog, appears. She is the queen’s personal pet. It too wants a boon, and it knows what has just transpired. So it asks for a pup that will have poison in its teeth. Her plan is that once born, her tiny daughter will become the one to actually kill that great black boar.

The King Falters but His Queen Comes to the Rescue

With a long list of requested gifts on their minds, the couple now set out for the abode of the gods. Soon the husband begins to tire and the queen has to urge him on. She coaxes him, then carries him on her back, up the steep path. Lord Vishnu is watching and teases her at several points, making the journey even more difficult. Finally the husband faints and she finds a little pond water that might revive him. Again Lord Vishnu plays with her, making the water recede. At last the god allows her to fetch a few handfuls. The water is almost magical it is so potent. The king quickly revives.

There Are Many Challenges Along The Pilgrims’ Path

Next the pilgrims face a huge mountain cliff. Vishnu helps by lifting the two over the worst spots. Next they cross rivers of stone, of thorns, of butter oil, and finally of fire. When these feats are complete the couple face yet another threat. This time they are confronted with a forest full of cobras. One cobra asks the queen for a son, someone who can later assist her in a time of need. The queen agrees to carry this special request with her as well.

The King Drops Into a Deep Sleep

...but the Queen reaches her destination

Finally the king and queen reach a flight of steps leading to heaven. Vishnu tells the queen that only she will do the penance. Her husband is tired and will wait there for them. He falls into a deep sleep and Lord Vishnu puts his life in a little protective box. As the Lord and the queen climb the steps they see visions of people being tortured in hell. Vishnu instructs her not to be frightened. Finally they reach the place where the queen will sit in deep meditation. Lord Vishnu builds a special pillar, made of sharp needles, for her to sit on.

Episode 11: A Pilgrim's Journey

In this feature, we outline the chapters of The Legend of Ponnivala as we've laid them out in the animated and print series. The sub-story descriptions are those that occur in each episode, and are drawn from our Teacher's Handbook.

Lord Vishnu tells the King and Queen of Ponnivala they must complete a long list of charitable deeds if they want to be granted children. Making life tough, a group of artisans develop a plot to kill both under the wheels of a temple cart Vishnu had them commission. Faith brings the gods to the couple’s rescue. But then Lord Vishnu spells out one final challenge.

The Heroic Couple Undertake Good Works

Lord Vishnu first asks the couple to build a set of resting stones for people with heavy head loads. He also asks that they construct eating shelters and pay to have public wells dug. He also asks them to marry two particular trees (similar to constructing a local shrine). Most importantly, they are to have a temple cart built for the goddess and then pull it around her temple.

The Rival Clansmen Cleverly Plot To Kill The King and Queen

The rival clansmen hear of the coming festival and the plan to hand pull a new temple cart around the temple. They instruct the carpenters to stop the cart part way. They are to declare that a dream was sent to them by the goddess asking that the king and queen place their heads under its heavy wheels as a powerful sacrifice. They are counting on the couple’s belief in the goddess to get their agreement. A huge bribe is promised in exchange for this lie. The artisans agree and do as they are told. The devout king and queen do reluctantly place their own heads on the ground in front of the cart’s heavy wheels. But with Lord Vishnu’s help, the great wagon magically rises up and flies above their heads, causing them no injury! Now we see divine justice at work. The 16 clansmen who were pulling the cart are killed, along with six lying artisans (the 7th escapes).

A Vow To Feed The Multitudes

The queen remembers that there are two more important things Lord Vishnu has asked for. They are to feed a thousand beggars and then to travel to heaven and perform penance the at the feet of Lord Shiva himself. The feast for the beggars is prepared. But the couple can only find nine hundred and ninety nine beggars, one short of the 1,000 needed to fulfill the vow. The queen sets off to find one more, but there are no more, anywhere. Finally, on the way back she finds a very weak and poor man lying in a ditch. The queen takes this man in her arms and carries him to her palace where she coaxes him into eating a little rice. The vow is fulfilled!

The Penitents Begin a 21 Year Pilgrimage

Next the couple begin their pilgrimage to the gates of heaven. First they lock the palace and a leave a perpetual lamp burning in the family temple. Next all the people of the area come to say good bye. Even the animals of Ponnivala appear one by one. They ask that the queen return from heaven with a gift of fertility for them as well. Among the visitors are cows, who ask for calves, and horses who ask for colts. A poor woman from the area asks for the gift of a strong son who can serve as a powerful assistant for the queen’s sons-to-be. Finally the couple set off. The four gates to the palace compound are locked and black beetles and wasps are called to stand guard.

Dr. Beck Attends Veerashaiva Samaja Meeting in Mississauga

Veerashaiva Samaja of North America Meeting in Mississauga, May 14, 2012

Organizer Vijay Aivalli addresses the audience.

Brenda gave a presentation to about 30 families at a local Catholic school in Mississauga on Mother’s Day at a meeting of the Veerashaiva Samaja of North America. She decided to show a video version of one part of The Legend of Ponnivala called "Gateway to Heaven"; a shortened 30-minute excerpt taken from Series One, Episodes 12 and 13. She chose this because it tells the story of Tamarai’s twenty one year pilgrimage to Lord Shiva’s Council Chambers high in the Himalayas. There she obtains the grant of three very special children from the great Lord himself. She also returns to Ponnivala with a pot of magical water that bestows this wonderful gift of fertility with everyone in the kingdom. All the beings in Ponnivala “capable of drinking water” get pregnant from this moistening after a long spell of barrenness.

Musical prayer to Guru Basavanna

Brenda thought it would be an especially appropriate sub-story to share on Mother’s Day. The video was well received and many people told her how much they had enjoyed the presentation and her brief comments afterwards. In her comments she stressed the correspondence between Arjuna as he prays to Shiva asking for a great weapon of war (the Pashupata) in the Mahabharata and Tamarai who stands in exactly the same spot to ask for sons! One can almost say that Arjuna shows up in this story as a female! And that instead of being given a weapon for fighting war she is gifted three children. These are her “weapon” one might say, as they allow her family line to continue to rule. Her sons will protect her family in the future and her daughter will lend them her magical power.

Yes, the women in this epic are very strong--it is a lovely and very different Mahabharata, a great legend reworked and reinterpreted through a regional lens.

Dr. Beck receives a certificate of appreciation from
event organizer Vijay Aivalli.

Vijay Aivalli was a key organizer of the event. Vijay spoke to the crowd and also presented Brenda with a certificate of appreciation and a small gift. Brenda’s talk was followed by an excellent musical prayer session addressed to Guru Basavanna a 12th century teacher, statesman and social reformer from Karnataka. The crowd was mostly made up of Kannada speakers. The scholarly author Teri Degler also spoke about the life of the female Kannada Shaiva saint Mahadevi Akka towards the end of the evening. Her talk paired nicely with Brenda’s kick-off video. The two presentations blended well together and helped to accentuate the female focus of this Mother’s Day Veerashaiva celebration. The evening ended with an excellent feast made up of authentic Kannada foods.

Odin’s Ravens and Tamarai’s Parrots

In The Legend of Ponnivala, Queen Tamarai must do penance by sitting in meditation for twenty one years before being permitted to take counsel with Lord Shiva. During this protracted meditation, two parrots take up residence in her nose. Before Tamarai awakens the parrots are shooed away by Lord Vishnu, and seek refuge in a forest kingdom under the protection of Viratangal.

The idea of birds nesting in someone’s nose seems a bit strange to Western readers, but there’s some significance to this occurrence when Eastern alchemy is considered. It is believed that when one enters a deep state of meditation, the physical body actually becomes hollow, making a potentially suitable residence for something like a bird (if the meditation is long enough).

Birds often represent some aspect of the spirit or mind in various mythologies, and this is even more important when we realize that many species of parrots mate for life. So it is that the parrot couple, husband and wife, are symbolic of family and marital loyalty. When their bond is disrupted by the capture of the wife-bird by Tamarai’s sons, Ponnar and Shankar, a war results, bringing an end to the family dynasty.

In Norse mythology, Odin; father of the gods and ruler of Asgard; had a pair of ravens named Huginn and Muninn. Their job was to fly around the world during the day and return to Odin in the evening with news of what was happening on Earth (Midgard). Their names mean “thought” and “mind” (or “memory”) respectively, and it’s believed that they represented these aspects of Odin’s daily meditation. While the lord of gods meditated, his thought and mind ventured out to open his consciousness to the goings on of the world under his protection.

Huginn and Muninn also represent the ideas of the fylgia; a supernatural companion that takes animal form in order to accompany a person in relation to their fate or fortune; and hamingja; the personification of the good fortune of a person or family, often in shape-shifting animal form as well. This ties the connection together nicely, as the fortunes of the ruling family of Ponnivala, as well as their enemies, are intimately tied to the treatment and deeds of their close animal companions.

Are there other mythic examples of birds representing these aspects of the mind and spirit in meditation? What about other duties they may be assigned? Share your thoughts below.