2. Balamartandavijaya by Devaraja-suri

Balamartandavijaya^[1] is a drama written by Devarajasuri, who was a protege of Prince Rama Varma in the reign of Balamartanda Varma (AD 1729-1758). The drama consisting of five acts was edited and published by Sambasiva Sastri. Actually the work is more aimed at giving an account of the reconstruction of the Padmanabhasvami temple by Martandavarma than describing the reign of the king. Whatever is said in it as relating to the military operations and administrative reforms of the king, has some association with the reconstruction of the temple.

A colundrum in prastavana reveals that the drama was written one Devaraja Suri whose humility and such other qualities had been admired by Rama Varma Kulasekhara, king of Travancore. After the Bharatavakya the poet has added one verse in which he says that he had been a dependant of Rama Varma from his very boyhood. Therefore it is clear that Devaraja was a portege of Rama Varma even while his uncle was the ruler it is said that he was a native of Pattambi in the Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu, who later settled down at Asramam near Suchindram^[2].

Sambasiva Sastri has given a synopsis of the drama “His highness Martanda Varma was disguisted with the task of governing the country for long as it tended to lead the way to the decadance of his devotion and the influence of infatuation. Once while devoutly worshipping the God Sri. Padmanabha with the desire of carrying on the Govt. of the country without any infringement of his devotion, his highness had a vision of the Lord and obtained a benediction from the gracious Deity that he would beset with infatuation even though he might be assuming the reign of Govt. Further, he was blessed to rule as the victory and servant of Sripadmanabha after renovation of the dilapidated temple at Trivandrum with the resources acquired through the Subjugation of the numerous neighbouring princess, by propitiating Sri. Padmanabha by the performance of Mahabhiseka ceremony, according to Rajasuya rites and then by dedicating the kingdom to him. Thus, infact the king attained the gratification of being styled Bala Martanda and realised the result of such benediction by the amassing of riches through conquests, by the renovation of temples, by the performance of the Mahabhiseka and by the dedication of the whole kingdom to Sri. Padmanabha^[3] ”.

Apart from its bearing on the history of the Padmanabhaswami temple the drama contains a mass of materials that may appear to be useful, for the history of Martanda Varma’s reign. It has to be stressed here that the drama, like many others of the same type, is a semi historical composition. There is an abundance of historical facts, but the fact are mixed with fiction and utterly confused in chronology.

As the hero of the drama lived in the modern age, we have other sources as well for the history of the period. This equipment would enable us to distinguish the elements of fiction added to true history by the composer. The events described in the third act of the play may be taken as an instance. It is devoted to describe the digvijaya under taken by Martandavarma in the territory east of the ghats. The king Subdued, it is related all the rulers of the east namely the Pandya, Cola, the Setupati, the Karnataka, the Andra, the Yavana etc. This is nothing but fiction. For we know from many other sources that Martanda Varma neither undertook such an expedition nor was he strong enough for such an enterprise. The records of the English East India Company, the Padmanabha Swami temple etc. would give us a clear picture of the political position of Travancore at that time. It is known beyond all doubts that in the early part of his career Martanda Varma was fleeing for life, not being able to withstand the opposition of a few local chieftains. Later on he got over the difficulties, and even at the Zenith of his power was not in a position to conquer the eastern territory. Further, almost the whole of the eastern main land of the Penisula was then under the sway of the English and their allies like the Nabobs or Arcot with whom Martanda Varma had established cordial relations. The statement that the Pandya, Cola, and Pallava rulers were subdued is unhistorical, became these royal families had ceased to exist many centuries before Martanda Varma was born. Moreover, we have very authentic records on the life of Martanda Varma, from his accession to death. But none of them furnishes a hint to show that Martanda Varma went out beyond the eastern frontier of Travancore after his assumption of kingship.

It is stated in the drama that the Raja started his expedition from Suchindram and first entered Madurai and then moved on to Srirangam. There he stayed and sent some divisions of the army to conquer different regions. Having done this, the soldiers were again gathered together and proceeded to Ramesvaram and then to Tiruchandur. He returned to Travancore via Tirunelveli.

The conquest of the eastern kingdoms is described mainly in three verses. In another verse the king is stated to have defeated all the kings who ruled from the cape in the south to the Himalayas in the North. Sambasivasastri has identified the setvasyaksoni mentioned in a verse^[4] as the kingdom of the Setupati of Ramanad and observed that the victory over the prince Setvasya or Kakkur is historically authentic^[5].

The Sutradhara, in one of his dialogues with the Nati, reminds her of a previous occasion on which she was rewarded by Martanda Varma with a gold ring for her excellent performance of dance in connection with the Navaratri festival—

navarātrapūjāmahotsave āṅgikasātvikavyañcakalāsyacamatkāraparitoṣitena

This does not give a clue for identifying the venue of the performance.

From the historical point of view the mention is of great importance. This festival was originally celebrated at Valliyur which was one of the seats of royalty in old Venad. In a later period, consequent on the abandonment of Valliyur and the permanent settlement of Kalkulam the venue of celebrations was also changed. Till 1797 AD it was celebrated at Padmanabhapuram and from that year onwards the practice became optional, ie. in some years it was celebrated at Padmanabhapuram and in some other years at Trivandram. From 1840 AD Trivandrum became the permanent place for the celebrations. Since the drama speaks of the performance in the early part of Martanda Varma’s reign we can say on safe grounds that the venue of celebrations was the Tevarakkettu Koyikkal at Kalkulam. If so, it is clear that the Navaratri Mandapa attached to the Padmanabhapuram palace was in existence long before the reconstruction of the palace complex by Martanda Varma, as fold by the chronicles of the Padmanabha swami temple.

The kings performance of meditation lasting for a month and the Maghasnana towards its end at Sankhatirtha is a piece of new information—

‘māghasnānavidhaye śaṃṅaghatīrthaṃ gataḥ’

The sanghatirtham has to be identified with the modern Sankhumukha, a sea beach of Trivandrum. The identification is borne in by the usage—snātvā tatra samudravarī—occurring in the 18th verse.

sahasramalaṅkāravatīnāṃ kāmadhenūnāṃ
sadbrāhmaṇebhyaḥ pratipāditavān

The prevalence of making the gift of decorated cows in those days is not a new fact. The chronological disagreement involved in this statement is indeed great.

The king is stated to have made the gift of one thousand cows at the time of his embarkation on the new programme of ‘Digvijaya’, and it is mentioned in this context that the king had before that time extirpated the rebels and annihilated the Kuncu Tampis.

Therefore the commencement of the campaign, and the Kamadehunudana should be chronologically placed after the murder of the Tampis.

cirakālarājanyakuladrohinaḥ sarvopi
prajvalantamagniṃ śalabhaumaghā ivaina
māsādya svayameva kathaṃ praṇaṣṭaḥ |

The execution of the Matampiar is a fact attested to by other records as well^[6].

But, their extirpation took place after the beginning of the temple renovation.

kiñca rāvaṇakumbhakarṇāvivātyantaparamadurja
yau bālakaniṣṭhābhidhānau pratyarthī mūrdhanyau................

The murder of the two Tampis, as mentioned in the drama, wan event that took place before the extirpation or the Matampimar. This is correct and true to the contents of other documents.

But the actual murder of the two Tampi brothers as stated in the drama, does not seem correct, as we have other detailed accounts of the slaughter of the two, which relate that the elder of the two brothers was killed by a group of royal soldiers in a trap, and that the younger was caught, tied up and laid on the floor by the king’s men, where upon the Maharaja merclilessly thrust his dagger into the Tampi’s belly and opened it.

Quilon was conquered—kolambapuradurgamapi śatrukulamutsārya etc.

The conquest of Quilon in a fact known from many sources.

nijarājyamarmabhūtaṃ prabhūtadhanāgamasthanamatarkitamevākramya raktabījāsurakulamiva tatraiva parivartamānaṃ
kuhanaikanilayaṃ sakalamapi sasvāmikaṃ sāmyātrikayūthamapi vividhaṃ ca samagrāyudhajālamācchidyaiva vidrāviraṃ
vinihataṃ sadyaḥ śaraṇagataṃ samyak paripālitaṃ ca ||

The passage—nijarājyamarmabhūtaṃ etc.—does not specify the enemies defeated, but it definitely refer to the defeat of the Dutch at Kolachal. Devaraja’s account of the event is precise and historically borne in.

Gift of the Mahodayagrama to the poet—

prabandhasāhiti tuṣya bālamārtāṇḍavarmaṇaḥ
navīnakālidāsasya grāmo datto mahodayaḥ ||

It is stated in the drama that just before his departure for the Digvijaya the Maharaja granted the village of Mahodaya to Devaraja. This is a fact not known from other sources. The Mahodayagrama may be identified with Puliyurkuricci alias Rajasimha-mangalam where the Udayagiri fort was rebuilt by Martanda Varma.

There are eight Yoga Brahmins, and the king had but half a vote:—

iti niṣkramya karmandinā saptabhirbrāhmaṇaiśca saha praviśan

In the fourth act the king asks Babhravya to bring in the Bhagavanmandiradhikarin [Bhagavanmandira-adhikarin]. Then enter one Karmandin and seven brahmins.

The drama reveals that on the orders of the king one karmandin and seven Brahmins were introduced to the king. The karmandin could easily be identified with the Svamiyar who was the spiritual head of the temple, and president of both the Sabha and the yogam. These eight persons formed the Sabha of Trivandrum. But, Sambasiva Sastri has taken them to be the yoga Brahmins in the sense of the constituent members of Ettarayogam, together with the king.

This springs from the erroneous notion that the Sabha and the yogam (ie. Ettarayogam) were identical institutions.

mahimnā nāmnā ca mahīdhārandra nandinīṃ anusmārayanti |

Mahīdharendranandinīṃ could be identified with princess Parvati Bayi mother of Ramavarma. The reference to princess mahīdharendranandinīṃ, who was the sister of Martanda Varma is very important from the historical point of view.

Martanda Varma’s sister mentioned by Devaraja has to be identified with the adoptee princess from Kolattunad, who was the mother of Rama Varma. Devaraja’s mention highlights from historical points.

The usage proves that she was named Parvati a fact which is known from other, sourcesaswell. The expression—devasya śrīmatī sodarī—shows that she was the daughter of one of the sisters of the two adoptee princess left at Kolattunadu and that the first two are adopted as sisters to Rama Varma.

1. The king had vaisnavite tendencies—hṛdyordhvapuḍrojvalaḥ

2. The king worshipped the deity in temple, only after circumambulating outside.

3. Karyakkara is the Sanskritised form of Karyakkar—‘kāryakarān ānaya’

4. The Sripadam palace was called so became the holy waters from the fact of Sri Padmanabha fell there—śrīpādatīrthatīrthikṛtaṃ niveśanam |

5. The Orrakkal Mandapa is referred to—ekaśilāmaṇḍapamadhyuṣitanavaratna khacitabhadrāsanopari

6. The Anaval’s office to report to the king the affair of the temple—samudāyakāryakārī kanakadaṇḍadhārī

7. The Tamil Brahmanas are mentioned as the Dasas—dāsairmamājñāvaśaiḥ

8. The royal palace was then in the Sripadam premises and in his visit he worshipped krishna first—śrīkṛṣṇamālokyābhivandya ca bhagavadālayantyāḥ praveśaṃ nāṭayati

9. The king prayed to the deity that the govt. might be taken over by him.—sāmrājyosmin mama vahadhuraṃ

11. The king wished that Padmanabha show be anointed as the Maharaja.

12. The duty of the Dasa class was to keep the corns and also the rice for Payasam.

13. Sripadmanabha assumed the sovereignty of the state and offered his sword to the Maharaja as a token.

14. The kings of Travancore from the time of Martanda Varma were styled as Yuvarajas and the Usage Maharaja, as applied to them, is only a verbal embellishment. The royal orders were to be passed under the seal of Padmanabha.

15. The symbol of Sripada on the crest of Travancore kings suggests that the king is the servent of Sripadmanabha^[7].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Travancore Sanskrit Series 108, 1930

[2]:

Ullur’s statement that Devaraja was born at asramam is unsupported -Kerala Sahitya Caritram, Ullur III P 302

[3]:

Preface to the Balamartandavijaya Pp 2-3

[4]:

setvāsyakṣoṇipālaprabhṛtiripunṛpān dūramutsāryantaḥ |

[5]:

K. Sambasiva Sastri -Intro P. 5

[6]:

Travancore State Manual Vol. III -Pp 122 -123

[7]:

For more details see -Sanskritic sources -K. Mahesvaran Nair -1983, Pp 143 -172 -Kerala Sahitya Caritram, Ullur III -285, Keraleya Samskrita Sahitya Caritram IV -159 -167