The Chera Prince

Chera Nāḍu, also called Malai Nāḍu, is a land rich in wealth, encircled by great and beautiful mountains and rivers. Elephants are as plentiful there as cattle are in Tondai Nāḍu. Its people were renowned as great warriors, and not in war alone, but also in learning, in governance and in the conduct of their lives. Chera Nāḍu was ruled for many generations by the Chera kings, who kept it at peace and their people content.

In that line there was a king named Driḍhavratan, who was deeply devoted to Sriman Nārāyaṇa and who honoured the Lord's devotees with generous gifts. In reward for the king's devotion, in the year Prabhava, in the month of Māsi, on Shukla Dvādashi, a Friday, under the Punarpūsam nakshatram, a son was born to him as an amsham of the Kaustubham, the jewel that adorns the chest of Sriman Nārāyaṇa. Born of the king's devotion to the Lord, the child shone with brightness and beauty.

The whole kingdom celebrated his birth, and on the tenth day the child was named Kulasekharan. He was as mischievous as any child, and at the same time learned all that a prince should, including Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas. Alongside his studies he was trained in the arts of war: riding horses and elephants, swordsmanship, the mace, and the chariot.

When he came of age, he ascended the throne and ruled Chera Nāḍu even better than his father had. He honoured the devotees of Sriman Nārāyaṇa and kept his people happy. In war he was swift and fierce, and he defeated every king who opposed him. The Chola and Pandya kings, jealous of his success, sought to defeat him, but Kulasekharan and his mighty army overcame them, and he extended his kingdom into the Chola land.

Seeing his valour and noble bearing, the Pandya king gave him his daughter in marriage. After his marriage he continued to rule, to wage war and to conquer. But Emperumān, who reclines upon the serpent bed, wished to draw Kulasekharan out of māyā and lead him to a spiritual life.