JohannaBuckley at 05:09, 20 March 2026

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{{Use British English|date=October 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Short description|One of the five great Tamil epics}}
{{Tamil literature}}
{{italic}}
'''''Kundalakesi''''' ({{langx|ta|'''குண்டலகேசி'''}} '''Kuṇṭalakēci''', ''lit.'' "woman with curly hair"), also called '''''Kuntalakeciviruttam''''', is a [[Tamil language|Tamil]] [[Buddhist]] [[Epic poetry|epic]] written by Nathakuthanaar, likely sometime in the 10th century.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}<ref name="zvelebil"/><ref>Aiyangar 2004, p. 360</ref> The epic is a story about love, marriage, getting tired with the married partner, murder and then discovering religion.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}

The ''Kundalakesi'' epic has partially survived into the modern age in fragments, such as in commentaries written centuries later. From these fragments, it appears to be a tragic love story about a Hindu{{sfn|Zvelebil|1992|p=71}} or Jain{{sfn|Zvelebil|1992|p=70}} girl of merchant caste named Kundalakesi who falls in love with Kalan – a criminal on a death sentence.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}<ref name="krishnamurthy"/> The girl's rich merchant father gets the criminal pardoned and freed, the girl marries him. Over time, their love fades and they start irritating each other. During an argument, Kundalakesi reminds him of his criminal past which angers Kalan. A few days later, he invites her to a hike up a hill.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}} When they reach the top, he tells her that he will now kill her. The wife requests that he let circumambulate him – her husband – three times like a god, before her death. He agrees. When she is behind him, she pushes her husband over into the valley below and kills him. She feels remorse for killing the boy she once fell in love with and someone she had married. She meets teachers of various religious traditions, adopts Buddhism, renounces and becomes a nun, then achieves Nirvana.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}{{sfn|Zvelebil|1992|p=71}} Sections of the story are very similar to the Buddhist Pali ''Therigatha'' legend.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}{{refn|group=note|In ''Therigatha'', the characters are Sattuka [Kalan] and Bhadra [Kundalakesi].{{sfn|Zvelebil|1992|p=71}} However, the story has a few differences. Bhadra is a Hindu girl, who first converts to Jainism, then converts to Buddhism. Several variant versions exist in other regional Pali and Sanskrit literature.{{sfn|Zvelebil|1992|p=71 with footnote 121}}}}

The ''Kuntalakeci'' is one of ''Aim-perum-kappiyam'' (''lit.'' "five great kavyas", or [[The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature]]) according to the later Tamil literary tradition.<ref name="zvelebil">Zvelebil 1992, pp. 70–73 with footnotes 123 to 125</ref> The surviving stanza fragments of the epic are in ''kalitturai'' poetic meter. It was likely an epic drama-musical for Tamil Buddhist audience in and about the 10th century.<ref name="zvelebil"/> The work likely ridiculed Jainism and Hinduism, attracting commentaries and debate. Various Tamil scholars dated between 10th- and 16th-centuries have called the Buddhist epic as a work of ''tarukkavadam'' (polemics and controversy).<ref name="zvelebil"/>

==Author==
The epic was authored by a Buddhist poet named Nathakuthanaar (Skt: Nathagupta), likely born in a merchant class. Nothing is known about his life or which century he lived in.<ref name="zvelebil"/> A Pali language [[Vinaya]] commentary titled ''Vimativinodani'' states the author of ''Kundalakesi'' was a Buddhist elder named Nathakuthanaar. It states:<ref name="krishnamurthy"/>

<blockquote>"Formerly in Tamil country an elder named Nathakuthanaar compiled a work in Tamil containing the story of Kundalakesi, for refuting heretical doctrines, adducing arguments for demolishing the views advanced by non-Buddhists."</blockquote>

==Sources and content==
Of the five great epics, the manuscripts of ''[[Valayapathi]]'' and ''Kundalakesi'' have not survived in full. Only fragments quoted in other literary works and commentaries have survived. Only 19 stanzas of ''Kundalakesi'' have survived in ''Purattirattu'', a few initial stanzas in the commentary on ''Takkayakapparani Kalikkukkuli'', several stanzas are found in a 16th-century commentary on ''Civanana Cittiyar Parapakkam'', plus 25 stanzas and 180 fragments of the epic's line in a commentary to ''Nilakeci''.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}<ref name="zvelebil"/>

An additional five have been recovered, but whether they were part of ''Kundalakesi'' has not been proven conclusively. The 19 verses recovered have been found in the commentaries for ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]'', ''Veera Sozhiyam'', ''Yapperungalam '', ''Thakkayagaparani'', ''Sivagnana Siddhiyar Parapakkam '' (Thirvorriyur Gnanaprakasar's commentary), the epic ''[[Neelakesi]]'' (Nilakeci) and the poem ''Vaisyapuranam''. ''Nilakeci'' — one of the five lesser Tamil epics — was a [[Jainism|Jain]] religious work about the life of the female Jain monk of the same name, who was a rival preacher of the Buddhist protagonist of ''Kundalakesi''. The ''Nilakeci'' was written as a Jain rebuttal to the Buddhist criticism of Jainism in ''Kundalakesi''.<ref name="zvelebil"/><ref name="krishnamurthy"/>

Some surviving fragments imply that Kundalakesi was a Jain girl who first defeated all the Hindu scholars with her arguments, but ultimately converted to Buddhism. In contrast, the ''Nilakeci'' extensively quotes portions of the Buddhist epic, calls it a provocation, and counterclaims that Nilakeci "vanquished Kuntalakeci in argument, taught her and finally won in argument with the Buddha himself".<ref name="zvelebil"/> The surviving references to the Buddhist epic give different versions of the story. Kundalakesi is a Hindu girl in some versions, in some she converts to Buddhism ''before'' she kills Kalan, and the story details of the epic vary such as in the late Tamil text ''Vaiciyapuranam''.{{sfn|Zvelebil|1992|pp=71–72}}

The recovered verses do not reveal the plot of the epic and are advisory in nature. The introductory and 15th verses contain references to [[Buddhism]].<ref name="zvelebil b">zvelebil 1992, pp. 69-70</ref><ref name="krishnamurthy">K. Krishna Murthy (1987), p. 102</ref><ref name="ramaswamy">Ramaswamy 2003, pp. 164-165</ref> ''Yapperungalam'', which also quotes the epic's ''Kadavul Vazhthu'' (lit. invocation to God) describes it as a ''tharkavadham'' — a book of controversy and polemics. ''Veera Sozhiyam'''s commentator ''[[Perunthevanar]]'' and the 14th century anthology ''Purathirattu'' both describe it as a ''akalakavi'' — a large poem.<ref name="zvelebil"/>

==Story==
''Kundalakesi'' (''lit.'' The woman with long curly hair) was born in a merchant family in the city of [[Puhar, Nagapattinam|Puhar]]. She loses her mother during childhood and lives a sheltered life. One day she sees a robber and gambler who posted as Buddhist, falls in love with him. The thief, Kaalan, has been sentenced to death for banditry.<ref name="Ram">Ramaswamy 2007, pp. 123-124</ref> Besotted with Kaalan, Kundalakesi implores her rich merchant father to save him. Her father petitions the king for the thief's release. He pays Kalan's release, and the king agrees to release him because Kalan's father was also a minister in his court. Kundalakesi and Kaalan are married and live happily for some time.<ref name="Ram">Ramaswamy 2007, pp. 123-124</ref>{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}

The love fades, and one day, the sulking Kundalakesi reminds Kalan of his criminal past. This enrages the mercurial Kaalan. He plots to murder her and steal her jewels.<ref name="zvelebil"/> He tricks her into visiting the summit of the nearby hill. Once they reach the summit, he announces his intention to kill her by pushing her off the hill. Kundalakesi is shocked and asks him to grant a final wish — she wishes to worship him, her husband, by going around him three times before she dies. He agrees and, when she gets behind him, Kundalakesi pushes him off the summit, killing him.<ref name="Ram"/>{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}

Kundalakesi feels disgust and remorse with what she did to Kalan. She learns about different religious traditions and converts to Buddhism. She renounces, becomes a nun and achieves nirvana.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=142}}<ref name="Ram"/>

==Reception==
The poem polemically presents Buddhist philosophy as superior over the Vedic and Jain ones.<ref name="krishnamurthy"/> In the epic, states Krisha Murthy, the main character champions the Buddhist doctrines and ridicules doctrines of Jains and Hindus it considers as heretical.<ref name="krishnamurthy"/><ref name="Dat">Datta 2004, p. 596</ref> One version of the epic says that Kundalakesi was a Jain nun who moved around India, expounding Jainism and challenging anyone who had alternate views. Sariputra, a disciple of Buddha, took up the challenge and defeated Kundalakesi in debates. She renounced Jainism and became a Buddhist nun.<ref name="krishnamurthy"/>


==In popular culture==
The story of Kundalakesi killing her husband was used as a sub-plot in the 1951 [[Tamil cinema|Tamil film]] ''[[Manthiri Kumari]]''.<ref name="malaimalar">[http://www.maalaimalar.com/2009/10/27115016/karunanidhi.html Manthiri Kumari – A Grand Success (in Tamil), Maalai Malar 27 October 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321025917/http://www.maalaimalar.com/2009/10/27115016/karunanidhi.html |date=21 March 2011 }}</ref>

The song "Neela Warala" by Sri Lankan musician [[W. D. Amaradeva]] mentions Kundalakesi repeatedly in the chorus.

== See also ==
*[[Tamil literature]]
* [[Five Great Epics]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book |last= Aiyangar |first=Krishnaswami S. |title=Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of southern India |year=2004 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-206-1850-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htArUg0OMpcC&pg=PA360}}
* {{cite book | title=The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume One) (A to Devo), Volume 1| last=Datta| first=Amaresh |author2=Sāhitya Akādemī | year=2004| publisher=Sāhitya Akādemī|location=New Delhi| isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC }}
* {{Cite book| title=Glimpses of art, architecture, and Buddhist literature in ancient India| last=Krishna Murthy| first=K. | year=1987| pages=102| publisher=Abhinav Publications| isbn=81-7017-226-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tD-7sojtDdYC |id = {{ISBN|978-81-7017-226-0}}}}
* {{cite book | title=A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850| last=Mukherjee| first=Sujit | year=1999| publisher=Orient Longman Limited|location=New Delhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCJrUfVtZxoC |isbn=81-250-1453-5}}
* {{cite book | title=Tamil Literature| last=Pillai| first=M. S. Purnalingam | year=1994| pages=115| publisher=Asian Educational Services| isbn=81-206-0955-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIeqvcai5XQC&pg=PA115|id = {{ISBN|978-81-206-0955-6}}}}
*{{Cite book |last=Ramaswamy |first=Vijaya |title=Historical dictionary of the Tamils |year=2007|publisher =Scarecrow Press |location=United States|isbn=978-0-470-82958-5|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC }}
* {{Cite book| title=Re-searching Indian women| last=Ramaswamy| first=Vijaya | year=2003| pages=164–65| publisher=Manohar Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oihkAAAAMAAJ |isbn= 978-81-7304-496-0}}
* {{Cite book| title=Popular literature and pre-modern societies in South Asia| last=Singh| first=Surinder |author2=I. D. Gaur | year=2008| pages=102| publisher=Pearson Education|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVA0JAzQJkYC |isbn = 978-81-317-1358-7}}
*{{cite book|author=Takanobu Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC |year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Eva Maria Wilden|title=Manuscript, Print and Memory: Relics of the Cankam in Tamilnadu|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KuPmBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2014|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-035276-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-03591-5}}
* {{citation|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=Tamil Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ33i496MsIC |year= 1974| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn= 978-3-447-01582-0}}
* {{Cite book| title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature| last=Zvelebil| first=Kamil |author-link=Kamil Zvelebil| year=1992| pages=69–70| publisher=BRILL|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC |isbn = 978-90-04-09365-2}}
{{refend}}

{{Tamil language}}

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[[Category:Tamil-language literature]]
[[Category:Buddhist poetry]]
[[Category:Epic poems in Tamil]]
[[Category:Buddhism amongst Tamils]]
[[Category:Tamil Buddhist literature]]

Kundalakesi - Revision history

JohannaBuckley at 05:09, 20 March 2026