Mandalam Musings Day 28- The Queen and her Mysterious Stomach ache-

 

Mandalam Musings Day 28-

The Queen and her Mysterious Stomach ache-

The minister approached the queen and explained the strategic importance of the issue, as he saw it. The king is blindly in love with Manikanthan and he would be of no avail to solve the ‘issue’ facing the kingdom. “How can we give away the reign to a boy with an unknown background. For all we know, he must be from a tribal family with no royal lineage. The neighboring kings will make fun of us and see our weakness. They might even take the opportunity to attack us. Moreover, we do have a qualified prince, a legal heir to the throne.” 

Reluctantly, the queen heard all the arguments put forth by the minister. After a few hours of persuasive influence, he was able to convince the queen that it is not proper to bequeath the country to the adopted son when the rightful heir is there.  The king would not listen to these strategic arguments, they knew. So, they schemed up a plan to get rid of Sree Ayyappan so that Rajarajan would become the king, naturally.

Suddenly the king was informed that the queen is ill with a severe stomach ache. She pretended it so well that no one would find out. The disease was so peculiar that all the royal doctors could not figure out the cause for this mysterious illness or find a remedy for it. Her conditions worsened by the hour. The palace medicine man was bribed to go along with the ploy, and he expressed his inability to treat the queen. A visiting medic, sort of a specialist, declared that it is a strange disease that can be cured only with very special medicine. He has formulated a concoction of medicine but declared that it will be of no use. The main ingredient of the mixture is the breast milk freshly drawn from a nursing mother-tiger and everyone knows it is very difficult to accomplish. The king conceded that it is an impossible solution, and he was upset, cursing his fate. No human being can tame a nursing tiger and draw milk from the beast. 

Manikanthan came to know about the issue and rushed to the palace to see the mother.  He declared “I will undertake the task for my mother. Father, please allow me to do my duty as a son. You must let me go to the forest.” The king was terrified. He thought the boy was being inane and has no idea about the consequences of going to the forest full of tigers and other wild beasts. He could not envisage getting the tiger milk by this young, naïve prince. But finally, the king had to acquiesce with Sree Ayyappan’s strong resolve.  He reluctantly gave him permission to go to the forest. The king had heard about Manikantha’s abilities from his teachers, but still, he was petrified. The king asked his army to escort Manikanthan, but he would not allow anyone to go with him.