Kundalakesi

Kundalakesi is the central character in the eponymous tale, which is one of five Tamil epics of the Sangam period. The Buddhist epic was written by Nathakuthanaar somewhere between the 6-5th century BCE. Unfortunately, only fragments of the tale remain, but it is enough to provide you with her tale.

Sections of the story have been considered as very similar to the Buddhist Pali Therīgāthā legend and it is even possible that Kundalakesi's story was adapted from the true story of the Buddhist nun of the same name, as mentioned in the Dhammapada.

 

Kundalakesi can be translated to "woman with curly hair," but other than this there is no surviving description of her. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and lived in in Puhar. Her mother had died when Kundalakesi was very young but her father is prominent in her story. In the tales that survive, she has been known as either a Hindu or a Jain at the start of her story.

 

One day, Kundalakesi came across the path of Kaalan, a thief who had been sentenced to death for his crimes of banditry. She became immediately infatuated with him and begged her father to help save him. Her father did as she requested and went to the King, offering to pay Kaalan's weight in gold and a tribute of 81 elephants, in exchange for Kaalan's release. Kaalan's father worked as a minister in the King's court and it is possible he, too, was trying to secure his son's freedom, though this is nowhere recorded in the surviving texts.

The King agreed and Kaalan was pardoned and saved from his death sentence.

Kundalakesi and Kaalan were quickly married and lived happily in love for many years.

 

Unfortunately, this is not where Kundalakesi's tale ends, with the joy of true love. As it turns out, Kaalan was quite a mercurial man and over time Kundalakesi found herself quarrelling often with her husband. On one fateful day, during one of their arguments, she called him a thief and reminded him of his criminal past; a past which, had it not been for her, he would have been executed for.

Kaalan was enraged at being reminded of this fact and planned to murder Kundalakesi.

 

A few days later, Kaalan took Kundalakesi on a hike up a hill, but when they reached the peak, Kaalan informed Kundalakesi that he had no intention of allowing her back down the hill alive. He confessed his plan to kill her by throwing her off the hill but Kundalakesi stood her ground, unnerved.

Seeming to accept her fate, Kundalakesi begged her husband for one final wish. She asked to be allowed to walk around him thrice, as if worshipping a god, before her death. Kaalan agreed and Kundalakesi began her first walk around.

The moment Kundalakesi was behind him, she pushed Kaalan off of the hill, killing him.

 

After the murder of her husband, Kundalakesi felt remorse and sought teachers of different religions to help her heal. She eventually found Buddhism and adopted it as her new religion, renouncing her previous life and becoming a Buddhist nun. It is said she achieved Nirvana and spent the rest of her life benevolent to mankind.