Dutugemunu and Elara Legend Revisited

In the heavenly atmosphere spirits of the dead were drifting around, amongst them was King Elara.     He suddenly spotted King Dutugemunu who was also in motion, shrouded in a cloud of mist.  King Elara became quite excited having cited King Dutugemunu from the past, in another aeon, in another birth, of many, many centuries ago. They were both wandering around as if they had no volition to stop their endless motion.  Although they were in flight, here one moment and the next far away, King Elara succeeded in attracting the attention of King Dutugemunu, who recognized King Elara instantaneously.  King Dutugemunu appeared anxious to stop by and speak with him.

King Elara as he got close to him shouted excitedly “Oh King! I am so glad to have got this chance to meet up with you.  I entertain no grudge against you for defeating me. I recall the battle we fought for the strict observance of the rules of war.  Soon after my physical death I felt that my spirit was being wrenched out of my body and flung out to the elements.  I was twirled around fiercely within the air pocket of a gust of wind which never seemed to wane away in its speed.  Nevertheless the motion was gentle and soothing.  I could still identify my spirit with my worldly being.  I watched you give orders to honour the defeated King.  Oh King!You were so kind as to order a tomb to be built on the spot that I died. Yes! I was impressed even as I was surprised that you asked everyone who went past the monument to get down and walk past the spot as a mark of respect.”

King Dutugemunu: “Oh King! You would have done the same for me if I had been defeated in that battle.”

King Elara:  “Your soldiers were becoming quite impatient with you.  They could not understand your gesture for they were used to destroying everything around the ‘enemy’ at the end of the battle, building monument to keep the memory alive was not within their experience. Having been fed with the stories enshrouded to ‘hate’ the enemy with legends elaborately woven around me and the Chola Kingdom there was no space in them to accept your generosity to the enemy.”

King Dutugemunu: “Armies concentrate on winning battles.  Not too many of them who go to war will give thought to just processes, fairness in battle or even consideration to women and children.  My purpose in building the monument was to instruct my people to learn through my example, to recognize the good in even someone you consider your ‘enemy”.  People had to be guided to understand Oh King, that regardless of your ethnicity, your ambition (like any of us) to annex more land you had in you the intrinsic qualities of fair play and a strong sense of justice that a good leader must  possess to be considered noble and worthy of respect.  This is why I wanted your great sacrifice of allowing the same fate as that of the calf to befall on your son, the prince, to be known.  When I announced this I realized that many of them had not even heard of what I was referring to.  Therefore, I took upon myself the responsibility to tell them in detail the incidents that shrouded the death of your prince.  I told them of your intention to establish a Dharmista society where equity prevailed and no man or woman was permitted to escape the consequences of his or her action.”

King Elara: “But noble King, I am not an exception.  All who take possession of the crown and the sceptre, promising to administer their kingdom without prejudice to none, would act similarly.  I just did what I was trained to do.”

King Dutugemunu: “Not so King.  Your modesty is becoming of you. But I must insist that you were unique. You devised a way by which your subjects, the nobility and peasants alike, can reach you personally.  Therefore, you installed the bell at the entrance to your palace which anyone who needs to have your attention was free to ring to be heard.  I am sure it surprised you as much as it did to all of us to find out that a cow was out there ringing the bell to seek your attention.  The greatness in you was that you were willing to come down and give a hearing to a cow.  When the cow related her heartbreaking story of the prince, your son, having run over her calf you had no hesitation regarding the course of action that must follow.  Of course, it must have torn your heart and soul apart to think of what you must do to establish the rules of conduct you yourself had enunciated.  You did the most difficult task of ordering your son to be run over under the wheels of the carriage even as the calf was.  That was being just indeed.  Therefore, I wanted my people to know that our cause to go to battle must be differentiated and that respect must be given where respect was earned.  It helped my people to understand the concept of equity in justice better and each time they got down when they passed your monument  they did not think of the battle but they only thought of you as a man –not even as a king- who honoured his word.   I too learnt from you and tried to be just in my actions.  This is how I developed the idea of constructing a tomb to honour you.  It was what the modern people will say “is a learning experience” and this describes my action well don’t you think King?  I must therefore tell you that you have nothing to thank me for.  You did what you thought was just and I did what I thought was apt to recognize the nobility of your action.  Anyway where we are now placed, we have surely squared off our credits and debits and having not been in the red we have both come to this tranquil place.”

Saying this King Dutugemunu smiled at King Elara.

King Elara persisted.

King Elara:  “On No King, do not think it is a small matter that needs no reference. I had so wanted to be able to say how much I appreciated your gesture. It is great that I got a chance to speak to you at least now.  It is not everyone who knows to give respect where respect is due. Or for that matter give consideration to the fact that you meet in combat in a fair fight and it is inevitable that one gets killed and the other survives.  You could very well have gone on gloating that you killed your ‘enemy’ and you would have been cheered all the way by your people.  Instead you concentrated on the character of the King you killed and gave the interpretation that that even in death you wanted to offer respect to me.”

King Dutugemunu:  “ Well,I am certain that you would have done the same thing as I did if you were in my place.”

King Elara:  “Please do not refuse to recognize the nobility of your action. It is a lesson on how rulers must conduct themselves when the battle is over.This is how you yourself can gain the confidence and res1pect of your subjects.”

King Dutugemunu:  “Noble King I do accept with humility your kind words.  Now I need to share with you something that has worried me for a while. Even though my subjects understood my action it is sad to see that the people in my country today have failed to grasp the significance of all we have been talking about.  They have, in fact, stopped where my soldiers did when they questioned me about the correctness of honouring you.  Today people seem to view this battle as a fight between a Sinhala King and a Tamil King who was a conqueror.  During my lifetime I admit people honoured my command to respect you as a just king.  But things have changed.  I am pained to see my name and actions tarnished.  In fact, my name which I looked upon with just pride, is now being used as a harsh representation of chauvinism.  The ‘Dutugemunu factor’ is the battle cry for those who are on the war path, those who do not want to make peace and understanding to create amicable relationships. My name alas, is used to mark a road with the intention to create bitter thought waves to rouse ethnic disharmony.  How can I ever get this corrected?  How can I make people understand me and my actions?  How can I make them understand that I respected you, admired you and that that was the reason that made me build the tomb as a mark of respect, the highest honour I could have given to you as a warrior King in your death.   In fact my name should be used to signify unity and harmony in a multi cultural society.  Oh King I did want that to be my epitaph!  I do not want to be looked upon as a king who failed to recognize greatness in others.”

King Elara: “Don’t despair, Oh King.  The good we do always outlive us and I am sure other Dutugemunus and Elaras are yet to be born in that splendid serendipity and will indeed help to usher peace recalling us, Dutugemunu and Elara as symbols of justice and peace.”

“Adieu, dear King, we will surely meet again.”

King Dutugemunu:  “Farewell King Elara. Let your path be strewn with peace and tranquility.”