Manu Needhi Chozhan and the Bell of Justice

A king who loved fairness

The story goes that long ago, the city of Thiruvarur (திருவாரூர்) was ruled by a Chola king who cared about fairness more than anything else. His people called him Manu Needhi Chozhan (மனுநீதிச் சோழன்). Needhi (நீதி) means justice, and Manu is remembered in ancient tradition as a great lawgiver, so the name means something like "the Chola king who rules with Manu's justice".

At the gate of his palace, the king hung a great bell called the Aaraaichi Mani (ஆராய்ச்சி மணி), the Bell of Justice. Anyone who had been wronged, rich or poor, young or old, could pull its rope, and the king himself would come out to listen.

"In my kingdom," he said, "no one shall suffer in silence."

For a long time, the bell hardly ever rang. The people of Thiruvarur lived in peace.

The prince's chariot

The king had a son whom he loved dearly. One day, the young prince rode out through the streets of Thiruvarur in his chariot. The horses were quick, and the prince was in a hurry.

Suddenly, a young calf came skipping and frisking into the street. The prince pulled at the reins, but it was too late. The calf fell beneath the chariot wheel, and it did not get up again.

The prince jumped down, horrified. "No! I didn't see it! I didn't mean to!"

But nothing could be done. The calf's mother came running. She stood over her little one, lowing sadly, with tears rolling from her big dark eyes.

The bell rings

Then the mother cow did something that no one expected. She turned and walked slowly to the palace gate. She caught the bell rope with her horns and pulled.

DONG. DONG. DONG.

The king hurried out, but he saw no one waiting with a complaint. There was only a cow, standing by the gate, weeping.

"Who rang the bell?" asked the king.

"Your Majesty," said a guard, "it was the cow."

The king's face grew serious. "Then she has come for justice. Find out what has happened to her."

His minister went to ask, and came back with a heavy heart. Quietly, he told the king the truth: the cow's calf had died under the wheel of the prince's chariot.

A hard choice

For a long moment the king said nothing.

"Your Majesty," said his ministers, "it was an accident. The prince did not mean any harm. Let him perform prayers and rituals to make up for it. Surely that is enough."

The king shook his head slowly.

"Look at this mother," he said. "She has lost her child. Can any prayer or gift bring her calf back to her? If I spare my son because he is my son, then my bell is only for show. Justice must be the same for a prince and for a calf."

Then the king made a decision that shocked the whole city. The same thing that happened to the calf must happen to the prince, so that the king would feel the very same grief that the mother cow felt.

The minister could not bring himself to carry out such an order. So the king climbed into the chariot himself, with tears streaming down his face. The story says that even then, he did not turn away from what he believed was right.

Light over Thiruvarur

At that moment, the sky filled with light. Lord Shiva, who is worshipped at the great temple of Thiruvarur, appeared before the king, moved by his unshakeable sense of justice.

By Shiva's grace, the calf rose up and ran, wobbly-legged, to its mother. The prince opened his eyes as if waking from a deep sleep. The mother cow nuzzled her calf, the king embraced his son, and the whole city wept with joy.

This story is very old. The great Tamil epic Silappathikaram (சிலப்பதிகாரம்) remembers a Chola king who gave up his own son for the sake of a calf, and the Periya Puranam (பெரிய புராணம்), written by the poet Sekkizhar (சேக்கிழார்) in the 12th century, tells it in full.

The lesson

A fair leader treats everyone the same, even their own family. And when our actions hurt others, even by accident, we must take responsibility instead of looking for an easy way out.

Talk about it

• Why do you think the king would not accept prayers or gifts to make up for the calf?
• The prince did not mean to hurt the calf. What could he have done to be more careful?
• If your school had a Bell of Justice, what kinds of problems do you think people would ring it for?