Note 73 — P (Continued) (continued 2)

Paravan.—Concerning the origin of the Parava fishing community of the south-east coast, the following legends are current.73 The author of the Historia Ecclesiastica (published in Tamil at Tranquebar in 1735) identifies them with the Parvaim of the Scriptures, and adds that, in the time of Solomon, they were famous among those who made voyages by sea; but it does not appear that there is any solid foundation for this hypothesis. It is the general belief among the Paravas that their original country was Ayodhya, or Oudh; and it appears that, previously to the war of Mahābhārata, they inhabited the territory bordering on the river Yamuna or Jumna. At present they are chiefly found in the seaport towns of the Tinnevelly district in the south of India, and also in some of the provinces on the north-west coast of Ceylon. With regard to their origin, there is a variety as well as discordancy of opinions. Some of the Tantras represent them to be descended from a Brāhman by a Sūdra woman, while the Jātībēdi Nūl (a work of some celebrity among the Tamils) states them to be the offspring of a Kurava (or basket-maker) begotten clandestinely on a female of the Chetty (or merchant) tribe. But the Paravas have among themselves quite a different tradition concerning their origin, which is founded on mythological fable. They relate that their progenitors were of the race Varuna (god of the sea), and on the occasion, when Siva had called Kartikēya (god of arms) into existence, for destroying the overwhelming power of the Asuras (evil spirits), they sprang up with him from the sacred lake Sarawana, and were like him nursed by the constellation Kartika. At the close of the last kalpa, when the whole earth was covered with a deluge, they constructed a dhōni or boat, and by it escaped the general destruction; and, when dry land appeared, they settled on the spot where the dhōni rested; hence it is called Dhōnipura, or the city of the boat. The Paravas were once a very powerful people, and no doubt derived much of their ascendancy over other tribes from their knowledge of navigation. They had a succession of kings among them, distinguished by the title of Adīyarāsen, some of whom seem to have resided at Uttara Kōsamangay, called at that time the city of Mangay, a famous place of Hindu pilgrimage in the neighbourhood of Rāmnād. In the Purāna entitled Valēvīsū Purānam we meet with the following fable. Parvati, the consort of Siva, and her son Kartikēya, having offended the deity by revealing some ineffable mystery, were condemned to quit their celestial mansions, and pass through an infinite number of mortal forms, before they could be re-admitted to the divine presence. On the entreaty of Parvati, however, they were allowed, as a mitigation of the punishment, each to undergo but one transmigration. And, as about this time, Triambaka, King of the Paravas, and Varuna Valli his consort were making tapas (acts of devotion) to obtain issue, Parvati condescended to be incarnated as their daughter under the name of Tīrysēr Madentē. Her son Kartikēya, transforming himself into a fish, was roaming for some time in the north sea. It appears, however, that he left the north, and made his way into the south sea, where, growing to an immense size, he attacked the vessels employed by the Paravas in their fisheries, and threatened to destroy their trade. Whereupon the King Triambaka made a public declaration that whoever would catch the fish should have his daughter to wife. Siva, now assuming the character of a Parava, caught the fish, and became re-united to his consort. In that section of the Mahābhārata entitled Ādiparva it is said that the King of the Paravas, who resided on the banks of the Jumna, having found an infant girl in the belly of a fish, adopted her as his own daughter, giving her the name of Machchakindi, and that, when she grew up, she was employed, as was customary with the females of the Parava tribe, to ferry passengers over the river. On a certain day, the sage Parāsara having chanced to meet her at the ferry, she became with child by him, and was subsequently delivered of a son, the famous Vyāsa who composed the Purānas. Her great personal charms afterwards induced King Santanu of the lunar race to admit her to his royal bed, and by him she became the mother of Vichitravīrya, the grandsire of the Pāndavas and Kauravas, whose contentions for the throne of Hastināpūra form the subject of the Mahābhārata. Hence the Paravas boast of being allied to the lunar race, and call themselves accordingly, besides displaying at their wedding feasts the banners and emblems peculiar to it. In the drama of Alliarasāny, who is supposed to have resided at Kudremallē on the north-west coast of Ceylon, the Paravas act a conspicuous part. We find them employed by the princess in fishing for pearls off the coast, and that under a severe penalty they were obliged to furnish her with ten kalams of pearls every season.