The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 71

And crowned with a garland of mandara flowers, resplendent with glorious raiment and ornaments, having donned a heavenly diadem, he wore the majesty of Indra. And queen Madanamanchuka, having been also anointed, glittered with heavenly ornaments at his side, like Sachi at the side of Indra.

And that day, though drums sounded like clouds, and flowers fell from the sky like rain, and though it was full [591] of heavenly nymphs like lightning gleams, was, strange to say, a fair one. On that occasion, in the city of the chief of mountains, not only did beautiful Vidyadhara ladies dance, but creepers shaken by the wind danced also; and when cymbals were struck by minstrels at that great festival, the mountain seemed to send forth responsive strains from its echoing caves; and covered all over with Vidyadharas moving about intoxicated with the liquor of heavenly cordials, it seemed to be itself reeling with wine; and Indra, in his chariot, having beheld the splendour of the coronation which has now been described, felt his pride in his own altogether dashed.

Naravahanadatta, having thus obtained his long-desired inauguration as emperor, thought with yearning of his father. And having at once taken counsel with Gomukha and his other ministers, the monarch summoned Vayupatha and said to him, "Go and say to my father, 'Naravahanadatta thinks of you with exceeding longing,' and tell him all that has happened, and bring him here, and bring his queens and his ministers too, addressing the same invitation to them." When Vayupatha heard this, he said "I will do so," and made for Kausambi through the air.

And he reached that city in a moment, beheld with fear and astonishment by the citizens, as he was encircled by seventy million Vidyadharas. And he had an interview with Udayana king of Vatsa, with his ministers and wives, and the king received him with appropriate courtesy. And the Vidyadhara prince sat down and asked the king about his health, and said to him, while all present looked at him with curiosity, "Your son Naravahanadatta, having propitiated Siva, and beheld him face to face, and having obtained from him sciences difficult for his enemies to conquer, has slain Manasavega and Gaurimunda in the southern division of the Vidyadhara territory, and conquered Mandaradeva who was lord in the northern division, and has obtained [592] the high dignity of emperor over all the kings of the Vidyadharas in both divisions, who acknowledge his authority; and has now gone through his solemn coronation on the Rishabha mountain, and is thinking, king, with eager yearning of you and your queens and ministers. And I have been sent by him, so come at once; for fortunate are those who live to see their offspring elevate their race."

When the king of Vatsa heard Vayupatha say this, being full of longing for his son, he seemed like a peac.o.c.k that rejoices when it hears the roaring of the rain-clouds. So he accepted Vayupatha's invitation, and immediately mounted a palanquin with him, and by the might of his sciences travelled through the air, accompanied by his wives and ministers, and reached that great heavenly mountain called Rishabha. And there he saw his son on a heavenly throne, in the midst of the Vidyadhara kings, accompanied by many wives; resembling the moon reclining on the top of the eastern mountain, surrounded by the planetary host, and attended by a company of many stars. To the king the sight of his son in all this splendour was a shower of nectar, and when he was bedewed with it, his heart swelled with joy, and he closely resembled the sea when the moon rises.

Naravahanadatta, for his part, beholding that father of his after a long separation, rose up hurriedly and eager, and went to meet him with his train. And then his father embraced him, and folded him to his bosom, and he went through a second sprinkling, [593] being bathed in a flood of his father's tears of joy. And the queen Vasavadatta long embraced her son, and bathed him with the milk that flowed from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s at beholding him, so that he remembered his childhood. And Padmavati, and Yaugandharayana, and the rest of his father's ministers, and his uncle Gopalaka, beholding him after a long interval, drank in with thirsty eyes his ambrosial frame, like partridges; while the king treated them with the honour which they deserved. And Kalingasena, beholding her son-in-law and also her daughter, felt as if the whole world was too narrow for her, much less could her own limbs contain her swelling heart. And Yaugandharayana and the other ministers, beholding their sons, Harisikha and the others, on whom celestial powers had been bestowed by the favour of their sovereign, congratulated them. [594]

And queen Madanamanchuka wearing heavenly ornaments, with Ratnaprabha, Alankaravati, Lalitalochana, Karpurika, Saktiyasas and Bhagirathayasas, and the sister of Ruchiradeva, who bore a heavenly form, and Vegavati, and Ajinavati with Gandharvadatta, and Prabhavati and atmanika and Vayuvegayasas, and her four beautiful friends, headed by Kalika, and those five other heavenly nymphs, of whom Mandaradevi was the chief,--all these wives of the emperor Naravahanadatta bowed before the feet of their father-in-law the king of Vatsa, and also of Vasavadatta and Padmavati, and they in their delight loaded them with blessings, as was fitting.

And when the king of Vatsa and his wives had occupied seats suited to their dignity, Naravahanadatta ascended his lofty throne. And the queen Vasavadatta was delighted to see those various new daughters-in-law, and asked their names and lineage. And the king of Vatsa and his suite, beholding the G.o.dlike splendour of Naravahanadatta, came to the conclusion that they had not been born in vain.

And in the midst of this great rejoicing [595] at the reunion of relations, the brave warder Ruchideva entered and said "The banqueting-hall is ready, so be pleased to come there." When they heard it, they all went to that splendid banqueting-hall. It was full of goblets made of various jewels, which looked like so many expanded lotuses, and strewn with many flowers, so that it resembled a lotus-bed in a garden; and it was crowded with ladies with jugs full of intoxicating liquor, who made it flash like the nectar appearing in the arms of Garuda. There they drank wine that snaps those fetters of shame that bind the ladies of the harem; wine, the essence of Love's life, the ally of merriment. Their faces, expanded and red with wine, shone like the lotuses in the lakes, expanded and red with the rays of the rising sun. And the goblets of the rosy hue of the lotus, finding themselves surpa.s.sed by the lips of the queens, and seeming terrified at touching them, hid with their hue the wine.

Then the queens of Naravahanadatta began to show signs of intoxication, with their contracted eye-brows and fiery eyes, and the period of quarrelling seemed to be setting in; [596] nevertheless they went thence in order to the hall [597] of feasting, which was attractive with its various viands provided by the power of magic. It was strewed with coverlets, abounding in dishes, and hung with curtains and screens, full of all kinds of delicacies and enjoyments, and it looked like the dancing-ground of the G.o.ddesses of good fortune.

There they took their meal, and the sun having retired to rest with the twilight on the western mountain, they reposed in sleeping pavilions. And Naravahanadatta, dividing himself by his science into many forms, was present in the pavilions of all the queens. But in his true personality he enjoyed the society of his beloved Madanamanchuka, who resembled the night in being moon-faced, having eyes twinkling like stars, and being full of revelry. And the king of Vatsa too, and his train, spent that night in heavenly enjoyments, seeming as if they had been born again without changing their bodies. And in the morning all woke up, and delighted themselves in the same way with various enjoyments in splendid gardens and pavilions produced by magic power.

Then, after they had spent many days in various amus.e.m.e.nts, the king of Vatsa, wis.h.i.+ng to return to his own city, went full of affection to his son the king of all the Vidyadharas, who bowed humbly before him, and said to him, "My son, who, that has sense, can help appreciating these heavenly enjoyments? But the love of dwelling in one's mother-country naturally draws every man; [598] so I mean to return to my own city; but do you enjoy this fortune of Vidyadhara royalty, for these regions suit you as being half G.o.d and half man. However, you must summon me again some time, when a suitable occasion presents itself; for this is the fruit of this birth of mine, that I behold this beautiful moon of your countenance, full of nectar worthy of being drunk in with the eyes, and that I have the delight of seeing your heavenly splendour.

When king Naravahanadatta heard this sincere speech of his father the king of Vatsa, he quickly summoned Devamaya the Vidyadhara prince, and said to him in a voice half-choked with a weight of tears, "My father is returning to his own capital with my mothers, and his ministers, and the rest of his train, so send on in front of him a full thousand bharas [599] of gold and jewels, and employ a thousand Vidyadhara serfs to carry it." When Devamaya had received this order given in kind tones by his master, he bowed and said, "Bestower of honour, I will go in person with my attendants to Kausambi to perform this duty." Then the emperor sent Vayupatha and Devamaya to attend on their journey his father and his followers, whom he honoured with presents of raiment and ornaments. Then the king of Vatsa and his suite mounted a heavenly chariot, and he went to his own city, after making his son, who followed him a long way, turn back. And queen Vasavadatta, whose longing regret rose at that moment with hundred-fold force, turned back her dutiful son with tears, and looking back at him, with difficulty tore herself away. And Naravahanadatta, who, accompanied by his ministers, had followed his parents and elders, returned to that mountain of Rishabha with his eyes blinded with tears. There that emperor remained with his ministers, Gomukha and the rest, who had grown up with him from his youth, and with hosts of Vidyadhara kings, with his wives, and with Madanamanchuka at his side, in the perpetual enjoyment of heavenly pleasures, and he was ever free from satiety.

BOOK XVI.

CHAPTER CXI.

May Ganesa protect you, the ornamental streaks of vermilion on whose cheeks fly up in the dance, and look like the fiery might of obstacles swallowed and disgorged by him.

While Naravahanadatta was thus living on that Rishabha mountain with his wives and his ministers, and was enjoying the splendid fortune of emperor over the kings of the Vidyadharas, which he had obtained, once on a time spring came to increase his happiness. After long intermission the light of the moon was beautifully clear, and the earth, enfolded by the young fresh gra.s.s, shewed its joy by sweating dewy drops, and the forest trees, closely embraced again and again by the winds of the Malaya mountain, were all trembling, bristling with thorns, and full of sap. [600] The warder of Cupid, the cuckoo, beholding the stalk of the mango-tree, with his note seemed to forbid the pride of coy damsels; and rows of bees fell with a loud hum from the flowery creepers, like showers of arrows shot from the bow of the great warrior Eros. And Naravahanadatta's ministers, Gomukha and the others, beholding at that time this activity of Spring, said to Naravahanadatta; "See, king, this mountain of Rishabha is altogether changed, and is now a mountain of flowers, since the dense lines of forest with which it is covered, have their blossoms full-blown with spring. Behold, king, the creepers, which, with their flowers striking against one another, seem to be playing the castanets; and with the humming of their bees, to be singing, as they are swayed to and fro by the wind; while the pollen, that covers them, makes them appear to be crowned with garlands; and the garden made ready by spring, in which they are, is like the Court of Cupid. Look at this mango shoot with its garland of bees; it looks like the bow of the G.o.d of love with loosened string, as he reposes after conquering the world. So come, let us go and enjoy this festival of spring on the bank of the river Mandakini where the gardens are so splendid."

When Naravahanadatta had been thus exhorted by his ministers, he went with the ladies of his harem to the bank of the Mandakini. And there he diverted himself in a garden resounding with the song of many birds, adorned with cardamom-trees, clove-trees, vakulas, asokas, and mandaras. And he sat down on a broad slab of moonstone, placing queen Madanamanchuka at his left hand, accompanied by the rest of his harem, and attended by various princes of the Vidyadharas, of whom Chandasinha and Amitagati were the chief; and while drinking wine and talking on various subjects, the sovereign, having observed the beauty of the season, said to his ministers, "The southern breeze is gentle and soft to the feel; the horizon is clear; the gardens in every corner are full of flowers and fragrant; sweet are the strains of the cuckoo, and the joys of the banquet of wine; what pleasure is wanting in the spring? Still, separation from one's beloved is during that season hard to bear. Even animals [601] find separation from their mates in the spring a severe affliction. For instance, behold this hen-cuckoo here distressed with separation! For she has been long searching for her beloved, that has disappeared from her gaze, with plaintive cries, and not being able to find him, she is now cowering on a mango, mute and like one dead."

When the king had said this, his minister Gomukha said to him, "It is true, all creatures find separation hard to bear at this time; and now listen, king; I will tell you in ill.u.s.tration of this something that happened in Sravasti."

Story of the devoted couple, Surasena and Sushena. [602]

In that town there dwelt a Rajput, who was in the service of the monarch, and lived on the proceeds of a village. His name was Surasena, and he had a wife named Sushena, who was a native of Malava. She was in every respect well suited to him, and he loved her more than life. One day the king summoned him, and he was about to set out for his camp, when his loving wife said to him, "My husband, you ought not to go off and leave me alone; for I shall not be able to exist here for a moment without you." When Surasena's wife said this to him, he replied, "How can I help going, when the king summons me? Do you not understand my position, fair one? You see, I am a Rajput, and a servant, dependent on another for my subsistence." When his wife heard this, she said to him with tears in her eyes, "If you must of necessity go, I shall manage to endure it somehow, if you return not one day later than the commencement of spring." Having heard this, he at last said to her, "Agreed, my dear! I will return on the first day of the month Chaitra, even if I have to leave my duty."

When he said this, his wife was at last induced to let him go; and so Surasena went to attend on the king in his camp. And his wife remained at home, counting the days in eager expectation, looking for the joyful day on which spring begins, on which her husband was to return. At last, in the course of time, that day of the spring-festival arrived, resonant with the songs of cuckoos, that seemed like spells to summon the G.o.d of love. The humming of bees drunk with the fragrance of flowers, fell on the ear, like the tw.a.n.ging of Cupid's bow as he strung it.

On that day Surasena's wife Sushena said to herself, "Here is that spring-festival arrived; my beloved will, without fail, return to-day. So she bathed, and adorned herself, and wors.h.i.+pped the G.o.d of Love, and remained eagerly awaiting his arrival. But the day came to an end and her husband did not return, and during the course of that night she was grievously afflicted by despondency, and said to herself, "The hour of my death has come, but my husband has not returned; for those whose souls are exclusively devoted to the service of another do not care for their own families." While she was making these reflections, with her heart fixed upon her husband, her breath left her body, as if consumed by the forest-fire of love.

In the meanwhile Surasena, eager to behold his wife, and true to the appointed day, got himself, though with great difficulty, relieved from attendance on the king, and mounting a swift camel, accomplished a long journey, and arriving in the last watch of the night, reached his own house. There he beheld that wife of his lying dead, with all her ornaments on her, looking like a creeper, with its flowers full blown, rooted up by the wind. When he saw her, he was beside himself, and he took her up in his arms, and the bereaved husband's life immediately left his body in an outburst of lamentation.

But when their family G.o.ddess Chandi, the bestower of boons, saw that that couple had met their death in this way, she restored them to life out of compa.s.sion. And after breath had returned to them, having each had a proof of the other's affection, they continued inseparable for the rest of their lives.

"Thus, in the season of spring, the fire of separation, fanned by the wind from the Malaya mountain, is intolerable to all creatures." When Gomukha had told this tale, Naravahanadatta, thinking over it, suddenly became despondent. The fact is, in magnanimous men, the spirits, by being elevated or depressed, indicate beforehand the approach of good or evil fortune. [603]

Then the day came to an end, and the sovereign performed his evening wors.h.i.+p, and went to his bedroom, and got into bed, and reposed there. But in a dream at the end of the night [604] he saw his father being dragged away by a black female towards the southern quarter. The moment he had seen this, he woke up, and suspecting that some calamity might have befallen his father, he thought upon the science named Prajnapti, who thereupon presented herself, and he addressed this question to her, "Tell me, how has my father the king of Vatsa been going on? For I am alarmed about him on account of a sight which I saw in an evil dream." When he said this to the science that had manifested herself in bodily form, she said to him, "Hear what has happened to your father the king of Vatsa.

"When he was in Kausambi, he suddenly heard from a messenger, who had come from Ujjayini, that king Chandamahasena was dead, and the same person told him that his wife the queen Angaravati had burnt herself with his corpse. This so shocked him, that he fell senseless upon the ground: and when he recovered consciousness, he wept for a long time, with queen Vasavadatta and his courtiers, for his father-in-law and mother-in-law who had gone to heaven. But his ministers roused him by saying to him, 'In this transient world what is there that hath permanence? Moreover you ought not to weep for that king, who has you for a son-in-law, and Gopalaka for a son, and whose daughter's son is Naravahanadatta.' When he had been thus admonished and roused from his prostration, he gave the offering of water to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

"Then that king of Vatsa said, with throat half-choked with tears, to his afflicted brother-in-law Gopalaka, who remained at his side out of affection, [605] 'Rise up, go to Ujjayini, and take care of your father's kingdom, for I have heard from a messenger that the people are expecting you.' When Gopalaka heard this, he said, weeping, to the king of Vatsa, 'I cannot bear to leave you and my sister, to go to Ujjayini. Moreover, I cannot bring myself to endure the sight of my native city, now that my father is not in it. So let Palaka, my younger brother, be king there with my full consent.' When Gopalaka had by these words shown his unwillingness to accept the kingdom, the king of Vatsa sent his commander-in-chief Rumanvat to the city of Ujjayini, and had his younger brother-in-law, named Palaka, crowned king of it, with his elder brother's consent.

"And reflecting on the instability of all things, he became disgusted with the objects of sense, and said to Yangandharayana and his other ministers, 'In this unreal cycle of mundane existence all objects are at the end insipid; and I have ruled my realm, I have enjoyed pleasures, I have conquered my enemies; I have seen my son in the possession of paramount sway over the Vidyadharas; and now my allotted time has pa.s.sed away together with my connections; and old age has seized me by the hair to hand me over to death; and wrinkles have invaded my body, as the strong invade the kingdom of a weakling; [606]

so I will go to mount Kalinjara, and abandoning this perishable body, will there obtain the imperishable mansion of which they speak.' When the ministers had been thus addressed by the king, they thought over the matter; and then they all and queen Vasavadatta said to him with calm equanimity, 'Let it be, king, as it has pleased your highness; by your favour we also will try to obtain a high position in the next world.'

"When they had said this to the king, being like-minded with himself, he formed a deliberate resolution, and said to his elder brother-in-law Gopalaka, who was present, 'I look upon you and Naravahanadatta as equally my sons; so take care of this Kausambi, I give you my kingdom.' When the king of Vatsa said this to Gopalaka, he replied, 'My destination is the same as yours, I cannot bear to leave you.' This he a.s.serted in a persistent manner, being ardently attached to his sister; whereupon the king of Vatsa said to him, a.s.suming [607] an anger, that he did not feel, 'To-day you have become disobedient, so as to affect a hypocritical conformity to my will; and no wonder, for who cares for the command of one who is falling from his place of power.' When the king spoke thus roughly to him, Gopalaka wept, with face fixed on the ground, and though he had determined to go to the forest, he turned back for a moment from his intention.

"Then the king mounted an elephant, and accompanied by the queens Vasavadatta and Padmavati, set out with his ministers. And when he left Kausambi, the citizens followed him, with their wives, children, and aged sires, crying aloud and raining a tempest of tears. The king comforted them by saying to them, 'Gopalaka will take care of you,'

and so at last he induced them to return, and pa.s.sed on to mount Kalinjara. And he reached it, and went up it, and wors.h.i.+pped Siva, and holding in his hand his lyre Ghoshavati, that he had loved all his life, and accompanied by his queens that were ever at his side, and Yangandharayana and his other ministers, he hurled himself from the cliff. And even as they fell, a fiery chariot came and caught up the king and his companions, and they went in a blaze of glory to heaven."

When Naravahanadatta heard this from the science, he exclaimed, "Alas! my father!" and fell senseless on the ground. And when he recovered consciousness, he bewailed his father and mother and his father's ministers, in company with his own ministers, who had lost their fathers.

But the chiefs of the Vidyadharas and Dhanavati admonished him, saying, "How is it, king, that you are beside yourself, though you know the nature of this versatile world that perishes in a moment, and is like the show of a juggler? And how can you lament for your parents that are not to be lamented for, as they have done all they had to do on earth; who have seen you their son sole emperor over all the Vidyadharas?" When he had been thus admonished, he offered water to his parents, and put another question to that science, "Where is my uncle Gopalaka now? What did he do?" Then that science went on to say to the king,

"When the king of Vatsa had gone to the mountain from which he meant to throw himself, Gopalaka, having lamented for him and his sister, and considering all things unstable, remained outside the city, and summoning his brother Palaka from Ujjayini, made over to him that kingdom of Kausambi also. And then, having seen his younger brother established in two kingdoms, he went to the hermitage of Kasyapa in the ascetic-grove on the Black Mountain, [608] bent on abandoning the world. And there your uncle Gopalaka now is, clothed with a dress of bark, in the midst of self-mortifying hermits."

When Naravahanadatta heard that, he went in a chariot to the Black Mountain, with his suite, eager to visit that uncle. There he alighted from the sky, surrounded by Vidyadhara princes, and beheld that hermitage of the hermit Kasyapa. It seemed to gaze on him with many roaming black antelope like rolling eyes, and to welcome him with the songs of its birds. With the lines of smoke ascending into the sky, where pious men were offering the Agnihotra oblations, it seemed to point the way to heaven to the hermits. It was full of many mountain-like huge elephants, and resorted to by troops of monkeys [609]; and so seemed like a strange sort of Patala, above ground, and free from darkness.

In the midst of that grove of ascetics, he beheld his uncle surrounded by hermits, with long matted locks, clothed in the bark of a tree, looking like an incarnation of patience. And Gopalaka, when he saw his sister's son approach, rose up and embraced him, and pressed him to his bosom with tearful eyes. Then they, both of them, lamented their lost dear ones with renewed grief; whom will not the fire of grief torture, when fanned by the blast of a meeting with relations? When even the animals there were pained to see their grief, Kasyapa and the other hermits came up and consoled those two. Then that day came to an end, and next morning the emperor entreated Gopalaka to come and dwell in his kingdom. But Gopalaka said to him, "What, my child, do you not suppose that I have all the happiness I desire by thus seeing you? If you love me, remain here in this hermitage, during this rainy season, which has arrived."

When Naravahanadatta had been thus entreated by his uncle, he remained in the hermitage of Kasyapa on the Black Mountain, with his attendants, for the term mentioned.

CHAPTER CXII.

Now, one day, when Naravahanadatta was in the hall of audience on the Black Mountain, his Commander-in-chief came before him, and said, "Last night, my sovereign, when I was on the top of my house, looking after my troops, I saw a woman being carried off through the air by a heavenly being, crying out, 'Alas! my husband!' and it seemed as if the moon, which is powerful at that season, had taken her and carried her off, finding that she robbed it of all its beauty. I exclaimed, 'Ah villain! where will you go, thus carrying off the wife of another? In the kingdom of king Naravahanadatta the protector, which is the territory of the Vidyadharas, extending over sixty thousand yojanas, even animals do not work wickedness, much less other creatures.' When I had said this, I hastened with my attendants and arrested that swift-footed [610] one, and brought him down from the air with the lady: and when we looked at him, after bringing him down, we found that it was your brother-in-law, the Vidyadhara Ityaka, the brother of your princ.i.p.al queen, born to Madanavega by queen Kalingasena. We said to him, 'Who is this lady, and where are you taking her?' and then he answered; 'This is Suratamanjari the daughter of the Vidyadhara chief Matangadeva by Chutamanjari. Her mother promised her to me long ago; and then her father bestowed her on another, a mere man. So, if I have to-day recovered my own wife, and carried her off, what harm have I done?' When Ityaka had said so much, he was silent.