The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 78

Having said this, he called to mind that vehicle given to him by the hermit, which would carry him to any place conceived in the mind, and a.s.sume any desired form. It turned into an air-going chariot, and he mounted it, and set out for that heavenly temple of Siva, and when he reached it, he saw that it was just as it had seemed in his dream, and he rejoiced. Then he proceeded to perform religious ablution with all the attendant rites, in the holy water there, named Siddhodaka, with no one to wait on him but his friend.

Then his father king Merudhvaja, who was in his own city, emaciated with fasting, accompanied by his wife, son, and suite, heard that he had gone off somewhere secretly, and became bewildered with grief. And all this was at once known in Patala, exactly as it had taken place. Then Trailokyamalin took with him his two daughters, and came fasting, with his wife and suite, to visit king Merudhvaja. And they all resolved on the following course of action; "Surely, as it is the fourteenth day, the prince has gone somewhere to wors.h.i.+p Siva; so we will wait for him here this day. But to-morrow, if he has not returned, we will go where he is: then, happen what will."

In the meanwhile Padmavati, who was in that hermitage of Siva, named Meghavana, said that very day to her ladies-in-waiting; "My friends, I remember that last night I went in a dream to Siddhisvara, and a certain man wearing matted hair came out of the temple of the G.o.d, and said to me, 'My daughter, thy sorrow is at an end, thy reunion with thy husband is nigh at hand.' When he had said this, he departed, and night and sleep left me together. So come, let us go there." When Padmavati had said this, she went to that temple of Gauri on the slope of Meru.

There she saw with astonishment that Muktaphaladhvaja at a distance bathing in Siddhodaka, and she said to her friends, "This man is like my beloved. Observe how very like he is. Wonderful! Can he be the very same? It cannot be, for he is a mortal." When her ladies-in-waiting heard that, and saw him, they said to her, "Princess, not only is this man very like your beloved, but observe, his companion also bears a resemblance to your lover's friend Samyataka. So we know for certain that, in accordance with your last night's dream which you related to us, Siva has by his power brought those two here, after their becoming incarnate as men owing to a curse. Otherwise, how, being mortals, could they have come to this region of the G.o.ds?" When Padmavati had been thus addressed by her ladies-in-waiting, she wors.h.i.+pped Siva, and in a state of eager excitement, remained concealed near the G.o.d's symbol to find out who the stranger was.

In the meanwhile Muktaphaladhvaja, having bathed, came into the temple to wors.h.i.+p the G.o.d, and after looking all round, said to Mahabuddhi, "Strange to say, here is that very temple, which I saw in my dream, made of precious stone, with the form of Siva visible within the linga. And now I behold here those very localities, which I saw in my dream, full of jewel-gleaming trees, which are alive with heavenly birds. But I do not see here that heavenly maiden, whom I then saw; and if I do not find her, I am determined to abandon the body in this place."

When he said this, Padmavati's ladies-in-waiting said to her in a whisper, "Listen! it is certain that he has come here, because he saw you here in a dream, and if he does not find you, he intends to surrender his life; so let us remain here concealed, and see what he means to do."

And while they remained there in concealment, Muktaphaladhvaja entered, and wors.h.i.+pped the G.o.d, and came out. And when he came out, he devoutly walked round the temple three times, keeping his right hand towards it, and then he and his friend remembered their former birth, and in their joy they were telling to one another the events of their life as Vidyadharas, when Padmavati met their view. And Muktaphaladhvaja, remembering the occurrences of his former life, as soon as he saw her, was filled with joy, and said to his friend, "Lo! this very princess Padmavati, the lady I saw in my dream! and she has come here by good luck; so I will at once go and speak to her."

When he had said this, he went up to her weeping and said, "Princess, do not go away anywhere now; for I am your former lover Muktaphalaketu. I became a man by the curse of the hermit Dridhavrata, and I have now remembered my former birth." When he had said this, he tried, in his eagerness, to embrace her. But she was alarmed and made herself invisible, and remained there with her eyes full of tears: and the prince, not seeing her, fell on the ground in a swoon.

Then his friend sorrowfully spoke these words into the air, "How is it, princess Padmavati, that, now this lover has come, for whom you suffered such severe austerities, you will not speak to him? I too am Samyataka the comrade of your beloved: why do you not say something kind to me, as I was cursed for you?" After saying this, he restored the prince, and said to him, "This punishment has come upon you as the result of the crime you committed in not accepting the Daitya princess, who offered herself to you out of love."

When Padmavati, who was concealed, heard this, she said to her ladies-in-waiting, "Listen, he has no inclination for Asura maidens." Then her ladies said to her, "You see that all tallies together. Do you not remember that long ago, when your beloved was cursed, he craved as a boon from the hermit Tapodhana, that while he was a man, his heart might never be inclined to any one but Padmavati. It is in virtue of that boon that he now feels no love for other women." When the princess heard this, she was bewildered with doubt.

Then Muktaphaladhvaja, who had no sooner seen his beloved, than she disappeared from his eyes, cried out, "Ah! my beloved Padmavati, do you not see that when I was a Vidyadhara, I incurred a curse in Meghavana for your sake? And now be a.s.sured that I shall meet my death here."

When Padmavati heard him utter this and other laments, she said to her ladies-in-waiting, "Though all indications seem to tally, still these two may possibly have heard these things at some time or other by communication from mouth to mouth, and therefore my mind is not convinced. But I cannot bear to listen to his sorrowful exclamations, so I will go to that temple of Gauri; moreover it is the hour of wors.h.i.+p for me there." When Padmavati had said this, she went with her ladies-in-waiting to that hermitage of Ambika, and after wors.h.i.+pping the G.o.ddess she offered this prayer, "If the man I have just seen in Siddhisvara is really my former lover, bring about for me, G.o.ddess, my speedy reunion with him."

And while Padmavati was there, longing for her beloved, Muktaphaladhvaja, who had remained behind in Siddhisvara, said to his friend Mahabuddhi, who had been in a former life his friend Samyataka, "I am convinced, my friend, that she has gone to her own haunt, that temple of Gauri; so come, let us go there." When he had said this, he ascended that chariot of his, which went wherever the mind desired, and flew to that hermitage of Ambika.

When Padmavati's ladies-in-waiting saw him afar off, coming down in the chariot from the sky, they said to Padmavati, "Princess, behold this marvel. He has come here also, travelling in an air-going chariot; how can he, a mere man, have such power?" Then Padmavati said, "My friends, do you not remember that on Dridhavrata, who cursed him, I laid the following curse, 'When my beloved is incarnate as a man, you shall be his vehicle, a.s.suming any desired shape, and moving in obedience to a wish.' So, no doubt, this is that hermit's pupil, his vehicle, wearing at present the form of an air-going chariot, and by means of it he roams everywhere at will."

When she said this, her ladies-in-waiting said to her, "If you know this to be the case, princess, why do you not speak to him? What are you waiting for?" When Padmavati heard this speech of her ladies', she went on to say, "I think that this probably is the case, but I am not absolutely certain as yet. But, even supposing he really is my beloved, how can I approach him, now that he is not in his own body, but in another body? So, let us for a time watch his proceedings, being ourselves concealed." When the princess had said this, she remained there concealed, surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting.

Then Muktaphaladhvaja descended from the chariot in that hermitage of Ambika, and being full of longing, said to his friend, "Here I had my first interview with my beloved, when she had been terrified by the Rakshasis; and I again saw her in the garden here, when she came having chosen me for her own; and here I received the curse, and she wished to follow me by dying; but was, though with difficulty, prevented by that great hermit: and now, see, that very same lady flies out of reach of my eyes."

When Padmavati heard him speak thus, she said to her ladies-in-waiting, "True, my friends, it is really my beloved, but how can I approach him, before he has entered his former body? In this matter Siddhisvara is my only hope. He sent me the dream, and he will provide for me a way out of my difficulties." When she had formed this resolution, she went back to Siddhisvara. And she wors.h.i.+pped that manifestation of Siva, and offered this prayer to him, "Unite me with my beloved in his former body, or bestow death on me. I see no third way of escape from my woe." And then she remained with her friends in the court of the G.o.d's temple.

In the meanwhile Muktaphaladhvaja searched for the princess in the temple of Gauri, and not finding her was despondent, and said to that friend, "I have not found her here; let us go back to that temple of Siva; if I cannot find her there, I will enter the fire."

When that friend heard it, he said, "Good luck will befall you! The word of the hermit and Siva's promise in your dream cannot be falsified." With those words did Muktaphaladhvaja's friend try to comfort him; and then Muktaphaladhvaja ascended the chariot, and went with him to Siddhisvara.

When Padmavati saw him arrive, she still remained there invisible, and she said to her ladies-in-waiting, "Look! he has come to this very place." He too entered, and seeing that offerings had been recently placed in front of the G.o.d, prince Muktaphaladhvaja said to that companion of his, "Look, my friend, some one has been quite recently wors.h.i.+pping this symbol of the G.o.d; surely, that beloved of mine must be somewhere here, and she must have done this wors.h.i.+p." When he had said this, he looked for her, but could not find her; and then in the anguish of separation he cried out again and again, "Ah! my beloved Padmavati!"

Then, thinking that the cry of the cuckoo was her voice, and that the tail of the peac.o.c.k was her hair, and that the lotus was her face, the prince ran wildly about, overpowered with an attack of the fever of love, and with difficulty did his friend console him; and coaxing him, he said to him, "What is this that you have taken up, being weak with much fasting? Why do you disregard your own welfare, though you have conquered the earth and Patala? Your father Merudhvaja, and king Trailokyamalin, the king of the Danavas, your future father-in-law, and his daughter Trailokyaprabha, who wishes to marry you, and your mother Vinayavati, and your younger brother Malayadhvaja will, if you do not go to them, suspect that some misfortune has happened, and fasting as they are, will give up their breath. So come along! Let us go and save their lives, for the day is at an end."

When Muktaphaladhvaja's friend said this to him, he answered him, "Then go yourself in my chariot and comfort them." Then his friend said, "How will that hermit's pupil, who has been made your vehicle by a curse, submit to me?" When the prince's friend said this, he replied, "Then wait a little, my friend; let us see what will happen here."

When Padmavati heard this conversation of theirs, she said to her ladies-in-waiting, "I know that this is my former lover by all the notes tallying, but he is degraded by the curse, being enclosed in a human body, and I too am thus afflicted with a curse, because I laughed at the Siddha-maiden." While she was saying this, the moon rose, red in hue, the fire that devours the forest of separated lovers. And gradually the moonlight filled the world on every side, and the flame of love's fire filled the heart of Muktaphaladhvaja.

Then the prince began to lament like a chakravaka at the approach of night; and Padmavati, who was concealed, being despondent, said to him, "Prince, though you are my former lover, still, as you are now in another body, you are to me a strange man, and I am to you as the wife of another; so why do you lament again and again? Surely some means will be provided, if that speech of the hermit's was true."

When Muktaphaladhvaja heard this speech of hers, and could not see her, he fell into a state which was painful from the contending emotions of joy and despondency; and he said to her, "Princess, my former birth has returned to my recollection, and so I recognised you, as soon as I saw you, for you still wear your old body, but as you saw me when I was dwelling in my Vidyadhara [726] body, how can you recognise me, now that I am in a mortal body? So I must certainly abandon this accursed frame." When he had said this, he remained silent, and his beloved continued in concealment.

Then, the night being almost gone, and his friend Mahabuddhi, who was formerly Samyataka, having gone to sleep out of weariness, prince Muktaphaladhvaja, thinking that he could never obtain Padmavati, as long as he continued in that body, collected wood, [727] and lighted a fire; and wors.h.i.+pped Siva embodied in the linga, uttering this prayer, "Holy one, may I by thy favour return to my former body, and soon obtain my beloved Padmavati!" And having said this, he consumed his body in that blazing fire.

And in the meanwhile Mahabuddhi woke up, and not being able, in spite of careful search, to find Muktaphaladhvaja, and seeing the fire blazing up, he came to the conclusion that his friend, distracted with separation, had burnt himself, and out of regret for his loss, he flung himself into that same fire.

When Padmavati saw that, she was tortured with grief, and she said to her ladies-in-waiting, "Alas! Fie! the female heart is harder than the thunderbolt, otherwise my breath must have left me beholding this horror. So, how long am I to retain this wretched life? Even now, owing to my demerits, there is no end to my woe; moreover, the promise of that hermit has been falsified; so it is better that I should die. But it is not fitting that I should enter this fire and be mixed up with strange men, so in this difficult conjuncture hanging, which gives no trouble, is my best resource." When the princess had said this, she went in front of Siva, and proceeded to make a noose by means of a creeper, which she fastened to an asoka-tree.

And while her ladies-in-waiting were trying to prevent her by encouraging speeches, that hermit Tapodhana came there. He said, "My daughter, do not act rashly, that promise of mine will not be falsified. Be of good courage, you shall see that husband of yours come here in a moment. His curse has been just now cancelled by virtue of your penance; so why do you now distrust the power of your own austerities? And why do you shew this despondency when your marriage is at hand? I have come here because I learnt all this by my power of meditation." When Padmavati saw the hermit approaching uttering these words, she bowed before him, and was for a moment, as it were, swung to and fro by perplexity. Then her beloved Muktaphalaketu, having by the burning of his mortal body entered his own Vidyadhara body, came there with his friend. And Padmavati, seeing that son of the king of the Vidyadharas coming through the air, as a female chataka beholds a fresh rain-cloud, or a k.u.mudvati the full moon newly risen, felt indescribable joy in her heart. And Muktaphalaketu, when he saw her, rejoiced, and so to speak, drank her in with his eyes, as a traveller, wearied with long wandering in a desert, rejoices, when he beholds a river. And those two, reunited like a couple of chakravakas by the termination of the night of their curse, took their fill of falling at the feet of that hermit of glowing brilliancy. [728] Then that great hermit welcomed them in the following words, "My heart has been fully gratified to-day by seeing you reunited, happy at having come to the end of your curse."

And when the night had pa.s.sed, king Merudhvaja came there in search of them, mounted on the elephant of Indra, accompanied by his wife and his youngest son, and also Trailokyamalin the sovereign of the Daityas, with his daughter Trailokyaprabha, mounted on a chariot, attended by his harem and his suite. Then the hermit pointed out Muktaphalaketu to those two kings and described what had taken place, how he had become a man by a curse, in order to do a service to the G.o.ds, and how he had been delivered from his human condition. And when Merudhvaja and the others heard that, though they were before eager to throw themselves into the fire, they bathed in Siddhodaka and wors.h.i.+pped Siva, by the hermit's direction, and were at once delivered from their sorrow. Then that Trailokyaprabha suddenly called to mind her birth and said to herself "Truly I am that same Devaprabha, the daughter of the king of the Siddhas, who, when undergoing austerities [729] in order that the emperor of all the Vidyadharas might be my husband, was ridiculed by Padmavati, and entered the fire to gain the fulfilment of my desire. And now I have been born in this Daitya race, and here is this very prince with whom I was in love, who has recovered his Vidyadhara body. But it is not fitting that, now that his body is changed, he should be united to this body of mine, so I will consume my Asura body also in the fire, in order to obtain him."

Having gone through these reflections in her mind, and having communicated her intention to her parents, she entered [730] the fire which had consumed Muktaphaladhvaja; and then the G.o.d of fire himself appeared with her, on whom out of pity he had bestowed her former body, and said to Muktaphaladhvaja, "Muktaphaladhvaja, this lady Devaprabha, the daughter of the king of the Siddhas, for thy sake abandoned her body in me; so receive her as thy wife." When the G.o.d of fire had said this, he disappeared; and Brahma came there with Indra and the rest of the G.o.ds, and Padmasekhara the king of the Gandharvas, with Chandraketu, the sovereign of the Vidyadharas. Then that prosperous king of the Gandharvas [731] gave his daughter Padmavati, with due rites and much activity on the part of his followers, as wife to Muktaphalaketu, who bowed before him, congratulated by all. And then that prince of the Vidyadharas, having obtained that beloved, whom he had so long desired, considered that he had gathered the fruit of the tree of his birth, and married also that Siddha-maiden. And prince Malayadhvaja was united to that Daitya princess, his beloved Tribhuvanaprabha, whom her father bestowed on him with due rites. Then Merudhvaja, having, on account of his son Malayadhvaja's complete success, anointed him to be sole ruler of a kingdom extending over the earth with all its islands, went with his wife to the forest to perform austerities. And Trailokyamalin, the king of the Daityas, went with his wife to his own region, and Indra gave to Muktaphalaketu the splendid kingdom of Vidyuddhvaja. And this voice came from heaven, "Let this Muktaphalaketu enjoy the sovereignty over the Vidyadharas and Asuras, and let the G.o.ds go to their own abodes!" When they heard that voice, Brahma and Indra and the other G.o.ds went away delighted, and the hermit Tapodhana went with his pupil, who was released from his curse, and Chandraketu went to his own Vidyadhara home, with his son Muktaphalaketu who was graced by two wives. And there the king, together with his son, long enjoyed the dignity of emperor over the Vidyadharas, but at last he threw on him the burden of his kingdom, and, disgusted with the world and its pleasures, went with the queen to an ascetic grove of hermits. And Muktaphalaketu, having before obtained from Indra the rule over the Asuras, and again from his father the empire over the Vidyadharas, enjoyed, in the society of Padmavati, who seemed like an incarnation of happiness, for ten kalpas, the good fortune of all the pleasures which the sway of those two wealthy realms could yield, and thus obtained the highest success. But he saw that pa.s.sions are in their end distasteful, and at last he entered a wood of mighty hermits, and by the eminence of his asceticism obtained the highest glory, and became a companion of the lord Siva.

Thus king Brahmadatta and his wife and his minister heard this romantic tale from the couple of swans, and gained knowledge from their teaching, and obtained the power of flying through the air like G.o.ds; and then they went accompanied by those two birds to Siddhisvara, [732] and there they all laid aside the bodies they had entered in consequence of the curse, and were reinstated in their former position as attendants upon Siva. [733]

Hearing this story from Gomukha in the absence of Madanamanchuka, for a moment only, hermits, I cheered my heart with hope.

When the emperor Naravahanadatta had told this story, those hermits in the hermitage of Kasyapa, accompanied by Gopalaka, rejoiced exceedingly.

BOOK XVIII.

CHAPTER CXX.

Glory be to that G.o.d, half of whose body is the moon-faced Parvati, who is smeared with ashes white as the rays of the moon, whose eyes gleam with a fire like that of the sun and moon, who wears a half-moon on his head!

May that elephant-faced G.o.d protect you, who, with his trunk bent at the end, uplifted in sport, appears to be bestowing successes!

Then Naravahanadatta, in the hermitage of the hermit Kasyapa, on that Black Mountain, said to the a.s.sembled hermits, "Moreover, when, during my separation from the queen, Vegavati, who was in love with me, took me and made me over to the protection of a Science, I longed to abandon the body, being separated from my beloved and in a foreign land; but while, in this state of mind, I was roaming about in a remote part of the forest, I beheld the great hermit Kanva.

"That compa.s.sionate hermit, seeing me bowing at his feet, and knowing by the insight of profound meditation that I was miserable, took me to his hermitage, and said to me, 'Why are you distracted, though you are a hero sprung from the race of the Moon? As the ordinance of the G.o.d standeth sure, why should you despair of reunion with your wife?

"'The most unexpected meetings do take place for men in this world; I will tell you, to ill.u.s.trate this, the story of Vikramaditya; listen.'"

The story of Vikramaditya.

There is in Avanti a famous city, named Ujjayini, the dwelling-place of Siva, built by Visvakarman in the commencement or the Yuga; which, like a virtuous woman, is invincible by strangers; like a lotus-plant is the resort of the G.o.ddess of prosperity; like the heart of the good, is rich in virtue; like the earth, is full of many wonderful sights.

There dwelt in that city a world-conquering king, named Mahendraditya, the slayer of his enemies' armies, like Indra in Amaravati. In regard of prowess he was a wielder of many weapons; in regard of beauty he was the flower-weaponed G.o.d [734] himself; his hand was ever open in bounty, but was firmly clenched on the hilt of his sword. That king had a wife named Saumyadarsana, who was to him as Sachi to Indra, as Gauri to Siva, as Sri to Vishnu. And that king had a great minister named Sumati, and a warder named Vajrayudha, in whose family the office was hereditary. With these the king remained ruling his realm, propitiating Siva, and ever bearing various vows in order to obtain a son.