The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 79

In the meanwhile, as Siva was with Parvati on the mighty mountain Kailasa, the glens of which are visited by troops of G.o.ds, which is beautiful with the smile that the Northern quarter smiles joyous at vanquis.h.i.+ng all the others, all the G.o.ds with Indra at their head came to visit him, being afflicted by the oppression of the Mlechchhas; and the immortals bowed, and then sat down and praised Siva; and when he asked them the reason of their coming, they addressed to him this prayer: "O G.o.d, those Asuras, who were slain by thee and Vishnu, have been now again born on the earth in the form of Mlechchhas. They slay Brahmans, they interfere with the sacrifices and other ceremonies, and they carry off the daughters of hermits: indeed, what crime do not the villains commit? Now, thou knowest, lord, that the world of G.o.ds is ever nourished by the earth, for the oblation offered in the fire by Brahmans nourishes the dwellers in heaven. But, as the Mlechchhas have overrun the earth, the auspicious words are nowhere p.r.o.nounced over the burnt-offering, and the world of G.o.ds is being exhausted by the cutting off of their share of the sacrifice and other supplies. [735]

So devise an expedient in this matter; cause some hero to become incarnate on the earth, mighty enough to destroy those Mlechchhas."

When Siva had been thus entreated by the G.o.ds, he said to them, "Depart; you need not be anxious about this matter; be at your ease. Rest a.s.sured that I will soon devise an expedient which will meet the difficulty." When Siva had said this, he dismissed the G.o.ds to their abodes. [736]

And when they had gone, the Holy one, with Parvati at his side, summoned a Gana, named Malyavat, and gave him this order, "My son, descend into the condition of a man, and be born in the city of Ujjayini as the brave son of king Mahendraditya. That king is a portion of me, and his wife is sprung from a portion of Ambika; be born in their family, and do the heaven-dwellers the service they require. Slay all those Mlechchhas that obstruct the fulfilment of the law contained in the three Vedas. And by my favour thou shalt be a king ruling over the seven divisions of the world; moreover the Rakshasas, the Yakshas and the Vetalas shall own thy supremacy; [737] and after thou hast enjoyed human pleasures, thou shalt again return to me."

When the Gana Malyavat received this command from Siva, he said "The command of you two divine beings cannot be disobeyed by me: but what enjoyments are there in the life of a man, which involves separations from relations, friends, and servants, very hard to bear, and the pain arising from loss of wealth, old age, disease, and the other ills of humanity?" When the Gana said this to Siva, the G.o.d thus replied, "Go, blameless one! These woes shall not fall to thy lot; by my favour thou shalt be happy throughout the whole of thy sojourn on earth." When Siva said this to Malyavat, that virtuous Gana immediately disappeared. And he went and was conceived in Ujjayini, in the proper season, in the womb of the queen of king Mahendraditya.

And at that time the G.o.d, whose diadem is fas.h.i.+oned of a digit of the moon, said to that king in a dream, "I am pleased with thee, king, so a son shall be born to thee, who by his might shall conquer the earth with all its divisions; and that hero shall reduce under his sway the Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pisachas and others, even those that move in the air, and dwell in Patala, and shall slay the hosts of the Mlechchhas; for this reason he shall be named Vikramaditya; and also Vishamasila on account of his stern hostility [738] to his enemies."

When the G.o.d had said this, he disappeared; and next morning the king woke up, and joyfully related his dream to his ministers. And they also told the king, one after another, with great delight, that Siva had made a revelation to each of them in a dream that he was to have a son. And at that moment a handmaid of the harem came and shewed the king a fruit, saying, "Siva gave this to the queen in a dream." Then the king rejoiced, saying, again and again, "Truly, Siva has given me a son," and his ministers congratulated him.

Then his ill.u.s.trious queen became pregnant, like the eastern quarter in the morning, when the orb of the sun is about to arise, and she was conspicuous for the black tint of the nipples of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which appeared like a seal to secure the milk for the king with whom she was pregnant. In her dreams at that time she crossed seven seas, being wors.h.i.+pped by all the Yakshas, Vetalas, and Rakshasas. And when the due time was come, she brought forth a glorious son, who lit up the chamber, as the rising sun does the heaven. And when he was born, the sky became indeed glorious, laughing with the falling rain of flowers, and ringing with the noise of the G.o.ds' drums. And on that occasion the city was altogether distracted with festive joy, and appeared as if intoxicated, as if possessed by a demon, as if generally wind-struck. And at that time the king rained wealth there so unceasingly, that, except the Buddhists, no one was without a G.o.d. [739] And king Mahendraditya gave him the name of Vikramaditya, which Siva had mentioned, and also that of Vishamasila.

When some more days had pa.s.sed, there was born to that king's minister, named Sumati, a son of the name of Mahamati, and the warder Vajrayudha had a son born to him, named Bhadhrayudha, and the chaplain Mahidhara had a son of the name of Sridhara. And that prince Vikramaditya grew up with those three minister's sons, as with spirit, courage, and might. When he was invested with the sacred thread, and put under teachers, they were merely the occasions of his learning the sciences, which revealed themselves to him without effort. And whatever science or accomplishment he was seen to employ, was known by those, who understood it, to be possessed by him to the highest degree of excellence. And when people saw that prince fighting with heavenly weapons, they even began to pay less attention to the stories about the great archer Rama and other heroes of the kind. And his father brought for him beautiful maidens, given by kings who had submitted after defeat, like so many G.o.ddesses of Fortune.

Then his father, king Mahendraditya, seeing that his son was in the bloom of early manhood, of great valour, and beloved by the subjects, duly anointed him heir to his realm, and being himself old, retired with his wife and ministers to Varanasi, [740] and made the G.o.d Siva his refuge.

And king Vikramaditya, having obtained that kingdom of his father, began in due course to blaze forth, as the sun, when it has occupied the sky. Even haughty kings, when they saw the string fitted into the notch of his bending bow, [741] learnt a lesson from that weapon, and bent likewise on every side. Of G.o.dlike dignity, having subdued to his sway even Vetalas, Rakshasas and other demons, he chastised righteously those that followed evil courses. The armies of that Vikramaditya roamed over the earth like the rays of the sun, shedding into every quarter the light of order. Though that king was a mighty hero, he dreaded the other world, though a brave warrior, he was not hard-handed, [742] though not uxorious, he was beloved by his wives. He was the father of all the fatherless, the friend of all the friendless, and the protector of all the unprotected among his subjects. Surely his glory furnished the Disposer with the material out of which he built up the White Island, the Sea of Milk, Mount Kailasa, and the Himalayas. [743]

And one day, as the king Vikramaditya was in the hall of a.s.sembly, the warder Bhadrayudha came in and said to him, "Your Majesty despatched Vikramasakti with an army to conquer the southern region and other territories, and then sent to him a messenger named Anangadeva; that messenger has now returned, and is at the gate with another, and his delighted face announces good tidings, my lord." The king said, "Let him enter," and then the warder respectfully introduced Anangadeva, with his companion. The messenger entered and bowed, and shouted "Victory" [744] and sat down in front of the king; and then the king said to him, "Is it well with king Vikramasakti, the general of my forces, and with Vyaghrabala and the other kings? And does good fortune attend on the other chief Rajputs in his army, and on the elephants, horses, chariots and footmen?"

When Anangadeva had been thus questioned by the king, he answered, "It is well with Vikramasakti and the whole of the army. And Your Majesty has conquered the Dekkan and the western border, and Madhyadesa and Saurashtra and all the eastern region of the Ganges; and the northern region and Kasmira have been made tributary, and various forts and islands have been conquered, and the hosts of the Mlechchhas have been slain, and the rest have been reduced to submission, and various kings have entered the camp of Vikramasakti, and he himself is coming here with those kings, and is now, my lord, two or three marches off."

When the messenger had thus told his tale, king Vikramaditya was pleased and loaded [745] him with garments, ornaments, and villages. Then the king went on to say to that n.o.ble messenger, "Anangadeva, when you went there, what regions did you see, and what object of interest did you meet with anywhere? Tell me, my good fellow!" When Anangadeva had been thus questioned by the king, he began to recount his adventures, as follows:--

The adventures of Anangadeva.

Having set out hence by Your Majesty's orders, I reached in course of time that army of yours a.s.sembled under Vikramasakti, which was like a broad sea resorted to by allied kings, adorned by many princes of the Nagas that had come together with horses and royal magnificence. [746] And when I arrived there, that Vikramasakti bowed before me, and treated me with great respect, because I had been sent by his sovereign; and while I was there considering the nature of the triumphs he had gained, a messenger from the king of Sinhala [747] came there.

And that messenger, who had come from Sinhala, told to Vikramasakti in my presence his master's message as follows, "I have been told by messengers, who have been sent by me to your sovereign and have returned, that your sovereign's very heart Anangadeva is with you, so send him to me quickly, I will reveal to him a certain auspicious affair, that concerns your king." Then Vikramasakti said to me, "Go quickly to the king of Sinhala; and see what he wishes to say to you when he has you before him."

Then I went through the sea in a s.h.i.+p to the island of Sinhala with that king of Sinhala's amba.s.sador. And in that island I saw a palace all made of gold, with terraces of various jewels, like the city of the G.o.ds. And in it I saw that king of Sinhala, Virasena, surrounded by obedient ministers, as Indra is by the G.o.ds. When I approached him, he received me politely, and asked me about Your Majesty's health, and then he refreshed me with most sumptuous hospitality.

The next day the king summoned me, when he was in his hall of audience; and showing his devotion to you, said to me in the presence of his ministers, "I have a maiden daughter, the peerless beauty of the world of mortals, Mada.n.a.lekha by name, and I offer her to your king. She is a fitting wife for him, and he is a suitable husband for her; for this reason I have invited you; so accept her in the name of your king. [748] And go on in front with my amba.s.sador to tell your master; I will send my daughter here close after you."

When the king had said this, he summoned into that hall his daughter whose load of ornaments was adorned by her graceful shape, loveliness, and youth. And he made her sit on his lap, and shewing her, said to me, "I offer this girl to your master, receive her." And when I saw that princess, I was astonished at her beauty, and I said joyfully, "I accept this maiden on behalf of my sovereign," and I thought to myself, "Well, the Creator is never tired of producing marvels, since even after creating Tilottama, he has produced this far superior beauty."

Then, having been honoured by that king, I set forth from that island, with this amba.s.sador of his, Dhavalasena. So we embarked on a s.h.i.+p, and as we were sailing along in it, through the sea, we suddenly saw a great sandbank in the middle of the ocean. And on it we saw two maidens of singular beauty; one had a body as dark as priyangu, the other gleamed white like the moon, and they both looked more splendid from having put on dresses and ornaments suited to their respective hues. They made a sound like the clas.h.i.+ng of cymbals with their bracelets adorned with splendid gems, and they were making a young toy-deer, which, though of gold and studded with jewels to represent spots, possessed life, dance in front of them. [749]

When we saw this, we were astonished and we said to one another, "What can this wonder mean? Is it a dream, magic, or delusion? Who would ever expect to see a sandbank suddenly start up in the middle of the ocean, or such maidens upon it? And who would ever have thought of seeing such a thing as this living golden deer studded with jewels, which they possess? Such things are not usually found together."

While we were saying this to one another, king, in the greatest astonishment, a wind suddenly began to blow, tossing up the sea. That wind broke up our s.h.i.+p, which was resting on the surging waves, and the people in it were whelmed in the sea, and the sea-monsters began to devour them. But those two maidens came and supported both of us in their arms, and lifted us up and carried us to the sandbank, so that we escaped the jaws of the sea-monsters. And then that bank began to be covered with waves, at which we were terrified, but those two ladies cheered us, and made us enter what seemed like the interior of a cave. There we began to look at a heavenly wood of various trees, and while we were looking at it, the sea disappeared, and the bank, and the young deer, and the maidens.

We wandered about there for a time, saying to ourselves, "What is this strange thing? It is a.s.suredly some magic." And then we saw there a great lake, transparent, deep, and broad, like the heart of great men, looking like a material representation of Nirvana that allays the fire of desire. [750]

And we saw a certain beautiful woman, coming to bathe in it, accompanied by her train, looking like an incarnation of the beauty of the wood. And that lady alighted from her covered chariot, [751]

and gathered lotuses in that lake, and bathed in it, and meditated on Siva. And thereupon, to our astonishment, Siva arose from the lake, a present G.o.d, in the form of a linga, composed of splendid jewels, and came near her; and that fair one wors.h.i.+pped him with various luxuries suited to her majesty, and then took her lyre. And she played upon it, singing skilfully to it with rapt devotion, following the southern style in respect of notes, time, and words. So splendid was her performance that even the Siddhas and other beings appeared there in the air, having their hearts attracted by hearing it, and remained motionless as if painted. And after she had finished her music, [752]

she dismissed the G.o.d, and he immediately sank in the lake. Then the gazelle-eyed lady rose up, and mounted her chariot, and proceeded to go away slowly with her train.

We followed her, and eagerly asked her train over and over again, who she was, but none of them gave us any answer. Then, wis.h.i.+ng to shew that amba.s.sador of the king of Sinhala your might, I said to her aloud, "Auspicious one, I adjure thee by the touch of king Vikramaditya's feet, that thou depart not hence without revealing to me who thou art." When the lady heard this, she made her train retire, and alighted from her chariot, and coming up to me, she said with a gentle voice, "Is my lord the n.o.ble king Vikramaditya well? But why do I ask, Anangadeva, since I know all about him? For I exerted magic power, and brought you here for the sake of that king, for I must honour him, as he delivered me from a great danger. So come to my palace; there I will tell you all, who I am, and why I ought to honour that king, and what service he needs to have done him."

When she had said this, having left her chariot out of courtesy, that fair one went along the path on foot and respectfully conducted me to her castle, which looked like heaven; it was built of various jewels and different kinds of gold; its gates were guarded on every side by brave warriors wearing various forms, and bearing various weapons; and it was full of n.o.ble ladies of remarkable beauty, looking as if they were charms that drew down endless heavenly enjoyments. There she honoured us with baths, unguents, splendid dresses and ornaments, and made us rest for a time.

CHAPTER CXXI.

When Anangadeva had told this to king Vikramaditya in his hall of audience, he continued as follows:--

Then, after I had taken food, that lady, sitting in the midst of her attendants, said to me, "Listen, Anangadeva, I will now tell you all."

Story of Madanamanjari.

I am Madanamanjari, the daughter of Dundubhi the king of the Yakshas, and the wife of Manibhadra the brother of Kuvera. I used always to roam about happily with my husband on the banks of rivers, on hills, and in charming groves.

And one day I went with my beloved to a garden in Ujjayini called Makaranda to amuse myself. There it happened that in the dawn a low hypocritical scoundrel of a kapalika [753] saw me, when I had just woke up from a sleep brought on by the fatigue of roaming about. That rascal, being overcome with love, went into a cemetery, and proceeded to try and procure me for his wife by means of a spell, and a burnt-offering. But I by my power found out what he was about, and informed my husband; and he told his elder brother Kuvera. And Kuvera went and complained to Brahma, and the holy Brahma, after meditating, said to him, "It is true that kapalika intends to rob your brother of his wife, for such is the power of those spells for mastering Yakshas, which he possesses. But when she feels herself being drawn along by the spell, she must invoke the protection of king Vikramaditya; he will save her from him." Then Kuvera came and told this answer of Brahma's to my husband, and my husband told it to me, whose mind was troubled by that wicked spell.

And in the meanwhile that hypocritical kapalika, offering a burnt-offering in the cemetery, began to draw me to him by means of a spell, duly muttered in a circle. And I, being drawn by that spell, reached in an agony of terror that awful cemetery, full of bones and skulls, haunted by demons. And then I saw there that wicked kapalika: he had made an offering to the fire, and he had in a circle a corpse lying on its back, which he had been wors.h.i.+pping. And that kapalika, when he saw that I had arrived, was beside himself with pride, and with difficulty tore himself away to rinse his mouth in a river, which happened to be near.

At that moment I called to mind what Brahma had said, and I thought, "Why should I not call to the king for aid? He may be roaming about in the darkness somewhere near." When I had said this to myself, I called aloud for his help in the following words, "Deliver me, n.o.ble king Vikramaditya! See, protecting talisman of the world, this kapalika is bent on outraging by force, in your realm, me a chaste matron, the Yaks.h.i.+ Madanamanjari by name, the daughter of Dundubhi, and the wife of Manibhadra the younger brother of Kuvera."

No sooner had I finished this plaintive appeal, than I saw that king coming towards me, sword in hand; he seemed to be all resplendent with brightness of valour, and he said to me, "My good lady, do not fear; be at ease; I will deliver you from that kapalika, fair one. For who is able to work such unrighteousness in my realm?" When he had said this, he summoned a Vetala, named Agnisikha. And he, when summoned, came, tall, with flaming eyes, with upstanding hair; and said to the king, "Tell me what I am to do." Then the king said, "Kill and eat this wicked kapalika, who is trying to carry off his neighbour's wife." Then that Vetala Agnisikha entered the corpse that was in the circle of adoration, and rose up, and rushed forward, stretching out his arms and mouth. And when the kapalika, who had come back from rinsing his mouth, was preparing to fly, he seized him from behind by the legs; and he whirled him round in the air and then dashed him down with great force on the earth, and so at one blow crushed his body and his aspirations.

When the demons saw the kapalika slain, they were all eager for flesh, and a fierce Vetala, named Yamasikha, came there. As soon as he came, he seized the body of the kapalika; then the first Vetala Agnisikha said to him, "Hear, villain! I have killed this kapalika by the order of king Vikramaditya; pray what have you to do with him?" When Yamasikha heard that, he said to him, "Then tell me, what kind of power has that king?" Then Agnisikha said, "If you do not know the nature of his power, listen, I will tell you."

Story of the gambler Dagineya, who was too cunning for the Vetala Agnisikha, and of Agnisikha's submission to king Vikramaditya.

There once lived in this city a very resolute gambler of the name of Dagineya. Once on a time some gamblers, by fraudulent play, won from him all he possessed, and then bound him in order to obtain from him the borrowed money which he had lost in addition. And as he had nothing, they beat him with sticks and other instruments of torture, [754] but he made himself like a stone, and seemed as rigid as a corpse. Then all those wicked gamblers took him and threw him into a large dark well, fearing that, if he lived, he might take vengeance on them.

But that gambler Dagineya, when flung down into that very deep well, saw in front of him two great and terrible men. But they, when they saw him fall down terrified, said to him kindly, "Who are you, and how have you managed to fall into this deep well? Tell us!" Then the gambler recovered his spirits, and told them his story, and said to them "Do you also tell me who you are and whence you come." When those men, who were in the pit, heard that, they said, "Good Sir, we were Brahman demons [755] dwelling in the cemetery belonging to this city, and we possessed two maidens in this very city; one was the daughter of the princ.i.p.al minister, the other of the chief merchant. And no conjurer on the earth, however powerful his spells, was able to deliver those maidens from us.

"Then king Vikramaditya, who had an affection for their fathers, heard of it, and came to the place, where those maidens were with a friend of their fathers'. The moment we saw the king, we left the maidens, and tried to escape, but we were not able to do so, though we tried our utmost. We saw the whole horizon on fire with his splendour. Then that king, seeing us, bound us by his power. And seeing us unhappy, as we were afraid of being put to death, he gave us this order, 'Ye wicked ones, dwell for a year in a dark pit, and then ye shall be set at liberty. But when freed, ye must never again commit such a crime; if ye do, I will punish you with destruction.' After king Vishamasila had given us this order, he had us flung into this dark pit; but out of mercy he did not destroy us.

"And in eight more days the year will be completed, and with it the period during which we were to dwell in this cave, and we shall then be released from it. Now, friend, if you engage to supply us with some food during those days, we will lift you out of this pit, and set you down outside it; but if you do not, when lifted out, supply us with food according to your engagement, we will certainly, when we come out, devour you."

When the Brahman demons made this proposal to the gambler, he consented to it, and they put him out of the pit. When he got out of it, he went to the cemetery at night to deal in human flesh, as he saw no other chance of getting what he wanted. And I, happening to be there at that time, saw that gambler, who was crying out, "I have human flesh for sale; buy it somebody." Then I said, "I will take it off your hands; what price do you want for it?" And he answered, "Give me your shape and power." Then I said again to him, "My fine fellow, what will you do with them?" The gambler then told me his whole story, and said to me, "By means of your shape and power I will get hold of those enemies of mine, the gamblers, together with the keeper of the gambling-house, and will give them to the Brahman demons to eat." When I heard that, I was pleased with the resolute spirit of that gambler, and gave him my shape and my power for a specified period of seven days. And by means of them he drew those men that had injured him into his power, one after another, and flung them into the pit, and fed the Brahman demons on them during seven days.

Then I took back from him my shape and power, and that gambler Dagineya, beside himself with fear, said to me, "I have not given those Brahman demons any food this day, which is the eighth, so they will now come out and devour me. Tell me what I must do in this case, for you are my friend." When he said this, I, having got to like him from being thrown with him, said to him, "If this is the case, since you have made those two demons devour the gamblers, I for your sake will in turn eat the demons. So shew them to me, my friend." When I made the gambler this offer, he at once jumped at it, and took me to the pit where the demons were.