The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
that king Prithvírúpa remained there, and Rúpadhara honoured him with
entertainment in accordance with his own magnificence.
And the next day, the long-desiring Rúpalatá ascended the altar in
an auspicious moment, and he with exultation received her hand in
marriage. And when they beheld one another's beauty, the expanded
eye of each was extended to the ear, as if to inform that organ that
the report it had heard before was true. When the parched grain was
thrown, Rúpadhara gave jewels in such abundance to the happy couple,
that men thought he was a perfect mine of jewels. And after his
daughter's marriage had taken place, he honoured the painter and
the two mendicants with dresses and ornaments, and bestowed gifts
on all the others. Then that king Prithvírúpa, remaining in that
city with his attendants, enjoyed the best meat and drink the isle
could produce. The day was spent in singing and dancing, and at night
the eager king entered the private apartments of Rúpalatá, in which
jewelled couches were spread, which was adorned with jewelled pavement,
the circuit of which was propped on jewelled pillars, and which was lit
up with jewel-lamps. And in the morning he was woke up by the bards and
heralds reciting, and he rose up and remained as the moon in heaven.
Thus king Prithvírúpa remained ten days in that island, amusing
himself with ever-fresh enjoyments furnished by his father-in-law. On
the eleventh day, the king, with the consent of the astrologers, set
out with Rúpalatá, after the auspicious ceremony had been performed
for him. And he was escorted by his father-in-law as far as the
shore of the sea, and accompanied by his retainers, he embarked
on the ships with his wife. He crossed the sea in eight days, and
his army, that was encamped on the shore, joined him, and the king
Udáracharita came to meet him, and then he went to Putrapura. There
king Prithvírúpa rested some days, and was entertained by that king,
and then he set out from that place. And he mounted his beloved
Rúpalatá on the elephant Jayamangala, and he himself mounted an
elephant named Kalyánagiri. And the king, proceeding by continual
stages, in due course reached his good city of Pratishthána, where
flags and banners were waving. Then, after beholding Rúpalatá, the
ladies of the city lost at once all pride in their own beauty, and
gazed on her with eyes unwinking from wonder. Then king Prithvírúpa
entered his palace, making high festival, and he gave to that painter
villages and wealth, and he honoured those two hermits with wealth
as they deserved, and gave complimentary presents to the chiefs,
ministers and Rájpúts. Then that king, having attained his object,
enjoyed there this world's happiness in the society of Rúpalatá.
After the minister Gomukha had told Naraváhanadatta this tale
with the object of amusing him, he went on to say to the impatient
prince,--"Thus the resolute endure painful separation for a long
time, but how is it that you cannot endure it even for one night,
O king? For to-morrow your Highness shall marry Alankáravatí." When
Gomukha had said this, Marubhúti the son of Yaugandharáyana came up at
that instant, and said, "What stuff will you not prate, being ungalled,
and never having felt the agony of love? A man possesses firmness and
discernment and morality, only so long as he does not come within
the range of the arrows of Love. Happy in the world are Sarasvatí,
Skanda, and Buddha, these three, who have brushed off and flung away
love, like a blade of grass clinging to the skirt of the robe." When
Marubhúti said this, Naraváhanadatta, perceiving that Gomukha was
distressed, said in order to comfort him,--"What Gomukha said to me
was appropriate, and it was said to amuse me, for what loving friend
exults over one in the agony of separation? One afflicted by the
pain of separation should be comforted by his friends to the best
of their ability, and the sequel should be left to the disposal of
the five-arrowed god." Talking in this style, and hearing various
tales from his attendants, Naraváhanadatta somehow managed to get
through that night. And when morning came, he rose up and performed
his necessary duties, and saw Kánchanaprabhá descending from heaven,
accompanied by her husband Alankárasíla, and her son Dharmasíla,
and that Alankáravatí her daughter; and they all descended from
the chariot and came near him, and he welcomed them as was fitting,
and they saluted him in like manner. And in the meanwhile thousands
of other Vidyádharas descended from heaven, carrying loads of gold,
jewels, and other valuables; and after hearing of this occurrence,
the king of Vatsa came there with his ministers and his queens,
delighted at the advancement of his son. After the king of Vatsa had
performed the rites of hospitality duly, the king Alankárasíla said
to him, bowing graciously,--"King, this is my daughter Alankáravatí,
and when she was born, she was declared by a voice, that came from
heaven, to be destined to be the wife of this thy son Naraváhanadatta,
the future emperor of all the Vidyádhara kings. So I will give her to
him, for this is a favourable moment for them; for this reason I have
come here with all these." The king of Vatsa welcomed that speech of
the Vidyádhara sovereign's, saying, "It is a great favour that you do
me." Then the ruler of the Vidyádharas sprinkled with water, produced
in the hollow of his hand by virtue of his science, the ground of
the courtyard. Immediately there was produced there an altar of gold,
covered with a heavenly cloth, and a pavilion, not made with hands,
for the preliminary ceremony, composed of various jewels. Then the
successful king Alankárasíla said to Naraváhanadatta--"Rise up, the
favourable moment has arrived--bathe." After he had bathed, and had
the marriage-thread put on, the king Alankárasíla, being delighted,
gave him with all his heart his daughter, after bringing her to
the altar in her bridal dress. And when the grain was thrown into
the fire, he and his son gave to his daughter thousands of loads of
jewels, gold, garments and ornaments, and heavenly nymphs. And after
the marriage was over, he honoured them all, and then took his leave
of them, and with his wife and son departed, as he came, through the
air. Then the king of Vatsa, seeing his son destined to advancement,
being honoured by the bending kings of the Vidyádharas, was delighted,
and prolonged that feast to a great length. And Naraváhanadatta, having
obtained Alankáravatí, charming on account of her good conduct, and of
noble virtues, like a skilful poet who has obtained a style, charming
on account of its excellent metre, and of splendid merits, remained
delighted with her. [711]
CHAPTER LII.
Then Naraváhanadatta, the son of the king of Vatsa, being united
to Alankáravatí his new wife, remained in the house of his father,
pleased with the heavenly dancing and singing of her maids, and
enjoying banquets with his ministers.
And one day his mother-in-law Kánchanaprabhá, the mother of
Alankáravatí, came to him and said, after he had hospitably
entertained her--"Come to our palace, behold that city of Sundarapura,
and take your delight in its gardens with Alankáravatí." When
he heard this, he consented, and he informed his father, and by his
advice took Vasantaka with him, and with his wife and his minister,
he ascended a splendid chariot created by his mother-in-law by her
science, and set out through the air, and while in the chariot,
he looked down from heaven, and beheld the earth of the size of a
mound, and the seas small as ditches, and in due course he reached
the Himálayas with his mother-in-law, wife, and attendants, and it
resounded with the songs of the Kinnarís, and was adorned with the
companies of heavenly nymphs. There he saw a great many wonderful
sights, and then he reached the city of Sundarapura. It was adorned
with many palaces of gold and jewels, and, thus, though it was on
the Himálayas, it made the beholder suppose that he was looking on
the peaks of mount Meru. [712] And he descended from the heaven, and
getting out of the carriage entered that city, which, as it were,
danced with the waving silk of its banners, in its joy at having
once more a king. And he entered that palace, with the auspicious
ceremony performed for him by his mother-in-law, accompanied by
Alankáravatí, and with his favourites and Vasantaka. There the
fortunate prince spent the day in his father-in-law's palace,
in enjoyments which were provided for him by the power of his
mother-in-law. And on the next day his mother-in-law Kánchanaprabhá
said to him; "There is in this city an image of the holy self-existent
husband of Umá. [713] He, if visited and worshipped, gives enjoyment
and even salvation. Around it the father of Alankáravatí made
a great garden, and brought down to it a holy water, rightly named
the Ganges-pool: go there to-day to worship the god and to amuse
yourselves." When his mother-in-law said this to him, Naraváhanadatta,
accompanied by his wife Alankáravatí, and followed by his attendants,
went to that garden of Siva. It looked lovely with its golden-trunked
trees, which were charming with their branches of jewels, the clear
white flowers of which were clusters of pearls, and the shoots of
which were coral. [714] There he bathed in the Ganges-pool and
worshipped Siva, and wandered round the tanks that were adorned
with ladders of jewels and lotuses of gold. And, accompanied
by his attendants, he amused himself with Alankáravatí on their
charming banks, and in bowers of the wish-granting creeper. And in
those he delighted his soul with heavenly banquets and concerts,
and amusing jokes caused by the simplicity of Marubhúti. And so
Naraváhanadatta dwelt a month there, amusing himself in gardens,
thanks to the resources of his mother-in-law. Then that Kánchanaprabhá
bestowed on him, his wife, and his ministers, garments and ornaments
fit for gods, and with his mother-in-law and his attendants, he
returned in that same chariot to Kausámbí, accompanied by his wife,
and he gladdened the eyes of his parents.
There Alankáravatí was thus addressed by her mother in the presence
of the king of Vatsa; "You must never by jealous anger make your
husband unhappy, for the fruit of that fault, my daughter, is
separation that causes great affliction. Because I was jealous in
old time and afflicted my husband, I am now consumed with remorse,
as he has gone to the forest." After saying this, she embraced her
daughter with eyes blinded with tears, and flying up into the air
went to her own city.
Then, that day having come to an end, the next morning Naraváhanadatta,
having performed the appropriate duties, was sitting with his
ministers, when a woman rushed into the presence of Alankáravatí
and said--"Queen, I am a woman in the utmost terror, protect me,
protect me! For there is a Bráhman come to slay me, and he is standing
outside; through fear of him I have fled and come in here to implore
protection." The queen said, "Do not fear. Tell your tale. Who is
he? Why does he wish to slay you?" When thus questioned, the woman
began to say:--
Story of Asokamálá.
My sovereign, I am the daughter of a Kshatriya in this city,
named Balasena, and my name is Asokamálá. When I was a virgin,
I was demanded from my father by a rich Bráhman named Hathasarman,
who was captivated by my beauty. And I said to my father; "I do not
like this ugly grim-visaged man for a husband; if you give me to him,
I will not remain in his house." Though Hathasarman heard that, he
sat in dharna at the door of my father's house, until he gave me to
him, being afraid of causing the death of a Bráhman. Then the Bráhman
married me and carried me off reluctant, and I deserted him, and fled