The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
grief of separation of the king and queen, who had so long been forced
to live apart, trickled away in their tears of joy. Then Muktáphala,
the king of the Savaras, fell at the feet of the king Kanakavarsha,
on finding that he was his master, the lord of the whole earth. And
after he had propitiated him, and persuaded him to visit his town,
he furnished his wife and child with all kinds of luxuries, such
as it was in his power to give. Then the king, remaining there,
summoned by messengers his father-in-law Devasakti and his army
[769] from his own city. Then he sent on in front of him his beloved
wife Madanasundarí, mounted on a female elephant, and his son, who
Kártikeya said was to be called Hiranyavarsha, and went with his
father-in-law towards his father-in-law's house. [770] And in a few
days he reached the residence of his father-in-law, a hermitage in the
country of Vidarbha, and after that his wealthy city of Kundina, and
there he remained some time with his wife and son, and his army, being
entertained by his father-in-law. And setting out thence, he at last
reached his own town of Kanakapura, where he was, as it were, drunk in
by the eyes of the wives of the citizens, long desirous of beholding
him again. And with his son and Madanasundarí he entered the palace,
like an embodied feast, accompanied with joy and splendour. And there
he gave Madanasundarí a turban of honour, and made her his head wife,
and he honoured his subjects with gifts on this day of triumph. [771]
And then king Kanakavarsha ruled this circle of the earth, four-limited
by the sea, without opponents, in perpetual happiness, with his wife
and son, without experiencing again the grief of separation.
When the prince Naraváhanadatta heard this magnificent tale from
his head minister Gomukha, in the company of the fair Alankáravatí,
he was exceedingly delighted.
CHAPTER LVI.
Then the prince Naraváhanadatta, with his beloved by his side,
being much pleased at the tale of Gomukha, but seeing that Marubhúti
was quite put out, in order to pay him a compliment, said to him,
attempting to conciliate him; "Marubhúti, why do you not tell a tale
also?" Then he said, "Well, I will tell one," and with pleased soul
began to relate the following story.
Story of the Bráhman Chandrasvámin, his son Mahípála, and his daughter
Chandravatí.
There once lived in a town called Devakamalapura, belonging to the
king Kamalavarman, an excellent Bráhman, named Chandrasvámin. And
that wise man had a wife like himself, distinguished for modesty,
and she was a worthy match for Sarasvatí and Lakshmí. And to that
Bráhman was born a son with auspicious marks, and when he was born,
this voice was heard from heaven:
"Chandrasvámin, you must call your son Mahípála, [772] because he
shall be a king and long protect the earth." When Chandrasvámin heard
this, he made a feast and called that son Mahípála. And in course
of time Mahípála grew up, and was taught the science of missile and
hand to hand weapons, and was at the same time instructed in all
knowledge. And in the meanwhile his wife Devamati brought forth
to Chandrasvámin another child, a daughter, beautiful in all her
limbs. And the brother and sister, Mahípála and Chandravatí, grew up
together in their father's house.
Then a famine, caused by want of rain, sprang up in that country,
the corn having been scorched up by the rays of the sun. And owing
to that, the king began to play the bandit, leaving the right path,
and taking wealth from his subjects unlawfully. Then, as that land
was going rapidly to ruin, Chandrasvámin's wife said to her husband:
"Come to my father's house, let us leave this city, for our children
will perish here some day or other." When Chandrasvámin heard this,
he said to his wife--"By no means, for flight from one's own country
in time of famine is a great sin. So I will take these children
and deposit them in your father's house, and do you remain here;
I will return soon. She agreed, and then Chandrasvámin left her in
his house, and taking those two children, the boy Mahípála and the
girl Chandravatí, set out from that city for his father-in-law's
house. And in course of time, as he roamed on, he reached a great
wilderness, with sands heated by the rays of the sun, and with but
a few parched up trees in it. And there he left his two children,
who were exhausted with thirst, and went to a great distance to look
for water for them. Then there met him a chief of the Savaras, named
Sinhadanshtra, with his followers, going somewhere or other for his
own ends. The Bhilla saw him and questioned him, and finding out that
he was in search of water, said to his followers, "Take him to some
water," at the same time making a sign to them. When they heard it,
two or three of the Savara king's followers, perceiving his intention,
took the innocent Chandrasvámin to the village, and fettered him. And
he, learning from them that he was fettered in order to be offered as
a victim, lamented for his two children that he had left in the wild:
"Ah Mahípála! Ah dear Chandravatí! why did I foolishly abandon you in
the wilderness and make you the prey of lions and tigers? And I have
brought myself also into a position where I am sure to be slain by
bandits, and there is no escape for me." While he was thus lamenting
in his terror, he saw to his delight the sun. And exclaiming, "Ah! I
will fling aside bewilderment and fly for refuge to my own lord,"
the Bráhman began to praise the sun in the following verses--"Hail to
thee, O Lord, the brightness residing in the near and in the remote
ether, that dispersest the internal and external darkness. Thou art
Vishnu pervading the three worlds, thou art Siva the treasure-house
of blessings, thou art the supreme lord of creatures, calling into
activity the sleeping Universe. Thou deposest thy brightness in fire
and in the moon, out of pity, as it were, saying, 'Let these two dull
things shine,' and so thou dispellest the night. When thou risest,
the Rákshasas disperse, the Dasyus have no power, and the virtuous
rejoice. [773] So, thou matchless illuminator of the three worlds,
deliver me, who take refuge with thee. Disperse this darkness of my
grief, have mercy upon me." When the Bráhman had devoutly praised
the sun with these and other similar hymns, a voice was heard from
heaven--"Chandrasvámin, I am pleased with thee, thou shalt not be
put to death, and by my favour thou shalt be reunited with thy wife
and children." When the divine voice had said this to Chandrasvámin,
he recovered his spirits, and remained in a state of tranquillity,
being supplied with bathing requisites and food by the Savaras.
And in the meanwhile the boy Mahípála, left in the wilderness with his
sister, as his father did not return, remained lamenting bitterly,
supposing that some calamity had befallen him. And in this state
he was beheld by a great merchant, of the name of Sárthadhara,
who came that way, and the merchant asked him what had happened
to him. And feeling compassion, he consoled the boy, and observing
that he had auspicious marks, he took him and his sister to his own
country. There that Mahípála lived in the house of that merchant,
who looked upon him with all the affection of a father for his son;
and though a boy, he was occupied in the rites of the sacred fire.
But one day the minister of the king Tárávarman, who lived in the
city of Tárápura, the excellent Bráhman Anantasvámin, came that way on
business, with his elephants, horses and foot-soldiers, and entered the
house of that merchant, being a friend of his. After he had rested,
he saw the handsome boy Mahípála, engaged in muttering prayers and
in sacrificing to the fire, and asked his story; then the Bráhman
minister, finding that the boy was of his own caste, as he had no
children, begged the boy and his sister from the merchant. Then the
merchant, who was a Vaisya, gave him the children, and Anantasvámin
went with them to Tárápura. There Mahípála remained in the house of
that minister, which abounded in wealth on account of its master's
knowledge, and was treated by him as a son.
And in the meanwhile Sinhadanshtra, the king of the Bhillas, came
to Chandrasvámin, who was in captivity in that village, and said to
him; "Bráhman, I have been ordered in a dream by the Sun-god not to
slay you but to set you free, after doing you honour. So rise up,
and go where you please." After saying this, he let him go, giving
him pearls and musk, and supplying him with an escort through the
forest. And Chandrasvámin, being thus set at liberty, not finding his
son and his younger sister in the wood, wandered in search of them,
and as he wandered he found a city named Jalapura on the shore of the
sea, and entered as a guest the house of a certain Bráhman. There,
after he had taken refreshment, and then told his story, the Bráhman,
the master of the house, said to him; "A merchant named Kanakavarman
came here some days ago; he found in the forest a Bráhman boy with
his sister, and he has gone off with those two very handsome children
to the great island of Nárikela, but he did not tell his name." When
Chandrasvámin heard that, he made up his mind that those children
were his, and he determined to go to that beautiful island. And after
he had spent the night, and looked about him, he made acquaintance
with a merchant, named Vishnuvarman, who was about to go to the
isle of Nárikela. And with him he embarked in a ship, and went
across the sea to the island, out of love for his children. When he
began to enquire there, the merchants, who lived there, said to him;
"It is true that a merchant named Kanakavarman did come here, with
two beautiful Bráhman children, whom he found in a wood. But he has
now gone with them to the island of Katáha. When the Bráhman heard
that, he went in a ship with the merchant Dánavarman to the island of
Katáha. There he heard that the merchant Kanakavarman had gone from
that island to an island named Karpúra. In the same way he visited
in turn the islands of Karpúra, Suvarna, and Sinhala with merchants,
but he did not find the merchant whom he was in search of. But from
the people of Sinhala he heard that that merchant Kanakavarman had
gone to his own city, named Chitrakúta. Then Chandrasvámin went with
a merchant, named Kotísvara, to Chitrakúta, crossing the sea in his
ship. And in that city he found the merchant Kanakavarman, and longing
for his children, he told him the whole story. Then Kanakavarman,
when he knew the cause of his grief, showed him the children, whom
he had found in the forest and brought away. But when Chandrasvámin
looked at those two children, he saw that they were not his, but
some other children. Then he, being afflicted with tears and grief,
lamented in desperate mood--"Alas! though I have wandered so far,
I have not found my son or my daughter. Malignant Providence, like a
wicked master, has held out hopes to me but has not fulfilled them,
and has made me wander far and wide on a false surmise." While he
was indulging in such lamentations, he was at last, though with
difficulty, consoled by Kanakavarman, and exclaimed in his grief,
"If I do not find those children in a year, by wandering over the
earth, I will abandon the body by austerities on the bank of the
river Ganges. When he said this, a certain seer there said to him,
"Go, you will recover your children by the favour of Náráyaní. When
he heard that, he was delighted, remembering the compassion shown him
by the sun, and he departed from that city, honoured by the merchants.
Then, searching the lands which were royal grants to Bráhmans,
and the villages and the towns, he reached one evening a wood with
many tall trees in it. There he made a meal on fruits and water,