The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
"Noble Vasantaka, tell some new and romantic tale to delight the mind
of the crown-prince. Then the wise Vasantaka began to tell this tale.
Story of Yasodhara and Lakshmídhara and the two wives of the
water-genius.
There was a famous Bráhman in Málava, named Srídhara. And twin sons,
of like feature, were born to him. The eldest was named Yasodhara,
and his younger brother was Lakshmídhara. And when they grew up,
the two brothers set out together for a foreign country to study,
with the approval of their father. And as they were travelling along,
they reached a great wilderness, without water, without the shade of
trees, full of burning sand; and being fatigued with passing through
it, and exhausted with heat and thirst, they reached in the evening
a shady tree laden with fruit. And they saw, at a little distance
from its foot, a lake with cold and clear water, perfumed with the
fragrance of lotuses. They bathed in it, and refreshed themselves
with drinking the cold water, and sitting down on a slab of rock,
rested for a time. And when the sun set, they said their evening
prayers, and through fear of wild beasts they climbed up the tree,
to spend the night there. And in the beginning of the night, many men
rose out of the water of that tank below them, before their eyes. And
one of them swept the ground, another painted it, and another strewed
on it flowers of five colours. And another brought a golden couch
and placed it there, and another spread on it a mattress with a
coverlet. Another brought, and placed in a certain spot, under the
tree, delicious food and drink, flowers and unguents. Then there arose
from the surface of that lake a man wearing a sword, and adorned with
heavenly ornaments, surpassing in beauty the god of Love. [110] When
he had sat down on the couch, his attendants threw garlands round his
neck, and anointed him with unguents, and then they all plunged again
into the lake. Then he brought out of his mouth a lady of noble form
and modest appearance, wearing auspicious garlands and ornaments,
and a second, rich in celestial beauty, resplendent with magnificent
robes and ornaments. [111] These were both his wives, but the second
was the favourite. Then the first and good wife placed jewelled plates
on the table, and handed food in two plates to her husband and her
rival. When they had eaten, she also ate; and then her husband reclined
on the couch with the rival wife, and went to sleep. And the first
wife shampooed his feet, and the second remained awake on the couch.
When the Bráhman's sons who were in the tree, saw this, they said
to one another, "Who can this be? Let us go down and ask the lady
who is shampooing his feet, for all these are immortal beings." Then
they got down and approached the first wife, and then the second saw
Yasodhara: then she rose up from the couch in her inordinate passion,
while her husband was asleep, and approaching that handsome youth,
said, "Be my lover." He answered, "Wicked woman, you are to me the
wife of another, and I am to you a strange man. Then why do you
speak thus?" She answered, "I have had a hundred lovers. Why are you
afraid? If you do not believe it, look at these hundred rings, [112]
for I have taken one ring from each of them." With these words she
took the rings out of the corner of her garment, and shewed them to
him. Then Yasodhara said, "I do not care whether you have a hundred
or a hundred thousand lovers, to me you are as a mother; I am not
a person of that sort." When the wicked woman was repelled by him
in this way, she woke up her husband in her wrath, and, pointing to
Yasodhara, said with tears, "This scoundrel, while you were asleep,
used violence to me." When her husband heard this, he rose up and
drew his sword. Then the first and virtuous wife embraced his feet,
and said, "Do not commit a crime on false evidence. Hear what I have
to say. This wicked woman, when she saw him, rose up from your side,
and eagerly importuned him, and the virtuous man did not consent to her
proposal." When he repelled her, saying, 'You are to me as a mother,'
being unable to endure that, in her anger she woke you up, to make
you kill him. And she has already before my eyes had a hundred lovers
here on various nights, travellers who were reposing in this tree, and
taken their rings from them. But I never told you, not wishing to give
rise to unpleasantness. However, to-day I am necessarily compelled to
reveal this secret, lest you should be guilty of a crime. Just look at
the rings in the corner of her garment, if you do not believe it. And
my wifely virtue is of such a kind that I cannot tell my husband what
is untrue. In order that you may be convinced of my faithfulness,
see this proof of my power." After saying this, she reduced that tree
to ashes with an angry look, and restored it more magnificent than
it was before with a look of kindness. When her husband saw that,
he was at last satisfied and embraced her. And he sent that second
wife, the adulteress, about her business, after cutting off her nose,
and taking the rings from the corner of her garment.
He restrained his anger, when he beheld that student of the scripture,
Yasodhara, with his brother, and he said to him despondingly; "Out
of jealousy I always keep these wives of mine in my heart. But still
I have not been able to keep safe this wicked woman. Who can arrest
the lightning? Who can guard a disloyal woman? As for a chaste woman,
she is guarded by her own modesty alone, and being guarded by it,
she guards [113] her husband in both worlds, as I have to-day been
guarded by this woman, whose patience is more admirable even than her
power of cursing. By her kindness I have got rid of an unfaithful wife,
and avoided the awful crime of killing a virtuous Bráhman." When he
had said this, he made Yasodhara sit down, and said to him, "Tell
me whence you come and whither you are going." Then Yasodhara told
him his history, and having gained his confidence, said to him out of
curiosity, "Noble sir, if it is not a secret, tell me now, who you are,
and why, though you possess such luxury, you dwell in the water." When
the man who lived in the water heard this, he said, "Hear! I will
tell you." And he began to tell his history in the following words.
Story of the water-genius in his previous birth.
There is a region in the south of the Himálaya, called Kasmíra;
which Providence seems to have created in order to prevent mortals
from hankering after Heaven; where Siva and Vishnu, as self-existent
deities, inhabit a hundred shrines, forgetting their happy homes in
Kailása and Svetadvípa; which is laved by the waters of the Vitastá,
and full of heroes and sages, and proof against treacherous crimes
and enemies, though powerful. There I was born in my former life,
as an ordinary villager of the Bráhman caste, with two wives, and my
name was Bhavasarman. There I once struck up a friendship with some
Buddhist mendicants, and undertook the vow, called the fast Uposhana,
prescribed in their scriptures. And when this vow was almost completed,
one of my wives wickedly came and slept in my bed. And in the fourth
watch of the night, bewildered with sleep, I broke my vow. But as
it fell only a little short of completion, I have been born as a
water-genius, and these two wives of mine have been born as my present
wives here. That wicked woman was born as that unfaithful wife,
the second as this faithful one. So great was the power of my vow,
though it was rendered imperfect, that I remember my former birth,
and enjoy such luxuries every night. If I had not rendered my vow
imperfect, I should never have been born as what I am.
When he had told his story in these words, he honoured those two
brothers as guests, with delicious food and heavenly garments. Then
his faithful wife, having heard of her former life, knelt on the
ground, and looking at the moon, uttered this prayer, "O guardians
of the world, if I am in truth virtuous and devoted to my husband,
may this husband of mine be at once delivered from the necessity of
dwelling in the water and go to heaven." The moment she had said this,
a chariot descended from heaven, and the husband and wife ascended it
and went to heaven. Nothing in the three worlds is unattainable by
really chaste women. And the two Bráhmans, when they saw that, were
greatly astonished. And Yasodhara and Lakshmídhara, after spending the
rest of the night there, set out in the morning. And in the evening
they reached the foot of a tree in a lonely wilderness. And while
they were longing to get water, they heard this voice from the tree,
"Wait a little, Bráhmans! I will entertain you to-day with a bath
and food, for you are come to my house." Then the voice ceased,
and there sprang up there a tank of water, and meats and drinks of
every kind were provided on its bank. The two Bráhman youths said
with astonishment to one another,--"What does this mean?" And after
bathing in the tank, they ate and drank. Then they said the evening
prayer and remained under the tree, and in the meanwhile a handsome
man appeared from it. They saluted him, and he welcomed them, and he
sat down. Thereupon the two Bráhman youths asked him who he was. Then
the man said--
Story of the Bráhman who became a Yaksha.
Long ago I was a Bráhman in distress, and when I was in this condition,
I happened to make friends with some Buddhist ascetics. But while
I was performing the vow called Uposhana, which they had taught me,
a wicked man made me take food in the evening by force. That made my
vow incomplete, so I was born as a Guhyaka; if I had only completed
it, I should have been born as a god in heaven.
"So I have told you my story, but now do you two tell me, who you are,
and why you have come to this desert." When Yasodhara heard this, he
told him their story. Thereupon the Yaksha went on to say; "If this
is the case, I will by my own power bestow on you the sciences. Go
home with a knowledge of them. What is the use of roaming about in
foreign countries?" When he had said this, he bestowed on them the
sciences, and by his power they immediately possessed them. Then
the Yaksha said to them, "Now I entreat you to give me a fee as your
instructor. You must perform, on my behalf, this Uposhana vow, which
involves the speaking of the truth, the observing of strict chastity,
the circumambulating the images of the gods with the right side turned
towards them, the eating only at the time when Buddhist mendicants do,
restraint of the mind, and patience. You must perform this for one
night, and bestow the fruit of it on me, in order that I may obtain
that divinity, which is the proper fruit of my vow, when completely
performed." When the Yaksha said this, they bowed before him and
granted his request, and he disappeared in that very same tree.
And the two brothers, delighted at having accomplished their object
without any toil, after they had passed the night, returned to
their own home. There they told their adventures and delighted their
parents, and performed that vow of fasting for the benefit of the
Yaksha. Then that Yaksha, who taught them, appeared in a sky-chariot,
and said to them; "Through your kindness I have ceased to be a Yaksha
and have become a god. So now you must perform this vow for your own
advantage, in order that at your death you may attain divinity. And in
the meanwhile I give you a boon, by which you will have inexhaustible
wealth." When the deity, who roamed about at will, had said this, he
went to heaven in his chariot. Then the two brothers, Yasodhara and
Lakshmídhara, lived happily, having performed that vow, and having
obtained wealth and knowledge.
"So you see that, if men are addicted to righteousness, and do not,