The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
of weaving unfading garlands, and adorning the forehead with marks
that never become indistinct." Then Udayana furnished with all these,
and dismissed by the snake, returned to the hermitage of Jamadagni,
raining nectar, so to speak, into the eyes of his mother.
In the meanwhile that Savara who had lighted on this forest, and
while roaming about in it had obtained the bracelet from Udayana by
the will of fate, was caught attempting to sell this ornament marked
with the king's name in the market, and was arrested by the police,
and brought up in court before the king. Then king Sahasráníka himself
asked him in sorrow whence he had obtained the bracelet. Then that
Savara told him the whole story of his obtaining possession of the
bracelet, beginning with his capture of the snake upon the eastern
mountain. Hearing that from the Savara, and beholding that bracelet
of his beloved, king Sahasráníka ascended the swing of doubt.
Then a divine voice from heaven delighted the king who was tortured
with the fire of separation, as the rain-drops delight the peacock
when afflicted with the heat, uttering these words--"Thy curse is at
an end, O king, and that wife of thine Mrigávatí is residing in the
hermitage of Jamadagni together with thy son." Then that day at last
came to an end, though made long by anxious expectation, and on the
morrow that king Sahasráníka, making the Savara show him the way,
set out with his army for that hermitage on the eastern mountain,
in order quickly to recover his beloved wife.
CHAPTER X.
After he had gone a long distance the king encamped that day in a
certain forest on the border of a lake. He went to bed weary, and in
the evening he said to Sangataka a story-teller who had come to him
on account of the pleasure he took in his service; "Tell me some tale
that will gladden my heart, for I am longing for the joy of beholding
the lotus-face of Mrigávatí." Then Sangataka said, King why do you
grieve without cause? The union with your queen, which will mark the
termination of your curse, is nigh at hand. Human beings experience
many unions and separations: and I will tell you a story to illustrate
this; listen, my lord!
Story of Srídatta and Mrigánkavatí.
Once on a time there lived in the country of Málava a Bráhman named
Yajnasoma. And that good man had two sons born to him, beloved by
men. One of them was known as Kálanemi and the second was named
Vigatabhaya. Now, when their father had gone to heaven, those two
brothers, having passed through the age of childhood, went to the city
of Pátaliputra to acquire learning. And when they had completed their
studies, their teacher Devasarman gave them his own two daughters,
like another couple of sciences incarnate in bodily form.
Then seeing that the householders around him were rich, Kálanemi
through envy made a vow and propitiated the goddess of Fortune with
burnt-offerings. And the goddess being satisfied appeared in bodily
form and said to him--"Thou shalt obtain great wealth and a son
who shall rule the earth; but at last thou shalt be put to death
like a robber, because thou hast offered flesh in the fire with
impure motives." When she had said this, the goddess disappeared;
and Kálanemi in course of time became very rich; moreover after some
days a son was born to him. So the father, whose desires were now
accomplished, called that son Srídatta, [124] because he had been
obtained by the favour of the goddess of Fortune. In course of time
Srídatta grew up, and though a Bráhman, became matchless upon earth
in the use of weapons, and in boxing and wrestling.
Then Kálanemi's brother Vigatabhaya went to a foreign land, having
become desirous of visiting places of pilgrimage, through sorrow for
his wife, who died of the bite of a snake.
Moreover the king of the land, Vallabhasakti, who appreciated good
qualities, made Srídatta the companion of his son Vikramasakti. So
he had to live with a haughty prince, as the impetuous Bhíma lived
in his youth with Duryodhana. Then two Kshatriyas, natives of Avanti,
Báhusálin and Vajramushti became friends of that Bráhman's. And some
other men from the Deccan, sons of ministers, having been conquered
by him in wrestling, resorted to him out of spontaneous friendship,
as they knew how to value merit. Mahábala and Vyághrabhata and also
Upendrabala and a man named Nishthuraka became his friends. One day,
as years rolled on, Srídatta, being in attendance on the prince,
went with him and those friends to sport on the bank of the Ganges;
then the prince's own servants made him king, and at the same time
Srídatta was chosen king by his friends. This made the prince angry,
and in over-weening confidence he at once challenged that Bráhman
hero to fight. Then being conquered by him in wrestling, and so
disgraced, he made up his mind that this rising hero should be put
to death. But Srídatta found out that intention of the prince's, and
withdrew in alarm with those friends of his from his presence. And as
he was going along, he saw in the middle of the Ganges a woman being
dragged under by the stream, looking like the goddess of Fortune in
the middle of the sea. And then he plunged in to pull her out of the
water, leaving Báhusálin and his five other friends on the bank. Then
that woman, though he seized her by the hair, sank deep in the water;
and he dived as deep in order to follow her. And after he had dived a
long way, he suddenly saw a splendid temple of Siva, but no water and
no woman. [125] After beholding that wonderful sight, being wearied
out he paid his adorations to the god whose emblem is a bull, and
spent that night in a beautiful garden attached to the temple. And in
the morning that lady was seen by him having come to worship the god
Siva, like the incarnate splendour of beauty attended by all womanly
perfections. And after she had worshipped the god, the moon-faced one
departed to her own house, and Srídatta for his part followed her. And
he saw that palace of hers resembling the city of the gods, which
the haughty beauty entered hurriedly in a contemptuous manner. And
without deigning to address him, the graceful lady sat down on a sofa
in the inner part of the house, waited upon by thousands of women. And
Srídatta also took a seat near her; then suddenly that virtuous lady
began to weep. The tear-drops fell in an unceasing shower on her
bosom, and that moment pity entered into the heart of Srídatta. And
then he said to her, "Who art thou, and what is thy sorrow? Tell me,
fair one, for I am able to remove it." Then she said reluctantly,
"We are the thousand granddaughters of Bali [126] the king of the
Daityas, and I am the eldest of all, and my name is Vidyutprabhá. That
grandfather of ours was carried off by Vishnu to long imprisonment,
and the same hero slew our father in a wrestling-match. And after he
had slain him, he excluded us from our own city, and he placed a lion
in it to prevent us from entering. The lion occupies that place, and
grief our hearts. It is a Yaksha that was made a lion by the curse of
Kuvera, and long ago it was predicted that the Yaksha's curse should
end when he was conquered by some mortal; so Vishnu deigned to inform
us on our humbly asking him how we might be enabled to enter our
city. Therefore subdue that lion our enemy; it was for that reason,
O hero, that I enticed you hither. And when you have overcome him you
will obtain from him a sword named Mrigánka, by the virtue of which
you shall conquer the world and become a king." When he heard that,
Srídatta agreed to undertake the adventure, and after that day had
passed, on the morrow he took those Daitya maidens with him as guides,
and went to that city, and there he overcame in wrestling that haughty
lion. [127] He being freed from his curse assumed a human form, and
out of gratitude gave his sword to the man who had put an end to his
curse, and then disappeared together with the burden of the sorrow
of the great Asura's daughter. Then that Srídatta, together with
the Daitya's daughter, who was accompanied by her younger sisters,
entered that splendid city which looked like the serpent Ananta [128]
having emerged from the earth. And that Daitya maiden gave him a ring
that destroyed the effect of poison. Then that young man remaining
there fell in love with her. And she cunningly said to him, "Bathe
in this tank, and when you dive in, take with you this sword [129]
to keep off the danger of crocodiles." He consented, and diving into
the tank, rose upon that very bank of the Ganges from which he first
plunged in. Then he, seeing the ring and the sword, felt astonishment
at having emerged from the lower regions, and despondency at having
been tricked by the Asura maid. Then he went towards his own house
to look for his friends, and as he was going he saw on the way his
friend Nishthuraka. Nishthuraka came up to him and saluted him, and
quickly took him aside into a lonely place, and when asked by him
for news of his relations, gave him this answer; "On that occasion
when you plunged into the Ganges we searched for you many days, and
out of grief we were preparing to cut off our heads, but a voice from
heaven forbade that attempt of ours saying, 'My sons, do no rash act,
your friend shall return alive.' And then we were returning into the
presence of your father, when on the way a man hurriedly advanced
to meet us and said this--'You must not enter this city at present,
for the king of it Vallabhasakti is dead, and the ministers have with
one accord conferred the royal dignity on Vikramasakti;' now the day
after he was made king he went to the house of Kálanemi, and full of
wrath asked him where his son Srídatta was, and he replied--'I do not
know.' Then the king in a rage, supposing he had concealed his son,
had him put to death by impalement as a thief. When his wife saw that,
her heart broke. Men of cruel deeds must always pile one evil action
upon another in long succession; and so Vikramasakti is searching for
Srídatta to slay him, and you are his friends, therefore leave this
place.' When the man had given us this warning, Báhusálin and his
four companions being grieved went by common consent to their own
home in Ujjayiní. And they left me here in concealment, my friend,
for your sake. So come, let us go to that very place to meet our
friends." Having heard this from Nishthuraka, and having bewailed
his parents, Srídatta cast many a look at his sword, as if reposing
in that his hope of vengeance; then the hero, biding his time, set
out accompanied by Nishthuraka for that city of Ujjayiní in order to
meet his friends.
And as he was relating to his friend his adventures from the time
of his plunging into the stream, Srídatta beheld a woman weeping
in the road; when she said, "I am a woman going to Ujjayiní and I
have lost my way," Srídatta out of pity made her journey along with
him. He and Nishthuraka, together with that woman, whom he kept
with him out of compassion, halted that day in a certain deserted
town. There he suddenly woke up in the night and beheld that the
woman had slain Nishthuraka, and was devouring his flesh with the
utmost delight. Then he rose up drawing his sword Mrigánka, and that
woman assumed her own terrible form, that of a Rákshasí, [130] and
he seized that night-wanderer by her hair, to slay her. That moment
she assumed a heavenly shape and said to him, "Slay me not, mighty
hero, let me go, I am not a Rákshasí; the hermit Visvámitra imposed
this condition on me by a curse. For once when he was performing
austerities from a desire to attain the position of the god of wealth,
I was sent by the god to impede him. Then finding that I was not able
to seduce him with my alluring form, being abashed, I assumed in order