The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
took the male swan for himself, and gave the female swan to the hermit,
who offered it to Siva. [172]
"Now you, Pushkaráksha, were that very male swan; and by the virtue of
that lotus, which fell on the top of the linga, you have been now born
in a royal family. And that female swan has been born in a family of
Vidyádharas as Vinayavatí, for Siva was abundantly worshipped with
her flesh. Thus Vinayavatí was your wife in a former birth." When
the hermit Vijitásu said this to Pushkaráksha, the king asked him
another question; How comes it, hermit, that the entering the fire,
which atones for a multitude of sins, produced in our case the fruit
of birth in the nature of a bird? Thereupon the hermit replied,
"A creature receives the form of that which it was contemplating at
the moment of death."
Story of Lávanyamanjarí.
For there was in the city of Ujjayiní a holy Bráhman virgin of the
name of Lávanyamanjarí, who observed a vow of perpetual chastity;
she once saw a Bráhman youth of the name of Kamalodaya, and her mind
was suddenly attracted to him, and she was consumed with the fire of
love but she did not abandon her vow. She went to the shore of the
Gandhavatí, and abandoned her life in a holy place, with her thoughts
intently fixed on his love.
But on account of that intent meditation she was born in the
next birth as a hetæra, of the name of Rúpavatí, in a town named
Ekalavyá. However, owing to the virtue of her vow and of the holy
bathing-place, she remembered her former birth, and in conversation she
related that secret of her former birth to a Bráhman named Chodakarna,
who was always engaged in muttering prayers, in order to cure him of
his exclusive devotion to muttering, and at last, though she was a
hetæra, as her will was purified she attained blessedness.
"So, king, you see that a person attains similarity to that which he
thinks of. Having said this to the king, the hermit dismissed him to
bathe, and he himself performed his midday ablutions."
But the king Pushkaráksha went to the bank of the river, that flowed
through the forest, and saw Vinayavatí there gathering flowers. Her
body gleamed as if she were the light of the sun, come to visit the
wood out of curiosity, as it had never been able to penetrate its
thickets. He thought to himself, "Who can this be?" And she, as she
was sitting in conversation with her maid, said to her; "My friend,
the Vidyádhara, who wished long ago to carry me off, came here to-day
released from his curse, and announced the arrival of my husband." When
the friend heard that, she answered the hermit-maiden; "It is true,
for this morning the hermit Vijitásu said to his pupil Munjakesa;
'Go and bring here quickly Tárávalí and Rankumálin, for to-day will
certainly take place the marriage of their daughter Vinayavatí to king
Pushkaráksha.' When Munjakesa received this order from his teacher,
he said, 'I obey,' and started on his journey. So come, my friend,
let us now go to the hermitage."
When she said this, Vinayavatí departed, and Pushkaráksha heard the
whole conversation from a distance without being seen. And the king
returned quickly to the hermitage of Vijitásu, after he had plunged
in the river, as if to cool the burning heat of love. There Tárávalí
and Rankumálin, who had arrived, honoured him when he bent before
them, and the hermits gathered round him. Then, on an altar-platform
illuminated by the great hermit Vijitásu with his austerities, as if
by a second fire in human form, Rankumálin gave that Vinayavatí to the
king, and he bestowed on him at the same time a heavenly chariot, that
would travel in the sky. And the great hermit Vijitásu conferred on
him this boon; "Rule, together with her, the earth with its four seas."
Then, with the permission of the hermit, the king Pushkaráksha took
his new wife with him, and mounted that heavenly chariot that travelled
through the air, and, crossing the sea, went quickly to his own city,
being like the rising of the moon to the eyes of his subjects.
And then he conquered the earth and became emperor of it by virtue
of his chariot, and lived a long time in enjoyment with Vinayavatí
in his own capital.
"So a task, which is very difficult in itself, succeeds in this world,
if the gods are propitious, and so, king, you may be certain that
your enterprise also will succeed soon by the favour of the god Siva,
promised you in a dream."
When Mrigánkadatta had heard this romantic story from his minister,
being very eager to obtain Sasánkavatí, he made up his mind to go to
Ujjayiní with his ministers.
CHAPTER LXX.
Accordingly Mrigánkadatta, being desirous to obtain Sasánkavatí the
daughter of king Karmasena, who had been described by the Vetála,
planned with his ministers to leave his city secretly, disguised as
a Pásupata ascetic, in order to travel to Ujjayiní. And the prince
himself directed his minister Bhímaparákrama to bring the necessary
staves like bed-posts, the skulls, and so on. And the head minister of
the king his father found out, by means of a spy, that Bhímaparákrama
had collected all these things in his house. And at that time it
happened that Mrigánkadatta, while walking about on the top of his
palace, spit down some betel-juice. And as ill-luck would have it,
it fell on the head of his father's minister, who happened to be
walking below, unseen by the prince. [173] But the minister, knowing
that Mrigánkadatta had spit down that betel-juice, bathed, and laid up
in his heart a grudge against Mrigánkadatta on account of the insult.
Now it happened that the next day king Amaradatta, the father of
Mrigánkadatta, had an attack of cholera, and then the minister saw
his chance, and, after imploring an assurance of safety, he said
in secret to the king, who was tortured with his sudden attack of
disease, "The fact is, my sovereign, your son Mrigánkadatta has begun
incantations against you in the house of Bhímaparákrama, that is why
you are suffering. I found it out by means of a spy, and the thing is
obvious for all to see, so banish your son from your realm and your
disease from your body at the same time." When the king heard that, he
was terrified, and sent his own general to the house of Bhímaparákrama,
to investigate the matter. And he found the hair, and the skulls, and
other articles, [174] and immediately brought those very things and
shewed them to the king. And the king in his anger said to the general,
"That son of mine is conspiring against me, because he wishes to reign
himself, so expel him from the kingdom this very moment without delay,
together with his ministers." For a confiding [175] king never sees
through the wicked practices of his ministers. So the general went
and communicated that order of the king's, and expelled Mrigánkadatta
from the city, together with his ministers. [176]
Then Mrigánkadatta was delighted at having obtained his object,
and he worshipped Ganesa, and mentally took a humble leave of his
parents, and started off. And after they had gone a great distance
from the town of Ayodhyá, the prince said to Prachandasakti and the
other nine ministers who were travelling with him, "There is here a
great king of the Kirátas, named Saktirakshita; he is a student in
the sciences, observing a vow of chastity, and he is a friend of mine
from childhood. For, when his father was long ago captured in battle,
he sent him here to be imprisoned as a substitute for himself, in order
to obtain his own release. And when his father died, his relations by
the father's side rose against him, and at my instigation my father
established him on the throne of his father with a military force. So
let us go to him, my friends, and then we will travel on to Ujjayiní,
to find that Sasánkavatí."
When he said this, all the ministers exclaimed, "So be it," and he
set out with them and reached in the evening a great wilderness. It
was devoid of trees and water, and it was with difficulty that
at last he found a tank, with one withered tree growing upon its
banks. There he performed the evening ceremonies, and drank water,
and being fatigued, he went to sleep with his ministers under that dry
tree. And in the night, which was illuminated by the moon, he woke
up, and saw that the tree first put forth abundance of leaves, then
of flowers, then of fruit. And when he saw its ripe fruit falling,
he immediately woke up his ministers, and pointed out that marvel
to them. Then they were astonished, and as they were hungry, he
and they ate the delicious fruits of that tree together, and after
they had eaten them, the dry tree suddenly became a young Bráhman,
before the eyes of them all. And when Mrigánkadatta questioned him,
he told his tale in the following words.
Story of Srutadhi.
There was an excellent Bráhman in Ayodhyá named Dámadhi. I am his son,
and my name is Srutadhi. And once in a time of famine he was wandering
about with me, and he reached this place almost dead. Here he got
five fruits which some one gave him, and though he was exhausted with
hunger, he gave three to me, and set aside two for himself. Then he
went into the water of the lake to bathe, and in the meanwhile I ate
all the five fruits, and pretended to be asleep. He returned after
bathing, and beholding me cunningly lying here as motionless as a
log, he cursed me, saving, "Become a dry tree here on the bank of the
lake. And on moonlight nights flowers and fruit shall spring from you,
and when once on a time you shall have refreshed guests with fruits,
you shall be delivered from your curse." [177] As soon as my father
had pronounced this curse on me, I became a dry tree, but now that
you have tasted my fruit, I have been delivered from the curse,
after enduring it for a long time.
After Srutadhi had related his own history, he asked Mrigánkadatta
for his, and he told it him. Then Srutadhi, who had no relations,
and was well-read in policy, asked Mrigánkadatta to permit him, as
a favour, to attach himself to his service. So, after he had spent
the night in this way, Mrigánkadatta set out next morning with his
ministers. And in the course of his journey he came to a forest named
Karimandita. There he saw five wild looking men with long hair, who
aroused his wonder. Then the five men came and respectfully addressed
him as follows:
"We were born in the city of Kásí as Bráhmans who lived by keeping
cows. And during a famine we came from that country, where the grass
was scorched by drought, with our cows, to this wood which abounds
in grass. And here we found an elixir in the form of the water of
a tank, continually flavoured with the three kinds of fruits [178]
that drop from the trees growing on its bank. And five hundred years
have passed over our heads in this uninhabited wood, while we have
been drinking this water and the milk of cows. It is thus, prince,
that we have become such as you see, and now destiny has sent you to
us as guests, so come to our hermitage."
When thus invited by them, Mrigánkadatta went with them to their
hermitage, taking his companions with him, and spent the day there
living on milk. And he set out from it in the morning, and in course
of time he reached the country of the Kirátas, seeing other wonderful
sights on the way. And he sent on Srutadhi to inform his friend
Saktirakshita, the king of the Kirátas, of his arrival. When the
sovereign of the Kirátas heard of it, he went to meet Mrigánkadatta
with great courtesy, and conducted him with his ministers into his
city. Mrigánkadatta told him the cause of his arrival, and remained
there for some days, being entertained by him. And the prince arranged
that Saktirakshita should be ready to assist him in his undertaking
when the proper time came, and then he set out, on an auspicious day,