The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
And one day the king sent him to the island of Ceylon, to demand
for him the hand of the king's daughter. He had to go there by sea;
so he worshipped his patron divinity, and went on board a ship with
the Bráhmans, whom the king appointed to accompany him. And when the
ship had gone half-way, there suddenly rose from the sea a banner
that excited the wonder of all in the ship. It was so lofty that
its top touched the clouds, it was made of gold, and emblazoned
like a waving flag of various hues. And at that very moment a bank
of clouds suddenly arose, and began to pour down rain, and a mighty
wind blew. And the ship was forced on to that flag by the rain and
the wind, and thus fastened to it, as elephant-drivers force on an
elephant and bind him to a post. And then the flag began to sink with
the ship in the billowy sea.
And then the Bráhmans in the ship, distracted with fear, called on
their king Chandasinha, crying out for help. And when Sattvasíla heard
their cries, so great was his devotion to his master that he could not
restrain himself, but with his sword in his hand, and his upper garment
girded round him, the brave fellow daringly plunged into the billows,
following the flag, in order to counteract the violence of the sea,
not suspecting the real cause. And as soon as he had plunged in,
that ship was carried to a distance by the wind and waves, and all
the people, who were in it, fell into the mouths of the sea-monsters.
And when Sattvasíla, who had fallen into the sea, began to look
about him, he found that he was in a splendid city, [310] but he
could not see the sea anywhere. That city glittered with palaces of
gold supported on pillars of jewels, and was adorned with gardens in
which were tanks with steps of precious gems, and in it he beheld the
temple of Durgá, lofty as mount Meru, with many walls of costly stone,
and with a soaring banner studded with jewels. There he prostrated
himself before the goddess, and praised her with a hymn, and sat down
wondering whether it was all the effect of enchantment.
And in the meanwhile a heavenly maiden suddenly opened a door,
and issued from a bright enclosure in front of the temple of the
goddess. Her eyes were like blue lotuses, her face full-blown,
her smile like a flower, her body was soft like the taper fibre of
a water-lily's root, so that she resembled a moving lotus-lake. And
waited on by a thousand ladies, she entered the inner shrine of the
goddess and the heart of Sattvasíla at the same time. And after she
had worshipped, she left the inner shrine of the goddess, but nothing
would make her leave the heart of Sattvasíla. And she entered once
more into the shining enclosure, and Sattvasíla entered after her.
And when he had entered, he beheld another splendid city, which seemed
like a garden where all the enjoyments of the world had agreed to
meet. In it Sattvasíla saw that maiden sitting on a couch studded
with gems, and he went up to her, and sat down by her side. And he
remained with his eyes fixed on her face, like a man in a painting,
expressing his passion by his trembling limbs, the hairs on which
stood erect. And when she saw that he was enamoured of her, she
looked at the faces of her attendants, and then they, understanding
the expression of her face, said to him, "You have arrived here as
a guest, so enjoy the hospitality provided by our mistress, rise up,
bathe, and then take food." When he heard that, he entertained some
hope, and he rose up, though not without a struggle, and he went to
a tank in the garden which they shewed him. And the moment that he
plunged into it, he rose up, to his astonishment, in the middle of a
tank in the garden of king Chandasinha in Támraliptí. [311] And seeing
himself suddenly arrived there, he said to himself, "Alas! what is the
meaning of this? Now I am in this garden, and a moment ago I was in
that splendid city; I have exchanged in an instant the nectarous vision
of that fair one for the grievous poison of separation from her. But
it was not a dream, for I saw it all clearly in a waking state. It
is clear that I was beguiled like a fool by those maidens of Pátála."
Thus reflecting, he wandered about in that garden like a madman,
being deprived of that maiden, and wept in the anguish of disappointed
passion. And the gardeners, when they beheld him in that state, with
body covered with the yellow pollen of flowers wafted by the wind,
as if with the fires of separation, went and told king Chandasinha,
and he, being bewildered, came himself and saw him; and after calming
him, he said to him, "Tell me, my friend; what is the meaning of all
this? You set out for one place and reached another, your arrows have
not struck the mark at which they were aimed." When Sattvasíla heard
that, he told the king all his adventures, and he, when he heard them,
said to himself, "Strange to say, though this man is a hero, he has,
happily for me, [312] been beguiled by love, and I now have it in my
power to discharge my debt of gratitude to him." So the brave king said
to him, "Abandon now your needless grief, for I will conduct you by
the same course into the presence of that beloved Asura maiden." With
these words the king comforted him, and refreshed him with a bath
and other restoratives.
The next day the king entrusted the kingdom to his ministers,
and embarking on a ship, set out on the sea with Sattvasíla, who
shewed him the way. And when they had got to that half-way spot,
Sattvasíla saw the wonderful flagstaff rising out of the sea with
the banner on it, as before, and he said to the king, "Here is that
great flagstaff with such wonderful properties, towering aloft out of
the sea: I must plunge in here, and then the king must plunge in also
and dive down after the flagstaff." After Sattvasíla had said this,
they got near the flagstaff, and it began to sink. And Sattvasíla
first threw himself in after it, and then the king also dived in
the same direction, and soon after they had plunged in, they reached
that splendid city. And there the king beheld with astonishment and
worshipped that goddess Párvatí, and sat down with Sattvasíla.
And in the meanwhile there issued from that glittering enclosure a
maiden, accompanied by her attendant ladies, looking like the quality
of brightness in concrete form. Sattvasíla said, "This is that fair
one," and the king, beholding her, considered that his attachment to
her was amply justified. She, for her part, when she beheld that king
with all the auspicious bodily marks, said to herself, "Who can this
exceedingly distinguished man be?" And so she went into the temple of
Durgá to pray, and the king contemptuously went off to the garden,
taking Sattvasíla with him. And in a short time the Daitya maiden
came out from the inner shrine of the goddess, having finished her
devotions, and having prayed that she might obtain a good husband;
and after she had come out, she said to one of her attendants,
"My friend, go and see where that distinguished man is whom I saw;
and entreat him to do us the favour of coming and accepting our
hospitality, for he is some great hero deserving special honour." When
the attendant had received this order, she went and looked for him,
and bending low, delivered to him in the garden the message of her
mistress. Then the heroic king answered in a carelessly negligent
tone, "This garden is sufficient entertainment for me: what other
entertainment do I require?" When that attendant came and reported
this answer to the Daitya maiden, she considered that the king was
a man of a noble spirit and deserving of the highest regard.
And then the Asura maiden, (being, as it were, drawn towards himself
with the cord of his self-command by the king, who shewed a lofty
indifference for hospitality far above mortal desert,) went in person
to the garden, thinking that he had been sent her by way of a husband,
as a fruit of her adoration of Durgá. And the trees seemed to honour
her, as she approached, with the songs of various birds, with their
creepers bending in the wind like arms, and showers of blossoms. And
she approached the king and bowing courteously before him, entreated
him to accept of her hospitality. Then the king pointed to Sattvasíla,
and said to her, "I came here to worship the image of the goddess of
which this man told me. I have reached her marvellous temple, guided
to it by the banner, and have seen the goddess, and after that, you;
what other hospitality do I require?" When the maiden heard that, she
said, "Then come, out of curiosity, to see my second city, which is
the wonder of the three worlds." When she said this, the king laughed
and said, "Oh! he told me of this also, the place where there is the
tank to bathe in." Then the maiden said, "King, do not speak thus,
I am not of a deceitful disposition, and who would think of cheating
one so worthy of respect? I have been made the slave of you both by
your surpassing excellence; so you ought not thus to reject my offer."
When the king heard this, he consented, and taking Sattvasíla with
him, he accompanied the maiden to that glittering enclosure. And the
door of it was opened, and she conducted him in, and then he beheld
that other splendid city of hers. The trees in it were ever producing
flowers and fruits, for all seasons were present there at the same
time; [313] and the city was all composed of gold and jewels like the
peak of mount Meru. And the Daitya maiden made the king sit down on
a priceless jewelled throne, and offered him the arghya in due form,
and said to him, "I am the daughter of Kálanemi the high-souled
king of the Asuras, but my father was sent to heaven by Vishnu, the
discus-armed god. And these two cities, which I inherit from my father,
are the work of Visvakarman; they furnish all that heart can wish,
and old age and death never invade them. But now I look upon you as a
father, and I, with my cities, am at your disposal." When she had in
these words placed herself and all that she possessed at the king's
disposal, he said to her, "If this be so, then I give you, excellent
daughter, to another, to the hero Sattvasíla, who is my friend and
relation." When the king, who seemed to be the favour of the goddess
Durgá in bodily form, said this, the maiden, who understood excellence
when she saw it, acquiesced submissively. When Sattvasíla had attained
the wish of his heart by marrying that Asura maiden, and had had the
sovereignty of those cities bestowed on him, the king said to him,
"Now I have repaid you for one of those ámalakas which I ate, but
I am still indebted to you for the second, for which I have never
recompensed you." When the king had said this to Sattvasíla, who
bowed before him, he said to that Daitya maiden, "Now shew me the
way to my own city." Then the Daitya maiden gave him a sword named
"Invincible," and a fruit to eat, which was a remedy against old age
and death, and with these he plunged into the tank which she pointed
out, and the next thing that happened to him was, that he rose up in
his own land with all his wishes gratified. And Sattvasíla ruled as
king over the cities of the Daitya princess.
"Now tell me: which of those two shewed most courage in plunging into
the water?" When the Vetála put this question to the king, the latter,
fearing to be cursed, thus answered him; "I consider Sattvasíla the
braver man of the two, for he plunged into the sea without knowing
the real state of the case, and without any hope, but the king knew
what the circumstances were when he plunged in, and had something to
look forward to, and he did not fall in love with the Asura princess,
because he thought no longing would win her." When the Vetála received
this answer from the king, who thereby broke silence, he left his