The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
Vibhíshana; king Vibhíshana too, as he had seen the prowess of Ráma,
being terrified at the arrival of a man, said to that Rákshasa; "Go,
my good friend, and tell that man from me in a friendly manner, that
he is to do me the favour of coming to my palace." The Rákshasa said,
"I will do so," and timidly approached Lohajangha, and told him that
request of his sovereign's. Lohajangha for his part accepted that
invitation with unruffled calm, and went to Lanká with that Rákshasa
and his companion. And when he arrived in Lanká, he was astonished
at beholding numerous splendid edifices of gold, and entering the
king's palace, he saw Vibhíshana. The king welcomed the Bráhman who
blessed him in return, and then Vibhíshana said, "Bráhman, how did
you manage to reach this country?" Then the cunning Lohajangha said
to Vibhíshana--"I am a Bráhman of the name of Lohajangha residing in
Mathurá; and I, Lohajangha being afflicted at my poverty, went to the
temple of the god, and remaining fasting, for a long time performed
austerities in the presence of Náráyana. [168] Then the adorable Hari*
commanded me in a dream, saying, 'Go thou to Vibhíshana, for he is a
faithful worshipper of mine, and he will give thee wealth.' Then, I
said, 'Vibhíshana is where I cannot reach him'--but the lord continued,
'To-day shalt thou see that Vibhíshana.' So the lord spake to me,
and immediately I woke up and found myself upon this side of the
sea. I know no more." When Vibhíshana heard this from Lohajangha,
reflecting that Lanká was a difficult place to reach, he thought
to himself--"Of a truth this man possesses divine power." And he
said to that Bráhman,--"Remain here, I will give you wealth." Then
he committed him to the care of the man-slaying Rákshasas as an
inviolable deposit; and sent some of his subjects to a mountain
in his kingdom called Swarnamúla, and brought from it a young bird
belonging to the race of Garuda; and he gave it to that Lohajangha,
(who had to take a long journey to Mathurá,) to ride upon, in order
that he might in the meanwhile break it in. Lohajangha for his part
mounted on its back, and riding about on it in Lanká, rested there
for some time, being hospitably entertained by Vibhíshana.
One day he asked the king of the Rákshasas, feeling curiosity on
the point, why the whole ground of Lanká was made of wood; and
Vibhíshana when he heard that, explained the circumstance to him,
saying, "Bráhman, if you take any interest in this matter, listen,
I will explain it to you. Long ago Garuda the son of Kasyapa, wishing
to redeem his mother from her slavery to the snakes, to whom she had
been subjected in accordance with an agreement, [169] and preparing
to obtain from the gods the nectar which was the price of her ransom,
wanted to eat something which would increase his strength, and so he
went to his father, who being importuned said to him, "My son, in the
sea there is a huge elephant, and a huge tortoise. They have assumed
their present forms in consequence of a curse: go and eat them." Then
Garuda went and brought them both to eat, and then perched on a bough
of the great wishing-tree of paradise. And when that bough suddenly
broke with his weight, he held it up with his beak, out of regard
to the Bálakhilyas [170] who were engaged in austerities underneath
it. Then Garuda, afraid that the bough would crush mankind, if he let
it fall at random, by the advice of his father brought the bough to
this uninhabited part of the earth, and let it drop. Lanká was built
on the top of that bough, therefore the ground here is of wood." When
he heard this from Vibhíshana, Lohajangha was perfectly satisfied.
Then Vibhíshana gave to Lohajangha many valuable jewels, as he desired
to set out for Mathurá. And out of his devotion to the god Vishnu,
who dwells at Mathurá, he entrusted to the care of Lohajangha a lotus,
a club, a shell, and a discus all of gold, to be offered to the god;
Lohajangha took all these, and mounted the bird given to him by
Vibhíshana, that could accomplish a hundred thousand yojanas, [171]
and rising up into the air in Lanká, he crossed the sea and without
any difficulty arrived at Mathurá. And there he descended from the air
in an empty convent outside the town, and deposited there his abundant
treasure, and tied up that bird. And then he went into the market and
sold one of his jewels, and bought garments and scented unguents, and
also food. And he ate the food in that convent where he was, and gave
some to his bird; and he adorned himself with the garments, unguents,
flowers and other decorations. And when night came, he mounted that
same bird and went to the house of Rúpiniká, bearing in his hand the
shell, discus and mace; then he hovered over it in the air, knowing the
place well, and made a low deep sound, to attract the attention of his
beloved, who was alone. But Rúpiniká, as soon as she heard that sound,
came out, and saw hovering in the air by night a being like Náráyana,
gleaming with jewels. He said to her, "I am Hari come hither for thy
sake;" whereupon she bowed with her face to the earth and said--"May
the god have mercy upon me!" Then Lohajangha descended and tied up
his bird, and entered the private apartments of his beloved hand in
hand with her. And after remaining there a short time, he came out,
and mounting the bird as before, went off through the air. [172]
In the morning Rúpiniká remained observing an obstinate silence,
thinking to herself--"I am the wife of the god Vishnu, I must cease
to converse with mortals." And then her mother Makaradanshtrá said
to her,--"Why do you behave in this way, my daughter?" And after she
had been perseveringly questioned by her mother, she caused to be put
up a curtain between herself and her parent, and told her what had
taken place in the night, which was the cause of her silence. When
the kuttiní heard that, she felt doubt on the subject, but soon after
at night she saw that very Lohajangha mounted on the bird, and in the
morning Makaradanshtrá came secretly to Rúpiniká, who still remained
behind the curtain, and inclining herself humbly, preferred to her
this request; "Through the favour of the god, thou, my daughter, hast
obtained here on earth the rank of a goddess, and I am thy mother in
this world, therefore grant me a reward for giving thee birth; entreat
the god that, old as I am, with this very body I may enter Paradise;
do me this favour." Rúpiniká consented and requested that very boon
from Lohajangha, who came again at night disguised as Vishnu. Then
Lohajangha, who was personating the god, said to that beloved of
his--"Thy mother is a wicked woman, it would not be fitting to take
her openly to Paradise, but on the morning of the eleventh day the
door of heaven is opened, and many of the Ganas, Siva's companions,
enter into it before any one else is admitted. Among them I will
introduce this mother of thine, if she assume their appearance. So,
shave her head with a razor, in such a manner that five locks shall
be left, put a necklace of sculls round her neck, and stripping off
her clothes, paint one side of her body with lamp-black, and the
other with red lead, [173] for when she has in this way been made
to resemble a Gana, I shall find it an easy matter to get her into
heaven." When he had said this, Lohajangha remained a short time,
and then departed. And in the morning Rúpiniká attired her mother as
he had directed; and then she remained with her mind entirely fixed on
Paradise. So, when night came, Lohajangha appeared again, and Rúpiniká
handed over her mother to him. Then he mounted on the bird, and took
the kuttiní with him naked, and transformed as he had directed, and
he flew up rapidly with her into the air. While he was in the air,
he beheld a lofty stone pillar in front of a temple, with a discus on
its summit. So he placed her on the top of the pillar, with the discus
as her only support, [174] and there she hung like a banner to blazon
forth his revenge for his ill-usage. He said to her--"Remain here a
moment while I bless the earth with my approach," and vanished from
her sight. Then beholding a number of people in front of the temple,
who had come there to spend the night in devout vigils before the
festive procession, he called aloud from the air--"Hear, ye people,
this very day there shall fall upon you here the all-destroying
goddess of Pestilence, therefore fly to Hari for protection." When
they heard this voice from the air, all the inhabitants of Mathurá who
were there, being terrified, implored the protection of the god, and
remained devoutly muttering prayers to ward off calamity. Lohajangha,
for his part, descended from the air, and encouraged them to pray,
and after changing that dress of his, came and stood among the people,
without being observed. The kuttiní thought, as she sat upon the top
of the pillar,--"the god has not come as yet, and I have not reached
heaven." At last feeling it impossible to remain up there any longer,
she cried out in her fear, so that the people below heard; "Alas! I
am falling, I am falling." Hearing that, the people in front of the
god's temple were beside themselves, fearing that the destroying
goddess was falling upon them, even as had been foretold, and said,
"O goddess, do not fall, do not fall." So those people of Mathurá,
young and old, spent that night in perpetual dread that the destroying
goddess would fall upon them, but at last it came to an end; and
then beholding that kuttiní upon the pillar in the state described,
[175] the citizens and the king recognized her at once; all the
people thereupon forgot their alarm, and burst out laughing, and
Rúpiniká herself at last arrived having heard of the occurrence. And
when she saw it, she was abashed, and with the help of the people,
who were there, she managed to get that mother of hers down from
the top of the pillar immediately: then that kuttiní was asked by
all the people there, who were filled with curiosity, to tell them
the whole story, and she did so. Thereupon the king, the Bráhmans,
and the merchants, thinking that that laughable incident must have
been brought about by a sorcerer or some person of that description,
made a proclamation, that whoever had made a fool of the kuttiní,
who had deceived innumerable lovers, was to shew himself, and he
would receive a turban of honour on the spot. When he heard that,
Lohajangha made himself known to those present, and being questioned,
he related the whole story from its commencement. And he offered
to the god the discus, shell, club, and lotus of gold, the present
which Vibhíshana had sent, and which aroused the astonishment of the
people. Then all the people of Mathurá, being pleased, immediately
invested him with a turban of honour, and by the command of the king,
made that Rúpiniká a free woman. And then Lohajangha, having wreaked
upon the kuttiní his wrath caused by her ill-usage of him, lived in
great comfort in Mathurá with that beloved of his, being very well
off by means of the large stock of jewels which he brought from Lanká.
Hearing this tale from the mouth of the transformed Vasantaka,
Vásavadattá who was sitting at the side of the fettered king of Vatsa,
felt extreme delight in her heart.
CHAPTER XIII.
As time went on, Vásavadattá began to feel a great affection for the
king of Vatsa, and to take part with him against her father. Then
Yaugandharáyana again came in to see the king of Vatsa, making himself
invisible to all the others, who were there. And he gave him the
following information in private in the presence of Vasantaka only;
"King, you were made captive by king Chandamahásena by means of
an artifice. And he wishes to give you his daughter, and set you
at liberty, treating you with all honour; so let us carry off his