The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
young merchants asked--"How have you obtained untold wealth by the
assistance of a pupil?" Being asked this question, the female ascetic
said,--"If you feel any curiosity about the matter, listen, my sons,
I will tell you the whole story."
Story of the cunning Siddhikarí.
Long ago a certain merchant came here from the north; while he was
dwelling here, my pupil went and obtained, with a treacherous object,
the position of a serving-maid in his house, having first altered her
appearance, and after she had gained the confidence of that merchant,
she stole all his hoard of gold from his house, and went off secretly
in the morning twilight. And as she went out from the city moving
rapidly through fear, a certain Domba [181] with his drum in his
hand, saw her, and pursued her at full speed with the intention of
robbing her. When she had reached the foot of a Nyagrodha tree, she
saw that he had come up with her, and so the cunning Siddhikarí said
this to him in a plaintive manner, "I have had a jealous quarrel
with my husband, and I have left his house to die, therefore my
good man, make a noose for me to hang myself with." Then the Domba
thought, "Let her hang herself, why should I be guilty of her death,
especially as she is a woman," and so he fastened a noose for her
to the tree. Then Siddhikarí, feigning ignorance, said to the Domba,
"How is the noose slipped round the neck? shew me, I entreat you." Then
the Domba placed the drum under his feet, and saying,--"This is the
way we do the trick"--he fastened the noose round his own throat;
Siddhikarí for her part smashed the drum to atoms with a kick, and
that Domba hung till he was dead. [182] At that moment the merchant
arrived in search of her, and beheld from a distance Siddhikarí, who
had stolen from him untold treasures, at the foot of the tree. She
too saw him coming, and climbed up the tree without being noticed,
and remained there on a bough, having her body concealed by the dense
foliage. When the merchant came up with his servants, he saw the Domba
hanging by his neck, but Siddhikarí was nowhere to be seen. Immediately
one of his servants said "I wonder whether she has got up this tree,"
and proceeded to ascend it himself. Then Siddhikarí said--"I have
always loved you, and now you have climbed up where I am, so all this
wealth is at your disposal, handsome man, come and embrace me." So
she embraced the merchant's servant, and as she was kissing his mouth,
she bit off the fool's tongue. He, overcome with the pain, fell from
that tree, spitting blood from his mouth, uttering some indistinct
syllables, which sounded like Lalalla. When he saw that, the merchant
was terrified, and supposing that his servant had been seized by a
demon, he fled from that place, and went to his own house with his
attendants. Then Siddhikarí the female ascetic, equally frightened,
descended from the top of the tree, and brought home with her all
that wealth. Such a person is my pupil, distinguished for her great
discernment, and it is in this way, my sons, that I have obtained
wealth by her kindness.
When she had said this to the young merchants, the female ascetic
shewed to them her pupil who happened to come in at that moment; and
said to them, "Now, my sons, tell me the real state of affairs--what
woman do you desire? I will quickly procure her for you." When they
heard that they said, "procure us an interview with the wife of the
merchant Guhasena named Devasmitá." When she heard that, the ascetic
undertook to manage that business for them, and she gave those young
merchants her own house to reside in. Then she gratified the servants
at Guhasena's house with gifts of sweetmeats and other things, and
afterwards entered it with her pupil. Then, as she approached the
private rooms of Devasmitá, a bitch, that was fastened there with a
chain, would not let her come near, but opposed her entrance in the
most determined way. Then Devasmitá seeing her, of her own accord
sent a maid, and had her brought in, thinking to herself, "What can
this person be come for?" After she had entered, the wicked ascetic
gave Devasmitá her blessing, and, treating the virtuous woman with
affected respect, said to her--"I have always had a desire to see you,
but to-day I saw you in a dream, therefore I have come to visit you
with impatient eagerness; and my mind is afflicted at beholding you
separated from your husband, for beauty and youth are wasted when
one is deprived of the society of one's beloved." With this and many
other speeches of the same kind she tried to gain the confidence of
the virtuous woman in a short interview, and then taking leave of
her she returned to her own house. On the second day she took with
her a piece of meat full of pepper dust, and went again to the house
of Devasmitá, and there she gave that piece of meat to the bitch at
the door, and the bitch gobbled it up, pepper and all. Then owing
to the pepper dust, the tears flowed in profusion from the animal's
eyes, and her nose began to run. And the cunning ascetic immediately
went into the apartment of Devasmitá, who received her hospitably,
and began to cry. When Devasmitá asked her why she shed tears, she
said with affected reluctance: "My friend, look at this bitch weeping
outside here. This creature recognized me to-day as having been its
companion in a former birth, and began to weep; for that reason my
tears gushed through pity." When she heard that, and saw that bitch
outside apparently weeping, Devasmitá thought for a moment to herself,
"What can be the meaning of this wonderful sight?" Then the ascetic
said to her, "My daughter, in a former birth, I and that bitch were
the two wives of a certain Bráhman. And our husband frequently went
about to other countries on embassies by order of the king. Now while
he was away from home, I lived with other men at my pleasure, and so
did not cheat the elements, of which I was composed, and my senses,
of their lawful enjoyment. For considerate treatment of the elements
and senses is held to be the highest duty. Therefore I have been born
in this birth with a recollection of my former existence. But she,
in her former life, through ignorance, confined all her attention to
the preservation of her character, therefore she has been degraded and
born again as one of the canine race, however, she too remembers her
former birth." The wise Devasmitá said to herself, "This is a novel
conception of duty; no doubt this woman has laid a treacherous snare
for me"; and so she said to her, "Reverend lady, for this long time
I have been ignorant of this duty, so procure me an interview with
some charming man."--Then the ascetic said--"There are residing here
some young merchants that have come from another country, so I will
bring them to you." When she had said this, the ascetic returned
home delighted, and Devasmitá of her own accord said to her maids:
"No doubt those scoundrelly young merchants, whoever they may be,
have seen that unfading lotus in the hand of my husband, and have
on some occasion or other, when he was drinking wine, asked him out
of curiosity to tell the whole story of it, and have now come here
from that island to seduce me, and this wicked ascetic is employed by
them. So bring quickly some wine mixed with Datura, [183] and when
you have brought it, have a dog's foot of iron made as quickly as
possible." When Devasmitá had given these orders, the maids executed
them faithfully, and one of the maids, by her orders, dressed herself
up to resemble her mistress. The ascetic for her part chose out of the
party of four merchants, (each of whom in his eagerness said--"let me
go first"--) one individual, and brought him with her. And concealing
him in the dress of her pupil, she introduced him in the evening
into the house of Devasmitá, and coming out, disappeared. Then that
maid, who was disguised as Devasmitá, courteously persuaded the young
merchant to drink some of that wine drugged with Datura. That liquor,
[184] like his own immodesty, robbed him of his senses, and then
the maids took away his clothes and other equipments and left him
stark naked; then they branded him on the forehead with the mark of a
dog's foot, and during the night took him and pushed him into a ditch
full of filth. Then he recovered consciousness in the last watch of
the night, and found himself plunged in a ditch, as it were the hell
Avíchi assigned to him by his sins. Then he got up and washed himself
and went to the house of the female ascetic, in a state of nature,
feeling with his fingers the mark on his forehead. And when he got
there, he told his friends that he had been robbed on the way, in
order that he might not be the only person made ridiculous. And the
next morning he sat with a cloth wrapped round his branded forehead,
giving as an excuse that he had a headache from keeping awake so
long, and drinking too much. In the same way the next young merchant
was maltreated, when he got to the house of Devasmitá, and when he
returned home naked, he said, "I put on my ornaments there, and as I
was coming out I was plundered by robbers." In the morning he also, on
the plea of a headache, put a wrapper on to cover his branded forehead.
In the same way all the four young merchants suffered in turns
branding and other humiliating treatment, though they concealed
the fact. And they went away from the place, without revealing to
the female Buddhist ascetic the ill-treatment they had experienced,
hoping that she would suffer in a similar way. On the next day the
ascetic went with her disciple to the house of Devasmitá, much
delighted at having accomplished what she undertook to do. Then
Devasmitá received her courteously, and made her drink wine drugged
with Datura, offered as a sign of gratitude. When she and her disciple
were intoxicated with it, that chaste wife cut off their ears and
noses, and flung them also into a filthy pool. And being distressed by
the thought that perhaps these young merchants might go and slay her
husband, she told the whole circumstance to her mother-in-law. Then
her mother-in-law said to her,--"My daughter, you have acted nobly,
but possibly some misfortune may happen to my son in consequence of
what you have done." Then Devasmitá said--I will deliver him even
as Saktimatí in old time delivered her husband by her wisdom. Her
mother-in-law asked; "How did Saktimatí deliver her husband? tell me,
my daughter." Then Devasmitá related the following story:
Story of Saktimatí.
In our country, within the city, there is the shrine of a powerful
Yaksha named Manibhadra, established by our ancestors. The people
there come and make petitions at this shrine, offering various gifts,
in order to obtain various blessings. Whenever a man is found at night
with another man's wife, he is placed with her within the inner chamber
of the Yaksha's temple. And in the morning he is taken away from thence
with the woman to the king's court, and his behaviour being made known,
he is punished; such is the custom. Once on a time in that city a
merchant, of the name of Samudradatta, was found by a city-guard in
the company of another man's wife. So he took him and placed him with
the woman in that temple of the Yaksha, fastening the door firmly. And
immediately the wise and devoted wife of that merchant, whose name was
Saktimatí, came to hear of the occurrence; then that resolute woman,
disguising herself, went confidently at night to the temple of the
Yaksha, accompanied by her friends, taking with her offerings for
the god. When she arrived there, the priest whose business it was
to eat the offerings, through desire for a fee, opened the door and
let her enter, informing the magistrate of what he had done. And she,