The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
the foot of mount Kailása. During the summer he stood in the midst
of five fires, and during the winter in the water, meditating on
Siva; and for a thousand years he lived on fruits only. For a second
thousand years he ate only roots, for a third he subsisted on water,
for a fourth on air, and during the fifth he took no food at all.
Brahmá once more came to grant him a boon, but he did not shew him
any respect: on the contrary he said, "Depart, I have tested the
efficiency of thy boon." And he remained fasting for another period
of equal duration, and then a great volume of smoke rose up from
his head; and Siva manifested himself to him, and said to him,
"Choose a boon." When thus addressed, that Daitya said to him,
"May I, Lord, by thy favour slay Indra in fight!" The god answered,
"Rise up! There is no distinction between the slain [668] and the
conquered; so thou shalt conquer Indra and dwell in his heaven."
When the god had said this, he disappeared, and Vidyuddhvaja,
considering that the wish of his heart was attained, broke his fast,
and went to his city. There he was welcomed by the citizens, and
met by that minister of his father's, who had endured suffering
for his sake, and who now made great rejoicing. He then summoned
the armies of the Asuras, and made preparation for battle, and sent
an ambassador to Indra to warn him to hold himself in readiness for
fight. And he marched out, hiding with his banners the sky, which he
clove with the thunderous roar of his host, and so he seemed to be
fulfilling the wish [669] of the inhabitants of heaven. And Indra,
for his part, knowing that he had returned from winning a boon,
was troubled, but after taking counsel with the adviser of the gods,
[670] he summoned his forces.
Then Vidyuddhvaja arrived, and there took place between those two
armies a great battle, in which it was difficult to distinguish
between friend and foe. Those Daityas, who were headed by Subáhu,
fought with the wind-gods, and Pingáksha and his followers with the
gods of wealth, and Mahámáya and his forces with the gods of fire,
and Ayahkáya and his hosts with the sun-gods, and Akampana and
his warriors with the Siddhas; some other Daityas fought with the
Vidyádharas, and the rest with the Gandharvas and their allies. So
a great battle continued between them for twenty days, and on the
twenty-first day the gods were routed in fight by the Asuras.
And when routed, they fled, and entered heaven: and then Indra himself
issued, mounted on Airávana. And the forces of the gods rallied round
him, and marched out again, with the leaders of the Vidyádharas, headed
by Chandraketu. Then a desperate fight took place, and Asuras and gods
[671] were being slain in great numbers, when Vidyuddhvaja attacked
Indra, to revenge the slaughter of his father. The king of the gods
cleft over and over again the bow of that chief of the Asuras, who
kept repelling his shafts with answering shafts. Then Vidyuddhvaja,
elated with the boon of Siva, seized his mace, and rushed furiously
on Indra. He leapt up, planting his feet on the tusks of Airávana,
and climbed up on his forehead, and killed his driver. And he gave the
king of the gods a blow with his mace, and he quickly returned it with
a similar weapon. But when Vidyuddhvaja struck him a second time with
his mace, Indra fell senseless on to the chariot of the Wind-god. And
the Wind-god carried him away in his chariot out of the fight with
the speed of thought; and Vidyuddhvaja, who sprang after him, [672]
fell on the ground.
At that moment a voice came from the air, "This is an evil day, so
carry Indra quickly out of the fight." Then the Wind-god carried off
Indra at the utmost speed of his chariot, and Vidyuddhvaja pursued
them, mounted on his; and in the meanwhile Airávanah, infuriated and
unrestrained by the driver's hook, ran after Indra, trampling and
scattering the forces. And the army of the gods left the field of
battle and followed Indra; and Brihaspati carried off his wife Sachí,
who was much alarmed, to the heaven of Brahmá. Then Vidyuddhvaja,
having gained the victory, and having found Amarávatí empty, entered
it, accompanied by his shouting troops.
And Indra, having recovered consciousness, and seeing that it was an
evil time, entered that heaven of Brahmá with all the gods. And Brahmá
comforted him, saying, "Do not grieve; at present this boon of Siva
is predominant; but you will recover your position." And he gave him,
to dwell in, a place of his own, furnished with all delights, named
Samádhisthala, situated in a region of the world of Brahmá. There the
king of the gods dwelt, accompanied by Sachí and Airávana: and by his
orders the Vidyádhara kings went to the heaven of the Wind-god. And
the lords of the Gandharvas went to the inviolable world of the
moon; and others went to other worlds, abandoning severally their
own dwellings. And Vidyuddhvaja, having taken possession of the
territory of the gods with beat of drum, enjoyed sway over heaven,
[673] as an unlimited monarch.
At this point of the story, Chandraketu the Vidyádhara king, having
remained long in the world of the Wind-god, said to himself, "How long
am I to remain here, fallen from my high rank? The asceticism of my
enemy Vidyuddhvaja has not even now spent its force; but I have heard
that my friend Padmasekhara, the king of the Gandharvas, has gone from
the world of the Moon to the city of Siva to perform asceticism. I
do not know as yet, whether Siva has bestowed a boon on him, or not;
when I have discovered that, I shall know what I myself ought to do."
While he was going through these reflections, his friend, the king of
the Gandharvas, came towards him, having obtained a boon. That king of
the Gandharvas, having been welcomed with an embrace by Chandraketu,
and questioned, [674] told him his story, "I went to the city of
Siva and propitiated Siva with asceticism; and he said to me, 'Go,
thou shalt have a noble son; and thou shalt recover thy kingdom,
and obtain a daughter of transcendent beauty, whose husband shall
be the heroic slayer of Vidyuddhvaja.' [675] Having received this
promise from Siva, I have come here to tell you."
When Chandraketu had heard this from the king of the Gandharvas he
said, "I too must go and propitiate Siva in order to put an end to this
sorrow; without propitiating him we cannot obtain the fulfilment of our
desires. "When Chandraketu had formed this resolution, he went with his
wife Muktávalí to the heavenly abode of Siva, to perform asceticism.
And Padmasekbara told the story of his boon to Indra, and having
conceived a hope of the destruction of his enemy, went to the world
of the moon. Then that king of the gods in Samádhisthala, having also
conceived a hope of the destruction of his enemy, called to mind the
counsellor of the immortals. And he appeared as soon as he was thought
upon, and the god, bowing before him, and honouring him, said to him,
"Siva, pleased with the asceticism of Padmasekhara, has promised
that he shall have a son-in-law who shall slay Vidyuddhvaja. So we
shall eventually see an end put to his crimes; in the meanwhile I am
despondent, dwelling here in misery on account of my having fallen
from my high position. So devise, holy sir, some expedient that will
operate quickly." When the adviser of the gods heard this speech of
Indra's, he said to him; "It is true that that enemy of ours has nearly
exhausted his asceticism by his crimes; so now we have an opportunity
of exerting ourselves against him. Come, then; let us tell Brahmá;
he will point out to us an expedient."
When Brihaspati had said this to Indra, he went with him to Brahmá,
and after worshipping him, he told him what was in his mind. Then
Brahmá said, "Am I not also anxious to bring about the same end? But
Siva alone can remove the calamity that he has caused. And that god
requires a long propitiation: [676] so let us go to Vishnu, who is
like-minded with him; he will devise an expedient."
When Brahmá and Indra and Brihaspati had deliberated together to this
effect, they ascended a chariot of swans, and went to Svetadvípa;
[677] where all the inhabitants carried the conch, discus, lotus, and
club, and had four arms, being assimilated to Vishnu in appearance as
they were devoted to him in heart. There they saw the god in a palace
composed of splendid jewels, reposing on the serpent Sesha, having his
feet adored by Lakshmí. After bowing before him, and having been duly
welcomed by him, and venerated by the divine sages, they took the seats
befitting them. When the holy one asked the gods how they prospered,
they humbly said to him, "What prosperity can be ours, O god, as long
as Vidyuddhvaja is alive? For you know all that he has done to us,
and it is on his account that we have come here now: it now rests
with you to determine what further is to be done in this matter."
When the gods said this to Vishnu, he answered them, "Why, do I not
know that my regulations are broken by that Asura? But what the great
lord, the slayer of Tripura has done, he alone can undo: I cannot. And
from him must proceed the overthrow of that wicked Daitya. You must
make haste, provided I tell you an expedient; and I will tell you one;
listen! There is a heavenly abode of Siva, named Siddhísvara. There the
god Siva is found ever manifest. And long ago that very god manifested
to me and Prajápati [678] his form as the flame-linga, and told me
this secret. So come, let us go there and entreat him with asceticism:
he will put an end to this affliction of the worlds." When the god
Vishnu had uttered this behest, they all went to Siddhísvara by means
of two conveyances, the bird Garuda and the chariot of swans. That
place is untouched by the calamities of old age, death, and sickness,
and it is the home of unalloyed happiness, and in it beasts, birds,
and trees are all of gold. There they worshipped the linga of Siva,
that exhibits in succession all his forms, [679] and is in succession
of various jewels; and then Vishnu, Brahmá, Indra, and Brihaspati,
all four, with their minds devoted to Siva, proceeded to perform a
severe course of asceticism in order to propitiate him.
And in the meanwhile Siva, propitiated by the severe asceticism of
Chandraketu, bestowed a boon on that prince of the Vidyádharas, "Rise
up, king, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a great hero, and
shall slay in fight thy enemy Vidyuddhvaja; he shall become incarnate
among the human race by a curse, and shall render a service to the
gods, and shall recover his position by virtue of the asceticism
of Padmávatí, the daughter of the king of the Gandharvas: and with
her for a wife he shall be emperor over all the Vidyádharas for ten
kalpas." [680] When the god had granted this boon, he disappeared,
and Chandraketu went back to the world of the Wind-god with his wife.
In the meanwhile Siva was pleased with the severe asceticism of Vishnu
and his companions in Siddhísvara, and he appeared to them in the
linga and delighted them by the following speech, "Rise up, afflict
yourselves no longer; I have been fully propitiated with self-torture
by your partizan Chandraketu, the prince of the Vidyádharas. And he
shall have a heroic son, sprung from a part of me, who shall soon slay
in fight that Daitya Vidyuddhvaja. Then, in order that he may perform
another service to the gods, he shall fall [681] by a curse into the
world of men, and the daughter of the Gandharva Padmasekhara shall
deliver him from that condition. And he shall rule the Vidyádharas
with that lady, who shall be an incarnation of a portion of Gaurí,
and shall be named Padmávatí, for his consort, and at last he shall
come to me. So bear up for a little: this desire of yours is already