The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
as good as accomplished." "When Siva had said this to Vishnu and his
companions, he disappeared; then Vishnu, Brahmá, Indra and Brihaspati
went, in high delight, back to the places from which they came.
Then Muktávalí the wife of that king of the Vidyádharas, named
Chandraketu, became pregnant, and in time she brought forth a son,
illuminating the four quarters with his irresistible splendour,
[682] like the infant sun arisen to remove the oppression under which
those ascetics were groaning. And as soon as he was born this voice
was heard from heaven, "Chandraketu, this son of thine shall slay the
Asura Vidyuddhvaja, and know that he is to be by name Muktáphalaketu,
the terror of his foes."
When the voice had said so much to the delighted Chandraketu, it
ceased; and a rain of flowers fell; and Padmasekhara, and Indra,
hearing what had taken place, came there, and the other gods, who
were lurking concealed. Conversing to one another of the story of
the boon of Siva, and having rejoiced thereat, they went to their own
abodes. And Muktáphalaketu had all the sacraments performed for him,
and gradually grew up; and as he grew, the joy of the gods increased.
Then, some time after the birth of his son, a daughter was born to
Padmasekhara, the supreme lord of the Gandharvas. And when she was
born, a voice came from the air, "Prince of the Gandharvas, this
daughter of thine Padmávatí shall be the wife of that king of the
Vidyádharas who shall be the foe of Vidyuddhvaja." Then that maiden
Padmávatí gradually grew up, adorned with an overflowing effulgence
of beauty, as if with billowy nectar acquired by her being born in
the world of the moon. [683]
And that Muktáphalaketu, even when a child, was high-minded, and
being always devoted to Siva, he performed asceticism, in the form
of vows, fasts, and other penances. And once on a time, when he had
fasted twelve days, and was absorbed in meditation, the adorable
Siva appeared to him, and said, "I am pleased with this devotion of
thine, so by my special favour the weapons, the sciences, and all the
accomplishments shall manifest themselves to thee. And receive from me
this sword named Invincible, [684] by means of which thou shalt hold
sovereign sway, unconquered by thy enemies." When the god had said
this, he gave him the sword and disappeared, and that prince at once
became possessed of powerful weapons and great strength and courage.
Now, one day, about this time, that great Asura Vidyuddhvaja, being
established in heaven, was disporting himself in the water of the
heavenly Ganges. He saw the water of that stream flowing along brown
with the pollen of flowers, and remarked that it was pervaded by
the smell of the ichor of elephants, and troubled with waves. Then,
puffed up with pride of his mighty arm, he said to his attendants,
"Go and see who is disporting himself in the water above me." When the
Asuras heard that, they went up the stream, and saw the bull of Siva
sporting in the water with the elephant of Indra. And they came back
and said to that prince of the Daityas, "King, the bull of Siva has
gone higher up the stream, and is amusing himself in the water with
Airávana: so this water is full of his garlands and of the ichor of
Airávana." When that Asura heard this, he was wroth, in his arrogance
making light of Rudra, and infatuated by the full ripening of his
own evil deeds he said to his followers, "Go and bring that bull and
Airávana here bound." Those Asuras went there, and tried to capture
them, and thereupon the bull and elephant ran upon them in wrath and
slew most of them. And those who escaped from the slaughter went and
told Vidyuddhvaja; and he was angry, and sent a very great force of
Asuras against those two animals. And those two trampled to death
that army, upon which destruction came as the result of matured crime,
and then the bull returned to Siva, and the elephant to Indra.
Then Indra heard about that proceeding of the Daitya's from the guards,
who followed Airávana to take care of him, and he concluded that
the time of his enemy's destruction had arrived, as he had treated
with disrespect even the adorable Siva. He told that to Brahmá,
and then he united himself with the assembled forces of the gods,
and the Vidyádharas, and his other allies; and then he mounted the
chief elephant of the gods, and set out to slay that enemy of his;
and on his departure Sachí performed for him the usual ceremony to
ensure good fortune.
CHAPTER CXVI.
Then Indra reached heaven and surrounded it with his forces, that were
rendered confident by the favour of Siva, and had gained the suitable
opportunity and the requisite strength. When Vidyuddhvaja saw that,
he marched out with his army ready for battle; but as he marched out
evil omens manifested themselves to him; lightning flashes struck his
banners, vultures circled above his head, the state-umbrellas were
broken, and jackals uttered boding howls. [685] Disregarding these
evil omens, nevertheless that Asura sallied forth; and then there
took place a mighty battle between the gods and the Asuras.
And Indra said to Chandraketu the king of the Vidyádharas, "Why has
Muktáphalaketu not yet come?" Then Chandraketu humbly made answer,
"When I was marching out I was in such a hurry that I forgot to
tell him; but he is sure to hear of it, and will certainly follow
me quickly." When the king of the gods heard this, he quickly
sent the dexterous charioteer of the Wind-god to bring the noble
Muktáphalaketu. And his father Chandraketu sent with Indra's messenger
his own warder, with a force and a chariot, to summon him.
But Muktáphalaketu, hearing that his father had gone to battle with the
Daityas, was eager to set out for that fight with his followers. Then
he mounted his elephant of victory, and his mother performed for him
the ceremony to ensure good fortune, and he set out from the world of
the Wind, bearing the sword of Siva. And when he had set out, a rain
of flowers fell on him from heaven, and the gods beat their drums,
and favouring breezes blew. And then the hosts of the gods, that had
fled and hid themselves out of fear of Vidyuddhvaja, assembled and
surrounded him. As he was marching along with that large army, he saw
in his way a great temple of Párvatí named Meghavana. His devotion to
the goddess would not allow him to pass it without worshipping [686];
so he got down from his elephant, and taking in his hand heavenly
flowers, he proceeded to adore the goddess.
Now it happened that, at that very time, Padmávatí the daughter of
Padmasekhara the king of the Gandharvas, who had now grown up, had
taken leave of her mother, who was engaged in austerities to bring
good fortune to her husband who had gone to war, and had come, with
her attendant ladies, in a chariot, from the world of Indra, to that
temple of Gaurí, with the intention of performing asceticism in order
to ensure success to her father in battle, and to the bridegroom on
whom she had set her heart.
On the way one of her ladies said to her, "You have not as yet any
chosen lover, who might have gone to the war, and your mother is
engaged in asceticism for the well-being of your father; for whose
sake, my friend, do you, a maiden, seek to perform asceticism?" When
Padmávatí had been thus addressed by her friend on the way, she
answered, "My friend, a father is to maidens a divinity procuring all
happiness; moreover there has already been chosen for me a bridegroom
of unequalled excellence. That Muktáphalaketu, the son who has been
born to the Vidyádhara king, in order that he may slay Vidyuddhvaja,
has been destined for my husband by Siva. This I heard from the
mouth of my father, when questioned by my mother. And that chosen
bridegroom of mine has either gone, or certainly is going to battle:
so I am about to propitiate with asceticism the holy Gaurí, desiring
victory for my future husband [687] as well as for my father."
When the princess said this, her attendant lady answered her, "Then
this exertion on your part, though directed towards an object still in
the future, is right and proper; may your desire be accomplished!" Just
as her friend was saying this to her, the princess reached a large
and beautiful lake in the neighbourhood of the temple of Gaurí. It
was covered all over with bright full-blown golden lotuses, and they
seemed as if they were suffused with the beauty flowing forth from
the lotus of her face. The Gandharva maiden went down into that lake,
and gathered lotuses with which to worship Ambiká, and was preparing
to bathe, when two Rákshasís came that way, as all the Rákshasas
were rushing to the battle between the gods and Asuras, eager for
flesh. They had up-standing hair, yellow as the flames vomited forth
from their mouths terrible with tusks, gigantic bodies black as smoke,
and pendulous breasts and bellies. The moment that those wanderers
of the night saw that Gandharva princess, they swooped down upon her,
and seized her, and carried her up towards the heaven.
But the deity, that presided over her chariot, impeded the flight
of those Rákshasís, and her grieving retinue cried for help; and
while this was going on, Muktáphalaketu issued from the temple of the
goddess, having performed his worship; and hearing the lamentation, he
came in that direction. When the great hero beheld Padmávatí gleaming
bright in the grasp of that pair of Rákshasís, looking like a flash of
lightning in the midst of a bank of black clouds, he ran forward and
delivered her, hurling the Rákshasís senseless to earth by a blow from
the flat of his hand. And he looked on that torrent river of the elixir
of beauty, adorned with a waist charming with three wave-like wrinkles,
who seemed to have been composed by the Creator of the essence of
all beauty, when he was full of the wonderful skill he had acquired
by forming the nymphs of heaven. And the moment he looked on her, his
senses were benumbed by love's opiate, though he was strong of will;
and he remained for a moment motionless, as if painted in a picture.
And Padmávatí too, now that the alarm caused by the Rákshasís was at
an end, at once recovered her spirits, and looked on the prince, who
possessed a form that was a feast to the eyes of the world, and who
was one fitted to madden womankind, and seemed to have been created
by Fate by a blending together in one body of the moon and the god of
Love. Then, her face being cast down with shame, she said of her own
accord to her friend, "May good luck befall him! I will depart hence,
from the presence of a strange man."
Even while she was saying this, Muktáphalaketu said to her friend,
"What did this young lady say?" And she answered, "This lovely maiden
bestowed a blessing on you, the saver of her life, and said to me,
"Come, let us depart from the presence of a strange man." When
Muktáphalaketu heard this, he said to her with eager excitement,
"Who is she? Whose daughter is she? To what man of great merit in a
former life is she to be given in marriage? [688]"
When he addressed this question to the princess's companion,
she answered him, "Fair sir, this my friend is the maiden named
Padmávatí, the daughter of Padmasekhara the king of the Gandharvas,
and Siva has ordained that her husband is to be Muktáphalaketu,
the son of Chandraketu, the darling of the world, the ally of Indra,
the destined slayer of Vidyuddhvaja. Because she desires the victory
for that future husband of hers and for her father in the battle now
at hand, she has come to this temple of Gaurí to perform asceticism."
When the followers of Chandraketu's son heard this, they delighted
the princess by exclaiming, "Bravo! here is that future husband of
yours." Then the princess and her lover had their hearts filled with