The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
his sword was sharp, but not his punishments; he feared sin, but not
his enemy. His brows were sometimes curved in anger, but there was
no crookedness in his heart. His arm was hard, where it was marked
with the horny thickening produced by the bowstring, but there was
no hardness in his speech. He spared his helpless enemies in battle,
but he did not exhibit any mean parsimony with regard to his treasure;
[708] and he took pleasure in virtuous deeds and not in women.
That king had always two anxieties in his heart, the first was that not
even one son was as yet born to him, the second was that the Asuras,
who escaped from the slaughter in the great fight long ago between
the gods and Asuras, and fled to Pátála, kept continually sallying
out to a distance from it, and treacherously destroying holy places,
temples, and hermitages in his land, and then retiring into Pátála
again; and the king could not catch them, as they could move through
the air as well as through Pátála; that afflicted the brave monarch,
though he had no rivals upon earth.
It happened that once, when he was afflicted with these anxieties,
he went to the assembly of the gods, on the day of the full moon in
the month Chaitra, in Indra's splendid chariot, which he sent to fetch
him; for Indra always held a general assembly in the early part of
that day, and king Merudhvaja always went to it in his chariot. But
on that occasion the king kept sighing, though he was amused with
the dances and songs of the heavenly nymphs, and honoured by Indra.
When the king of the gods saw that, knowing what was in his
heart, he said to him, "King, I know what thy grief is; dismiss it
from thy mind. One son shall be born to thee, who shall be called
Muktáphaladhvaja, and shall be a portion of Siva, and a second named
Malayadhvaja, who shall be an incarnation of a Gana. Muktáphaladhvaja
and his younger brother shall obtain from the hermit Tapodhana
the sciences and all weapons and a creature to ride on, that shall
possess the power of assuming any shape. And that invincible warrior
shall again obtain the great weapon of Pasupati, and shall slay the
Asuras, and get into his power the earth and Pátála. And receive from
me these two air-going elephants Kánchanagiri and Kánchanasekhara,
together with mighty weapons." When Indra had said this to Merudhvaja,
he gave him the arms and the elephants, and dismissed him, and he went
delighted to his own city on the earth. But those Asuras, who had
managed by their treachery to cast discredit upon the king, escaped
being caught by him, even when mounted on the sky-going elephant,
for they took refuge in Pátála.
Then the king, desiring a son, went, on his heavenly elephant, to the
hermitage of that hermit Tapodhana, of whom Indra had told him. There
he approached that hermit, and told him that command of Indra, and said
to him, "Reverend Sir, quickly tell me what course I ought to take to
gain my end." And the hermit recommended that the king and his wife
should immediately take upon them a vow for the propitiation of Siva,
in order that they might attain their end. The king then proceeded
to propitiate Siva with that vow, and then that god, being pleased,
said to the king in a dream, "Rise up, king, thou shalt soon [709]
obtain one after another two invincible sons for the destruction of
the Asuras." When the king had heard this, he told it to the hermit
when he woke up in the morning, and after he and his wife had broken
their fast, he returned to his own city.
Then that august and beautiful lady, the queen of Merudhvaja, became
pregnant within a few days. And Muktáphalaketu was in some mysterious
way conceived in her, having been compelled by the curse to abandon
his Vidyádhara body. And that body of his remained in his own city of
Chandrapura, guarded by his relations, kept by magic from corrupting.
So the queen of king Merudhvaja, in the city of Devasabha, delighted
her husband by becoming pregnant. And the more the queen was oppressed
by her condition, the more sprightly was her husband the king. And
when the time came, she gave birth to a boy resembling the sun, who,
though an infant, was of great might, even as Párvatí gave birth to
the god of war. And then not only did rejoicing take place over the
whole earth, but in the heaven also in which the gods struck their
drums. And the hermit Tapodhana, who possessed heavenly insight,
came there in person, to congratulate that king Merudhvaja. With
the help of that hermit, the rejoicing king gave his son the name
Muktáphaladhvaja mentioned by Indra.
Then the hermit departed; but after the lapse of a year a second
son was born to the king by that queen, and the king, with the help
of that hermit, who, in the same way, came there out of joy, named
him Malayadhvaja.
Then Samyataka was born as the son of the king's minister in accordance
with the curse, and his father gave him the name of Mahábuddhi. Then
those two princes gradually grew up, like lions' whelps, with that
minister's son, and as they grew, their might developed also.
And after eight years only had passed, the hermit Tapodhana came
and invested those princes with the sacred thread. And during
eight more years he instructed them [710] in knowledge, and in the
accomplishments, and in the use of all the mighty weapons. Then king
Merudhvaja, seeing that his sons were young men, able to fight with
all weapons, considered that he had not lived in vain.
Then the hermit was about to return to his hermitage, but the king
said to him, "Reverend Sir, now take whatever present you desire." The
great sage answered, "This is the present I desire from you, king,
that, with your sons, you would slay the Asuras that impede my
sacrifices. The king said to him, "Then, reverend sir, you must now
take your present; so begin a sacrifice; the Asuras will come to impede
it, and then I will come with my sons. For formerly those Daityas,
after they had treacherously wrought you wrong, used to fly up into
the air, and dive into the sea, and go to Pátála. But now I have two
air-going elephants given me by Indra, by means of those two I and
my sons will catch them, even if they do fly through the air."
When the hermit heard that, he was pleased and he said to the king,
"Then do you make in the mean time fit preparation for my sacrifice,
in order that I may go and begin a long sacrificial session that
will be famous in every corner of the earth. And I will send you, as
a messenger, this my pupil Dridhavrata, who has acquired the shape
of an unrestrained mighty bird going with a wish; and on him shall
Muktáphaladhvaja ride."
When the hermit had said this, he returned to his hermitage, and the
king sent after him the preparations for the sacrifice. With those he
began a sacrifice, at which the gods and rishis assembled in a body,
and the Dánavas, dwelling in Pátála, were excited when they heard
of it.
When the hermit knew that, he sent his pupil Dridhavrata, who had
been made by the curse to assume the form of a bird, to the city of
Devasabha. When king Merudhvaja saw him arrive there, he remembered the
words of the hermit, and got ready those two heavenly elephants. And
he himself mounted the chief one, which was named Kánchanagiri,
and the lesser one, which was named Kánchanasekhara, he gave to
the younger of his sons. But Muktáphaladhvaja, taking with him the
heavenly weapons, mounted the great bird Dridhavrata, and the bards
hailed him with songs. Then those three heroes sent their armies on
in front, and set forth, mounted on air-going steeds, and blessed
by holy Bráhmans. And when they reached the hermitage, the hermit,
being pleased with them, granted them this boon, that they should be
invulnerable by all weapons.
In the meanwhile the army of the Asuras came to impede the sacrifice,
and the soldiers of Merudhvaja, when they saw the Asuras, charged
them with a shout. Then a battle took place between the Daityas
and the men, but the Daityas, being in the air, pressed sore the
men who were on the ground. Then Muktáphaladhvaja, mounted on his
winged steed, rushed forward, and cut and crushed the Daityas with a
shower of arrows. And those Daityas who escaped his destroying hand,
seeing him mounted on a bird, and resplendent with brightness, took
to flight, supposing that he was Náráyana. And all of them fled in
fear to Pátála, and told what had happened to Trailokyamálin, who
was at that time king of the Daityas.
When the king of the Asuras heard that, he quickly enquired into the
matter by means of his spies, and found out that Muktáphaladhvaja was a
mortal; and unable to endure the disgrace of having been defeated by a
man, he collected all the Dánavas in Pátála, and though warned by omens
to desist, he went to that hermitage to fight. But Muktáphaladhvaja
and his men, who were on the alert there, rushed to attack the king
of the Dánavas, as soon as they saw him arrive with his army. Then a
second great battle took place between the Asuras and the men; and the
gods, headed by Rudra and Indra, came in their chariots to witness it.
And then Muktáphaladhvaja saw instantly presenting itself before him
there a great weapon of Pasupati, of irresistible might, of huge size,
with a flame of fire streaming up from it, with three eyes, with four
faces, with one leg, and eight arms, looking like the fire which is
to burn up the world at the end of the kalpa. The weapon said, "Know
that I have come by the command of Siva, to ensure your victory." When
the weapon said this, the prince worshipped it and clutched it.
In the meanwhile those Asuras in the air, raining arrows, pressed
hard the fainting army of Merudhvaja that was below them. Then
Muktáphaladhvaja, who fought in various manners, came to deliver that
army and fought with the Asuras, placing a net of arrows between them
and his own men.
And when Trailokyamálin, the king of the Asuras, saw him and his
father and brother, mounted on their air-going steeds, he sent forth
the snake-weapon. Innumerable terrible venomous snakes came out of it,
and these Malayadhvaja slew with Garuda-birds, that came out of the
Garuda-weapon. Then Muktáphalaketu repelled with case every weapon
that the king of the Daityas and his son sent forth.
Then that enemy of the gods, and his son, and the other Dánavas
were enraged, and they all at one time launched at him their fiery
weapons. But those weapons, seeing the weapon of Pasupati blazing in
front of him, were immediately terrified and fled.
Then the Daityas were terrified and tried to escape, but the hero
Muktáphaladhvaja perceived their intention, and immediately constructed
above them, and on all sides of them, an impenetrable net of arrows,
like a cage of adamant. And while the Dánavas were circling within
this, like birds, Muktáphaladhvaja with the help of his father and
brother, smote them with sharp arrows. And the severed hands, feet,
bodies, and heads of those Daityas fell on the ground, and streams of
blood [711] flowed. Then the gods exclaimed "Bravo!" and followed up
their acclamation with a rain of flowers, and Muktáphaladhvaja used
the bewildering weapon against those enemies. That made the Asuras
and their king fall senseless on the earth, and then by means of the
weapon of Varuna the prince bound them all with nooses.
Then the hermit Tapodhana said to king Merudhvaja, "You must by no
means kill those Asura warriors that have escaped the slaughter: but
you must win them over and enter Rasátala with them. As for this king
of the Daityas, and his son, and his ministers, you must take them with
the great Asuras, and the malignant Nágas, and the principal Rákshasas,
and imprison them in the cave of Svetasaila in Devasabha." [712] When