The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
And Svayamprabhá said to him, "Before we were concealed by magic, and
you did not see us, though we saw you, but now we have been seen here
by you, the sovereign of the two worlds. And now that we have been seen
by you, our sorrow will soon come to an end; much more since you have
bestowed on us by your own mouth a boon we never craved; so take a seat
and receive the arghya and water for the feet. [719] For you deserve
to be honoured by the three worlds; and this is our hermitage." When
she said this, the king answered laughing, "Give the arghya and water
for the feet to these your sons-in-law." Then Svayamprabhá said, "To
them the god Siva will give the arghya and soon, but do you receive
it to-day." Then Merudhvaja said, "I have already received it all;
but do you, ladies, immediately give up your intention of committing
suicide; and go and dwell in one of your cities where every wish can
be gratified; then I will take steps to ensure your welfare."
When the king said this, Svayamprabhá said to him, "In accordance with
your Majesty's order we have given up our intention of abandoning the
body, but while our lord is in prison, how would it be becoming for us
to live in our palace? So we will remain here, king, for the present,
until your Highness shall perform the promise which you spontaneously
made to us, and shall cause our lord to be set free with his servants
and ministers. And he will hold sway as your Majesty's zealous officer,
and will make over his realm to you if you desire it; indeed he will
make a strict agreement [720] with you to this effect. And for this
we and all the inhabitants of Pátála will be your sureties, so take
our jewels from the regions of Pátála, and make them your own."
When she said this, king Merudhvaja said to her, "I will see about
that, but you must remember your promise." When the king had said
this, he bathed and worshipped Hátakesa. And those Daitya princesses,
having now seen his sons with their own eyes, had their minds entirely
fixed on them. Then all the inhabitants of Rasátala [721] fell at the
feet of the virtuous king Merudhvaja, and asked that Trailokyamálin
should be set at liberty; and then king Merudhvaja, with his wife,
sons, and servants, left the world of the Asuras, and returned to
his own city, covering the regions with his umbrellas white as his
own glory. There his son Malayadhvaja spent the night in thinking on
the younger daughter of the king of the Dánavas, being tortured with
the fever of love, and though he closed his eyes, he never slept. But
that sea of self-control Muktáphaladhvaja, though he thought upon
the elder daughter of the Asura monarch who was deeply in love with
him, and though he was young, and she was fair enough to shake with
love the saintly minds of anchorites, still in virtue of the boon
he had craved from the hermit, was no whit disturbed in mind. But
Merudhvaja, finding that his elder son was determined not to take
a wife, while Malayadhvaja was desperately in love, and that on the
other hand that great Asura was averse to giving him his daughters,
remained with his mind bewildered as to how to devise an expedient.
CHAPTER CXIX.
Then king Merudhvaja, seeing that Malayadhvaja was thus overpowered
with the fever of love, said to his queen, "If those two daughters of
Trailokyamálin, whom I saw in Pátála, do not become the wives of my two
sons, what advantage shall I have gained? And my son Malayadhvaja is
consumed with smouldering flame, because he cannot obtain the younger
of the two, though shame makes him conceal the fire of love. It is for
this very reason that, though I promised Trailokyamálin's queen that I
would set him at liberty, I do not at once make my promise good. For,
if he is set free from his imprisonment, his pride as an Asura will
prevent his ever giving his daughters to my sons as being men. So it is
now advisable to propose this matter to him in a conciliatory manner."
When he had gone through these reflections with the queen, he said
to his warder, "Go to the cave of Svetasaila, and say, as from me,
in a kind manner to Trailokyamálin, the king of the Daityas, who is
imprisoned there, 'King of the Daityas, by the appointment of Destiny
you have been long afflicted here, so now do what I advise, and bring
your affliction to an end. Give to my two sons your two daughters,
who fell in love with them at first sight, and thus procure your
release, and rule your kingdom, after you have given security for
your fidelity.'"
With this message the king sent off his warder, and he went and
delivered it to the Daitya monarch in that cave. The monarch answered,
"I will not give my two daughters to two men;" and the warder returned
and reported his answer to the king.
Then king Merudhvaja began to look about for some other means of
attaining his end, and in the course of some days Svayamprabhá heard
how he had sped, so she again sent Indumatí from Pátála to his palace
with a message.
And Indumatí arrived, and had herself announced by the female
warder, and went into the presence of the great queen, who received
her graciously. And she bowed before her, and said to her, "Queen,
queen Svayamprabhá sends you this message, 'Have you forgotten your
own promise? The seas and the principal mountains will suffer change
at the day of doom, but the promises of people like you will not
change even then. Although my husband has not consented to bestow our
daughters as you wished, reflect, how could he have given them as a
present while himself a prisoner? If you release him in a proper way
as an act of kindness, [722] he will certainly make you a return by
giving you his daughters. Otherwise Svayamprabhá and her daughters
will abandon their lives, and in this way you will fail to obtain
daughters-in-law, and also to keep your promise? So manage, queen,
to make the king set our lord free on the conditions of compact and
security and so on, in order that all may turn out well; and accept
this ornament sent by Svayamprabhá, studded with various gems, that
confer the power of becoming a Vidyádhara, and other advantages.'"
When Indumatí said this, the queen answered her, "How can I take
this from your mistress now that she is in trouble?" But Indumatí
urged her vehemently to take it, saying, "We shall be quite unhappy
if you refuse to accept it, but if you take it, we shall consider
our affliction alleviated." Being thus strongly urged by Indumatí,
the queen took from her that jewelled ornament, to comfort her; and
she made her wait there, saying to her, "Remain here, noble lady,
until the king shall come this way."
In the meanwhile the king came there, and Indumatí rose up,
and having been introduced by the queen, bowed before him, and he
received her graciously. And she gave to that king a crest-jewel sent
by Svayamprabhá, that was a talisman against poison, Rákshasas, old
age, and disease. [723] The king said, "I will accept this jewel when
I have kept my promise; but the ready-witted Indumatí said to him,
"A promise made by the king is as good as kept. But, if your Majesty
will accept this, we shall be very much comforted." When she made this
speech, the queen observed, "Well said," and took that crest-jewel,
and fastened it on the king's head.
Then Indumatí repeated to the king the message of Svayamprabhá, as
she had delivered it to the queen; then the king, being entreated
to the same effect by the queen, went on to say to Indumatí, "Remain
here for to-day; to-morrow morning I will give you an answer."
Having said this, king Merudhvaja allowed a night to pass, and
the next morning he summoned his ministers, and said to Indumatí,
"Noble lady, go with these ministers of mine, and after informing
Trailokyamálin, bring from Pátála those Asura ladies, Svayamprabhá
and the others, and all the principal inhabitants of Pátála, and the
water of ordeal connected with Hátakesvara, in a sealed vessel. And let
Svayamprabhá and the others touch the feet of Svayamprabhá's husband,
in the presence of my ministers, and by solemn oaths make themselves
sureties for this, namely, that Trailokyamálin, with his friends and
servants, shall ever remain firm in his allegiance to me, and that the
Nágas shall not injure the crops. And let all the lords in Pátála be
sureties to the same effect, and let them all, with their king, give
their children as hostages, [724] and let them all, with their king,
put this in writing, and drink the water of ordeal in which the image
of Hátakesvara has been washed: then I will release Trailokyamálin
from prison."
Having said so much, the king sent off Indumatí with his ministers. She
went with them, and informed Trailokyamálin of what was being done, and
as he approved of her proceedings, she went in the same way to Pátála,
and she brought there Svayamprabhá and the others, and the water of
ordeal, [725] and she made them all do in the presence of the king's
ministers all that he had prescribed. And when king Trailokyamálin
had in this way given security, king Merudhvaja set him free from
prison with his suite. And he had brought him to his own palace with
his family and his attendants, and courteously entertained him; and
then he took possession of all the jewels of the Asuras, and sent
Trailokyamálin back to his kingdom. And Trailokyamálin returned to
Rasátala his home, and having recovered his kingdom, rejoiced with his
servants and relations. And Merudhvaja filled the earth with abundant
treasures that came from Pátála, as a rain-cloud showers water.
Then Trailokyamálin, the king of the Daityas, took counsel with his
wife, desiring to bestow his two beautiful daughters on Merudhvaja's
sons, and he invited him to his palace, with his relations, and came
himself to escort him there, remembering the benefit conferred on
him. So he came to king Merudhvaja, who entertained him, and then he
said to him, "On a former occasion, your great joy prevented your
seeing Rasátala properly. But now come and see it, while we give
ourselves up to attending on you; and accept from me my two beautiful
daughters for your sons."
When the Asura king had said this to Merudhvaja, the latter summoned
his wife and his two sons. And he told them the speech of the Asura
king, and how he proposed to give his two daughters; then his eldest
son Muktáphaladhvaja said to him, "I will not marry until I have
propitiated Siva; I said this long ago; you must pardon this fault
in me. When I have gone, let Malayadhvaja marry; for he will never
be happy without that Pátála maiden." When the younger son heard
this, he said to his elder brother, "Noble sir, while you are alive,
I will never perform such a disgraceful and unrighteous act." Then
king Merudhvaja earnestly exhorted Muktáphaladhvaja to marry, but he
would not consent to do so; and therefore Trailokyamálin took leave
of the king, who was in a state of despondency, and went back with
his suite to Pátála as he had come.
There he told what had taken place and said to his wife and son,
"Observe how exclusively bent on humiliating us Fortune is. Those very
men, to whom formerly I refused to give my daughters in marriage when
they asked for them, now refuse to accept them, though I ask them to
do so." When they heard it, they said, "Who can tell how this matter
is in the mind of Destiny? Can Siva's promise be falsified?"
While they were saying these things, those maidens, Trailokyaprabhá
and Tribhuvanaprabhá, heard what had happened, and took upon them the
following vow, "We will remain without food for twelve days, and if
at the end of that time the god does not shew us favour by bringing
about our marriage, we will enter the fire together, and we will not
preserve our bodies for insult, or merely for the sake of continuing in