The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
When the emperor Naraváhanadatta had told this story, those hermits
in the hermitage of Kasyapa, accompanied by Gopálaka, rejoiced
exceedingly.
BOOK XVIII.
CHAPTER CXX.
Glory be to that god, half of whose body is the moon-faced Párvatí,
who is smeared with ashes white as the rays of the moon, whose eyes
gleam with a fire like that of the sun and moon, who wears a half-moon
on his head!
May that elephant-faced god protect you, who, with his trunk bent at
the end, uplifted in sport, appears to be bestowing successes!
Then Naraváhanadatta, in the hermitage of the hermit Kasyapa,
on that Black Mountain, said to the assembled hermits, "Moreover,
when, during my separation from the queen, Vegavatí, who was in love
with me, took me and made me over to the protection of a Science,
I longed to abandon the body, being separated from my beloved and
in a foreign land; but while, in this state of mind, I was roaming
about in a remote part of the forest, I beheld the great hermit Kanva.
"That compassionate hermit, seeing me bowing at his feet, and knowing
by the insight of profound meditation that I was miserable, took me
to his hermitage, and said to me, 'Why are you distracted, though you
are a hero sprung from the race of the Moon? As the ordinance of the
god standeth sure, why should you despair of reunion with your wife?
"'The most unexpected meetings do take place for men in this world; I
will tell you, to illustrate this, the story of Vikramáditya; listen.'"
The story of Vikramáditya.
There is in Avanti a famous city, named Ujjayiní, the dwelling-place
of Siva, built by Visvakarman in the commencement or the Yuga; which,
like a virtuous woman, is invincible by strangers; like a lotus-plant
is the resort of the goddess of prosperity; like the heart of the good,
is rich in virtue; like the earth, is full of many wonderful sights.
There dwelt in that city a world-conquering king, named Mahendráditya,
the slayer of his enemies' armies, like Indra in Amarávatí. In regard
of prowess he was a wielder of many weapons; in regard of beauty he
was the flower-weaponed god [734] himself; his hand was ever open in
bounty, but was firmly clenched on the hilt of his sword. That king had
a wife named Saumyadarsaná, who was to him as Sachí to Indra, as Gaurí
to Siva, as Srí to Vishnu. And that king had a great minister named
Sumati, and a warder named Vajráyudha, in whose family the office was
hereditary. With these the king remained ruling his realm, propitiating
Siva, and ever bearing various vows in order to obtain a son.
In the meanwhile, as Siva was with Párvatí on the mighty mountain
Kailása, the glens of which are visited by troops of gods, which is
beautiful with the smile that the Northern quarter smiles joyous at
vanquishing all the others, all the gods with Indra at their head came
to visit him, being afflicted by the oppression of the Mlechchhas;
and the immortals bowed, and then sat down and praised Siva; and when
he asked them the reason of their coming, they addressed to him this
prayer: "O god, those Asuras, who were slain by thee and Vishnu, have
been now again born on the earth in the form of Mlechchhas. They slay
Bráhmans, they interfere with the sacrifices and other ceremonies,
and they carry off the daughters of hermits: indeed, what crime do not
the villains commit? Now, thou knowest, lord, that the world of gods
is ever nourished by the earth, for the oblation offered in the fire by
Bráhmans nourishes the dwellers in heaven. But, as the Mlechchhas have
overrun the earth, the auspicious words are nowhere pronounced over
the burnt-offering, and the world of gods is being exhausted by the
cutting off of their share of the sacrifice and other supplies. [735]
So devise an expedient in this matter; cause some hero to become
incarnate on the earth, mighty enough to destroy those Mlechchhas."
When Siva had been thus entreated by the gods, he said to them,
"Depart; you need not be anxious about this matter; be at your
ease. Rest assured that I will soon devise an expedient which will
meet the difficulty." When Siva had said this, he dismissed the gods
to their abodes. [736]
And when they had gone, the Holy one, with Párvatí at his side,
summoned a Gana, named Mályavat, and gave him this order, "My son,
descend into the condition of a man, and be born in the city of
Ujjayiní as the brave son of king Mahendráditya. That king is a
portion of me, and his wife is sprung from a portion of Ambiká;
be born in their family, and do the heaven-dwellers the service they
require. Slay all those Mlechchhas that obstruct the fulfilment of the
law contained in the three Vedas. And by my favour thou shalt be a king
ruling over the seven divisions of the world; moreover the Rákshasas,
the Yakshas and the Vetálas shall own thy supremacy; [737] and after
thou hast enjoyed human pleasures, thou shalt again return to me."
When the Gana Mályavat received this command from Siva, he said
"The command of you two divine beings cannot be disobeyed by me:
but what enjoyments are there in the life of a man, which involves
separations from relations, friends, and servants, very hard to bear,
and the pain arising from loss of wealth, old age, disease, and the
other ills of humanity?" When the Gana said this to Siva, the god
thus replied, "Go, blameless one! These woes shall not fall to thy
lot; by my favour thou shalt be happy throughout the whole of thy
sojourn on earth." When Siva said this to Mályavat, that virtuous Gana
immediately disappeared. And he went and was conceived in Ujjayiní,
in the proper season, in the womb of the queen of king Mahendráditya.
And at that time the god, whose diadem is fashioned of a digit of the
moon, said to that king in a dream, "I am pleased with thee, king, so
a son shall be born to thee, who by his might shall conquer the earth
with all its divisions; and that hero shall reduce under his sway the
Yakshas, Rákshasas, Pisáchas and others, even those that move in the
air, and dwell in Pátála, and shall slay the hosts of the Mlechchhas;
for this reason he shall be named Vikramáditya; and also Vishamasíla
on account of his stern hostility [738] to his enemies."
When the god had said this, he disappeared; and next morning the
king woke up, and joyfully related his dream to his ministers. And
they also told the king, one after another, with great delight,
that Siva had made a revelation to each of them in a dream that he
was to have a son. And at that moment a handmaid of the harem came
and shewed the king a fruit, saying, "Siva gave this to the queen in
a dream." Then the king rejoiced, saying, again and again, "Truly,
Siva has given me a son," and his ministers congratulated him.
Then his illustrious queen became pregnant, like the eastern quarter
in the morning, when the orb of the sun is about to arise, and she
was conspicuous for the black tint of the nipples of her breasts,
which appeared like a seal to secure the milk for the king with whom
she was pregnant. In her dreams at that time she crossed seven seas,
being worshipped by all the Yakshas, Vetálas, and Rákshasas. And
when the due time was come, she brought forth a glorious son, who
lit up the chamber, as the rising sun does the heaven. And when he
was born, the sky became indeed glorious, laughing with the falling
rain of flowers, and ringing with the noise of the gods' drums. And
on that occasion the city was altogether distracted with festive
joy, and appeared as if intoxicated, as if possessed by a demon,
as if generally wind-struck. And at that time the king rained wealth
there so unceasingly, that, except the Buddhists, no one was without
a god. [739] And king Mahendráditya gave him the name of Vikramáditya,
which Siva had mentioned, and also that of Vishamasíla.
When some more days had passed, there was born to that king's minister,
named Sumati, a son of the name of Mahámati, and the warder Vajráyudha
had a son born to him, named Bhadhráyudha, and the chaplain Mahídhara
had a son of the name of Srídhara. And that prince Vikramáditya
grew up with those three minister's sons, as with spirit, courage,
and might. When he was invested with the sacred thread, and put
under teachers, they were merely the occasions of his learning the
sciences, which revealed themselves to him without effort. And whatever
science or accomplishment he was seen to employ, was known by those,
who understood it, to be possessed by him to the highest degree of
excellence. And when people saw that prince fighting with heavenly
weapons, they even began to pay less attention to the stories about
the great archer Ráma and other heroes of the kind. And his father
brought for him beautiful maidens, given by kings who had submitted
after defeat, like so many goddesses of Fortune.
Then his father, king Mahendráditya, seeing that his son was in the
bloom of early manhood, of great valour, and beloved by the subjects,
duly anointed him heir to his realm, and being himself old, retired
with his wife and ministers to Váránasí, [740] and made the god Siva
his refuge.
And king Vikramáditya, having obtained that kingdom of his father,
began in due course to blaze forth, as the sun, when it has occupied
the sky. Even haughty kings, when they saw the string fitted into
the notch of his bending bow, [741] learnt a lesson from that weapon,
and bent likewise on every side. Of godlike dignity, having subdued
to his sway even Vetálas, Rákshasas and other demons, he chastised
righteously those that followed evil courses. The armies of that
Vikramáditya roamed over the earth like the rays of the sun, shedding
into every quarter the light of order. Though that king was a mighty
hero, he dreaded the other world, though a brave warrior, he was
not hard-handed, [742] though not uxorious, he was beloved by his
wives. He was the father of all the fatherless, the friend of all
the friendless, and the protector of all the unprotected among his
subjects. Surely his glory furnished the Disposer with the material
out of which he built up the White Island, the Sea of Milk, Mount
Kailása, and the Himálayas. [743]
And one day, as the king Vikramáditya was in the hall of assembly, the
warder Bhadráyudha came in and said to him, "Your Majesty despatched
Vikramasakti with an army to conquer the southern region and other
territories, and then sent to him a messenger named Anangadeva;
that messenger has now returned, and is at the gate with another,
and his delighted face announces good tidings, my lord." The king
said, "Let him enter," and then the warder respectfully introduced
Anangadeva, with his companion. The messenger entered and bowed,
and shouted "Victory" [744] and sat down in front of the king; and
then the king said to him, "Is it well with king Vikramasakti, the
general of my forces, and with Vyághrabala and the other kings? And
does good fortune attend on the other chief Rájpúts in his army,
and on the elephants, horses, chariots and footmen?"
When Anangadeva had been thus questioned by the king, he answered, "It
is well with Vikramasakti and the whole of the army. And Your Majesty
has conquered the Dekkan and the western border, and Madhyadesa and
Sauráshtra and all the eastern region of the Ganges; and the northern
region and Kasmíra have been made tributary, and various forts and
islands have been conquered, and the hosts of the Mlechchhas have
been slain, and the rest have been reduced to submission, and various
kings have entered the camp of Vikramasakti, and he himself is coming
here with those kings, and is now, my lord, two or three marches off."
When the messenger had thus told his tale, king Vikramáditya
was pleased and loaded [745] him with garments, ornaments, and