The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
seeing that he was a stubborn fellow to deal with, and remembering
that Indra had pronounced a curse of this kind upon Kalávatí, they
agreed to his demand. And on his giving back the garments, they
bestowed on him, in due form, Kalávatí the daughter of Alambushá.
Then the Apsarases departed, and Thinthákarála remained there with
that Kalávatí in a house built by the wish of Siva. And Kalávatí
went in the day to heaven to attend upon the king of the gods, but at
night she always returned [762] to her husband. And one day she said
to him in the ardour of her affection, "My dear, the curse of Siva,
which enabled me to obtain you for a husband, has really proved a
blessing." Thereupon her husband Thinthákarála asked her the cause
of the curse, and the nymph Kalávatí thus answered him:
"One day, when I had seen the gods in a garden, I praised the
enjoyments of mortals, depreciating the pleasures of the dwellers in
heaven, as giving joys that consist only in seeing. [763] When the
king of the gods heard that, he cursed me, saying, 'Thou shalt go and
be married by a mortal, and enjoy those human pleasures.' In this way
has come about our union that is mutually agreeable. And to-morrow I
shall return to heaven after a long absence; do not be unhappy about
it; for Rambhá is going to dance a new piece before Vishnu, and I
must remain there, my beloved, until the exhibition is at an end."
Then Thinthákarála, whom love had made like a spoiled child, said to
her, "I will go there and look at that dance unperceived, take me
there." When Kalávatí heard that, she said, "How is it fitting for
me to do this? The king of the gods might be angry, if he found it
out." Though she said this to him, he continued to press her; then
out of love she agreed to take him there.
So the next morning Kalávatí by her power concealed Thinthákarála
in a lotus, which she placed as an ornament in her ear, and took
him to the palace of Indra. When Thinthákarála saw that palace,
the doors of which were adorned by the elephant of the gods, which
was set off by the garden of Nandana, he thought himself a god, and
was highly delighted. And in the court of Indra, frequented by gods,
he beheld the strange and delightful spectacle of Rambhá's dance,
accompanied by the singing of all the nymphs of heaven. And he heard
all the musical instruments played by Nárada and the other minstrels;
for what is hard to obtain in this world if the supreme god [764]
is favourable to one?
Then, at the end of the exhibition a mime, in the shape of a divine
goat, rose up, and began to dance with heavenly [765] movements. And
Thinthákarála, when he saw him, recognized him, and said to himself,
"Why, I see this goat in Ujjayiní, figuring as a mere animal, and here
he is dancing as a mime before Indra. Of a truth this must be some
strange incomprehensible heavenly delusion." While Thinthákarála was
going through these reflections in his mind, the dance of the goat-mime
came to an end, and then Indra returned to his own place. And then
Kalávatí, in high spirits, also took back Thinthákarála to his own
home, concealed in the lotus-ornament of her ear.
And the next day Thinthákarála beheld in Ujjayiní that goat-formed mime
of the gods, who had returned there, and he insolently said to him,
"Come, dance before me, as you dance before Indra. If you do not, I
shall be angry with you; show off your dancing powers, you mime." When
the goat heard this, he was astonished, and remained silent, saying
to himself, "How can this mere mortal know so much about me?" But
when, in spite of persistent entreaties, the goat refused to dance,
Thinthákarála beat him on the head with sticks.
Then the goat went with bleeding head to Indra, and told him all that
had taken place. And Indra by his supernatural powers of contemplation
discovered the whole secret, how Kalávatí had brought Thinthákarála to
heaven when Rambhá was dancing, and how that profane fellow had there
seen the goat dancing. Then Indra summoned Kalávatí, and pronounced
on her the following curse, "Since, out of love, thou didst secretly
bring here the man who has reduced the goat to this state, to make
him dance, depart and become an image on a pillar in the temple built
by king Narasinha in the city of Nágapura."
When Indra had said this, Alambushá, the mother of Kalávatí, tried
to appease him, and at last he was with difficulty appeased, and he
thus fixed an end to the curse, "When that temple, which it has taken
many years to complete, shall perish and be levelled with the ground,
then shall her curse come to an end." So Kalávatí came weeping and
told to Thinthákarála the curse Indra had pronounced, together with
the end he had appointed to it, and how he himself was to blame,
and then, after giving him her ornaments, she entered into an image
on the front of a pillar in the temple in Nágapura.
Thinthákarála for his part, smitten with the poison of separation
from her, could neither hear nor see, but rolled swooning on the
ground. And when that gambler came to his senses, he uttered this
lament, "Alas! fool that I was, I revealed the secret, though I knew
better all the time; for how can people like myself, who are by nature
thoughtless, shew self-restraint? So now this intolerable separation
has fallen to my lot." However in a moment he said to himself, "This
is no time for me to despond; why should I not recover firmness and
strive to put an end to her curse?"
After going through these reflections, the cunning fellow thought
carefully over the matter, and assuming the dress of a mendicant
devotee, went with rosary, antelope-skin, and matted hair, to
Nágapura. There he secretly buried in a forest outside the city,
four pitchers containing his wife's ornaments, one towards each of
the cardinal points; and one full of sets of the five precious things
[766] he deliberately buried within the city, in the earth of the
market-place, in front of the god himself.
When he had done this, he built a hut on the bank of the river, and
remained there, affecting a hypocritical asceticism, pretending to
be meditating and muttering. And by bathing three times in the day,
and eating only the food given him as alms, after washing it with
water on a stone, he acquired the character of a very holy man.
In course of time his fame reached the ears of the king, and the king
often invited him, but he never went near him: so the king came to
see him, and remained a long time in conversation with him. And in
the evening, when the king was preparing to depart, a female jackal
suddenly uttered a yell at a distance. When the cunning gambler, who
was passing himself off as an ascetic, heard that, he laughed. And
when the king asked him the meaning of the laugh, he said, "Oh! never
mind." But when the king went on persistently questioning him,
the deceitful fellow said, "In the forest to the east of this city,
under a ratan, there is a pitcher full of jewelled ornaments; so take
it. This, king, is what that female jackal told me, for I understand
the language of animals."
Then the king was full of curiosity: so the ascetic took him to
the spot, and dug up the earth, and took out that pitcher, and gave
it to him. Then the king, having obtained the ornaments, began to
have faith in the ascetic, and considered that he not only possessed
supernatural knowledge but was a truthful and unselfish devotee. So he
conducted him to his cell, and prostrated himself at his feet again
and again, and returned to his palace at night with his ministers,
praising his virtues.
In the same way, when the king again came to him, the ascetic pretended
to understand the cry of an animal, and in this way made over to the
king the other three pitchers, buried towards the other three cardinal
points. Then the king, and the citizens, and the king's wives became
exclusively devoted to the ascetic, and were, so to speak, quite
absorbed in him.
Now, one day, the king took that wicked ascetic to the temple for
a moment; so he contrived to hear in the market-place the cry of a
crow. Then he said to the king, "Did you hear what the crow said? 'In
this very market-place there is a pitcher full of valuable jewels
buried in front of the god: why do you not take it up also?' This was
the meaning of his cry; so come, and take possession of it." When
the deceitful ascetic had said this, he conducted him there, and
took up out of the earth the pitcher full of valuable jewels, and
gave it to the king. Then the king, in his excessive satisfaction,
entered the temple holding that pretended seer by the hand.
There the mendicant brushed against that image on the pillar,
which his beloved Kalávatí had entered, and saw her. And Kalávatí,
wearing the form of the image on the pillar, was afflicted when she
saw her husband, and began to weep then and there. When the king and
his attendants saw this, they were amazed, and cast down, and said to
that pretended seer, "Reverend Sir, what is the meaning of this?" Then
the cunning rascal, pretending to be despondent and bewildered, said
to the king, "Come to your palace: there I will tell you this secret,
though it is almost too terrible to be revealed."
When he had said this, he led the king to the palace, and said to him,
"Since you built this temple on an unlucky spot and in an inauspicious
moment, on the third day from now a misfortune will befall you. It
was for this reason that the image on the pillar wept when she saw
you. So, if you care for your body's weal, my sovereign, take this
into consideration, and this very day quickly level this temple with
the earth; and build another temple somewhere else, on a lucky spot,
and in an auspicious moment. Let the evil omen be averted, and ensure
the prosperity of yourself and your kingdom." When he had said this
to the king, he, in his terror, gave command to his subjects, and in
one day levelled that temple with the earth, and he began to build
another temple in another place. So true is it that rogues with their
tricks gain the confidence of princes, and impose upon them.
Accordingly, the gambler Thinthákarála, having gained his object,
abandoned the disguise of a mendicant, and fled, and went to
Ujjayiní. And Kalávatí, finding it out, went to meet him on the road,
freed from her curse and happy, and she comforted him, and then went to
heaven to visit Indra. And Indra was astonished, but when he heard from
her mouth the artifice of her husband the gambler, he laughed and was
highly delighted. Then Vrihaspati, who was at his side, said to Indra,
"Gamblers are always like this, abounding in every kind of trickery."
Story of the gambler who cheated Yama. [767]
For instance, in a previous kalpa there was in a certain city a
gambler, of the name of Kuttaníkapata, accomplished in dishonest
play. When he went to the other world, Indra said to him, "Gambler,
you will have to live a kalpa in hell on account of your crimes, but
owing to your charity you are to be Indra for one day, for once on a
time you gave a gold coin to a knower of the Supreme Soul. So say,
whether you will take out first your period in hell or your period
as Indra." When the gambler heard that, be said, "I will take out
first my period as Indra."
Then Yama sent the gambler to heaven, and the gods deposed Indra for
a day, and crowned him sovereign in his stead. He, having obtained
sovereign sway, summoned to heaven the gamblers his friends and his
female favourites, and in virtue of his regal authority gave this order
to the gods, "Carry us all in a moment to all the holy bathing-places,
[768] those in heaven, and those on earth, and those in the seven
dvípas: and enter this very day into all the kings on the earth,
and bestow without ceasing, great, gifts for our benefit."