The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
of the goddess a divine voice said to you, 'Come here at the end of a
month.' To-day is the last day of the month, and you have forgotten
it." When his beloved said this to him, Vidúshaka was delighted,
and recalled it to mind, and said to his wife--"Well remembered on
thy part, fair one! But I had forgotten it." And then he embraced
her by way of reward. And then, while she was asleep, he left the
women's apartments by night, and in high spirits he went armed with
his sword to the temple of the goddess; then he exclaimed outside,
"I Vidúshaka am arrived:" and he heard this speech uttered by some
one inside--"Come in, Vidúshaka." Thereupon he entered and beheld
a heavenly palace, and inside it a lady of heavenly beauty with a
heavenly retinue, dispelling with her brightness the darkness, like a
night set on fire, looking as if she were the medicine to restore to
life the god of love consumed with the fire of the wrath of Siva. He
wondering what it could all mean, was joyfully received by her in
person with a welcome full of affection and great respect. And when
he had sat down and had gained confidence from seeing her affection,
he became eager to understand the real nature of the adventure, and she
said to him; "I am a maiden of the Vidyádhara race, of high descent,
and my name is Bhadrá, and as I was roaming about at my will I saw you
here on that occasion. And as my mind was attracted by your virtues,
I uttered at that time that voice which seemed to come from some one
invisible, in order that you might return. And to-day I bewildered
the princess by employing my magic skill, so that under my impulse she
revived your remembrance of this matter, and for your sake I am here,
and so, handsome hero, I surrender myself to you; marry me." The noble
Vidúshaka, when the Vidyádharí Bhadrá addressed him in this style,
agreed that moment, and married her by the Gándharva ceremony. Then
he remained in that very place, having obtained celestial joys,
the fruits of his own valour, living with that beloved wife.
Meanwhile the princess woke up when the night came to an end, and not
seeing her husband, was immediately plunged in despair. So she got
up and went with tottering steps to her mother, all trembling, with
her eyes flooded with gushing tears. And she told her mother that
her husband had gone away somewhere in the night, and was full of
self-reproach, fearing that she had been guilty of some fault. Then
her mother was distracted owing to her love for her daughter, and
so in course of time the king heard of it, and came there, and fell
into a state of the utmost anxiety. When his daughter said to him--"I
know my husband has gone to the temple of the goddess outside the
cemetery"--the king went there in person. But he was not able to find
Vidúshaka there in spite of all his searching, for he was concealed
by virtue of the magic science of the Vidyádharí. Then the king
returned, and his daughter in despair determined to leave the body,
but while she was thus minded, some wise man came to her and said
this to her; "Do not fear any misfortune, for that husband of thine
is living in the enjoyment of heavenly felicity, and will return to
thee shortly." When she heard that, the princess retained her life,
which was kept in her by the hope of her husband's return, that had
taken deep root in her heart.
Then, while Vidúshaka was living there, a certain friend of
his beloved, named Yogesvarí, came to Bhadrá, and said to her in
secret--"My friend, the Vidyádharas are angry with you because you live
with a man, and they seek to do you an injury, therefore leave this
place. There is a city called Kárkotaka on the shore of the eastern
sea, and beyond that there is a sanctifying stream named Sítodá,
and after you cross that, there is a great mountain named Udaya,
[259] the land of the Siddhas, [260] which the Vidyádharas may not
invade; go there immediately, and do not be anxious about the beloved
mortal whom you leave here, for before you start you can tell all this
to him, so that he shall be able afterwards to journey there with
speed." When her friend said this to her, Bhadrá was overcome with
fear, and though attached to Vidúshaka, she consented to do as her
friend advised. So she told her scheme to Vidúshaka, and providently
gave him her ring, and then disappeared at the close of the night. And
Vidúshaka immediately found himself in the empty temple of the goddess,
in which he had been before, and no Bhadrá and no palace. Remembering
the delusion produced by Bhadrá's magic skill, and beholding the ring,
Vidúshaka was overpowered by a paroxysm of despair and wonder. And
remembering her speech as if it were a dream, he reflected,--"Before
she left, she assigned as a place of meeting the mountain of the
sun-rising; so I must quickly go there to find her: but if I am seen
by the people in this state, the king will not let me go: so I will
employ a stratagem in this matter, in order that I may accomplish my
object." So reflecting, the wise man assumed another appearance, and
went out from that temple with tattered clothes, begrimed with dust,
exclaiming, "Ah Bhadrá! Ah Bhadrá!" And immediately the people, who
lived in that place, beholding him, raised a shout; "Here is Vidúshaka
found!" And the king hearing of it came out from his palace in person,
and seeing Vidúshaka in such a state, conducting himself like a madman,
he laid hold on him and took him back to his palace. When he was there,
whatever his servants and connexions, who were full of affection, said
to him, he answered only by exclaiming, "Ah Bhadrá! Ah Bhadrá!" And
when he was anointed with unguents prescribed by the physicians,
he immediately defiled his body with much cinder-dust; and the
food which the princess out of love offered to him with her own
hands, he instantly threw down and trampled under foot. And in this
condition Vidúshaka remained there some days, without taking interest
in anything, tearing his own clothes, and playing the madman. And
Ádityasena thought to himself; "His condition is past cure, so what
is the use of torturing him? He may perhaps die, and then I should
be guilty of the death of a Bráhman, whereas if he roams about at
his will, he may possibly recover in course of time." So he let him
go. Then the hero Vidúshaka, being allowed to roam where he liked, set
out the next day at his leisure to find Bhadrá, taking with him the
ring. And as he journeyed on day by day towards the East, he at last
reached a city named Paundravardhana [261], which lay in his way as
he travelled on; there he entered the house of a certain aged Bráhman
woman, saying to her--"Mother, I wish to stop here one night." And
she gave him a lodging and entertained him, and shortly after, she
approached him, full of inward sorrow, and said to him--"My son, I
hereby give thee all this house, therefore receive it, since I cannot
now live any longer." He, astonished, said to her--"Why do you speak
thus?" Then she said--"Listen, I will tell you the whole story," and
so continued as follows--"My son, in this city there is a king named
Devasena, and to him there was born one daughter, the ornament of the
earth. The affectionate king said--'I have with difficulty obtained
this one daughter',--so he gave her the name of Duhkalabdhiká. [262]
"In course of time when she had grown up, the king gave her in marriage
to the king of Kachchhapa, whom he had brought to his own palace. The
king of Kachchhapa entered at night the private apartments of his
bride, and died the very first time he entered them. Then the king
much distressed, again gave his daughter in marriage to another king;
he also perished in the same way [263]: and when through fear of the
same fate other kings did not wish to marry her, the king gave this
order to his general--'You must bring a man in turn from every single
house in this country, so that one shall be supplied every day, and
he must be a Bráhman or a Kshatriya. And after you have brought the
man, you must cause him to enter by night into the apartment of my
daughter; let us see how many will perish in this way, and how long
it will go on. Whoever escapes shall afterwards become her husband;
for it is impossible to bar the course of fate, whose dispensations
are mysterious.' The general, having received this order from the
king, brings a man every day turn about from every house in this
city, and in this way hundreds of men have met their death in the
apartment of the princess. Now I, whose merits in a former life must
have been deficient, have one son here; his turn has to-day arrived
to go to the palace to meet his death; and I being deprived of him
must to-morrow enter the fire. Therefore, while I am still alive,
I give to you, a worthy object, all my house with my own hand, in
order that my lot may not again be unfortunate in my next birth." When
she had said this, the resolute Vidúshaka answered; "If this is the
whole matter, do not be despondent, mother, I will go there to-day,
let your only son live. And do not feel any commiseration with regard
to me, so as to say to yourself--'Why should I be the cause of this
man's death?'--for owing to the magical power which I possess I run
no risk by going there." When Vidúshaka had said this, that Bráhman
woman said to him, "Then you must be some god come here as a reward
for my virtue, so cause me, my son, to recover life, and yourself to
gain felicity." When she had expressed her approval of his project in
these words, he went in the evening to the apartment of the princess,
together with a servant appointed by the general to conduct him. There
he beheld the princess flushed with the pride of youth, like a creeper
weighed down with the burden of its abundant flowers that had not
yet been gathered. Accordingly, when night came, the princess went
to her bed, and Vidúshaka remained awake in her apartment, holding in
his hand the sword of the Fire-god, which came to him with a thought,
saying to himself, "I will find out who it is that slays men here." And
when people were all asleep, he saw a terrible Rákshasa coming from the
side of the apartment where the entrance was, having first opened the
door; and the Rákshasa standing at the entrance stretched forward into
the room an arm, which had been the swift wand of Death to hundreds
of men. But Vidúshaka in wrath springing forward, cut off suddenly
the arm of the Rákshasa with one stroke of his sword. [264] And the
Rákshasa immediately fled away through fear of his exceeding valour,
with the loss of one arm, never again to return. When the princess
awoke, she saw the severed arm lying there, and she was terrified,
delighted and astonished at the same time. And in the morning the
king Devasena saw the arm of the Rákshasa, which had fallen down
after it was cut off, lying at the door of his daughter's apartments;
in this way Vidúshaka, as if to say "Henceforth no other men must
enter here"--fastened the door as it were with a long bar. [265]
Accordingly the delighted king gave to Vidúshaka, who possessed
this divine power, his daughter and much wealth; and Vidúshaka dwelt
there some days with this fair one, as if with prosperity incarnate
in bodily form. But one day he left the princess while asleep, and
set out at night in haste to find his Bhadrá. And the princess in the
morning was afflicted at not seeing him, but she was comforted by her
father with the hope of his return. Vidúshaka journeying on day by
day, at last reached the city of Támraliptá not far from the eastern
sea. There he joined himself to a certain merchant, named Skandhadása
who desired to cross the sea. In his company, embarking on a ship
laden with much wealth belonging to the merchant, he set out on the
ocean path. Then that ship was stopped suddenly when it had reached the