The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
with the king." Somadatta, when he heard that, flew into a passion,
and forgetting the respect due to the old man, ran upon him, and
gave him a kick. Then the Bráhman, enraged on account of the kick,
immediately called on some other Bráhmans to bear witness to it,
and went and complained to the king. The king sent out soldiers to
take Somadatta prisoner, but they, when they went out, were slain
by his friends, who had taken up arms. Then the king sent out a
second force, and captured Somadatta, and blinded by wrath ordered
him to be impaled. Then that Bráhman, as he was being lifted on to
the stake, suddenly fell to the ground, as if he were flung down
by somebody. And those executioners, when preparing to lift him on
again, became blind, for the fates protect one who is destined to
be prosperous. The king, as soon as he heard of the occurrence, was
pleased, and being entreated by the younger brother, spared the life
of Somadatta; then Somadatta, having escaped death, desired to go to
another land with his wife on account of the insulting treatment of the
king, and when his relations in a body disapproved of his departure,
he determined to live without the half of the king's grant, which
he resigned; then, finding no other means of support, he desired to
practise husbandry, and went to the forest on a lucky day to find a
piece of ground suitable for it. There he found a promising piece of
ground, from which it seemed likely that an abundant crop could be
produced, and in the middle of it he saw an Asvattha tree of great
size. Desiring ground fit for cultivation, and seeing that tree to
be cool like the rainy season, as it kept off the rays of the sun
with its auspicious thick shade, he was much delighted. He said, "I
am a faithful votary of that being, whoever he may be, that presides
over this tree," and walking round the tree so as to keep it on his
right, he bowed before it. [298] Then he yoked a pair of bullocks,
and recited a prayer for success, and after making an oblation to
that tree, he began to plough there. And he remained under that tree
night and day, and his wife always brought him his meals there. And
in course of time, when the corn was ripe that piece of ground was, as
fate would have it, unexpectedly plundered by the troops of a hostile
kingdom. Then the hostile force having departed, the courageous man,
though his corn was destroyed, comforted his weeping wife, gave her
the little that remained, and after making an offering as before,
remained in the same place, under the same tree. For that is the
character of resolute men, that their perseverance is increased
by misfortune. Then one night, when he was sleepless from anxiety
and alone, a voice came out from that Asvattha tree, "O Somadatta,
I am pleased with thee, therefore go to the kingdom of a king named
Ádityaprabha in the land of Sríkantha; continually repeat at the door
of that king, (after reciting the form of words used at the evening
oblation to Agni,) the following sentence--'I am Phalabhúti by name,
a Bráhman, hear what I say: he who does good will obtain good, and he
who does evil, will obtain evil;'--by repeating this there thou shalt
attain great prosperity; and now learn from me the form of words used
at the evening oblation to Agni; I am a Yaksha." Having said this,
and having immediately taught him by his power the form of words used
in the evening oblation, the voice in the tree ceased. And the next
morning the wise Somadatta set out with his wife, having received the
name of Phalabhúti by imposition of the Yaksha, and after crossing
various forests uneven and labyrinthine as his own calamities, [299]
he reached the land of Sríkantha. There he recited at the king's door
the form of words used at the evening oblation, and then he announced,
as he had been directed, his name as Phalabhúti, and uttered the
following speech which excited the curiosity of the people, "The doer
of good will obtain good, but the doer of evil, evil." And after he had
said this frequently, the king Ádityaprabha, being full of curiosity,
caused Phalabhúti to be brought into the palace, and he entered, and
over and over again repeated that same speech in the presence of the
king. That made the king and all his courtiers laugh. And the king and
his chiefs gave him garments and ornaments, and also villages, for
the amusement of great men is not without fruit; and so Phalabhúti,
having been originally poor, immediately obtained by the favour of
the Guhyaka [300] wealth bestowed by the king; and by continually
reciting the words mentioned above, he became a special favourite
of the monarch for the regal mind loves diversion. And gradually
he attained to a position of love and respect in the palace, in
the kingdom, and in the female apartments, as being beloved by the
king. One day that king Ádityaprabha returned from hunting in the
forest, and quickly entered his harem; his suspicions were aroused by
the confusion of the warders, and when he entered, he saw the queen
named Kuvalayávalí engaged in worshipping the gods, stark naked,
[301] with her hair standing on end, and her eyes half-closed, with
a large patch of red lead upon her forehead, with her lips trembling
in muttering charms, in the midst of a great circle [302] strewed with
various coloured powders, after offering a horrible oblation of blood,
spirits, and human flesh. She for her part, when the king entered,
in her confusion seized her garments, and when questioned by him
immediately answered, after craving pardon for what she had done,
"I have gone through this ceremony in order that you might obtain
prosperity, and now, my lord, listen to the way in which I learnt
these rites, and the secret of my magic skill."
Story of Kuvalayávalí and the witch Kálarátri.
Long ago, when I was living in my father's house, I was thus addressed,
while enjoying myself in the garden during the spring festival, by my
friends who met me there; "There is in this pleasure-garden an image
of Ganesa, the god of gods, in the middle of an arbour made of trees,
and that image grants boons, and its power has been tested. Approach
with devout faith that granter of petitions, and worship him, in order
that you may soon obtain without difficulty a suitable husband." When
I heard that, I asked my friends in my ignorance; "What! do maidens
obtain husbands by worshipping Ganesa?" Then they answered me; "Why
do you ask such a question? Without worshipping him no one obtains
any success in this world; and in proof of it we will give you an
instance of his power, listen." Saying this, my friends told me the
following tale:
Story of the birth of Kártikeya.
Long ago, when Indra oppressed by Táraka was desirous or obtaining a
son from Siva to act as general of the gods, and the god of love had
been consumed, [303] Gaurí by performing austerities sought and gained
as a husband the three-eyed god, who was engaged in a very long and
terrible course of mortification. Then she desired the obtaining of
a son, and the return to life of the god of love, but she did not
remember to worship Ganesa in order to gain her end. So, when his
beloved asked that her desire should be granted, Siva said to her,
"My dear goddess, the god of love was born long ago from the mind of
Brahmá, and no sooner was he born than he said in his insolence, 'Whom
shall I make mad? (kan darpayámi).' So Brahmá called him Kandarpa, and
said to him, 'Since thou art very confident, my son, avoid attacking
Siva only, lest thou receive death from him.' Though the Creator gave
him this warning, the ill-disposed god came to trouble my austerities,
therefore he was burnt up by me, and he cannot be created again
with his body. [304] But I will create by my power a son from you,
for I do not require the might of love in order to have offspring as
mortals do." While the god, whose ensign is a bull, [305] was saying
this to Párvatí, Brahmá accompanied by Indra appeared before him;
and when he had been praised by them, and entreated to bring about
the destruction of the Asura Táraka, Siva consented to beget on the
goddess a son of his body. And, at their entreaty, he consented that
the god of love should be born without body in the minds of animate
creatures, to prevent the destruction of created beings. And he gave
permission to love to influence his own mind; pleased with that,
the Creator went away and Párvatí was delighted. But when, after the
lapse of hundreds of years, there appeared no hope of Párvatí having
any offspring, the god by the order of Brahmá called to mind Agni;
Agni for his part, the moment they called him to mind, thinking that
the foe of the god of love was irresistible, and afraid to interfere,
fled from the gods and entered the water; but the frogs being burned
by his heat told the gods, who were searching for him, that he was
in the water; then Agni by his curse immediately made the speech of
the frogs thenceforth inarticulate, and again disappearing fled to a
place of refuge. There the gods found him, concealed in the trunk of
a tree, in the form of a snail, for he was betrayed by the elephants
and parrots, and he appeared to them. And after making by a curse the
tongues of the parrots and the elephants incapable of clear utterance,
he promised to do what the gods requested, having been praised by
them. So he went to Siva, and after inclining humbly before him,
through fear of being cursed, he informed him of the commission
the gods had given him. Siva thereupon deposited the embryo in the
fire. Then the goddess distracted with anger and grief, said, "I
have not obtained a son from you after all," and Siva said to her;
"An obstacle has arisen in this matter, because you neglected to
worship Ganesa, the lord of obstacles; therefore adore him now in
order that a child may be born to us of the fire." When thus addressed
by Siva, the goddess worshipped Ganesa, and the fire became pregnant
with that germ of Siva. Then, bearing that embryo of Siva, the fire
shone even in the day as if the sun had entered into it. And then
it discharged into the Ganges the germ difficult to bear, and the
Ganges, by the order of Siva, placed it in a sacrificial cavity on
mount Meru. [306] There that germ was watched by the Ganas, Siva's
attendants, and after a thousand years had developed it, it became a
boy with six faces. Then, drinking milk with his six mouths from the
breasts of the six Krittikás [307] appointed by Gaurí to nurse him,
the boy grew big in a few days. In the meanwhile, the king of the
gods, overcome by the Asura Táraka, fled to the difficult peaks of
mount Meru, abandoning the field of battle. And the gods together
with the Rishis went to the six-mouthed Kártikeya for protection,
and he, defending the gods, remained surrounded by them. When Indra
heard that, he was troubled, considering that his kingdom was taken
from him, and being jealous he went and made war upon Kártikeya. But
from the body of Kártikeya, when struck by the thunderbolt of Indra,
there sprang two sons called Sákha and Visákha, both of incomparable
might. Then Siva came to his offspring Kártikeya, who exceeded Indra
in might, and forbade him and his two sons to fight, and rebuked him
in the following words: "Thou wast born in order that thou mightest
slay Táraka and protect the realm of Indra, therefore do thy own
duty." Then Indra was delighted and immediately bowed before him,
and commenced the ceremony of consecrating by ablutions Kártikeya
as general of his forces. But when he himself lifted the pitcher
for that purpose, his arm became stiff, wherefore he was despondent,
but Siva said to him; "Thou didst not worship the elephant-faced god,
when thou desiredst a general; it was for this reason that thou hast