The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
to death by it, even as the various deer they have slain. For how can
hunting produce benign results, since the genius of hunting is like
a female Rákshasa, roaring horribly, intent on raw flesh, defiled
with dust, with upstanding hair and lances for teeth. Therefore give
up that useless exertion, the sport of hunting; wild elephants and
their slayers are exposed to the same risk of losing their lives. And
you, who are ordained for prosperity, are dear to me on account of my
friendship with your ancestors, so hear how you are to have a son who
is to be a portion of the god of love. Long ago, when Rati worshipped
Siva with praises in order to effect the restoration of Káma's body,
Siva being pleased told her this secret in few words; 'This Gaurí,
[326] desiring a son, shall descend to earth with a part of herself,
and after propitiating me, shall give birth to an incarnation of
Káma.' Accordingly, king, the goddess has been born in the form of
this Vásavadattá, daughter of Chandamahásena, and she has become your
queen. So she, having propitiated Siva, shall give birth to a son who
shall be a portion of Káma, and shall become the emperor of all the
Vidyádharas." By this speech the Rishi Nárada, whose words command
respect, gave back to the king the earth which he had offered him as
a present, and then disappeared. When he had departed, the king of
Vatsa in company with Vásavadattá, in whom had arisen the desire of
obtaining a son, spent the day in thinking about it.
The next day the chief warder called Nityodita, came to the lord
of Vatsa while he was in the hall of assembly, and said to him;
"A certain distressed Bráhman woman, accompanied by two children,
is standing at the door, O king, desiring to see your Highness." When
the king heard this, he permitted her to enter, and so that Bráhman
woman entered, thin, pale, and begrimed, distressed by the tearing
of her clothes and wounding of her self-respect, carrying in her
bosom two children looking like Misery and Poverty. After she had
made the proper obeisance, she said to the king, "I am a Bráhman
woman of good caste, reduced to such poverty; as fate would have it,
I gave birth to these two boys at the same time, and I have no milk
for them, O king, without food. Therefore I have come in my misery
and helplessness for protection to the king, who is kind to all who
fly to him for protection; now, my lord the king must determine what
my lot is to be." When the king heard that, he was filled with pity,
and said to the warder, "Take this woman and commend her to the queen
Vásavadattá." Then that woman was conducted into the presence of the
queen by that warder, as it were by her own good actions marching in
front of her. The queen, when she heard from that warder that the
Bráhman woman who had come had been sent by the king, felt all the
more confidence in her. And when she saw that the woman, though poor,
had two children, she thought, "This is exceedingly unfair dealing on
the part of the Creator! Alas! he grudges a son to me who am rich, and
shews affection to one who is poor! I have not yet one son, but this
woman has these twins." Thus reflecting, the queen, who was herself
desiring a bath, gave orders to her servants to provide the Bráhman
woman with a bath and other restoratives. After she had been provided
with a bath, and had had clothes given her, and had been supplied by
them with agreeable food, that Bráhman woman was refreshed like the
heated earth bedewed with rain. And as soon as she had been refreshed,
the queen Vásavadattá, in order to test her by conversation, artfully
said to her, "O Bráhman lady, tell us some tale," when she heard that,
she agreed and began to tell this story.
Story of Devadatta.
In old time there was a certain petty monarch of the name of
Jayadatta and there was born to him a son, named Devadatta. And
that wise king wishing to marry his son who was grown up, thus
reflected--"The prosperity of kings is very unstable, being like a
hetæra to be enjoyed by force, but the prosperity of merchants is
like a woman of good family, it is steady and does not fly to another
man. Therefore I will take a wife to my son from a merchant's family,
in order that misfortune may not overtake his throne, though it is
surrounded with many relations." Having formed this resolve, that king
sought for his son the daughter of a merchant in Pátaliputra named
Vasudatta. Vasudatta, for his part, eager for such a distinguished
alliance, gave that daughter of his to the prince, though he dwelt
in a remote foreign land.
And he loaded his son-in-law with wealth to such an extent that he
no longer felt much respect for his father's magnificence. Then king
Jayadatta dwelt happily with that son of his who had obtained the
daughter of that rich merchant. Now one day the merchant Vasudatta
came, full of desire to see his daughter, to the palace of his
connexion by marriage, and took away his daughter to his own
home. Shortly after the king Jayadatta suddenly went to heaven,
and that kingdom was seized by his relations who rose in rebellion;
through fear of them his son Devadatta was secretly taken away by his
mother during the night to another country. Then that mother distressed
in soul said to the prince--"Our feudal lord is the emperor who rules
the eastern region, repair to him, my son, he will procure you the
kingdom." When his mother said this to him, the prince answered her;
"Who will respect me if I go there without attendants?" When she
heard that, his mother went on to say, "Go to the house of your
father-in-law, and get money there and so procure followers, and then
repair to the emperor." Being urged in these words by his mother,
the prince, though full of shame, slowly plodded on and reached his
father-in-law's house in the evening, but he could not bear to enter
at such an unseasonable hour, for he was afraid of shedding tears,
being bereaved of his father, and having lost his worldly splendour,
besides shame withheld him. So he remained in the verandah of an alms
house near, and at night he suddenly beheld a woman descending with
a rope from his father-in-law's house, and immediately he recognized
her as his wife, for she was so resplendent with jewels that she
looked like a meteor fallen from the clouds, and he was much grieved
thereat, but she, though she saw him, did not recognise him, as he
was emaciated and begrimed, and asked him who he was; when he heard
that, he answered, "I am a traveller;" then the merchant's daughter
entered the alms-house, and the prince followed her secretly to watch
her. There she advanced towards a certain man, and he towards her,
and asking her why she had come so late, he bestowed several kicks
on her. [327] Then the passion of the wicked woman was doubled,
and she appeased him and remained with him on the most affectionate
terms. When he saw that, the discreet prince reflected; "This is not
the time for me to shew anger, for I have other affairs in hand,
and how could I employ against these two contemptible creatures,
this wife of mine and the man who has done me this wrong, this sword
which is to be used against my foes? Or what quarrel have I with
this adulteress, for this is the work of malignant destiny, that
showers calamities upon me, shewing skill in the game of testing
my firmness? It is my marriage with a woman below me in rank that
is in fault, not the woman herself; how can a female crow leave the
male crow to take pleasure in a cuckoo?" Thus reflecting, he allowed
that wife of his to remain in the society of her paramour; for in the
minds of heroes possessed with an ardent desire of victory, of what
importance is woman, valueless as a straw? But at the moment when
his wife ardently embraced her paramour, there fell from her ear an
ornament thickly studded with valuable jewels. And she did not observe
this, but at the end of her interview taking leave of her paramour,
returned hurriedly to her house as she came. And that unlawful lover
also departed somewhere or other. Then the prince saw that jewelled
ornament and took it up; it flashed with many jewel-gleams, dispelling
the gathering darkness of despondency, and seemed like a hand-lamp
obtained by him to assist him in searching for his lost prosperity. The
prince immediately perceived that it was very valuable, and went off,
having obtained all he required, to Kányakubja; there be pledged that
ornament for a hundred thousand gold pieces, and after buying horses
and elephants went into the presence of the emperor. And with the
troops, which he gave him, he marched and slew his enemies in fight,
and recovered his father's kingdom, and his mother applauded his
success. Then he redeemed from pawn that ornament, and sent it to his
father-in-law to reveal that unsuspected secret; his father-in-law,
when he saw that ear-ring of his daughter's, which had come to him in
such a way, was confounded and shewed it to her: she looked upon it,
lost long ago like her own virtue, and when she heard that it had
been sent by her husband, she was distracted and called to mind the
whole circumstance: "This is the very ornament which I let fall in
the alms-house the night I saw that unknown traveller standing there;
so that must undoubtedly have been my husband come to test my virtue,
but I did not recognize him, and he picked up this ornament." While
the merchant's daughter was going through this train of reflection,
her heart, afflicted by the misfortune of her unchastity having been
discovered, in its agony, broke. Then her father artfully questioned
a maid of hers who knew all her secrets, and found out the truth,
and so ceased to mourn for his daughter; as for the prince, after
he recovered the kingdom, he obtained as wife the daughter of the
emperor won by his virtues, and enjoyed the highest prosperity.
So you see that the hearts of women are hard as adamant in daring
sin, but are soft as a flower when the tremor of fear falls upon
them. But there are some few women born in good families, that,
having hearts virtuous [328] and of transparent purity, become like
pearls the ornaments of the earth. And the fortune of kings is ever
bounding away like a doe, but the wise know how to bind it by the
tether of firmness, as you see in my story; therefore those who
desire good fortune must not abandon their virtue even in calamity,
and of this principle my present circumstances are an illustration,
for I preserved my character, O queen, even in this calamity, and that
has borne me fruit in the shape of the good fortune of beholding you.
Having heard this tale from the mouth of that Bráhman woman, the queen
Vásavadattá, feeling respect for her, immediately thought,--"Surely
this Bráhman woman must be of good family, for the indirect way
in which she alluded to her own virtue and her boldness in speech
prove that she is of gentle birth, and this is the reason why she
shewed such tact in entering the king's court of justice,"--having
gone through these reflections, the queen again said to the Bráhman
woman: "Whose wife are you, or what is the history of your life? Tell
me." When she heard that, the Bráhman woman again began to speak--
Story of Pingaliká.
Queen, there was a certain Bráhman in the country or Málava, named
Agnidatta, the home of Fortune and of Learning, who willingly
impoverished himself to help suppliants, and in course of time
there were born to him two sons like himself; the eldest was called
Sankaradatta and the other Sántikara; of these two, oh glorious one,
Sántikara suddenly left his father's house in quest of learning, while
he was still a boy, and went, I know not whither, and the other son
his elder brother married me, who am the daughter of Yajnadatta who