The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
ought not to fight with my relations. But I must leave my kingdom
and go to some forest or other; let these miserable wretches be,
let us not slay the members of our own family." When Jímútaváhana had
said this, his father Jímútaketu formed a resolution and said to him;
"I too must go, my son, for what desire for rule can I, who am old,
have, when you, though young, out of compassion abandon your realm
as if it were so much grass?" In these words his father expressed his
acquiescence in the project of Jímútaváhana, who then, with his father
and his father's wife, went to the Malaya mountain. There he remained
in a hermitage, the dwelling of the Siddhas, where the brooks were
hidden by the sandal-wood trees, and devoted himself to taking care
of his father. There he struck up a friendship with the self-denying
son of Visvávasu, the chief prince of the Siddhas, whose name was
Mitrávasu. And once on a time the all-knowing Jímútaváhana beheld in
a lonely place Mitrávasu's maiden sister, who had been his beloved
in a former birth. And the mutual gaze of those two young people was
like the catching in a frail net of the deer of the mind. [339]
Then one day Mitrávasu came up suddenly to Jímútaváhana, who deserved
the respect of the three worlds, with a pleased expression, and said
to him, "I have a younger sister, the maiden called Malayavatí; I
give her to you, do not refuse to gratify my wish." When Jímútaváhana
heard that, he said to him, "O prince, she was my wife in a former
birth, and in that life you became my friend, and were like a second
heart to me. I am one who remembers the former state of existence, I
recollect all that happened in my previous birth." When he said this,
Mitrávasu said to him, "then tell me this story of your former birth,
for I feel curiosity about it." When he heard this from Mitrávasu,
the benevolent Jímútaváhana told him the tale of his former birth
as follows:
Story of Jímútaváhana's adventures in a former birth.
Thus it is; formerly I was a sky-roaming Vidyádhara, and once on
a time I was passing over a peak of the Himálaya. And then Siva,
who was below, sporting with Gaurí, being angry at my passing above
him, cursed me, saying, "Descend into a mortal womb, and after
obtaining a Vidyádharí for your wife, and appointing your son in
your place, you shall remember your former birth, and again be born
as a Vidyádhara." Having pronounced when this curse should end, Siva
ceased and disappeared; and soon after I was born upon earth in a
family of merchants. And I grew up as the son of a rich merchant in a
city named Vallabhí, and my name was Vasudatta. And in course of time,
when I became a young man, I had a retinue given me by my father, and
went by his orders to another land to traffic. As I was going along,
robbers fell upon me in a forest, and after taking all my property,
led me in chains to a temple of Durgá in their village, terrible with a
long waving banner of red silk like the tongue of Death eager to devour
the lives of animals. There they brought me into the presence of their
chief named Pulindaka, who was engaged in worshipping the goddess,
in order that I might serve as a victim. He, though he was a Savara,
[340] the moment he saw me, felt his heart melt with pity for me;
an apparently causeless affectionate movement of the heart is a sign
of friendship in a former birth. Then that Savara king, having saved
me from slaughter, was about to complete the rite by the sacrifice
of himself, when a heavenly voice said to him--"Do not act thus, I am
pleased with thee, crave a boon of me,"--thereupon he was delighted,
and said--"O goddess, thou art pleased; what other blessing can I
need, nevertheless I ask so much--may I have friendship with this
merchant's son in another birth also." The voice said--"So be it,"
and then ceased, and then that Savara gave me much wealth, and sent
me back to my own home. And then, as I had returned from foreign
travel and from the jaws of death, my father, when he heard the whole
occurrence, made a great feast in my honour. And in course of time
I saw there that very same Savara chief, whom the king had ordered
to be brought before him as a prisoner for plundering a caravan. I
told my father of it immediately, and making a petition to the king,
I saved him from capital punishment by the payment of a hundred
thousand gold-pieces. And having in this way repaid the benefit,
which he conferred upon me by saving my life, I brought him to my
house, and entertained him honourably for a long time with all loving
attention. And then, after this hospitable entertainment, I dismissed
him, and he went to his own village fixing upon me a heart tender
with affection. Then, while he thought about a present for me that
might be worthy of my return for his previous kindness, he came to
the conclusion that the pearls and musk and treasures of that kind,
which were at his disposal, were not valuable enough. Thereupon he
took his bow and went off to the Himálaya to shoot elephants, in
order to obtain a surpassingly splendid necklace [341] for me. And
while he was roaming about there, he reached a great lake with a
temple upon its shore, being welcomed by its lotuses, which were as
devoted to their friend [342] as he was to me. And suspecting that
the wild elephants would come there to drink water, he remained in
concealment with his bow, in order to kill them. In the meanwhile
he saw a young lady of wonderful beauty come riding upon a lion to
worship Siva, whose temple stood on the shore of the lake; looking
like a second daughter of the king of the snowy mountains, devoted
to the service of Siva while in her girlhood. And the Savara, when
he saw her, being overpowered with wonder, reflected--"Who can this
be? If she is a mortal woman, why does she ride upon a lion? On the
other hand, if she is divine, how can she be seen by such as me? So
she must certainly be the incarnate development of the merits of my
eyes in a former birth. If I could only marry my friend to her, then I
should have bestowed upon him a new and wonderful recompense. So I had
better first approach her to question her." Thus reflecting, my friend
the Savara advanced to meet her. In the meanwhile she dismounted from
the lion, that lay down in the shade, and advancing began to pick the
lotuses of the lake. And seeing the Savara, who was a stranger, coming
towards her and bowing, out of a hospitable feeling she gratified him
with a welcome. And she said to him--"Who are you, and why have you
come to this inaccessible land?" Thereupon the Savara answered her,
"I am a prince of the Savaras, who regard the feet of Bhavání as my
only refuge, and I am come to this wood to get pearls from the heads
of elephants. But when I beheld you just now, O goddess, I called
to mind my own friend that saved my life, the son of a merchant
prince, the auspicious Vasudatta. For he, O fair one, is, like you,
matchless for beauty and youth, a very fount of nectar to the eyes
of this world. Happy is that maiden in the world, whose braceleted
hand is taken in this life by that treasure-house of friendship,
generosity, compassion, and patience. And if this beautiful form
of yours is not linked to such a man, then I cannot help grieving
that Káma bears the bow in vain." By these words of the king of the
hunters the mind of the maiden was suddenly carried away, as if by
the syllables of the god of Love's bewildering spell. And prompted by
love, she said to that Savara, "Where is that friend of yours? Bring
him here and shew him to me." When he heard that, he said--"I will
do so," and that moment the Savara took leave of her and set out on
his journey in high spirits, considering his object attained. And
after he had reached his village, he took with him pearls and musk,
a weight sufficient for hundreds of heavily-laden porters, and came to
our house. There he was honoured by all the inmates, and entering it,
he offered to my father that present, which was worth much gold. And
after that day and that night had been spent in feasting, he related
to me in private the story of his interview with the maiden from the
very commencement. And he said to me, who was all excitement, "Come,
let us go there," and so the Savara carried me off at night just as
he pleased. And in the morning my father found that I had gone off
somewhere with the Savara prince, but feeling perfect confidence in
his affection, he remained master of his feelings. But I was conducted
in course of time by that Savara, who travelled fast, to the Himálaya,
and he tended me carefully throughout the journey.
And one evening we reached that lake, and bathed, and we remained
that one night in the wood eating sweet fruits. That mountain wood,
in which the creepers strewed the ground with flowers, and which was
charming with the hum of bees, full of balmy gales, and with beautiful
gleaming herbs for lamps, was like the chamber of Rati to repose in
during the night for us two, who drank the water of the lake. Then,
the next day that maiden came there, and at every step my mind, full
of strange longings, flew to meet her, and her arrival was heralded
by this my right eye, throbbing as if through eagerness to behold
her. [343] And that maid with lovely eyebrows was beheld by me, on
the back of a knotty-maned lion, like a digit of the moon resting in
the lap of an autumn cloud; and I cannot describe how my heart felt at
that time while I gazed on her, being full of tumultuous emotions of
astonishment, longing, and fear; then that maiden dismounted from the
lion, and gathered flowers, and after bathing in the lake, worshipped
Siva who dwelt in the temple on its banks. [344] And when the worship
was ended, that Savara, my friend, advanced towards her and announcing
himself, bowed, and said to her who received him courteously; "Goddess,
I have brought that friend of mine as a suitable bridegroom for you:
if you think proper, I will shew him to you this moment." When she
heard that, she said, "Shew him," and that Savara came and took me
near her and shewed me to her. She looked at me askance with an eye
that shed love, and being overcome by Cupid's taking possession of her
soul, said to that chieftain of the Savaras; "This friend of yours
is not a man, surely he is some god come here to deceive me to-day:
how could a mortal have such a handsome shape?" When I heard that,
I said myself to remove all doubt from her mind: "Fair one, I am in
very truth a mortal, what is the use of employing fraud against one
so honest as yourself, lady? For I am the son of a merchant named
Mahádhana that dwells in Vallabhí, and I was gained by my father by
the blessing of Siva. For he, when performing austerities to please
the god of the moony crest, in order that he might obtain a son, was
thus commanded by the god in a dream being pleased with him; 'Rise up,
there shall spring from thee a great-hearted son, and this is a great
secret, what is the use of setting it forth at length?' After hearing
this, he woke up, and in course of time I was born to him as a son,
and I am known by the name of Vasudatta. And long ago, when I went to
a foreign land, I obtained this Savara chieftain for a chosen friend,
who shewed himself a true helper in misfortune. This is a brief
statement of the truth about me." When I had said this I ceased; and
that maiden, with her face cast down from modesty, said--"It is so;
to-day, I know, Siva being propitiated deigned to tell me in a dream,
after I had worshipped him,--'To-morrow morning thou shalt obtain
a husband:'--so you are my husband, and this friend of yours is
my brother." When she had delighted me by this nectar-like speech,
she ceased; and after I had deliberated with her, I determined to