The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
"Once on a time [7] Brahmá and Náráyana roaming through the world
in order to behold me, came to the foot of Himavat. Then they beheld
there in front of them a great flame-linga; [8] in order to discover
the end of it, one of them went up, and the other down; and when
they could not find the end of it, they proceeded to propitiate
me by means of austerities: and I appeared to them and bade them
ask for some boon: hearing that Brahmá asked me to become his son;
on that account he has ceased to be worthy of worship, disgraced by
his overweening presumption.
"Then that god Náráyana craved a boon of me, saying--Oh revered one,
may I become devoted to thy service! Then he became incarnate, and
was born as mine in thy form; for thou art the same as Náráyana,
the power of me all-powerful.
"Moreover thou wast my wife in a former birth." When Siva had thus
spoken, Párvatí asked, "How can I have been thy wife in a former
birth?" Then Siva answered her. "Long ago to the Prajápati Daksha
were born many daughters, and amongst them thou, O goddess! He gave
thee in marriage to me, and the others to Dharma and the rest of the
gods. Once on a time he invited all his sons-in-law to a sacrifice. But
I alone was not included in the invitation; thereupon thou didst ask
him to tell thee why thy husband was not invited. Then he uttered a
speech which pierced thy ears like a poisoned needle; 'Thy husband
wears a necklace of skulls; how can he be invited to a sacrifice?'
"And then thou, my beloved, didst in anger abandon thy body,
exclaiming,--'This father of mine is a villain; what profit have I
then in this carcase sprung from him?'
"And thereupon in wrath I destroyed that sacrifice of Daksha. Then
thou wast born as the daughter of the mount of snow, as the moon's
digit springs from the sea. Then recall how I came to the Himálaya
in order to perform austerities; and thy father ordered thee to do
me service as his guest: and there the god of love who had been sent
by the gods in order that they might obtain from me a son to oppose
Táraka, was consumed, [9] when endeavouring to pierce me, having
obtained a favourable opportunity. Then I was purchased by thee,
[10] the enduring one, with severe austerities, and I accepted this
proposal of thine, my beloved, in order that I might add this merit
to my stock. [11] Thus it is clear that thou wast my wife in a former
birth. What else shall I tell thee?" Thus Siva spake, and when he had
ceased, the goddess transported with wrath, exclaimed,--"Thou art a
deceiver; thou wilt not tell me a pleasing tale even though I ask thee:
Do I not know that thou worshippest Sandhyá, and bearest Gangá on thy
head?" Hearing that, Siva proceeded to conciliate her and promised to
tell her a wonderful tale: then she dismissed her anger. She herself
gave the order that no one was to enter where they were; Nandin [12]
thereupon kept the door, and Siva began to speak.
"The gods are supremely blessed, men are ever miserable, the actions
of demigods are exceedingly charming, therefore I now proceed to
relate to thee the history of the Vidyádharas." While Siva was thus
speaking to his consort, there arrived a favourite dependant of Siva's,
Pushpadanta, best of Ganas, [13] and his entrance was forbidden by
Nandin who was guarding the door. Curious to know why even he had
been forbidden to enter at that time without any apparent reason,
Pushpadanta immediately entered, making use of his magic power attained
by devotion to prevent his being seen, and when he had thus entered,
he heard all the extraordinary and wonderful adventures of the seven
Vidyádharas being narrated by the trident-bearing god, and having heard
them he in turn went and narrated them to his wife Jayá; for who can
hide wealth or a secret from women? Jayá the doorkeeper being filled
with wonder went and recited it in the presence of Párvatí. How can
women be expected to restrain their speech? And then the daughter of
the mountain flew into a passion, and said to her husband, "Thou didst
not tell me any extraordinary tale, for Jayá knows it also." Then the
lord of Umá, perceiving the truth by profound meditation, thus spake:
"Pushpadanta employing the magic power of devotion entered in where
we were, and thus managed to hear it. He narrated it to Jayá; no one
else knows it, my beloved."
Having heard this, the goddess exceedingly enraged caused Pushpadanta
to be summoned, and cursed him, as he stood trembling before her,
saying, "Become a mortal thou disobedient servant." [14] She cursed
also the Gana Mályaván who presumed to intercede on his behalf. Then
the two fell at her feet together with Jayá and entreated her to say
when the curse would end, and the wife of Siva slowly uttered this
speech--"A Yaksha named Supratíka who has been made a Pisácha by the
curse of Kuvera is residing in the Vindhya forest under the name of
Kánabhúti. When thou shalt see him and, calling to mind thy origin,
tell him this tale, then, Pushpadanta, thou shalt be released from
this curse. And when Mályaván shall hear this tale from Kánabhúti,
then Kánabhúti shall be released, and thou, Mályaván, when thou
hast published it abroad, shalt be free also." Having thus spoken
the daughter of the mountain ceased, and immediately those Ganas
disappeared instantaneously like flashes of lightning. Then it came
to pass in the course of time that Gaurí full of pity asked Siva,
"My lord, where on the earth have those excellent Pramathas [15] whom
I cursed, been born?" And the moon-diademed god answered: "My beloved,
Pushpadanta has been born under the name of Vararuchi in that great
city which is called Kausámbí. [16] Moreover Mályaván also has been
born in the splendid city called Supratishthita under the name of
Gunádhya. This, O goddess, is what has befallen them." Having given
her this information with grief caused by recalling to mind the
degradation of the servants that had always been obedient to him,
that lord continued to dwell with his beloved in pleasure-arbours on
the slopes of mount Kailása, which were made of the branches of the
Kalpa tree. [17]
CHAPTER II.
Then Pushpadanta wandering on the earth in the form of a man,
was known by the name of Vararuchi and Kátyáyana. Having attained
perfection in the sciences, and having served Nanda as minister,
being wearied out he went once on a time to visit the shrine of
Durgá. [18] And that goddess, being pleased with his austerities,
ordered him in a dream to repair to the wilds of the Vindhya to
behold Kánabhúti. And as he wandered about there in a waterless
and savage wood, [19] full of tigers and apes, he beheld a lofty
Nyagrodha tree. [20] And near it he saw, surrounded by hundreds of
Pisáchas, that Pisácha Kánabhúti, in stature like a Sála tree. When
Kánabhúti had seen him and respectfully clasped his feet, Kátyáyana
sitting down immediately spake to him. "Thou art an observer of the
good custom; how hast thou come into this state?" Having heard this
Kánabhúti said to Kátyáyana, who had shewn affection towards him, "I
know not of myself, but listen to what I heard from Siva at Ujjayiní
in the place where corpses are burnt; I proceed to tell it thee." The
adorable god was asked by Durgá--"Whence, my lord, comes thy delight
in skulls and burning-places?" He thereupon gave this answer.
"Long ago when all things had been destroyed at the end of a Kalpa,
the universe became water: I then cleft my thigh and let fall a drop
of blood; that drop falling into the water turned into an egg, from
that sprang the Supreme Soul, [21] the Disposer; from him proceeded
Nature, [22] created by me for the purpose of further creation, and
they created the other lords of created beings, [23] and those in turn
the created beings, for which reason, my beloved, the Supreme Soul is
called in the world the grandfather. Having thus created the world,
animate and inanimate, that Spirit became arrogant: [24] thereupon I
cut off his head: then through regret for what I had done, I undertook
a difficult vow. So thus it comes to pass that I carry skulls in my
hand, and love the places where corpses are burned. Moreover this world
resembling a skull, rests in my hand; for the two skull-shaped halves
of the egg before mentioned are called heaven and earth." When Siva
had thus spoken, I, being full of curiosity, determined to listen;
and Párvatí again said to her husband, "After how long a time will
that Pushpadanta return to us?" Hearing that, Mahesvara spoke to the
goddess, pointing me out to her; "That Pisácha whom thou beholdest
there, was once a Yaksha, a servant of Kuvera, the god of wealth,
and he had for a friend a Rákshasa named Sthúlasiras; and the lord of
wealth perceiving that he associated with that evil one, banished him
to the wilds of the Vindhya mountains. But his brother Dírghajangha
fell at the feet of the god, and humbly asked when the curse would
end. Then the god of wealth said--"After thy brother has heard the
great tale from Pushpadanta, who has been born into this world in
consequence of a curse, and after he has in turn told it to Mályaván,
who owing to a curse has become a human being, he together with those
two Ganas shall be released from the effects of the curse." Such were
the terms on which the god of wealth then ordained that Mályaván
should obtain remission from his curse here below, and thou didst
fix the same in the case of Pushpadanta; recall it to mind, my
beloved." When I heard that speech of Siva, I came here overjoyed,
knowing that the calamity of my curse would be terminated by the
arrival of Pushpadanta. When Kánabhúti ceased after telling this story,
that moment Vararuchi remembered his origin, and exclaimed like one
aroused from sleep, "I am that very Pushpadanta, hear that tale from
me." Thereupon Kátyáyana related to him the seven great tales in seven
hundred thousand verses, and then Kánabhúti said to him--"My lord,
thou art an incarnation of Siva, who else knows this story? Through thy
favour that curse has almost left my body. Therefore tell me thy own
history from thy birth, thou mighty one, sanctify me yet further, if
the narrative may be revealed to such a one as I am." Then Vararuchi,
to gratify Kánabhúti, who remained prostrate before him, told all
his history from his birth at full length, in the following words:
Story of Vararuchi, his teacher Varsha, and his fellow-pupils Vyádi
and Indradatta.
In the city of Kausámbí there lived a Bráhman called Somadatta, who
also had the title of Agnisikha, and his wife was called Vasudattá. She
was the daughter of a hermit, and was born into the world in this
position in consequence of a curse; and I was born by her to this
excellent Bráhman, also in consequence of a curse. Now while I was
still quite a child my father died, but my mother continued to support
me, as I grew up, by severe drudgery; then one day two Bráhmans came
to our house to stop a night, exceedingly dusty with a long journey;
and while they were staying in our house there arose the noise of
a tabor, thereupon my mother said to me, sobbing, as she called to
mind her husband--"there, my son, is your father's friend Bhavananda,
giving a dramatic entertainment." I answered, "I will go and see it,
and will exhibit the whole of it to you, with a recitation of all
the speeches." On hearing that speech of mine, those Bráhmans were
astonished, but my mother said to them--"Come, my children, there is
no doubt about the truth of what he says; this boy will remember by
heart everything that he has heard once." [25] Then they, in order
to test me, recited to me a Prátisákhya [26]; immediately I repeated
the whole in their presence, then I went with the two Bráhmans and
saw that play, and when I came home, I went through the whole of it