The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
the goddess of the wood advancing to receive him out of love.
And he asked her,--"Auspicious lady, who are you, and why are you
perturbed?"--Hearing that, the lovely one thus answered him; "There is
a king of the name of Chandavikrama, lord of the southern region. I
am his daughter, auspicious sir, a maiden named Vindurekhá. But a
wicked Daitya, with flaming eyes, carried me off by treachery from my
father's house to-day, and brought me here. And he, desiring flesh,
assumed the form of a boar, and sallied out, but while he was still
hungry, he was pierced with a spear to-day by some hero; and as soon
as he was pierced, he came in here and died. And I rushed out and
escaped without being outraged by him." Then Saktideva said to her,
"Then why all this perturbation? For I slew that boar with a spear,
princess." Then she said, "Tell me who you are," and he answered her
"I am a Bráhman named Saktideva." Then she said to him, "You must
accordingly become my husband," and the hero consenting went out
of the cavern with her. And when he arrived at home, he told it to
his wife Vindumatí, and with her consent he married that princess
Vindurekhá. So, while Saktideva was living there with his two wives,
one of his wives Vindurekhá became pregnant; and in the eighth
month of her pregnancy, the first wife Vindumatí came up to him of
her own accord and said to him, "Hero, remember what you promised
me; this is the eighth month of the pregnancy of your second wife:
so go and cut her open and bring the child here, for you cannot act
contrary to your own word of honour." When she said this to Saktideva,
he was bewildered by affection and compassion; but being bound by
his promise he remained for a short time unable to give an answer;
at last he departed in a state of agitation and went to Vindurekhá;
and she seeing him come with troubled air, said to him, "Husband, why
are you despondent to-day? Surely I know; you have been commissioned
by Vindumatí to take out the child with which I am pregnant; and
that you must certainly do, for there is a certain object in view,
and there is no cruelty in it, so do not feel compunction; in proof
of it, hear the following story of Devadatta."
Story of Devadatta.
Long ago there lived in the city of Kambuka a Bráhman named Haridatta;
and the son of that auspicious man, who was named Devadatta, though
he studied in his boyhood, was, as a young man, exclusively addicted
to the vice of gaming. As he had lost his clothes and everything
by gambling, he was not able to return to his father's house, so he
entered once on a time an empty temple. And there he saw alone a great
ascetic, named Jálapáda, who had attained many objects by magic, and
he was muttering spells in a corner. So he went up to him slowly and
bowed before him, and the ascetic, abandoning his habit of not speaking
to any one, greeted him with a welcome; and after he had remained there
a moment, the ascetic, seeing his trouble, asked him the cause, and he
told him of his affliction produced by the loss of his wealth, which
had been dissipated in gambling. Then the ascetic said to Devadatta;
"My child, there is not wealth enough in the whole world to satisfy
gamblers; but if you desire to escape from your calamity, do what
I tell you, for I have made preparations to attain the rank of a
Vidyádhara; so help me to accomplish this, O man of fortunate destiny,
[424] you have only to obey my orders and then your calamities will
be at an end." When the ascetic said this to him, Devadatta promised
to obey him, and immediately took up his residence with him. And the
next day the ascetic went into a corner of the cemetery and performed
worship by night under a banyan-tree, and offered rice boiled in
milk, and flung portions of the oblation towards the four cardinal
points, after worshipping them, and said to the Bráhman who was in
attendance on him; "You must worship here in this style every day,
and say 'Vidyutprabhá, accept this worship.' And then I am certain
that we shall both attain our ends;" having said this the ascetic went
with him to his own house. Then Devadatta, consenting, went every day
and duly performed worship at the foot of that tree, according to his
instructions. And one day, at the end of his worship, the tree suddenly
clave open, and a heavenly nymph came out of it before his eyes,
and said, "My good sir, my mistress summons you to come to her." And
then she introduced him into the middle of that tree. When he entered
it, he beheld a heavenly palace made of jewels, and a beautiful lady
within it reclining upon a sofa. And he immediately thought--"This
may be the success of our enterprise incarnate in bodily form,"
but while he was thinking thus, that beautiful lady, receiving him
graciously, rose with limbs on which the ornaments rang as if to
welcome him, and seated him on her own sofa. And she said to him,
"Illustrious sir, I am the maiden daughter of a king of the Yakshas,
named Ratnavarsha, and I am known by the name of Vidyutprabhá; and
this great ascetic Jálapáda was endeavouring to gain my favour, to
him I will give the attainment of his ends, but you are the lord of
my life. So, as you see my affection, marry me." When she said this,
Devadatta consented, and did so. And he remained there some time,
but when she became pregnant, he went to the great ascetic with the
intention of returning, and in a state of terror he told him all that
had happened, and the ascetic, desiring his own success, said to him,
"My good sir, you have acted quite rightly, but go and cut open that
Yakshí and taking out the embryo, bring it quickly here." The ascetic
said this to him, and then reminded him of his previous promise,
and being dismissed by him, the Bráhman returned to his beloved, and
while he stood there despondent with reflecting on what he had to do,
the Yakshí Vidyutprabhá of her own accord said to him;--"My husband,
why are you cast down? I know, Jálapáda has ordered you to cut me open,
so cut me open and take out this child, and if you refuse, I will do
it myself, for there is an object in it." Though she said this to him,
the Bráhman could not bring himself to do it, then she cut herself
open and took out the child, and flung it down before him and said,
"Take this, which will enable him who consumes it, to obtain the rank
of a Vidyádhara. But I, though properly a Vidyádharí, have been born as
a Yakshí owing to a curse, and this is the appointed end of my curse,
strange as it is, for I remember my former existence. Now I depart
to my proper home, but we two shall meet again in that place." Saying
this Vidyutprabhá vanished from his eyes. And Devadatta took the child
with sorrowful mind, and went to that ascetic Jálapáda, and gave it
to him, as that which would ensure the success of his incantations,
for good men do not even in calamity give way to selfishness. The great
ascetic divided the child's flesh, and sent Devadatta to the wood to
worship Durgá in her terrific form. And when the Bráhman came back
after presenting an oblation, he saw that the ascetic had made away
with all the flesh. And while he said--"What, have you consumed it
all?" the treacherous Jálapáda, having become a Vidyádhara, ascended
to heaven. When he had flown up, with sword blue as the sky, adorned
with necklace and bracelet, Devadatta reflected, "Alas! how I have
been deceived by this evil-minded one! Or rather on whom does not
excessive compliance entail misfortune? So how can I revenge myself
on him for this ill turn, and how can I reach him who has become
a Vidyádhara? Well! I have no other resource in this matter except
propitiating a Vetála." [425] After he had made up his mind to do this,
he went at night to the cemetery. There he summoned at the foot of
a tree a Vetála into the body of a man, and after worshipping him,
he made an oblation of human flesh to him. And as that Vetála was not
satisfied, and would not wait for him to bring more, he prepared to cut
off his own flesh in order to gratify him. And immediately that Vetála
said to that brave man;--"I am pleased with this courage of yours,
do not act recklessly. So, my good sir, what desire have you for me to
accomplish for you?" When the Vetála said this, the hero answered him;
"Take me to the dwelling-place of the Vidyádharas, where is the ascetic
Jálapáda, who deceives those that repose confidence in him, in order
that I may punish him." The Vetála consented, and placing him on his
shoulder, carried him through the air in a moment to the dwelling of
the Vidyádharas; and there he saw Jálapáda in a palace, seated on
a jewelled throne, elated at being a king among the Vidyádharas,
endeavouring by various speeches to induce that Vidyutprabhá,
[426] who had obtained the rank of a Vidyádharí, to marry him in
spite of her reluctance. And the moment that the young man saw him,
he attacked him with the help of the Vetála, being to the eyes of the
delighted Vidyutprabhá, what the moon, the repository of nectar, is to
the partridges. [427] And Jálapáda beholding him suddenly arrived in
this way, dropped his sword in his fright, and fell from his throne
on the floor. But Devadatta, though he had obtained his sword, did
not slay him, for the great-hearted feel pity even for their enemies
when they are terrified.
And when the Vetála wanted to kill him, he dissuaded him, and said,
"Of what use will it be to us to kill this miserable heretic? So
take him and place him in his own house on earth, it is better that
this wicked skull-bearing ascetic should remain there." At the very
moment that Devadatta was saying this, the goddess Durgá descended
from heaven and appeared to him, and said to him who bent before her,
"My son, I am satisfied with thee now, on account of this incomparable
courage of thine; so I give thee on the spot the rank of king of the
Vidyádharas." Having said this, she bestowed the magic sciences [428]
on him, and immediately disappeared. And the Vetála immediately took
Jálapáda, whose splendour fell from him, and placed him on earth;
(wickedness does not long ensure success;) and Devadatta accompanied
by Vidyutprabhá, having obtained that sovereignty of the Vidyádharas,
flourished in his kingdom.
Having told this story to her husband Saktideva, the softly-speaking
Vindurekhá again said to him with eagerness; "Such necessities
do arise, so cut out this child of mine as Vindumatí told you,
without remorse." When Vindurekhá said this, Saktideva was afraid
of doing wrong, but a voice sounded from heaven at this juncture,
"O Saktideva, take out this child without fear, and seize it by the
neck with your hand, then it will turn into a sword." Having heard this
divine voice, he cut her open; and quickly taking out the child, he
seized it by the throat with his hand; and no sooner did he seize it,
than it became a sword in his hand; like the long hair of Good Fortune
seized by him with an abiding grasp. Then that Bráhman quickly became
a Vidyádhara, and Vindurekhá that moment disappeared. And when he saw
that, he went, as he was, to his second wife Vindumatí, and told her
the whole story. She said to him, "My lord, we are three sisters,
the daughter of a king of the Vidyádharas, who have been banished
from Kanakapurí in consequence of a curse. The first was Kanakarekhá,
the termination of whose curse you beheld in the city of Vardhamána;
and she has gone to that city of hers, her proper home. For such
was the strange end of her curse, according to the dispensation of
fate, and I am the third sister, and now my curse is at an end. And
this very day I must go to that city of mine, my beloved, for there
our Vidyádhara bodies remain. And my elder sister, Chandraprabhá,
is dwelling there; so you also must come there quickly by virtue