The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
and pledged herself, he let her go, but, as chance would have it, she
had not gone many steps further, before she was stopped by the king's
domestic chaplain. She made a similar assignation with him also for
the second watch of the same night; and so he too was, though with
difficulty, induced to let her go; but, after she had gone a little
further, up comes a third person, the head magistrate, and detains the
trembling lady. Then she made a similar assignation with him too for
the third watch of the same night, and having by great good fortune
got him to release her, she went home all trembling, and of her own
accord told her handmaids the arrangements she had made, reflecting,
"Death is better for a woman of good family when her husband is away,
than to meet the eyes of people who lust after beauty." Full of these
thoughts and regretting me, the virtuous lady spent that night in
fasting, lamenting her own beauty. Early the next morning she sent
a maid-servant to the merchant Hiranyagupta to ask for some money
in order that she might honour the Bráhmans: then that merchant also
came and said to her in private, "Shew me love, and then I will give
you what your husband deposited." When she heard that, she reflected
that she had no witness to prove the deposit of her husband's wealth,
and perceived that the merchant was a villain, and so tortured with
sorrow and grief, she made a fourth and last assignation with him for
the last watch of the same night; so he went away. In the meanwhile
she had prepared by her handmaids in a large vat lamp-black mixed
with oil and scented with musk and other perfumes, and she made ready
four pieces of rag anointed with it, and she caused to be made a large
trunk with a fastening outside. So on that day of the spring-festival
the prince's minister came in the first watch of the night in gorgeous
array. When he had entered without being observed Upakosá said to him,
"I will not receive you until you have bathed, so go in and bathe." The
simpleton agreed to that, and was taken by the handmaids into a secret
dark inner apartment. There they took off his under-garments and
his jewels, and gave him by way of an under-garment a single piece
of rag, and they smeared the rascal from head to foot with a thick
coating of that lamp-black and oil, pretending it was an unguent,
without his detecting it. While they continued rubbing it into every
limb, the second watch of the night came and the chaplain arrived,
the handmaids thereupon said to the minister,--"here is the king's
chaplain come, a great friend of Vararuchi's, so creep into this
box"--and they bundled him into the trunk, just as he was, all naked,
with the utmost precipitation: and then they fastened it outside with
a bolt. The priest too was brought inside into the dark room on the
pretence of a bath, and was in the same way stripped of his garments
and ornaments, and made a fool of by the handmaids by being rubbed with
lamp-black and oil, with nothing but the piece of rag on him, until in
the third watch the chief magistrate arrived. The handmaids immediately
terrified the priest with the news of his arrival, and pushed him into
the trunk like his predecessor. After they had bolted him in, they
brought in the magistrate on the pretext of giving him a bath, and
so he, like his fellows, with the piece of rag for his only garment,
was bamboozled by being continually anointed with lamp-black, until in
the last watch of the night the merchant arrived. The handmaids made
use of his arrival to alarm the magistrate and bundled him also into
the trunk, and fastened it on the outside. So those three being shut
up inside the box, as if they were bent on accustoming themselves to
live in the hell of blind darkness, did not dare to speak on account
of fear, though they touched one another. Then Upakosá brought a
lamp into the room, and making the merchant enter it, said to him,
"give me that money which my husband deposited with you." When he
heard that, the rascal said, observing that the room was empty,
"I told you that I would give you the money your husband deposited
with me." Upakosá calling the attention of the people in the trunk,
said--"Hear, O ye gods this speech of Hiranyagupta." When she had
said this, she blew out the light, and the merchant, like the others,
on the pretext of a bath was anointed by the handmaids for a long time
with lamp-black. Then they told him to go, for the darkness was over,
and at the close of the night they took him by the neck and pushed
him out of the door sorely against his will. Then he made the best of
his way home, with only the piece of rag to cover his nakedness, and
smeared with the black dye, with the dogs biting him at every step,
thoroughly ashamed of himself, and at last reached his own house; and
when he got there he did not dare to look his slaves in the face while
they were washing off that black dye. The path of vice is indeed a
painful one. In the early morning Upakosá accompanied by her handmaids
went, without informing her parents, to the palace of king Nanda, and
there she herself stated to the king that the merchant Hiranyagupta
was endeavouring to deprive her of money deposited with him by her
husband. The king in order to enquire into the matter immediately
had the merchant summoned, who said--"I have nothing in my keeping
belonging to this lady." Upakosá then said, "I have witnesses, my lord;
before he went, my husband put the household gods into a box, and this
merchant with his own lips admitted the deposit in their presence. Let
the box be brought here and ask the gods yourself." Having heard this
the king in astonishment ordered the box to be brought.
Thereupon in a moment that trunk was carried in by many men. Then
Upakosá said--"Relate truly, O gods, what that merchant said and then
go to your own houses; if you do not, I will burn you or open the
box in court." Hearing that, the men in the box, beside themselves
with fear, said--"It is true, the merchant admitted the deposit in
our presence." Then the merchant being utterly confounded confessed
all his guilt; but the king, being unable to restrain his curiosity,
after asking permission of Upakosá, opened the chest there in court
by breaking the fastening, and those three men were dragged out,
looking like three lumps of solid darkness, and were with difficulty
recognised by the king and his ministers. The whole assembly then burst
out laughing, and the king in his curiosity asked Upakosá, what was the
meaning of all this; so the virtuous lady told the whole story. All
present in court expressed their approbation of Upakosá's conduct,
observing: "The virtuous behaviour of women of good family who are
protected by their own excellent disposition [54] only, is incredible."
Then all those coveters of their neighbour's wife were deprived
of all their living, and banished from the country. Who prospers
by immorality? Upakosá was dismissed by the king, who shewed his
great regard for her by a present of much wealth, and said to her:
"Henceforth thou art my sister,"--and so she returned home. Varsha
and Upavarsha when they heard it, congratulated that chaste lady,
and there was a smile of admiration on the face of every single person
in that city. [55]
In the meanwhile, by performing a very severe penance on the snowy
mountain, I propitiated the god, the husband of Párvatí, the great
giver of all good things; he revealed to me that same treatise of
Pánini; and in accordance with his wish I completed it: then I returned
home without feeling the fatigue of the journey, full of the nectar
of the favour of that god who wears on his crest a digit of the moon;
then I worshipped the feet of my mother and of my spiritual teachers,
and heard from them the wonderful achievement of Upakosá, thereupon
joy and astonishment swelled to the upmost height in my breast,
together with natural affection and great respect for my wife.
Now Varsha expressed a desire to hear from my lips the new grammar,
and thereupon the god Kártikeya himself revealed it to him. And it
came to pass that Vyádi and Indradatta asked their preceptor Varsha
what fee they should give him? He replied, "Give me ten millions of
gold pieces." So they, consenting to the preceptor's demand, said to
me; "Come with us, friend, to ask the king Nanda to give us the sum
required for our teacher's fee; we cannot obtain so much gold from
any other quarter: for he possesses nine hundred and ninety millions,
and long ago he declared your wife Upakosá, his sister in the faith,
therefore you are his brother-in-law; we shall obtain something for
the sake of your virtues." Having formed this resolution, we three
fellow-students [56] went to the camp of king Nanda in Ayodhyá,
and the very moment we arrived, the king died; accordingly an
outburst of lamentation arose in the kingdom, and we were reduced
to despair. Immediately Indradatta, who was an adept in magic, said,
"I will enter the body of this dead king [57]; let Vararuchi prefer
the petition to me, and I will give him the gold, and let Vyádi guard
my body until I return." Saying this, Indradatta entered into the body
of king Nanda, and when the king came to life again, there was great
rejoicing in the kingdom. While Vyádi remained in an empty temple to
guard the body of Indradatta, I went to the king's palace. I entered,
and after making the usual salutation, I asked the supposed Nanda for
ten million gold pieces as my instructor's fee. Then he ordered a man
named Sakatála, the minister of the real Nanda, to give me ten million
of gold pieces. That minister, when he saw that the dead king had
come to life, and that the petitioner immediately got what he asked,
guessed the real state of the case. What is there that the wise cannot
understand? That minister said--"It shall be given, your Highness," and
reflected with himself; "Nanda's son is but a child, and our realm is
menaced by many enemies, so I will do my best for the present to keep
his body on the throne even in its present state." Having resolved
on this, he immediately took steps to have all dead bodies burnt,
employing spies to discover them, and among them was found the body
of Indradatta, which was burned after Vyádi had been hustled out of
the temple. In the meanwhile the king was pressing for the payment
of the money, but Sakatála, who was still in doubt, said to him,
"All the servants have got their heads turned by the public rejoicing,
let the Bráhman wait a moment until I can give it." Then Vyádi came and
complained aloud in the presence of the supposed Nanda, "Help, help,
a Bráhman engaged in magic, whose life had not yet come to an end in a
natural way, has been burnt by force on the pretext that his body was
untenanted, and this in the very moment of your good fortune." [58]
On hearing this the supposed Nanda was in an indescribable state of
distraction from grief: but as soon as Indradatta was imprisoned in
the body of Nanda, beyond the possibility of escape, by the burning of
his body, the discreet Sakatála went out and gave me that ten millions.
Then the supposed Nanda, [59] full of grief, said in secret to
Vyádi,--"Though a Bráhman by birth I have become a Súdra, what is the
use of my royal fortune to me though it be firmly established?" When he
heard that, Vyádi comforted him, [60] and gave him seasonable advice,
"You have been discovered by Sakatála, so you must henceforth be on
your guard against him, for he is a great minister, and in a short
time he will, when it suits his purpose, destroy you, and will
make Chandragupta, the son of the previous Nanda, king. Therefore
immediately appoint Vararuchi your minister, in order that your rule
may be firmly established by the help of his intellect, which is of