The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
Kávyálankárá, the second wife of that king, on beholding this, was
angry, and reflected--"Alas! I have been cheated by this rival wife
out of having children; so I must without fail revenge myself on
her; I must destroy these sons of hers by my cunning." Having thus
reflected, she remained thinking over a means of doing this. And as
fast as those two princes grew, the tree of enmity grew in her heart.
And in course of time those two princes, having attained manhood,
and being mighty of arm, and desirous of conquest, said to their
father--"We have attained manhood and we have been trained in the
use of weapons, so how can we remain here endowed to no profit with
these mighty arms? Out on the arms and the youth of a Kshatriya
that longs not for victory! So let us go now, father, and conquer
the regions." When the king Parityágasena heard this request of his
sons, he was pleased and consented, and made arrangements for their
expedition. And he said to them, "If ever you are in difficulties,
you must think upon the goddess Durgá the remover of sorrows, for
she gave you to me." Then the king sent forth those two sons on
their expedition, accompanied by his troops and feudal chiefs, after
their mother had performed the auspicious ceremonies to ensure them
success. And he sent after them his own sagacious prime minister,
their maternal grandfather, whose name was Prathamasangama. Then
those two mighty princely brothers, with their army, first marched
in due order to the eastern quarter, and subdued it. Then these two
irresistible heroes of approved might, to whom many kings had joined
themselves, went to the southern quarter to conquer it. And their
parents rejoiced on hearing these tidings of them, but their second
mother was consumed with the fire of concealed hate. The treacherous
queen then got the following false despatch written in the king's
name to the chiefs in the princes' camp, by means of the secretary
for foreign affairs, whom she had bribed with heaps of treasure--"My
two sons, having subdued the earth by the might of their arms, have
formed the intention of killing me and seizing my kingdom; so if
you are loyal to me, you must without hesitation put to death both
those sons of mine."--This letter Kávyálankárá sent off secretly by
a courier. And the courier went secretly to the camp of those two
princes, and gave that letter to the chiefs. And they all, after
reading it, reflecting that the policy of kings is very cruel, and
considering that that command of their master must not be disobeyed,
met and deliberated in the night, and as they saw no way out of the
difficulty, determined to kill those two princes, though they had
been fascinated by their virtues. But their maternal grandfather,
the minister, who was with them, heard of it from a friend that he
had among the chiefs, and after informing the princes of the state
of affairs, he thereupon mounted them on swift horses, and conveyed
them away safely out of the camp.
The two princes, when conveyed away by the minister at night,
travelled along with him, and entered the Vindhya forest out of
ignorance of the true road. Then, after the night had passed, as they
slowly proceeded on their way, about noon their horses died, overcome
with excessive thirst. And that aged maternal grandfather of theirs,
whose palate was dry with hunger and thirst, died exhausted with the
heat before the eyes of those two, who were also weary. Then those
afflicted brothers exclaimed in their sorrow--"Why has our father
reduced to this state us who are innocent, and fulfilled the desire of
that wicked second mother of ours?"--In the midst of their lamentation
they thought upon the goddess Ambiká, [606] whom their father had long
ago pointed out to them as their natural protectress. That moment,
by force of thinking on that kind protectress, their hunger, thirst
and fatigue left them, and they were strong. Then they were comforted
by faith in her, and without feeling the fatigue of the journey, they
went to visit that goddess who dwells in the Vindhya forest. And when
those two brothers had arrived there, they began a course of fasting
and asceticism to propitiate her. In the meanwhile those chiefs in
the camp assembled together in a band, and went with the intention of
doing the princes a mischief; but they could not find them, though they
searched everywhere. They said--"The princes have escaped somewhere
with their maternal grandfather," and fearing that the whole thing
would come out, they went in a fright to the king Parityágasena. And
shewing him the letters, they told him the whole story. He, when
he heard it, was agitated and said to them in his anger; "I did not
send this letter, this is some deception. And how comes it that you
did not know, you foolish creatures, that I should not be likely
to put to death two sons obtained by severe austerities? They have
been put to death as far as you are concerned, but they were saved
by their own merits, and their maternal grandfather has exhibited
a specimen of his statesmanship." He said this to the chiefs, and
though the secretary who wrote the treacherous letter fled, the king
quickly had him brought back by his royal power, and after thoroughly
investigating the whole matter, punished him as he deserved. And he
threw into a dungeon his wicked wife Kávyálankárá, who was guilty of
such a crime as trying to slay his sons. For how can an evil deed
audaciously done, the end of which is not considered through the
mind being blinded with excessive hate, help bringing ruin? And as
for those chiefs, who had set out with his two sons and returned,
the king dismissed them, and appointed others in their place. And
with their mother he continued to seek for tidings of those sons,
plunged in grief, devoted to righteousness, thinking upon Durgá.
In the meanwhile that goddess, who has her shrine in the Vindhya
mountains, was pleased with the asceticism of the prince Indívarasena
and his younger brother. And she gave Indívarasena a sword in a dream,
and appearing to him, thus addressed him--"By the power of this sword
thou shalt conquer enemies hard to overcome, and whatever thou shalt
think of thou shalt obtain, and by means of it you shall both gain the
success you desire." When the goddess had said that, she disappeared,
and Indívarasena, waking up, beheld that sword in his hand. Then
he comforted his younger brother by shewing him that sword, and
describing to him his dream, and in the morning he and his brother
broke their fast on wild fruits. Then he worshipped that goddess,
and having his fatigue removed by her favour, he departed rejoicing,
with the sword in his hand, in the company of his brother. And after
he had travelled a long distance, he found a great and splendid city,
looking like the peak of Meru on account of its golden houses. There
he beheld a terrible Rákshasa standing at the gate of the high street,
and the hero asked him what was the name of the town, and who was its
king. That Rákshasa said--"This city is called Sailapura, and it is
possessed by our lord Yamadanshtra, the slayer of his foes, king of
the Rákshasas." When the Rákshasa said this, Indívarasena attempted
to enter, in order to slay Yamadanshtra, but the Rákshasa at the door
tried to prevent him, upon which the mighty Indívarasena killed him,
cutting off his head with one stroke of his sword. After slaying him,
the hero entered the royal palace, and beheld inside it the Rákshasa
Yamadanshtra sitting on his throne, having a mouth terrible with tusks,
with a lovely woman at his left hand, and a virgin of heavenly beauty
on his right hand. And when Indívarasena saw him, he went with the
sword given him by Durgá in his hand, and challenged him to fight,
and the Rákshasa drew his sword and stood up to resist him. And in the
course of the fight Indívarasena frequently cut off the Rákshasa's
head, but it grew again. [607] Seeing that magic power of his,
and having had a sign made to him by the virgin at the Rákshasa's
side, who had fallen in love with him at first sight, the prince,
after cutting off the head of the Rákshasa, being quick of hand,
again cut it in two with a stroke of his sword. Then the Rákshasa's
magic was baffled by contrary magic, and his head did not grow again,
and the Rákshasa died of the wound.
When he was slain, the lovely woman and the princess were delighted,
and the prince with his younger brother sat down, and asked them the
following questions: "Why did this Rákshasa live in such a city as
this, guarded by one warder only, and who are you two, and why do
you rejoice at his being slain?" When they heard this, the virgin
was the one that answered, and she spoke as follows: "In this city
of Sailapura there lived a king of the name of Vírabhuja, and this
is his wife Madanadanshtrá, and this Rákshasa came and devoured him
by the help of his magic power. And he ate up his attendants, but he
did not eat this Madanadanshtrá, whom alone he spared because she
was beautiful, but he made her his wife. Then he became disgusted
with this city though beautiful, and building in it houses of gold,
he remained here sporting with Madanadanshtrá, having dismissed his
retinue. And I am the younger sister of this Rákshasa, and unmarried,
but the moment I saw you, I fell in love with you. Accordingly she is
glad at his having been slain, and so also am I; so marry me here now,
my husband, since love makes me offer myself to you."
When Khadgadanshtrá said this, Indívarasena married her then and
there by the Gándharva form of marriage. And he remained in that
very city, having everything brought to him, on his thinking of it,
by the virtue of the sword of Durgá, married and accompanied by his
younger brother. And once on a time he made a chariot that would fly
through the air, produced by thought through the virtue of his sword,
that resembled in its powers the philosopher's stone, and placed in
it his heroic younger brother Anichchhasena, and sent him off from his
retreat to bear tidings of him to his parents. Anichchhasena, for his
part, travelled quickly through the air in that chariot, and reached
Irávatí that city of his father. There he refreshed his grief-worn
parents with the sight of him, as the moon refreshes the partridges
when exhausted with severe heat. And he approached them, and fell at
their feet, and was embraced by them, and when they questioned him,
he dispelled their apprehensions with good news of his brother. And he
told in their presence the whole adventure of himself and his brother,
which in the beginning was sad, but in the end was happy. And there he
heard the treacherous device, which his wicked second mother had out
of enmity contrived for his destruction. Then Anichchhasena remained
there in tranquillity, in the company of his delighted father and
his mother, honoured by the subjects. But after some days had passed,
his fears were aroused by a threatening dream, and he yearned to see
his brother again, and said to his father; "I will depart, and by
telling my brother Indívarasena that you are anxiously awaiting him,
I will bring him back; give me leave to depart, my father." When his
father heard that, being anxious for the sight of his son, he and his
wife gave Anichchhasena leave to depart, and he immediately mounted
his chariot, and reached through the air that city of Sailapura. And
when he arrived there, he entered the palace of that brother of
his. He saw there his elder brother lying senseless in the presence of
Khadgadanshtrá and Madanadanshtrá, who were weeping. In his perplexity
he asked, "What does this mean?" And then Khadgadanshtrá said with
her eyes fixed on the ground, though the other blamed her for it;
"When you were away, your brother one day, on my going to bathe,