The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
had a secret intrigue with this Madanadanshtrá. And I, on returning
from bathing, found him with her, and I abused him. Then he tried
to propitiate me, but I, being exceedingly bewildered by unforgiving
jealousy, that seemed to have possessed me, thought thus with myself,
'Ah! without taking me into account, he favours another; I believe
he shews this insolence confiding in the magic properties of his
sword, so I will hide this weapon of his.' After thus reflecting,
in my folly I thrust his sword into the fire at night, while he
was asleep. The consequence was that his sword was dimmed and he
was reduced to this state. And I am grieved for this myself and
upbraided by Madanadanshtrá. So you have come here now when both
our minds are blinded with grief, and we have resolved on death. So
take this sword and kill me with it, since I have proved true to the
customs of my race and acted cruelly." When Anichchhasena was thus
entreated by his brother's wife, he thought that he ought not to
slay her on account of her repentance, but prepared to cut off his
own head. But at that moment, he heard the following voice come from
the air--"Do not act thus, prince, your brother is not dead, but he
has been struck senseless by Durgá, who is angry at his not having
taken sufficient care of the sword, and you must not impute guilt to
Khadgadanshtrá, for this circumstance is the consequence of your all
having been born into this world on account of a curse. And they were
both of them your brother's wives in a former life. So propitiate
Durgá in order to gain your object." Accordingly Anichchhasena gave
up his intention of slaying himself. But he mounted that chariot,
and took that fire-dimmed sword, and went to propitiate the soles of
the feet of Durgá, the dweller in the Vindhya range. There he fasted,
and was about to propitiate the goddess with the offering of his head,
when he heard this voice from heaven--"Do not be rash, my son, go;
thy elder brother shall live, and the sword shall become pure from
stain, for I am pleased with thy devotion." When Anichchhasena heard
this speech of the goddess, he immediately saw that the sword in his
hand had recovered its brightness, and he walked round the goddess,
keeping his right hand towards her; and ascending his swift magic
car, as if it were his own desire, [608] he returned in a state of
anxious expectation to that Sailapura. There he saw that his elder
brother had just risen up, having suddenly regained consciousness,
and weeping he seized his feet, and his elder brother threw his arms
round his neck. And both the wives of Indívarasena fell at the feet of
Anichchhasena and said--"You have saved the life of our husband." Then
he told the whole story to his brother Indívarasena who questioned
him, and he, when he heard it, was not angry with Khadgadanshtrá,
but was pleased with his brother. [609]
And he heard from the lips of his brother that his parents were
eager to see him, and of the fraud of his second mother, that had
brought about his separation from them; then he took the sword which
his brother handed to him, and mounted a large chariot, which came
to him the moment he thought of it, owing to the virtue of the sword,
and with his golden palaces, and his two wives, and his younger brother
Indívarasena, returned to his own city Irávatí. There he alighted from
the air, beheld with wonder by the subjects, and entered the palace,
and went with his attendants into the presence of the king. And
in that condition he beheld his father and his mother, and fell at
their feet with his eyes bathed in streaming tears. And they, the
moment they beheld their son, embraced him and his younger brother,
and having their bodies, as it were, bathed in nectar, they were
relieved from their sorrow. And when their daughters-in-law, those
two wives of Indívarasena, of heavenly beauty, fell at their feet,
they looked on them with delight and welcomed them. And the parents,
learning in course of conversation, that they were said by a divine
voice to have been appointed in a previous life as his wives, were
exceedingly delighted. And they rejoiced with astonishment at the power
of their son, which enabled him to travel through the air, and bring
golden palaces and do other things of this kind. Then Indívarasena
remained, with those two wives and his attendants, in the society of
his parents, causing delight to the subjects. And once on a time he
took leave of his father, king Parityágasena, and went forth again
to conquer the four quarters, accompanied by his younger brother. And
the mighty-armed hero conquered the whole earth by the virtue of his
sword, and came back bringing with him the gold, elephants, horses
and jewels of conquered kings. And he reached his capital, followed
out of fear by the conquered earth in the form of the army of dust,
that his forces raised. And he entered the palace, where his father
advanced to meet him, and he and his brother delighted their mother
Adhikasangamá by their return. And after he had honoured the kings,
Indívarasena spent that day in pleasure, accompanied by his wives
and his followers. And on the next day the prince made over the
earth to his father by way of tribute from the kings, and suddenly
recollected his former birth. Then, like one waking up from sleep,
he said to his father--"Father, I remember my former birth; listen,
I will tell you all about it. There is a city on the plateau of the
Himálayas named Muktápura; in it there lives a king named Muktásena,
a king of the Vidyádharas. And by a queen named Kambuvatí he had
born to him in course of time two virtuous sons, Padmasena and
Rúpasena. Then a maiden, named Ádityaprabhá, the daughter of a chief
of the Vidyádharas, of her own accord, out of love, chose Padmasena
for her husband. Hearing of that, a Vidyádhara maiden, of the name
of Chandravatí, became love-sick also, and came and chose him for her
husband. Then Padmasena, having two wives, was continually worried by
that wife Ádityaprabhá, who was jealous of her rival. And so Padmasena
over and over again importuned his father Muktásena to the following
effect: 'I cannot endure every day the ill-temper of my wife, who
is blind with jealousy, let me retire to a wood of ascetics to put
an end to this misery. Therefore, father, give me permission.' His
father, annoyed at his persistence, cursed him and his wives, saying;
'What need is there of your going to a wood of ascetics? Fall into the
world of mortals. There this quarrelsome wife of yours, Ádityaprabhá,
shall be born in the race of Rákshasas, and become your wife again. And
this second, Chandravatí, who is virtuous and attached to you, her
husband, shall be the wife of a king, and the paramour of a Rákshasa,
and shall obtain you as her beloved. And since this Rúpasena has been
observed by me to follow you his elder brother with affection, he
shall be your brother also in that world. There too you shall endure
some affliction caused by your wives.' Thus he spoke and ceased, and
appointed this as the termination of the curse; 'When you, being a
prince, shall conquer the earth and give it to your father, then you
and they shall remember your former birth, and be freed from your
curse.' When Padmasena had been thus addressed by his own father,
he went with those others to the world of mortals. I am that very
Padmasena, born here as your son, Indívarasena by name, and I have
done what I was appointed to do. And the other Vidyádhara prince,
Rúpasena, has been born as Anichchhasena my younger brother. And as for
my wives Ádityaprabhá [610] and Chandravatí, know that they have been
born here as these two, Khadgadanshtrá and Madanadanshtrá. And now we
have reached that appointed end of our curse. So let us go, father,
to our own Vidyádhara home." Having said this, he together with his
brother and his wives, who remembered their former existence, abandoned
the human and assumed the Vidyádhara form. And having worshipped the
feet of his father, and taken his two wives in his arms, he went with
his younger brother through the air to his own city Muktápura. There
the wise prince, gladly welcomed by his father Muktásena, a joy to
the eyes of his mother, accompanied by his brother Rúpasena, lived
with his Ádityaprabhá, who did not again display jealousy, and with
Chandravatí in happiness.
The minister Gomukha, having told this delightful tale on the road,
again said to Naraváhanadatta; "Thus the great must endure great pains
and gain great glory, but others have little pain and little glory. But
you, protected by the might of the science of queen Ratnaprabhá,
shall without difficulty gain that princess Karpúriká."
When Naraváhanadatta heard this from the lips of the eloquent Gomukha,
he set out on the path with him, insensible to fatigue. And as he
travelled, he came in the evening to a pellucid lake, the lotuses
on which were in full bloom, and which was full of an abundant
supply of cold water, delicious as nectar. Its banks were adorned
with pomegranate trees, bread-fruit trees, and rows of mango-trees,
and on it the swans sang sweetly. They bathed in it, and devoutly
worshipped the beloved [611] of the daughter of Himálaya and refreshed
themselves with various fragrant, sweet-tasting, delightful fruits,
and then the son of the king of Vatsa and his friend spent the night on
the bank of the lake, sleeping on a bed strewn with soft young shoots.
CHAPTER XLIII.
The next morning, Naraváhanadatta rose up from the bank of that lake,
[612] and setting out on his journey, said to his minister Gomukha;
"My friend, I remember, a certain princess of heavenly beauty,
dressed in white garments, came to me towards the end of last night
in a dream, and said this to me--'Lay aside your anxiety, dear one,
for you will quickly reach a large and wonderful town situated in a
forest, on the shore of the sea. And after resting there, you shall
with ease find that town Karpúrasambhava, and then win that princess
Karpúriká.' Having said this, she disappeared, and I immediately woke
up." When he said that, Gomukha was delighted and said to him--"King,
you are favoured by the gods; what is difficult to you? So your
enterprise will certainly succeed without difficulty." When Gomukha
had said this, Naraváhanadatta hastened along the path with him. And
in course of time he reached a city of vast extent on the shore of the
sea, furnished with lofty mansions resembling the peaks of mountains,
with streets, and arches, adorned with a palace all golden like
mount Meru, looking like a second Earth. He entered that city by the
market-street, and beheld that all the population, merchants, women,
and citizens were wooden automata, that moved as if they were alive,
but were recognised as lifeless by their want of speech. This aroused
astonishment in his mind. And in due course he arrived with Gomukha
near the king's palace, and saw that all the horses and elephants there
were of the same material; and with his minister he entered, full of
wonder, that palace, which was resplendent with seven ranges of golden
buildings. There he saw a majestic man sitting on a jewelled throne,
surrounded by warders and women, who were also wooden automata, the
only living being there, who produced motion in those dull material
things, like the soul presiding over the senses. He, for his part,
seeing that that hero Naraváhanadatta was of noble form, rose up
and welcomed him, and made him sit down on his own seat, and sitting
in front of him, he thus questioned him, "Who are you; how and why
have you come to this uninhabited land with one companion?" Then
Naraváhanadatta told his own story from the beginning, and asked that
hero, who was prostrating himself before him,--"Who are you, my good