The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
Maya heard this, he said--"We are not forcing on war, but if Indra
violently makes war on us, tell me, how can we remain passive? And
as for those Asuras who were slain by the gods, they were reckless,
but did the gods slay Bali and others who were not infatuated?" That
king of the Rákshasas having, with his wife Mandodarí, been addressed
with these and similar speeches by Maya, took leave of him, and went
to his own dwelling.
Then Sunítha, with Súryaprabha and the others, was conducted to the
third under-world to visit king Bali. In that world, which surpassed
even heaven, they all beheld Bali, adorned with chain and tiara,
surrounded with Daityas and Dánavas. Sunítha and his companions fell
at his feet in due order, and he honoured them with appropriate
welcome. And Bali was delighted with the tidings related by Maya,
and he quickly had summoned Prahláda and the other Dánavas. Sunítha
and the others honoured them also by falling at their feet, and
they, being full of joy, congratulated them, as they bent before
them. Then Bali said, "Sunítha became Chandraprabha on the earth,
and now is restored to life for us by regaining his body. And we have
also gained Súryaprabha, who is an incarnation of Sumundíka. And he
has been appointed by Siva the future emperor of the Vidyádharas: and
by the power of the sacrifice offered by Chandraprabha my bonds have
been relaxed. So without doubt we have gained prosperity by recovering
these." When Sukra, the spiritual adviser of the Dánavas, heard this
speech of Bali's, he said, "In truth those who act according to right
never fail of prosperity in any matter; so act according to right,
and do on this occasion also what I bid you." When the Dánavas,
the princes of the seven under-worlds, who were assembled there,
heard that, they agreed to it and bound themselves so to act. And
Bali made a feast there, out of joy at the recovery of Sunítha.
In the meanwhile the hermit Nárada arrived there again, and after
taking the argha, he sat down, and said to those Dánavas, "I have been
sent here by Indra, and he in truth says this to you, 'I am exceedingly
delighted at the fact that Sunítha has come back to life; so you must
not take up a causeless enmity against me, and you must not fight
against my ally Srutasarman.'" When the hermit had thus delivered
Indra's message, Prahláda said to him, "Of course Indra is pleased
that Sunítha has come back to life, how could it be otherwise? But we
at any rate are not taking up causeless hostility. This very day we
all took an engagement that we would not do so, in the presence of
our spiritual adviser. But if Indra makes himself a partizan [646]
of Srutasarman, and violently opposes us, how are we to be blamed
for it? For Súryaprabha's ally, Siva, the god of gods, has long ago
appointed him, because he propitiated him first. So what have we to do
with this matter which has been settled by the lord Siva? It is clear
that this, which Indra says, is without cause, and not right." When
Prahláda, the king of the Dánavas said this to Nárada, he blamed Indra
by expressing his agreement with it, and disappeared. When he had gone,
Usanas [647] said to the kings of the Dánavas--"Indra is evidently
determined to oppose us in this matter. But, as Siva has decidedly
girded up his loins to shew us favour, what is his power, or what
will his reliance upon Vishnu do?" The Dánavas heard and approved
this speech of Sukra's, and taking leave of Bali and Prahláda, went
to their own homes. Then Prahláda went to the fourth under-world,
his habitation, and king Bali, rising up from the assembly, retired
within. And Maya and Sunítha and the others, Súryaprabha and all,
bowed before Bali, and went to their own habitations. After they had
eaten and drunk there sufficiently, Lílávatí, the mother of Sunítha,
came to him and said, "My son, you know that these wives of yours
are the daughters of mighty ones, Tejasvatí being the daughter of
the god of wealth, Mangalávatí of Tumburu; and as for Kírtimatí,
that wife that you married in your existence as Chandraprabha, her
you know to be the daughter of the Vasu Prabháva, so you must look
upon these three with an equal eye, my son." After saying this,
she commended to him his three principal wives. Then, that night,
Sunítha entered his sleeping apartment with the eldest, Tejasvatí.
But Súryaprabha, in another chamber, with his ministers, reclined
on a couch without any of his wives that night. And the goddess of
sleep did not come to him, who remained continually alone, saying to
herself, "What is the use of this unloving man, who leaves his wives
outside?" And she would not approach Prahasta out of jealousy, as he
was so exclusively in love with the cares of his official duties, but
the other ministers around Súryaprabha went to sleep comfortably. In
the meanwhile Súryaprabha and Prahasta beheld an incomparable maiden
entering, accompanied by a female friend. She was so beautiful that
Providence seemed, after creating her, to have placed her in the
lower regions in order that the nymphs of heaven, also his creation,
might not be eclipsed by her. And while Súryaprabha was debating
who she might be, she approached each of his friends, one by one,
and looked at them; and as they did not possess the distinguishing
marks of emperors, she left them, and seeing that Súryaprabha possessed
them, she approached him, who was lying in the midst of them; and she
said to her friend--"Here he is, my friend; so touch him on the feet,
wake him up with those hands of yours cool as water." When her friend
heard that, she did so, and Súryaprabha ceased to feign sleep, and
opened his eyes, and beholding those maidens, he said--"Who are you,
and why do you come here?" When the friend of the lady heard that,
she said to him--"Listen, king, in the second under-world there is
a victorious king named Amíla, a chieftain of the Daityas, the son
of Hiranyáksha; this is his daughter Kalávatí whom he loves more
than life. Her father came back to-day from the court of Bali, and
said--'I am fortunate in that I have to-day beheld Sunítha once more
restored to life; and I have also seen the young man Súryaprabha,
an incarnation of Sumundíka, who has been brought into the world by
Siva as the future emperor of the Vidyádharas. So I will now offer a
congratulatory tribute to Sunítha,----I will give my daughter Kalávatí
to Súryaprabha, for she cannot be given to Sunítha because she belongs
to the same family; but Súryaprabha is his son in his birth as a king,
not in his birth as an Asura, and any honour paid to his son will
be paid to him.' When my friend heard this speech of her father's,
her mind being attracted by your virtues, she came here out of a
curiosity to see you." When that friend of the lady's said this,
Súryaprabha pretended to be asleep in order to discover the real
object of her wish. The maiden slowly approached the sleepless
Prahasta, and after telling him all by the mouth of her friend,
went out. And Prahasta advanced towards Súryaprabha and said--"King,
are you awake or not?" And he, opening his eyes, said to him, "My
friend, I am awake, for how could I sleep to-day being alone? But I
will tell you a strange fact; listen, for what can I hide from you? I
saw a moment ago a maiden enter here with her friend; her equal is not
beheld in these three worlds. And she departed in a moment, taking my
heart with her. So look for her at once, for she must be somewhere
hereabout." When Súryaprabha said this to him, Prahasta went out,
and seeing the maiden there with her friend, he said to her--"I, to
please you, have again woke up my master here, so you, to please me,
must once more grant him an interview. Behold once more his form that
gives satisfaction to your eyes, [648] and let him, who was overpowered
by you as soon as he saw you, behold you again. For when he woke up,
he said to me speaking of you, 'Bring her from some place or other,
and shew her to me, otherwise I cannot survive.' Then I came to you,
so come and behold him yourself." When she was thus addressed by
Prahasta, she hesitated to go in boldly, owing to the modesty natural
to a maiden, and reflected, and then Prahasta, seizing her hand,
led her into the presence of Súryaprabha. And Súryaprabha, when he
saw that Kalávatí had come near him, said--"Fair one, was this right
of you to come in to-day and steal away my heart, as you did, when I
was asleep? So, thief, I will not leave you unpunished to-day." When
her sly friend heard this, she said to him; "Since her father knew of
it before, and determined to assign this thief to you for punishment,
who can forbid you to punish her. Why do you not inflict on her to your
heart's content the punishment due for thieving?" When Súryaprabha
heard that, he wanted to embrace her, but Kalávatí being modest,
said, "Do not, my husband, I am a maiden." Then Prahasta said to her;
"Do not hesitate, my queen, for the Gándharva marriage is the best of
all marriages in the world." When Prahasta had said this, he went out
with all the rest, and Súryaprabha that very moment made Kalávatí,
the maiden of the under-world, his wife.
And when the night came to an end, Kalávatí went to her own dwelling,
and Súryaprabha went to Sunítha and Maya. They all assembled and went
into the presence of Prahláda, and he, seated in the hall of audience,
after honouring them appropriately, said to Maya: "We must do something
to please Sunítha on this day of rejoicing, so let us all feast
together." Maya said--"Let us do so, what harm is there in this?" And
then Prahláda invited by means of messengers the chiefs of the Asuras,
and they came there in order from all the under-worlds. First came
king Bali accompanied by innumerable great Asuras. Close behind him
came Amíla and the brave Durároha and Sumáya, and Tantukachchha, and
Vikatáksha and Prakampana, and Dhúmaketu and Mahámáya, and the other
lords of the Asuras; each of these came accompanied by a thousand
feudal chiefs. The hall of audience was filled with the heroes who
saluted one another, and after they had sat down in order of rank,
Prahláda honoured them all. And when the time of eating arrived,
they all, with Maya and the others, after bathing in the Ganges,
went to a great hall to dine. It was a hundred yojanas wide, and
had a pavement of gold and jewels, and was adorned with jewelled
pillars, and full of curiously wrought jewelled vessels. There the
Asuras, in the company of Prahláda, and with Sunítha and Maya, and
with Súryaprabha accompanied by his ministers, ate heavenly food of
various kinds, containing all the six flavours, solid, liquid, and
sweetmeats, and then drank the best of wine. And after they had eaten
and drunk, they all went to another hall, which was made of jewels,
and beheld the skilful dance of the Daitya and Dánava maidens. On
that occasion Súryaprabha beheld the daughter of Prahláda, named
Mahalliká, who came forward to dance by order of her father. She
illuminated the world with her beauty, rained nectar into his eyes,
and seemed like the moon-goddess [649] come to the under-world out of
curiosity. She had her forehead ornamented with a patch, beautiful
anklets on her feet, and a smiling face, and seemed as if all made
of dancing by the Creator. With her curling hair, her pointed teeth,
and her breasts that filled up the whole of her chest, she seemed
as it were to be creating a new style of dance. And that fair one,
the moment she was beheld by Súryaprabha, forcibly robbed him of his
heart, though it was claimed by others. Then she also beheld him from a
distance, sitting among the Asura princes, like a second god of Love
made by the Creator, when the first god of love had been burnt up by
Siva. And when she saw him, her mind was so absorbed in him, that her