KATHA SARIT SAGAR CHAPTER XI

 CHAPTER XI 

      Then Udayana took the kingdom of Vatsa, which his father had be- queathed to him, and, establishing himself in Kausambi, ruled his subjects well. But gradually he began to devolve the cares of empire upon his ministers, Yaugandharayana and others, and gave himself up entirely to pleasures. He was continually engaged in the chase, and day and night he played on the melodious lute which VasukiJ gave him long ago ; and he subdued evermore infuriated wild elephants, overpowered by the fascinating spell of its strings' dulcet sound, and, taming them, brought them home. That king of Vatsa drank wine adorned by the reflection of the moon-faces of fair women, and at the same time robbed his minister's faces of their cheerful hue. Only one anxiety had he to bear, he kept thinking, " Nowhere is a wife found equal to me in birth and personal appearance, the maiden named Yasavadatta alone has a liking for me, but how is she to be obtained ?" Chandamahasena also in Ujjayini thought ; " There is no suit- able husband to be found for my daughter in the world, except one Udayana by name, and he has ever been my enemy. Then how can I make him my son-in-law and my submissive ally ? There is only one device which can effect it. He wanders about alone in the forest capturing elephants, for he is a king addicted to the vice of hunting ; I will make use of this failing of his to entrap him and bring him here by a stratagem : and, as he is acquainted with music, I will make this daughter of mine his pupil, and then his eye will without doubt be charmed with her, and he will certainly became my son-in-law, and my obedient ally. No other artifice seems appli- cable in this case for making him submissive to my will." Having thus reflected, he went to the temple of Durga, in order that his scheme might be blessed with success, and, after worship and praise, offered a prayer to the goddess. And there he heard a bodiless voice saying, " This desire of thine, O king, shall shortly be accomplished." Then he returned satisfied, and deliberated over that very matter with the minister Buddhadatta saying " That prince is elated with pride, he is free from avarice, his subjects are attached to him, and he is of great power, therefore he cannot be reached by any of the four usual expedients beginning with negotiation, nevertheless let negotiation be tried first.f Having thus deliberated, the king gave this order to an ambassador, " Go and give the king of Yatsa this message from me ; ' My daughter desires to be thy pupil in music, if thou love us, come here and teach her.' " When sent off by the king with this message, the ambassador went and repeated it to the king of Vatsa in Kausambi exactly as it was delivered ; and the king of Vatsa, after hearing this uncourteous message from the ambassador, repeated it in private to the minister Yaugandharayana, saying " Why did that monarch send me that insolent message ? What can be the villain's object in making such a proposal ?" When the king asked him this question, the great minister Yaugandharayana, who was stern to his master for his good, thus answered him ; " Your reputation for vice J has shot up in the earth like a creeper, and this, O king, is its biting bitter fruit. For that king Chandamahasena, thinking that you are the slave of your passions, intends to ensnare you by means of his beautiful daughter, throw you into prison, and so make you his unresisting instrument. Therefore abandon kingly vices, for kings that fall into them are easily captured by their enemies, even as elephants are taken in pits." When his minister had said this to him, the resolute king of Vatsa sent in return an ambassador to Chanda-mahasena with the following reply, " If thy daughter desires to become my pupil, then send her here." When he had sent this reply, that king of Vatsa said to his ministers "I will march and bring Chandamaha here in chains." When he heard that, the head minister Yaugandharayana said " That is not a fitting thing to do, my king, nor is it in thy power to do it. For (Jhandamahasena is a mighty monarch, and not to be sub- dued by thee. And in proof of this, hear his whole history, which I now proceed to relate to thee."

Story of king Chandamahasena

    There is in this land a city named , Ujjayini, the ornament of the earth, that, so to speak, laughs to scorn with its palaces of enamelled white- ness* Amaravati, the city of the gods. In that city dwells S'iva himself, the lord of existence, under the form of Mahakala,f when he desists from the kingly vice of absenting himself on the heights of mount Kailasa. In that city lived a king named Maheudravarman, best of monarchs, and he had a son like himself, named Jayasena. Then to that Jayasena was born a son named Mahasena, matchless in strength of arm, an elephant among monarchs. And that king, while cherishing his realm, reflected, "I have not a sword worthy of me, nor a wife of good family." Thus reflecting that monarch went to the temple of Durga, and there he remained without food, propitiating for a long time the goddess. Then he cut off pieces of his own flesh, and offered a burnt-offering with them, whereupon the goddess Durga being pleased appeared in visible shape, and said to him, " I am pleased with thee, -receive from me this excellent sword, by means of its magic power thou shalt be invincible to all thy enemies. Moreover thou shalt soon obtain as a wife Anguravati, the daughter of the Asura Angaraka, the most beautiful maiden in the three worlds. And since thou didst here perform this very cruel penance, therefore thy name shall be Chandamahasena." Having said this and given him the sword, the goddess disappeared. But in the king there appeared joy at the fulfilment of his desire. He now possessed, king, two jewels, his sword and a furious elephant named Nadagiri, which were to him what the thunderbolt and Airavana are to Indra. Then that king, delighting in the power of these two, one day went to a great forest to hunt; and there he beheld an enormous and terrible wild boar ; like the darkness of the night suddenly condensed into a solid mass in the day time. That boar was not wounded by the king's arrows, in spite of their sharpness, but after breaking the king's chariot* fled and entered a cavern. The king, leaving that car of his, in revengeful pursuit of the boar, entered into that cavern with only his bow to aid him. And after he had gone a long distance, he beheld a great and splendid capital, and astonished he sat down inside the city on the bank of a lake. While there, he beheld a maiden moving along, sur- rounded by hundreds of women, like the arrow of love that cleaves the armour of self-restraint. She slowly approached the king, bathing him, so to speak, again and again in a look, that rained in showers the nectar of love.f She said, " who art thou, illustrious sir, and for what reason hast thou entered our home on this occasion ?" The king, being thus questioned by her, told her the whole truth; hearing which, she let fall from her eyes a pas- sionate flood of tears, and from her heart all self-control. The king said, "Who art thou, and why dost thou weep?" When he asked her this question, she, being a prisoner to love at his will, answered him, " The boar that entered here is the Daitya Angaraka by name. And I am his daughter, king, and my name is Angaravati. And he is of adamantine frame, and has carried off these hundred princesses from the palaces of kings and appointed them to attend on me. Moreover this great Asura has become a Kakshasa owing to a curse, but to-day as he was exhausted with thirst and fatigue, even when he found you, he spared you. At present he has put off the form of a boar and is resting in his own proper shape, but when he wakes up from his sleep, he will without fail do you an injury. It is for this reason that I see no hope of a happy issue for you, and so these tear-drops fall from my eyes like my vital spirits boiled with the fire of grief." When he heard this speech of Angaravati's the king said to her, " If you love me, do this which I ask you. When your father awakes, go and weep in front of him, and then he will certainly ask you the cause of your agitation ; then you must say If some one were to slay thee, what would become of me ? This is the cause of my grief. If you do this, there will be a happy issue both for you and ine." When the king said this to her, she promised him that she would do what he wished. And that Asura maiden, apprehending misfortune, placed the king in concealment, and went near her sleeping father. Then the Daitya woke up, and she began to weep. And then he said to her, " Why do you weep, my daughter ?" She with affected grief said to him, " If some one were to slay tliee, what would become of me ?" Then he burst out laughing and said ; " Who could possibly slay me, my daughter, for I am cased in adamant all over, only in my left hand is there an unguarded place, but that is protected by the bow." In these words the Daitya consoled his daughter, and all this was heard by the king in his concealment. Immediately afterwards the Diinava rose up and took his bath, and proceeded in devout silence to worship the god S'iva ; at that moment the king appeared with his bow bent, and rushing up impetuously towards the Daitya, chal- lenged him to light. He, without interrupting his devout silence, lifted his left hand towards the king and made a sign that he must wait fora moment. The king for his part, being very quick of hand, immediately smote him with an arrow in that hand which was his vital part. And that great Asura Angaraka, being pierced in a vital spot, immediately uttered a terrible cry and fell on the ground, and exclaimed, as his life departed, " If that man, who has slain me when thirsty, does not offer water to my manes every year, then his five ministers shall perish." After he had said this, that Daitya died, and the king, taking his daughter Angaravat as a prize, returned to Ujjayini. There the king Chandamahasena married that Daitya maiden, and two sons were born to him, the first named Gopalaka, and the second Palaka ; and when they were born, he held a feast in honour of Indra on their account. Then Indra, being pleased, said to that king in a dream, " By my favour thou shalt obtain a matchless daughter." Then in course of time a graceful daughter was born to that king, like a second and more wonderful shape of the moon made by the Creator. And on that occasion a voice was heard from heaven ; " She shall give birth to a son, who shall be a very incarnation of the god of love, and king of the Vidyadharas." Then the king gave that daughter the name of Yasavadatta, because she was given by Indra being pleased with him. And that maiden still remains unmarried in the house of her father, like the goddess of prosperity in the hollow cavity of the ocean before it was churned. That king Chandamahasena cannot indeed be conquered by you, king, in the first place because he is so powerful, and in the next place because his realm is situated in a difficult country. Moreover he is ever longing to give you that daughter of his in marriage, but being a proud monarch, he il the triumph of himself and his adherents. But, 1 think, you must certainly marry that Yasavadattii. When he heard this, that king of Yatsa immediately lost his heart to Vasavadatta.