Chapter XXV
In the
meanwhile the young Bráhman Śaktideva, in very low spirits, having been
rejected with contempt by the princess he longed for, said to himself; “To-day
by asserting falsely that I had seen the Golden City, I certainly incurred
contempt, but I did not obtain that princess. So I must roam through the earth
to find it, until I have either seen that city or lost my life. For of what use
is my life, unless I can return having seen that city, and obtain the princess
as the prize of the achievement?” Having thus taken a vow, that Bráhman set out
from the city of Vardhamána, directing his course toward the southern quarter,
and as he journeyed, he at last reached the great forest of the Vindhya range,
and entered it, which was difficult and long as his own undertaking. And that
forest, so to speak, fanned, with the soft leaves of its trees shaken by the
wind, him, who was heated by the multitudinous rays of the sun; and through
grief at being overrun with many robbers, it made its cry heard day and night
in the shrill screams of animals which were being slain in it by lions and
other noisome beasts. And it seemed, by the unchecked rays of heat flashed
upward from its wild deserts, to endeavour to conquer the fierce brightness of
the sun: in it, though there was no accumulation of water, calamity was to be
easily purchased: and its space seemed ever to extend before the traveller as
fast as he crossed it. In the course of many days he accomplished a long
journey through this forest, and beheld in it a great lake of cold pure water
in a lonely spot: which seemed to lord it over all lakes, with its lotuses like
lofty umbrellas, and its swans like gleaming white chowries. In the water of that
lake he performed the customary ablutions, and on its northern shore he beheld
a hermitage with beautiful fruit-bearing trees: and he saw an old hermit named
Súryatapas sitting at the foot of an Aśvattha tree, surrounded by ascetics,
adorned with a rosary, the beads of which by their number seemed to be the
knots that marked the centuries of his life, and which rested against the
extremity of his ear that was white with age. And he approached that hermit
with a bow, and the hermit welcomed him with hospitable greetings. And the
hermit, after entertaining him with fruits and other delicacies, asked him,
“Whence have you come, and whither are you going? Tell me, good sir.” And
Śaktideva inclining respectfully, said to that hermit,—“I have come, venerable
sir, from the city of Vardhamána, and I have undertaken to go to the Golden
City in accordance with a vow. But I do not know where that city lies; tell me
venerable sir, if you know.” The hermit answered, “My son, I have lived eight
hundred years in this hermitage, and I have never even heard of that city.”
Śaktideva when he heard this from the hermit, was cast down, and said
again—“Then my wanderings through the earth will end by my dying here.” Then
that hermit, having gradually elicited the whole story said to him, “If you are
firmly resolved, then do what I tell you. Three yojanas from here there is a
country named Kámpilya, and in it is a mountain named Uttara, and on it there
is a hermitage. There dwells my noble elder brother named Dírghatapas; go to him,
he being old may perhaps know of that city.” When Śaktideva heard that, hope
arose in his breast, and having spent the night there he quickly set out in the
morning from that place. And wearied with the laborious journey through
difficult forest country, he at last reached that region of Kámpilya and
ascended that mountain Uttara; and there he beheld that hermit Dírghatapas in a
hermitage, and he was delighted and approached him with a bow: and the hermit
received him hospitably: and Śaktideva said to him, “I am on my way to the City
of Gold spoken of by the king’s daughter: but I do not know, venerable sir,
where that city is. However I am bound to find it, so I have been sent to you
by the sage Súryatapas in order that I may discover where it lies.” When he had
said this, the hermit answered him, “Though I am so old, my son, I have never
heard of that city till to-day; I have made acquaintance with various
travellers from foreign lands, and I have never heard any one speak of it; much
less have I seen it. But I am sure it must be in some distant foreign island,
and I can tell you an expedient to help you in this matter; there is in the
midst of the ocean an island named Utsthala, and in it there is a rich king of
the Nishádas named Satyavrata. He goes to and fro among all the other islands,
and he may have seen or heard of that city. Therefore first go to the city
named Viṭankapura situated on the border of the sea. And from that place go
with some merchant in a ship to the island where that Nisháda dwells, in order
that you may attain your object.” When Śaktideva heard this from the hermit, he
immediately followed his advice, and taking leave of him set out from the
hermitage. And after accomplishing many kos and crossing many lands, he reached
the city of Viṭankapura, the ornament of the sea-shore. There he sought out a
merchant named Samudradatta, who traded with the island of Utsthala, and struck
up a friendship with him. And he went on board his ship with him, and having
food for the voyage fully supplied by his kindness, he set out on the
ocean-path. Then, when they had but a short distance to travel, there arose a
black cloud with rumbling thunder, resembling a roaring Rákshasa, with
flickering lightning to represent his lolling tongue. And a furious hurricane
began to blow like Destiny herself, whirling up light objects and hurling down
heavy. And from the sea, lashed by the wind, great waves rose aloft like the
mountains equipped with wings, indignant that their asylum had been attacked.
And that vessel rose on high one moment, and the next moment plunged below, as
if exhibiting how rich men are first elevated and then cast down. And the next
moment that ship, shrilly laden with the cries of the merchants, burst and
split asunder as if with the weight. And the ship being broken, that merchant
its owner fell into the sea, but floating through it on a plank he at last
reached another vessel. But as Śaktideva fell, a large fish, opening its mouth
and neck, swallowed him without injuring any of his limbs. And as that fish was
roaming at will in the midst of the sea, it happened to pass near the island of
Utsthala; and by chance some servants of that king of the fishermen Satyavrata,
who were engaged in the pursuit of small fish, came there and caught it. And those
fishermen, proud of their prize, immediately dragged it along to shew to their
king, for it was of enormous size. He too, out of curiosity, seeing that it was
of such extraordinary size, ordered his servants to cut it open; and when it
was cut open, Śaktideva came out alive from its belly, having endured a second
wonderful imprisonment in the womb. Then the fisher-king Satyavrata, when he
saw that young man come out and bestow his blessing on him, was astonished, and
asked him, “Who are you, and how did this lot of dwelling in the belly of the
fish befall you? What means this exceedingly strange fate that you have
suffered.” When Śaktideva heard this, he answered that king of the fishermen:
“I am a Bráhman of the name of Śaktideva from the city of Vardhamána; and I am
bound to visit the City of Gold, and because I do not know where it is, I have
for a long time wandered far over the earth; then I gathered from a speech of
Dírghatapas’ that it was probably in an island, so I set out to find Satyavrata
the king of the fishermen, who lives in the island of Utsthala, in order to
learn its whereabouts, but on the way I suffered shipwreck, and so having been
whelmed in the sea and swallowed by a fish, I have been brought here now.” When
Śaktideva had said this, Satyavrata said to him: “I am in truth Satyavrata, and
this is the very island you were seeking; but though I have seen many islands,
I have never seen the city you desire to find, but I have heard of it as
situated in one of the distant islands.” Having said this, and perceiving that
Śaktideva was cast down, Satyavrata out of kindness for his guest went on to
say: “Bráhman, do not be despondent; remain here this night, and to-morrow
morning I will devise some expedient to enable you to attain your object.” The
Bráhman was thus consoled by the king, and sent off to a monastery of Bráhmans,
where guests were readily entertained. There Śaktideva was supplied with food
by a Bráhman named Vishṇudatta, an inmate of the monastery, and entered into
conversation with him. And in the course of that conversation, being questioned
by him, he told him in a few words his country, his family, and his whole
history. When Vishṇudatta heard that, he immediately embraced him, and said in
a voice indistinct from the syllables being choked with tears of joy: “Bravo!
you are the son of my maternal uncle and a fellow-countryman of mine. But I
long ago in my childhood left that country to come here. So stop here awhile,
and soon the stream of merchants and pilots that come here from other islands
will accomplish your wish.” Having told him his descent in these words, Vishṇudatta
waited upon Śaktideva with all becoming attentions. And Śaktideva, forgetting
the toil of the journey, obtained delight, for the meeting a relation in a foreign
land is like a fountain of nectar in the desert. And he considered that the
accomplishment of his object was near at hand, for good luck, befalling one by
the way indicates success in an undertaking. So he reclined at night sleepless
upon his bed, with his mind fixed upon the attainment of his desire, and Vishṇudatta,
who was by his side, in order to encourage and delight him at the same time,
related to him the following tale:
Story of Aśokadatta
and Vijayadatta
Formerly
there was a great Bráhman named Govindasvámin, living on a great royal grant of
land on the banks of the Yamuná. And in course of time there were born to that
virtuous Bráhman two sons like himself, Aśokadatta and Vijayadatta. While they
were living there, there arose a terrible famine in that land, and so
Govindasvámin said to his wife; “This land is ruined by famine, and I cannot
bear to behold the misery of my friends and relations. For who gives anything
to anybody? So let us at any rate give away to our friends and relations what
little food we possess and leave this country. And let us go with our family to
Benares to live there.” When he said this to his wife, she consented, and he
gave away his food, and set out from that place with his wife, sons, and
servants. For men of noble soul cannot bear to witness the miseries of their
relatives. And on the road he beheld a skull-bearing Śaiva ascetic, white with
ashes, and with matted hair, like the god Śiva himself with his half-moon. The
Bráhman approached that wise man with a bow, and out of love for his sons,
asked him about their destiny, whether it should be good or bad, and that Yogí
answered him: “The future destiny of your sons is auspicious, but you shall be
separated, Bráhman, from this younger one Vijayadatta, and finally by the might
of the second Aśokadatta you shall be reunited to him.” Govindasvámin, when
that wise man said this to him, took leave of him and departed overpowered with
joy, grief, and wonder; and after reaching Benares he spent the day there in a
temple of Durgá outside the town, engaged in worshipping the goddess and such
like occupations. And in the evening he encamped outside that temple under a
tree, with his family, in the company of pilgrims who had come from other
countries. And at night, while all were asleep, wearied with their long
journey, stretched out on strewn leaves, and, such other beds as travellers
have to put up with, his younger son Vijayadatta, who was awake, was suddenly
seized with a cold ague-fit; that ague quickly made him tremble, and caused his
hair to stand on end, as if it had been the fear of his approaching separation
from his relations. And oppressed with the cold he woke up his father, and said
to him: “A terrible ague afflicts me here now, father, so bring fuel and light
me a fire to keep off the cold, in no other way can I obtain relief or get
through the night.” When Govindasvámin heard him say this, he was distressed at
his suffering, and said to him; “Whence can I procure fire now my son?” Then
his son said; “Why surely we may see a fire burning near us on this side, and
it is very large, so why should I not go there and warm my body? So take me by
the hand, for I have a shivering fit, and lead me there.” Thus entreated by his
son the Bráhman went on to say: “This is a cemetery, and the fire is that of a
funeral pyre, so how can you go to a place terrible from the presence of
goblins and other spirits, for you are only a child?” When the brave
Vijayadatta heard that speech of his affectionate father’s, he laughed and said
in his confidence, “What can the wretched goblins and other evil ones do to me?
Am I a weakling? So take me there without fear.” When he said this so
persistently, his father led him there, and the boy warming his body approached
the pyre, which seemed to bear on itself the presiding deity of the Rákshasas
in visible form, with the smoke of the flames for dishevelled hair, devouring
the flesh of men. The boy at once encouraged his father and asked him what the
round thing was that he saw inside the pyre. And his father standing at his
side, answered him, “This, my son, is the skull of a man which is burning in
the pyre.” Then the boy in his recklessness struck the skull with a piece of
wood lighted at the top, and clove it. The brains spouted up from it and
entered his mouth, like the initiation into the practices of the Rákshasas,
bestowed upon him by the funeral flame. And by tasting them that boy became a
Rákshasa, with hair standing on end, with sword that he had drawn from the
flame, terrible with projecting tusks: so he seized the skull and drinking the
brains from it, he licked it with tongue restlessly quivering like the flames
of fire that clung to the bone. Then be flung aside the skull, and lifting his
sword he attempted to slay his own father Govindasvámin. But at that moment a
voice came out from the cemetery, “Kapálasphoṭa, thou god, thou oughtest not to
slay thy father, come here.” When the boy heard that, having obtained the title
of Kapálasphoṭa and become a Rákshasa, he let his father alone, and
disappeared; and his father departed exclaiming aloud, “Alas my son! Alas my
virtuous son! Alas Vijayadatta!” And he returned to the temple of Durgá; and in
the morning he told his wife and his eldest son Aśokadatta what had taken
place. Then that unfortunate man together with them suffered an attack of the
fire of grief, terrible like the falling of lightning from a cloud, so that the
other people, who were sojourning in Benares, and had come to visit the shrine
of the goddess, came up to him and sympathised heartily with his sorrow. In the
meanwhile a great merchant, who had come to worship the goddess, named
Samudradatta, beheld Govindasvámin in that state. The good man approached him
and comforted him, and immediately took him and his family home to his own
house. And there he provided him with a bath and other luxuries, for this is
the innate tendency of the great, to have mercy upon the wretched.
Govindasvámin also and his wife recovered their self-command, having heard the
speech of the great Śaiva ascetic, hoping to be re-united to their son. And
thenceforth he lived in that city of Benares, in the house of that rich
merchant, having been asked by him to do so. And there his other son Aśokadatta
grew up to be a young man, and after studying the sciences learnt boxing and
wrestling. And gradually he attained such eminence in these arts, that he was
not surpassed by any champion on the earth. And once on a time there was a
great gathering of wrestlers at an idol procession, and a great and famous
wrestler came from the Deccan. He conquered all the other wrestlers of the king
of Benares, who was called Pratápamukuṭa, before his eyes. Then the king had
Aśokadatta quickly summoned from the house of that excellent merchant, and
ordered him to contend with that wrestler. That wrestler began the combat by
catching the arm of Aśokadatta with his hand, but Aśokadatta seized his arm,
and hurled him to the ground. Then the field of combat, as it were, pleased,
applauded the victor with the resounding noise produced by the fall of that
champion wrestler. And the king being gratified, loaded Aśokadatta with jewels,
and having seen his might, he made him his own personal attendant. So he became
a favourite of the king’s, and in time attained great prosperity, for to one
who possesses heroic qualities, a king who appreciates merit is a perfect
treasure-house. Once on a time, that king went on the fourteenth day of the
month away from his capital, to worship the god Śiva in a splendid temple in a
distant town. After he had paid his devotions, he was returning by night near
the cemetery when he heard this utterance issue from it: “O king, the chief
magistrate out of private malice proclaimed that I deserved death, and it is
now the third day since I was impaled, and even now my life will not leave my
body, though I am innocent, so I am exceedingly thirsty; O king, order water to
be given me.” When the king heard it, out of pity he said to his personal
attendant Aśokadatta, “Send that man some water.” Then Aśokadatta said, “Who
would go there at night? So I had better go myself.” Accordingly he took the
water, and set off. After the king had proceeded on his way to his capital, the
hero entered that cemetery, the interior of which was difficult to penetrate,
as it was filled with dense darkness within; in it there were awful evening
oblations offered with the human flesh scattered about by the jackals; in
places the cemetery was lighted up by the flaming beacons of the blazing
funeral pyres, and in it the Vetálas made terrible music with the clapping of
their hands, so that it seemed as if it were the palace of black night. Then he
cried aloud, “Who asked the king for water?” And he heard from one quarter an
answer, “I asked for it.” Following the voice he went to a funeral pyre near,
and beheld a man impaled on the top of a stake, and underneath it he saw a
woman that he had never seen before, weeping, adorned with beautiful ornaments,
lovely in every limb; like the night adorned with the rays of the moon, now
that the moon itself had set, its splendour having waned in the dark fortnight,
come to worship the funeral pyre. He asked the woman: “Who are you, mother, and
why are you standing weeping here?” She answered him, “I am the ill-fated wife
of him who is here impaled, and I am waiting here with the firm intention of
ascending the funeral pyre with him. And I am waiting some time for his life to
leave his body, for though it is the third day of his impalement, his breath
does not depart. And he often asks for that water which I have brought here,
but I cannot reach his mouth, my friend, as the stake is high.” When he heard
that speech of hers, the mighty hero said to her: “But here is water in my hand
sent to him by the king, so place your foot on my back and lift it to his
mouth, for the mere touching of another man in sore need does not disgrace a
woman.” When she heard that, she consented, and taking the water she climbed up
so as to plant her two feet on the back of Aśokadatta, who bent down at the foot
of the stake. Soon after, as drops of blood unexpectedly began to fall upon the
earth and on his back, the hero lifted up his face and looked. Then he saw that
woman cutting off slice after slice of that impaled man’s flesh with a knife,
and eating it.
Then,
perceiving that she was some horrible demon, he dragged her down in a rage, and
took hold of her by her foot with its tinkling anklets in order to dash her to
pieces on the earth. She, for her part, dragged away from him that foot, and by
her deluding power quickly flew up into the heaven, and became invisible. And
the jewelled anklet, which had fallen from her foot, while she was dragging it
away, remained in one of Aśokadatta’s hands. Then he, reflecting that she had
disappeared after shewing herself mild at first, and evil-working in the
middle, and at the end horror-striking by assuming a terrible form, like
association with wicked men,—and seeing that heavenly anklet in his hand, was
astonished, grieved and delighted at the same time; and then he left that
cemetery, taking the anklet with him, and went to his own house, and in the
morning, after bathing, to the palace of the king.
And when
the king said—“Did you give the water to the man who was impaled,” he said he
had done so, and gave him that anklet; and when the king of his own accord
asked him where it came from, he told that king his wonderful and terrible
night-adventure. And then the king, perceiving that his courage was superior to
that of all men, though he was before pleased with his other excellent
qualities, was now more exceedingly delighted; and he took that anklet in his
joy and gave it with his own hand to the queen, and described to her the way in
which he had obtained it. And she, hearing the story and beholding that heavenly
jewelled anklet, rejoiced in her heart and was continually engaged in extolling
Aśokadatta. Then the king said to her: “Queen, in birth, in learning, in
truthfulness and beauty Aśokadatta is great among the great; and I think it
would be a good thing if he were to become the husband of our lovely daughter
Madanalekhá; in a bridegroom these qualities are to be looked for, not fortune
that vanishes in a moment, so I will give my daughter to this excellent hero.”
When she heard that speech of her husband’s, that queen approving the proposal
said, “It is quite fitting, for the youth will be an appropriate match for her,
and her heart has been captivated by him, for she saw him in a spring-garden,
and for some days her mind has been in a state of vacancy and she neither hears
nor sees; I heard of it from her confidante, and, after spending an anxious
night, towards morning I fell asleep, and I remember I was thus addressed by
some heavenly woman in a dream, ‘My child, thou must not give this thy daughter
Madanalekhá to any one but Aśokadatta, for she is his wife acquired by him in a
former birth.’ And when I heard it, I woke up, and in the morning I went myself
on the strength of the dream and consoled my daughter. And now, my husband has
of his own accord proposed the marriage to me. Let her therefore be united to
him, as a spring-creeper to its stalk.” When the king’s beloved wife said this
to him, he was pleased, and he made festal rejoicings, and summoning Aśokadatta
gave that daughter to him. And the union of those two, the daughter of the
king, and the son of the great Bráhman, was such that each enhanced the other’s
glory, like the union of prosperity and modesty. And once upon a time the queen
said to the king, with reference to the anklet brought by Aśokadatta: “My
husband, this anklet by itself does not look well, so let another be made like
it.” When the king heard that, he gave an order to the goldsmiths and other
craftsmen of the kind, to make a second anklet like that. But they, after
examining it said;—“It is impossible, O king, to make another like it, for the
work is heavenly, not human. There are not many jewels of this kind upon the
earth, so let another be sought for where this was obtained.” When the king and
the queen heard this, they were despondent, and Aśokadatta who was there, on
seeing that, immediately said, “I myself will bring you a fellow to that
anklet.” And having made this promise he could not give up the project on which
he was resolved, although the king, terrified at his temerity, endeavoured to
dissuade him out of affection. And taking the anklet he went again on the
fourteenth night of the black fortnight to the cemetery where he had first
obtained it; and after he had entered that cemetery which was full of Rákshasas
as it was of trees, besmirched with the copious smoke of the funeral pyres, and
with men hanging from their trunks which were weighed down and surrounded with
nooses, he did not at first see that woman that he had seen before, but he
thought of an admirable device for obtaining that bracelet, which was nothing
else than the selling of human flesh. So he pulled down a corpse from the noose
by which it was suspended on the tree, and he wandered about in the cemetery,
crying aloud—“Human flesh for sale, buy, buy!” And immediately a woman called
to him from a distance, saying, “Courageous man, bring the human flesh and come
along with me.” When he heard that, he advanced following that woman, and
beheld at no great distance under a tree a lady of heavenly appearance,
surrounded with women, sitting on a throne, glittering with jewelled ornaments,
whom he would never have expected to find in such a place, any more than to
find a lotus in a desert. And having been led up by that woman, he approached
the lady seated as has been described, and said, “Here I am, I sell human
flesh, buy, buy!” And then the lady of heavenly appearance said to him,
“Courageous hero, for what price will you sell the flesh?” Then the hero, with
the corpse hanging over his shoulder and back, said to her, shewing her at the
same time that single jewelled anklet which was in his hand, “I will give this
flesh to whoever will give me a second anklet like this one; if you have got a
second like it, take the flesh.” When she heard that, she said to him, “I have
a second like it, for this very single anklet was taken by you from me. I am
that very woman who was seen by you near the impaled man, but you do not
recognise me now, because I have assumed another shape. So what is the use of
flesh? If you do what I tell you, I will give you my second anklet, which
matches the one in your hand.” When she said this to the hero, he consented and
said, “I will immediately do whatever you say.” Then she told him her whole
desire from the beginning: “There is, good sir, a city named Trighanṭa on a
peak of the Himálayas. In it there lived a heroic prince of the Rákshasas named
Lambajihva. I am his wife, Vidyuchchhikhá by name, and I can change my form at
will. And as fate would have it, that husband of mine, after the birth of my
daughter, was slain in battle fighting in front of the king Kapálasphoṭa; then
that king being pleased gave me his own city, and I have lived with my daughter
in great comfort on its proceeds up to the present time. And that daughter of mine
has by this time grown up to fresh womanhood, and I have great anxiety in my
mind as to how to obtain for her a brave husband. Then being here on the
fourteenth night of the lunar fortnight, and seeing you coming along this way
with the king, I thought—‘This good-looking youth is a hero and a fit match for
my daughter. So why should I not devise some stratagem for obtaining him?’ Thus
I determined, and imitating the voice of an impaled person, I asked for water,
and brought you into the middle of that cemetery by a trick. And there I
exhibited my delusive power in assuming a false shape and other
characteristics, and saying what was false I imposed upon you there, though
only for a moment. And I artfully left one of my anklets there to attract you again,
like a binding chain to draw you, and then I came away. And to-day I have
obtained you by that very expedient, so come to my house; marry my daughter and
receive the other anklet.” When the Rákshasí said this to him, the hero
consented, and by means of her magic power he went with her through the air to
her city. And he saw that city built of gold on a peak of the Himálayas, like
the orb of the sun fixed in one spot, being weary with the toil of wandering
through the heavens. There he married that daughter of the prince of the
Rákshasas, by name Vidyutprabhá, like the success of his own daring incarnate
in bodily form. And Aśokadatta dwelt with that loved one some time in that
city, enjoying great comfort by means of his mother-in-law’s wealth. Then he
said to his mother-in-law, “Give me that anklet, for I must now go to the city
of Benares, for I myself long ago promised the king that I would bring a second
anklet, that would vie with the first one so distinguished for its unparalleled
beauty.” The mother-in-law, having been thus entreated by her son-in-law, gave
him that second anklet of hers, and in addition a golden lotus.
Then he
left that city with the anklet and the lotus, after promising to return, and
his mother-in-law by the power of her magic knowledge carried him once more
through the air to the cemetery. And then she stopped under the tree and said
to him, “I always come here on the fourteenth night of the black fortnight, and
whenever you come here on that night, you will find me here under the
banyan-tree.” When Aśokadatta heard this, he agreed to come there on that
night, and took leave of that Rákshasí, and went first to his father’s house.
And just as he was gladdening by his unexpected arrival his parents, who were
grieved by such an absence of his, which doubled their grief for their
separation from their younger son, the king his father-in-law, who had heard of
his arrival, came in. The king indulged in a long outburst of joy, embracing
him who bent before him, with limbs the hairs of which stood on end like
thorns, as if terrified at touching one so daring. Then Aśokadatta entered with
him the palace of the king, like joy incarnate in bodily form, and he gave to
the king those two anklets matched together, which so to speak praised his
valour with their tinkling, and he bestowed on that king the beautiful golden
lotus, as it were the lotus, with which the presiding Fortune of the Rákshasas’
treasure plays, torn, from her hand; then being questioned out of curiosity by
the king and queen he told the story of his exploits, which poured nectar into
their ears. The king then exclaimed—“Is glittering glory, which astonishes the
mind by the description of wonderful exploits, ever obtained without a man’s
bringing himself to display boldness?” Thus the king spake on that occasion,
and he and the queen, who had obtained the pair of anklets, considered their
object in life attained, now that they had such a son-in-law. And then that
palace, resounding with festal instruments, appeared as if it were chanting the
virtues of Aśokadatta. And on the next day the king dedicated the golden lotus
in a temple made by himself, placing it upon a beautiful silver vessel; and the
two together, the vessel and the lotus, gleamed white and red like the glory of
the king and the might of Aśokadatta. And beholding them thus, the king, a
devout worshipper of Śiva, with eyes expanded with joy, spoke inspired with the
rapture of adoration, “Ah! this lofty vessel appears, with this lotus upon it,
like Śiva white with ashes, with his auburn matted locks. If I had a second
golden lotus like it, I would place it in this second silver vessel.” When
Aśokadatta heard this speech of the king’s, he said, “I, king, will bring you a
second golden lotus;” when the king heard that, he answered him, “I have no
need of another lotus, a truce to your temerity!” Then as days went on,
Aśokadatta being desirous of bringing a golden lotus, the fourteenth day of the
black fortnight returned; and that evening the sun, the golden lotus of the
sky-lake, went to the mountain of setting, as if out of fear, knowing his
desire for a golden lotus; and when the shades of night, brown as smoke, began
immediately to spread everywhere like Rákshasas, proud of having swallowed the
red clouds of evening as if they were raw flesh, and the mouth of night, like
that of an awful female goblin, began to yawn, shining and terrible as tamála,
full of flickering flames, Aśokadatta of his own accord left the palace where
the princess was asleep, and again went to that cemetery. There he beheld at
the foot of that banyan-tree his mother-in-law the Rákshasí, who had again
come, and who received him with a courteous welcome, and with her the youth
went again to her home, the peak of the Himálayas, where his wife was anxiously
awaiting him. And after he had remained some time with his wife, he said to his
mother-in-law, “Give me a second golden lotus from somewhere or other.” When she
heard that, she said to him, “Whence can I procure another golden lotus? But
there is a lake here belonging to our king Kapálasphoṭa, where golden lotuses
of this kind grow on all sides. From that lake he gave that one lotus to my
husband as a token of affection.” When she said this, he answered her, “Then
take me to that lake, in order that I may myself take a golden lotus from it.”
She then attempted to dissuade him saying, “It is impossible; for the lake is
guarded by terrible Rákshasas;” but nevertheless he would not desist from his
importunity. Then at last his mother-in-law was with much difficulty induced to
take him there, and he beheld from afar that heavenly lake on the plateau of a
lofty mountain, covered with dense and tall-stalked lotuses of gleaming gold,
as if from continually facing the sun’s rays they had drunk them in, and so
become interpenetrated with them.
So he went
there and began to gather the lotuses, and while he was thus engaged, the
terrible Rákshasas, who guarded it, endeavoured to prevent him from doing so.
And being armed he killed some of them, but the others fled and told their king
Kapálasphoṭa, and when that king of the Rákshasas heard of it, he was enraged
and came there himself, and saw Aśokadatta with the lotuses he had carried off.
And in his astonishment he exclaimed as he recognised his brother: “What! is
this my brother Aśokadatta come here?” Then he flung away his weapon, and with
his eyes washed with tears of joy, he quickly ran and fell at his feet, and
said to him: “I am Vijayadatta, your younger brother, we are both the sons of
that excellent Bráhman Govindasvámin. And by the appointment of destiny, I
became a Rákshasa such as you see, and have continued such for this long time,
and I am called Kapálasphoṭa from my cleaving the skull on the funeral pyre.
“But now
from seeing you I have remembered my former Bráhman nature, and that Rákshasa
nature of mine, that clouded my mind with delusion, has left me.” When
Vijayadatta said this, Aśokadatta embraced him, and so to speak, washed with
copious tears of joy his body defiled by the Rákshasa nature. And while he was
thus engaged, there descended from heaven by divine command the spiritual guide
of the Vidyádharas, named Kauśika. And he approaching these two brothers, said,
“You and your family are all Vidyádharas, who have been reduced to this state
by a curse, and now the curse of all of you has terminated. So receive these
sciences, which belong to you, and which you must share with your relations.
And return to your own proper dwelling taking with you your relations.” Having
said this, the spiritual guide, after bestowing the sciences on them, ascended
to heaven.
And they,
having become Vidyádharas, awoke from their long dream, and went through the
air to that peak of the Himálayas, taking with them the golden lotuses, and
there Aśokadatta repaired to his wife the daughter of the king of the
Rákshasas, and then her curse came to an end, and she became a Vidyádharí. And
those two brothers went in a moment with that fair-eyed one to Benares,
travelling through the air. And there they visited their parents, who were
scorched with the fire of separation, and refreshed them by pouring upon them
the revivifying nectar of their own appearance. And those two, who, without
changing the body, had gone through such wonderful transformations, produced
joy not only in their parents, but in the people at large. And when
Vijayadatta’s father, after so long a separation, folded him in a close
embrace, he filled full not only his arms, but also his desire. Then the king
Pratápamukuṭa, the father-in-law of Aśokadatta, hearing of it, came there in
high delight; and Aśokadatta, being kindly received by the king, entered with
his relations the king’s palace, in which his beloved was anxiously awaiting
him, and which was in a state of festal rejoicing. And he gave many golden
lotuses to that king, and the king was delighted at getting more than he had
asked for. Then Vijayadatta’s father Govindasvámin, full of wonder and
curiosity, said to him in the presence of all: “Tell me, my son, what sort of
adventures you had, after you had become a Rákshasa in the cemetery during the
night.” Then Vijayadatta said to him—“My father, when in my reckless frivolity
I had cloven the burning skull on the funeral pyre, as fate would have it, I
immediately, as you saw, became a Rákshasa by its brains having entered my
mouth, being bewildered with delusion. Then I was summoned by the other
Rákshasas, who gave me the name of Kapálasphoṭa, and I joined them. And then I
was led by them to their sovereign the king of the Rákshasas, and he, when he
saw me, was pleased with me and appointed me commander-in-chief. And once on a
time that king of the Rákshasas went in his infatuation to attack the
Gandharvas, and was there slain in battle by his foes. And then his subjects
accepted my rule, so I dwelt in his city and ruled those Rákshasas, and while I
was there, I suddenly beheld that elder brother of mine Aśokadatta, who had
come for golden lotuses, and the sight of him put a stop to that Rákshasa
nature in me. What follows, how we were released from the power of the curse,
and thereby recovered our sciences, all this my elder brother will relate to
you.” When Vijayadatta had told this story, Aśokadatta began to tell his from
the beginning: “Long ago we were Vidyádharas, and from the heaven we beheld the
daughters of the hermits bathing in the Ganges near the hermitage of Gálava,
and then we fell suddenly in love with them, and they returned our affection;
all this took place in secret, but their relations, who possessed heavenly
insight, found it out and cursed us in their anger: ‘May you two wicked ones be
born both of you to a mortal woman, and then you shall be separated in a
marvellous manner, but when the second of you shall behold the first arrived in
a distant land, inaccessible to man, and shall recognise him, then you shall
have your magic knowledge restored to you by the spiritual preceptor of the
Vidyádharas, and you shall again become Vidyádharas, released from the curse
and re-united to your friends.’ Having been cursed in this way by those
hermits, we were both born here in this land, and you know the whole story of
our separation, and now by going to the city of the king of the Rákshasas, by
virtue of my mother-in-law’s magic power, to fetch the golden lotuses, I have
found this younger brother of mine. And in that very place we obtained the
sciences from our preceptor Prajnaptikauśika, and suddenly becoming Vidyádharas
we have quickly arrived here.” Thus Aśokadatta spoke, and then that hero of
various adventures, delighted at having escaped the darkness of the curse,
bestowed on his parents and his beloved, the daughter of the king, his own
wonderful sciences of many kinds, so that their minds were suddenly awakened,
and they became Vidyádharas. Then the happy hero took leave of the king, and
with his brother, his parents, and his two wives, flew up, and quickly reached
through the air the palace of his emperor. There he beheld him, and received
his orders, and so did his brother, and he bore henceforth the name of
Aśokavega, and his brother of Vijayavega. And both the brothers, having become
noble Vidyádhara youths, went, accompanied by their relations, to the splendid
mountain named Govindakúṭa, which now became their home. And Pratápamukuṭa the
king of Benares, overpowered by wonder, placed one of the golden lotuses in the
second vessel in his temple, and offered to Śiva the other golden lotuses
presented by Aśokadatta, and delighted with the honour of his connexion,
considered his family highly fortunate.
“Thus
divine persons become incarnate for some reason, and are born in this world of
men, and possessing their native virtue and courage, attain successes which it
is hard to win. So I am persuaded that you, O sea of courage, are some portion
of a divinity, and will attain success as you desire; daring in achievements
hard to accomplish even by the great, generally indicates a surpassingly
excellent nature. Moreover the princess Kanakarekhá, whom you love, must surely
be a heavenly being, otherwise being a mere child how could she desire a
husband that has seen the Golden City?” Having heard in secret this long and
interesting story from Vishṇudatta, Śaktideva desiring in his heart to behold
the Golden City, and supporting himself with resolute patience, managed to get
through the night.
0 Comments
If you have any Misunderstanding Please let me know