The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 56

But they could not find them out, and the city went on being robbed; so one night the king himself went out to watch; and as he was roaming about armed, he saw in a certain part of the town a single individual going along the rampart. He shewed great dexterity in his movements, as he made his footfall perfectly noiseless, and he often looked behind him with eyes anxiously rolling. The king said to himself, "Without doubt this is the thief, who sallies out by himself and plunders my city;" so he went up to him. Then the thief, seeing the king, said to him, "Who are you," and the king answered him, "I am a thief." Then the thief said, "Bravo! you are my friend, as you belong to the same profession as myself; so come to my house, I will entertain you." When the king heard that, he consented, and went with him to his dwelling, which was in an underground cavern in a forest. It was luxuriously and magnificently furnished, illuminated by blazing lamps, and looked like a second Patala, not governed by king Bali.

When the king had entered, and had taken a seat, the robber went into the inner rooms of his cave-dwelling. At that moment a female slave came and said to the king, "Great Sir, how came you to enter this mouth of death? This man is a notable thief; no doubt, when he comes out from those rooms, he will do you some injury: I a.s.sure you, he is treacherous; so leave this place at once." When the king heard this, he left the place at once, and went to his own palace and got ready his forces that very night.

And when his army was ready for battle, he came and blockaded the entrance of that robber's cave with his troops, who sounded all their martial instruments. [338] Then the brave robber, as his hold was blockaded, knew that his secret had been discovered, and he rushed out to fight, determined to die. And when he came out, he displayed superhuman prowess in battle; alone, armed with sword and s.h.i.+eld, he cut off the trunks of elephants, he slashed off the legs of horses, and lopped off the heads of soldiers. When he had made this havoc among the soldiers, the king himself attacked him. And the king, who was a skilful swordsman, by a dexterous trick of fence forced his sword from his hand, and then the dagger which he drew; and as he was now disarmed, the king threw away his own weapon, and grappling with him, flung him on the earth, and captured him alive. And he brought him back as a prisoner to his own capital, with all his wealth. And he gave orders that he should be put to death by impalement next morning.

Now, when that robber was being conducted with beat of drum to the place of execution, that merchant's daughter Ratnavati saw him from her palace. Though he was wounded, and his body was begrimed with dust, she was distracted with love as soon as she saw him, so she went and said to her father Ratnadatta, "I select as my husband this man here, who is being led off to execution, so ransom him from the king, my father; if you will not, I shall follow him to the other world." When her father heard this he said, "My daughter, what is this that you say? Before you would not accept suitors endowed with all virtues, equal to the G.o.d of love. How comes it that you are now in love with an infamous brigand chief?" Though her father used this argument, and others of the same kind with her, she remained fixed in her determination. Then the merchant went quickly to the king, and offered him all his wealth, if he would grant the robber his life. But the king would not make over to him, even for hundreds of crores of gold pieces, that thief who had robbed on such a gigantic scale, and whom he had captured at the risk of his own life. Then the father returned disappointed, and his daughter made up her mind to follow the thief to the other world, though her relations tried to dissuade her; so she bathed, and got into a palanquin, and went to the spot where his execution was taking place, followed by her father and mother and the people, all weeping.

In the meanwhile the robber had been impaled by the executioners, and as his life was ebbing away on the stake, he saw her coming there with her kinsfolk. And when he heard the whole story from the people, he wept for a moment, and then he laughed a little, and then died on the stake. Then the merchant's virtuous daughter had the thief's body taken down from the stake, and she ascended the funeral pyre with it. [339]

And at that very moment the holy Siva, who was invisibly present in the cemetery, spake from the air, "Faithful wife, I am pleased with thy devotedness to thy self-chosen husband, so crave a boon of me." When she heard that, she wors.h.i.+pped and prayed the G.o.d of G.o.ds to grant her the following boon, "Lord, may my father, who has now no sons, have a hundred, for otherwise, as he has no children but me, he would abandon his life." [340] When the good woman had said this, the G.o.d once more spake to her, saving, "Let thy father have a hundred sons! choose another boon; for such a steadfastly good woman, as thou art, deserves something more than this."

When she heard this, she said, "If the Lord is pleased with me, then let this husband of mine rise up alive, and be henceforth a well conducted man!" Thereupon Siva, invisible in the air, uttered these words, "Be it so; let thy husband rise up alive, and lead henceforth a life of virtue, and let king Viraketu be pleased with him!" And immediately the robber rose up alive with unwounded limbs.

Then the merchant Ratnadatta was delighted, and astonished at the same time; and with his daughter Ratnavati and the bandit his son-in-law, and his delighted relations, he entered his own palace, and as he had obtained from the G.o.d the promise of sons, he held a feast suitable to his own joy on the occasion. And when king Viraketu heard what had taken place, he was pleased, and he immediately summoned that heroic thief, and made him commander of his army. And thereupon the heroic thief gave up his dishonest life, and married the merchant's daughter, and led a respectable life, honoured by the king.

When the Vetala, seated on the shoulder of king Trivikramasena, had told him this tale, he asked him the following question, menacing him with the before-mentioned curse; "Tell me, king, why that thief, when impaled, first wept and then laughed, when he saw the merchant's daughter come with her father." Then the king said; "He wept for sorrow that he had not been able to repay the merchant for his gratuitous kindness to him; and he laughed out of astonishment, as he said to himself, 'What! has this maiden, after rejecting kings who asked for her hand, fallen in love with me? In truth a woman's heart is an intricate labyrinth.'" When the king had said this, the mighty Vetala, by means of the magic power which he possessed, again left the king's shoulder and returned to his station on the tree, and the king once more went to fetch him.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIX.

(Vetala 15.)

Then king Trivikramasena again went back to the asoka-tree and took the Vetala from it, and set out with him once more; and as the king was going along, the Vetala, perched on his shoulder, said to him; "Listen, king, I will tell you another story."

Story of the magic globule.

There was in the kingdom of Nepala a city named Sivapura, and in it there lived of old time a king rightly named Yasahketu. He devolved upon his minister, named Prajnasagara, the burden of his kingdom, and enjoyed himself in the society of his queen Chandraprabha. And in course of time that king had born to him, by that queen, a daughter named Sasiprabha, bright as the moon, the eye of the world.

Now in course of time she grew up to womanhood, and one day, in the month of spring, she went to a garden, with her attendants, to witness a festive procession. And in a certain part of that garden a Brahman, of the name of Manahsvamin, the son of a rich man, who had come to see the procession, beheld her engaged in gathering flowers, raising her lithe arm, and displaying her graceful shape; and she looked charming when the grasp of her thumb and forefinger on the stalks of the flowers relaxed. When the young man Manahsvamin saw her, she at once robbed him of his heart, and he was bewildered by love and no longer master of his feelings. [341] He said to himself, "Can this be Rati come in person to gather the flowers acc.u.mulated by spring, in order to make arrows for the G.o.d of love? Or is it the presiding G.o.ddess of the wood, come to wors.h.i.+p the spring?" While he was making these surmises, the princess caught sight of him. And as soon as she saw him, looking like a second G.o.d of love created with a body, she forgot her flowers, and her limbs, and her own personal ident.i.ty.

While those two were thus overpowered by the pa.s.sion of mutual love at first sight, a loud shout of alarm was raised, and they both looked with uplifted heads to see what it could mean. Then there came that way an elephant, rus.h.i.+ng along with its elephant-hook hanging down, that driven furious by perceiving the smell of another elephant, [342] had broken its fastenings, and rushed out in a state of frenzy, breaking down the trees in its path, and had thrown its driver. The princess's attendants dispersed in terror, but Manahsvamin eagerly rushed forward, and took her up alone in his arms, and while she clung timidly to him, bewildered with fear, love, and shame, carried her to a distance, out of reach of the elephant. Then her attendants came up and praised that n.o.ble Brahman, and conducted her back to her palace. But as she went, she frequently turned round to look at her deliverer. There she remained, thinking regretfully of that man who had saved her life, consumed day and night by the smouldering fire of love.

And Manahsvamin then left that garden, and seeing that the princess had entered her private apartments, he said to himself, in regretful longing, "I cannot remain without her, nay I cannot live without her: so my only resource in this difficulty is the cunning Muladeva, who is a master of magic arts." Having thus reflected, he managed to get through that day, and the next morning he went to visit that master of magic, Muladeva. And he saw that master, who was ever in the company of his friend Sasin, full of many marvellous magic ways, like the sky come down to earth in human shape. [343] And he humbly saluted him, and told him his desire; then the master laughed, and promised to accomplish it for him. Then that matchless deceiver Muladeva placed a magic globule [344] in his mouth, and transformed himself into an aged Brahman; and he gave the Brahman Manahsvamin a second globule to put in his mouth, and so made him a.s.sume the appearance of a beautiful maiden. And that prince of villains took him in this disguise to the judgment-hall of the king, the father of his lady-love, and said to him,"O king, I have only one son, and I asked for a maiden to be given him to wife, and brought her from a long distance; but now he has gone somewhere or other, and I am going to look for him; so keep this maiden safe for me until I bring back my son, for you keep safe under your protection the whole world." [345] When king Yasahketu heard this pet.i.tion, he granted it, fearing a curse if he did not, and summoned his daughter Sasiprabha, and said to her; "Daughter, keep this maiden in your palace, and let her sleep and take her meals with you." The princess agreed, and took Manahsvamin transformed into a maiden to her own private apartments; and then Muladeva, who had a.s.sumed the form of a Brahman, went where he pleased, and Manahsvamin remained in the form of a maiden with his beloved. [346]

And in a few days the princess became quite fond of and intimate with her new attendant; so, one night when she was pining at being separated from the object of her affections, and tossing on her couch, Manahsvamin, who was on a bed near her, concealed under a female shape, said secretly to her, "My dear Sa[s']iprabha, why are you pale of hue, and why do you grow thinner every day, and sorrow as one separated from the side of her beloved? Tell me, for why should you distrust loving modest attendants? From this time forth I will take no food until you tell me."

When the princess heard this, she sighed, and slowly told the following tale; "Why should I distrust you of all people? Listen, friend, I will tell you the cause. Once on a time I went to a spring garden to see a procession, and there I beheld a handsome young Brahman, who seemed like the month of spring, having the loveliness of the moon free from dew, kindling love at sight, adorning the grove with play of light. And while my eager eyes, drinking in the nectarous rays of the moon of his countenance, began to emulate the partridge, there came there a mighty elephant broken loose from its bonds, roaring and distilling its ichor like rain, looking like a black rain-cloud appearing out of season. My attendants dispersed terrified at that elephant, but when I was bewildered with fear, that young Brahman caught me up in his arms and carried me to a distance. Then contact with his body made me feel as if I were anointed with sandal-wood ointment, and bedewed with ambrosia, and I was in a state which I cannot describe. And in a moment my attendants re-a.s.sembled, and I was brought back reluctant to this my palace, and seemed to myself to have been cast down to earth from heaven. From that time forth I have often interviews in reveries with my beloved, that rescued me from death, and even when awake I seem to see him at my side. And when asleep I see him in dreams, coaxing me and dispelling my reserve with kisses and caresses. But, ill-fated wretch that I am, I cannot obtain him, for I am baffled by ignorance of his name and other particulars about him. So I am consumed, as you see, by the fire of separation from the lord of my life."

When Manahsvamin's ears had been filled with the nectar of this speech of the princess's, that Brahman, who was present there in female form, rejoiced, and considered that his object was attained, and that the time had come for revealing himself, so he took out the globule from his mouth, and displayed himself in his true form, and said; "Rolling-eyed one, I am that very Brahman, whom you bought with a look in the garden, and made your slave in the truest sense of the word. And from the immediate interruption of our acquaintance I derived that sorrow, of which the final result was my taking, as you see, the form of a maiden. Therefore, fair one, grant that the sorrow of separation, which both of us have endured, may not have been borne in vain, for Cupid cannot endure beyond this point." When the princess suddenly beheld her beloved in front of her, and heard him utter these words, she was at once filled with love, astonishment, and shame. So they eagerly went through the Gandharva ceremony of marriage. Then Manahsvamin lived happily in the palace, under two shapes; keeping the globule in his mouth during the day and so wearing a female shape, but at night taking it out, and a.s.suming the form of a man.

Now, as days went on, the brother-in-law of king Yasahketu, named Mrigankadatta, gave his own daughter, named Mrigankavati, in marriage to a young Brahman, the son of the minister Prajnasagara: and with her he bestowed much wealth. And the princess Sasiprabha was invited, on the occasion of her cousin's marriage, to her uncle's house, and went there accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting. And among them went the young Brahman, Manahsvamin, wearing the attractive form of a young maiden of exquisite beauty.

Then that minister's son beheld him disguised in female form, and was deeply pierced with the shafts of the archer Love. And when he went to his house, accompanied by his bride, it seemed to him to be empty; for he was robbed of his heart by that seeming maiden. Then he continued to think of nothing but the beauty of that supposed maiden's face, and bitten by the great snake of fierce pa.s.sion, he suddenly became distracted. The people, who were there, ceased from their rejoicing, and in their bewilderment asked what it meant, and his father Prajnasagara, hearing of it, came to him in haste. And when his father tried to comfort him, he woke up from his stupor and uttered what was in his mind, babbling deliriously. And that father of his was very much troubled, as he thought that the matter was one altogether beyond his power. Then the king heard of it, and came there in person. And he at once saw that the minister's son had been in a moment reduced by strong pa.s.sion to the seventh [347]

stage of love-sickness; so he said to his ministers; "How can I give him a maiden whom a Brahman left in my care? And yet, if he does not obtain her, he will without doubt reach the last stage. If he dies, his father, who is my minister, will perish; and if he perishes, my kingdom is ruined, so tell me what I am to do in this matter."

When the king said this, all those ministers said, "They say that the special virtue of a king is the protection of the virtue of his subjects. Now the root of this protection is counsel, and counsel resides in counsellors. If the counsellor perishes, protection perishes in its root, and virtue is certain to be impaired. [348]

Moreover guilt would be incurred by causing the death of this Brahman minister and his son, so you must avoid doing that, otherwise there is a great chance of your infringing the law of virtue. Accordingly you must certainly give to the minister's son the maiden committed to your care by the first Brahman, and if he returns after the lapse of some time, and is angry, steps can then be taken to put matters right."

When the ministers said this to the king, he agreed to give that man, who was palming himself off as a maiden, to the minister's son. And after fixing an auspicious moment, he brought Manahsvamin, in female form, from the palace of the princess; and he said to the king; "If, king, you are determined to give me, whom another committed to your care, to a person other than him for whom I was intended, I must, I suppose, acquiesce; you are a king, and justice and injustice are matters familiar to you. But I consent to the marriage on this condition only, that I am not to be considered as a wife until my husband has spent six months in visiting holy bathing-places, and returns home; if this condition is not agreed to, know that I will bite my own tongue in two, and so commit suicide."

When the young man, disguised in female form, had prescribed this condition, the king informed the minister's son of it, and he was consoled, and accepted the terms; and he quickly went through the ceremony of marriage, and placed in one house Mrigankavati his first wife, and his second supposed wife, carefully guarded, and, like a fool, went on a pilgrimage to holy bathing-places, to please the object of his affections.

And Manahsvamin, in female form, dwelt in the same house with Mrigankavati, as the partner of her bed and board. And one night, while he was living there in this way, Mrigankavati said to him secretly in the bed-chamber, while their attendants were sleeping outside, "My friend, I cannot sleep, tell me some tale." When the young man, disguised in female form, heard this, he told her the story, how in old time a royal sage, named Ida, of the race of the sun, a.s.sumed, in consequence of the curse of Gauri, a female form that fascinated the whole world, and how he and Budha fell in love with one another at first sight, meeting one another in a shrubbery in the grounds of a temple, and were there united, and how Pururavas was the fruit of that union. When the artful creature had told this story, he went on to say, "So by the fiat of a deity or by charms and drugs, a man may sometimes become a woman, and vice versa, and in this way even great ones do sometimes unite impelled by love."

When the tender fair one, who regretted her husband, who had left her as soon as the marriage had taken place, heard this, she said to her supposed rival, in whom she had come to confide by living with her, "This story makes my body tremble and my heart, as it were, sink; so tell me friend, what is the meaning of this." When the Brahman, disguised in female form, heard this, he went on to say, "My friend, these are violent symptoms of love; I have felt them myself, I will not conceal it from you." When she said this, Mrigankavati went on slowly to say, "Friend, I love you as my life, so why should I not say what I think it is time to reveal? Could any one by any artifice be introduced into this palace?" When the pupil of that master-rogue heard this, he took her meaning and said to her, "If this is the state of affairs, then I have something to tell you. I have a boon from Vishnu, by which I can at pleasure become a man during the night, so I will now become one for your sake." So he took the globule out of his mouth, and displayed himself to her as a handsome man in the prime of youth. And so the Brahman lived with the wife of the minister's son, becoming a woman in the day, and resuming his male form at night. But hearing in a few days that the son of the minister was on the point of returning, he took the precaution of eloping with her from that house during the night.

At this point in the story, it happened that his teacher, Muladeva, heard all the circ.u.mstances; so he again a.s.sumed the form of an old Brahman, and accompanied by his friend Sasin, who had a.s.sumed the form of a young Brahman, he went and respectfully said to king Yasahketu, "I have brought back my son; so give me my daughter-in-law." Then the king, who was afraid of being cursed, deliberated and said to him; "Brahman, I do not know where your daughter-in-law has gone, so forgive me; as I am in fault, I will give you my own daughter for your son." When the king had said this to that prince of rogues, disguised in the form of an old Brahman, who a.s.serted his false claim with the sternness of a.s.sumed anger, he gave his daughter with all due ceremonies to his friend Sasin, who pretended to be the supposed Brahman's son. Then Muladeva took the bride and bridegroom, who had been thus united, off to his own home, without showing any desire for the king's wealth.

And there Manahsvamin met them, and a fierce dispute took place between him and Sasin in the presence of that Muladeva. Manahsvamin said, "This Sasiprabha should be given to me, for long ago, when she was a maiden, I married her by the favour of the master." Sasin said, "You fool, what have you to do with her? she is my wife, for her father bestowed her on me in the presence of the fire." So they went on wrangling about the princess, whom they had got hold of by means of magic, and their dispute was never decided. So tell me, king, to which of the two does that wife belong? Resolve my doubt; the conditions of non-compliance are those which I mentioned before."

When king Trivikramasena was thus addressed by the Vetala on his shoulder, he gave him this answer: "I consider that the princess is the lawful wife of Sasin, since she was openly given to him by her father in the lawful way. But Manahsvamin married her in an underhand way, like a thief, by the Gandharva rite; and a thief has no lawful t.i.tle to the possessions of another."

When the Vetala heard this answer of the king's, he quickly left his shoulder, and went back to his own place, and the king hurried after him.

NOTE.

Oesterley tells us that in the Turkish Tutinamah (Rosen, II, p. 178,) a sorceress takes the place of Muladeva. She gives the young man a small seal in place of the pill or globule. He is then married to a son of the king's. Then the young man escapes with the princess, who in the day keeps the seal in her mouth and so appears as a man; then the sorceress goes in the form of a Brahman to the king, who has to give her 10,000 gold pieces as he cannot give back her daughter. The story is No. 23 in the Persian Tutinamah, Iken, p. 97. Oesterley refers also to the story in the 7th Chapter of the Katha Sarit Sagara; (Oesterley's Baital Pachisi, pages 203-205). The tale in one way resembles the Greek fable of Caeneus, and also that of Tiresias. The story of Iphis and Ianthe is perhaps still more apposite. According to Sir Thomas Brown, (Vulgar Errors, Book III, ch. 17) hares are supposed by some to be both male and female. He mentions Tiresias and Empedocles as instances of "trans.e.xion." Benfey gives a number of stories of this kind in the 1st Volume of his Panchatantra, pp. 41-52. He traces them all back to a tendency of the Indo-Germanic race to look upon their deities as belonging to both s.e.xes at once.

CHAPTER XC.

(Vetala 16.)

Then king Trivikramasena went back to the asoka-tree, and again took the Vetala from it, and set out with him on his shoulder; and as he was returning from the tree, the Vetala once more said to him, "Listen, king, I will tell you a n.o.ble story."

Story of Jimutavahana. [349]

There is in this earth a great mountain named Himavat, where all jewels are found, which is the origin of both Gauri and Ganga, the two G.o.ddesses dear to Siva. Even heroes cannot reach its top; [350]

it towers proudly above all other mountains; and as such its praises are sung in strains of sooth in the three worlds. On the ridge of that Himavat there is that city rightly named the Golden City, which gleams like a ma.s.s of the sun's rays deposited by him on earth.

Of old there lived in that splendid city a fortunate lord of the Vidyadharas, named Jimutaketu, who dwelt there like Indra on Meru. In his palace-garden there was a wis.h.i.+ng-tree, which was an heirloom in his family, which was well known as the Granter of Desires, and not named so without reason. The king supplicated that divine tree, and obtained by its favour a son, who remembered his former birth, and was the incarnation of a portion of a Bodhisattva. He was a hero in munificence, of great courage, compa.s.sionate to all creatures, attentive to the instructions of his spiritual adviser, and his name was Jimutavahana. And when he grew up to manhood, his father, the king, made him crown-prince, being impelled thereto by his excellent qualities, and the advice of the ministers.