The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 74

One night, that king, as he was lying on a bed on the top of a palace exposed to the rays of the moon, saw a couple of swans crossing through the air, with bodies of gleaming gold, looking like two golden lotuses opened in the water of the heavenly Ganges, [653]

and attended by a train of king-geese. When that wonderful pair had pa.s.sed from his eyes, the king was for a long time afflicted, and his mind was full of regret at no longer enjoying that sight. He pa.s.sed that night without sleeping, and next morning he told his minister Sivabhuti what he had seen, and said to him, "So, if I cannot feast my eyes on those golden swans to my heart's content, of what profit to me is my kingdom or my life?"

When the king said this to his minister Sivabhuti, he answered him, "Do not be anxious; there is a means of bringing about what you desire; listen, king; I will tell you what it is. Owing to the various influence of actions in a previous birth, various is this infinite host of sentient beings produced by the Creator in this versatile world. This world is really fraught with woe, but owing to delusion there arises in creatures the fancy that happiness is to be found in it, and they take pleasure in house, and food, and drink, and so become attached to it. And Providence has appointed that different kinds of food, drink, and dwellings, should be agreeable to different creatures, according to the cla.s.ses to which they respectively belong. So have made, king, a great lake to be the dwelling-place of these swans, covered with various kinds of lotuses, and watched by guards, where they will be free from molestation. And keep always scattering on the bank food of the kind that birds love, in order that water-birds may quickly come there from various quarters. Among them these two golden swans will certainly come; and then you will be able to gaze on them continually: do not be despondent."

When king Brahmadatta's minister said this to him, he had that great lake made according to his directions, and it was ready in a moment. The lake was frequented by swans, sarasas and chakravakas, [654] and after a time that couple of swans came there, and settled down on a clump of lotuses in it. Then the guards set to watch the lake came and informed the king of that fact, and he went down to the lake in a state of great delight, considering that his object had been accomplished. And he beheld those golden swans, and wors.h.i.+pped them from a distance, and ministered to their comfort by scattering for them grains of rice dipped in milk. And the king took so much interest in them that he spent his whole time on the bank of that lake watching those swans with their bodies of pure gold, their eyes of pearl, their beaks and feet of coral, and the tips of their wings of emerald, [655] which had come there in perfect confidence.

Now, one day, as the king was roaming along the bank of the lake, he saw in one place a pious offering made with unfading flowers. And he said to the guards there, "Who made this offering?" Then the guards of the lake said to the king, "Every day, at dawn, noon, and sunset, these golden swans bathe in the lake, and make these offerings, and stand absorbed in contemplation: so we cannot say, king, what is the meaning of this great wonder." When the king heard this from the guards, he said to himself, "Such a proceeding is quite inconsistent with the nature of swans; surely there must be a reason for this. So, I will perform asceticism until I find out who these swans are." Then the king and his wife and his minister gave up food, and remained performing penance and absorbed in meditation on Siva. And after the king had fasted for twelve days, the two heavenly swans came to him, and said to him in a dream with articulate voice, "Rise up, king; to-morrow we will tell you and your wife and minister, after you have broken your fast, the whole truth of the matter in private." When the swans had said this, they disappeared, and next morning the king and his wife and his minister, as soon as they awoke, rose up, and broke their fast. And after they had eaten, the two swans came to them, as they were sitting in a pleasure-pavilion near the water. The king received them with respect, and said to them, "Tell me who you are." Then they proceeded to tell him their history.

How Parvati condemned her five attendants to be reborn on earth.

There is a monarch of mountains famous on the earth under the name of Mandara, in whose groves of gleaming jewels all the G.o.ds roam, on whose table-lands, watered with nectar from the churned sea of milk, are to be found flowers, fruits, roots, and water, that are antidotes to old age and death. Its highest peaks, composed of various precious stones, form the pleasure-grounds of Siva, and he loves it more than mount Kailasa.

There, one day, that G.o.d left Parvati, after he had been diverting himself with her, and disappeared, to execute some business for the G.o.ds. Then the G.o.ddess, afflicted by his absence, roamed in the various places where he loved to amuse himself, and the other G.o.ds did their best to console her.

And one day the G.o.ddess was much troubled by the advent of spring, and she was sitting surrounded by the Ganas at the foot of a tree, thinking about her beloved, when a n.o.ble Gana, named Manipushpesvara, looked lovingly at a young maiden, the daughter of Jaya, called Chandralekha, who was waving a chowrie over the G.o.ddess. He was a match for her in youth and beauty, and she met his glance with a responsive look of love, as he stood by her side. Two other Ganas, named Pingesvara and Guhesvara, when they saw that, interchanged glances, and a smile pa.s.sed over their faces. And when the G.o.ddess saw them smiling, she was angry in her heart, and she cast her eyes. .h.i.ther and thither, to see what they were laughing at in this unseemly manner. And then she saw that Chandralekha and Manipushpesvara were looking lovingly in one another's faces.

Then the G.o.ddess, who was quite distracted with the sorrow of separation, was angry, and said, "These young people have done well to look lovingly [656] at one another in the absence of the G.o.d, and these two mirthful people have done well to laugh when they saw their glances: so let this lover and maiden, who are blinded with pa.s.sion, fall into a human birth; and there the disrespectful pair shall be man and wife; but these unseasonable laughers shall endure many miseries on the earth; they shall be first poor Brahmans, and then [657] Brahman-Rakshasas, and then Pisachas, and after that Chandalas, and then robbers, and then bob-tailed dogs, and then they shall be various kinds of birds,--shall these Ganas who offended by laughing; for their minds were unclouded, when they were guilty of this disrespectful conduct.

When the G.o.ddess had uttered this command, a Gana of the name of Dhurjata said, "G.o.ddess, this is very unjust; these excellent Ganas do not deserve so severe a curse, for a very small offence." When the G.o.ddess heard that, she said in her wrath to Dhurjata also, "Fall thou also, great sir, that knowest not thy place, into a mortal womb." When the G.o.ddess had inflicted these tremendous curses, the female warder Jaya, the mother of Chandralekha, clung to her feet, and addressed this pet.i.tion to her, "Withdraw thy anger, G.o.ddess; appoint an end to the curse of this daughter of mine, and of these thy own servants, that have through ignorance committed sin." When Parvati had been thus entreated by her warder Jaya, she said, "When all these, owing to their having obtained insight, shall in course of time meet together, they shall, after visiting Siva the lord of magic powers, in the place [658] where Brahma and the other G.o.ds performed asceticism, return to our court, having been freed from their curse. And this Chandralekha, and her beloved, and that Dhurjata shall, all three of them, be happy in their life as mortals, but these two shall be miserable."

When the G.o.ddess had said this, she ceased; and at that very moment the Asura Andhaka came there, having heard of the absence of Siva. The presumptuous Asura hoped to win the G.o.ddess, but having been reproached by her attendants he departed, but he was slain on that account by the G.o.d, who discovered the reason of his coming, and pursued him. [659]

Then Siva returned home having accomplished his object, and Parvati delighted told him of the coming of Andhaka, and the G.o.d said to her, "I have to-day slain a former mind-born son of thine, named Andhaka, and he shall now be a Bhringin here, as nothing remains of him but skin and bone." When Siva had said this, he remained there diverting himself with the G.o.ddess, and Manipushpesvara and the other five descended to earth.

"Now, king, hear the long and strange story of these two, Pingesvara and Guhesvara."

Story of the metamorphoses of Pingesvara and Guhesvara.

There is on the earth a royal grant to Brahmans, named Yajnasthala. In it there lived a rich [660] and virtuous Brahman named Yajnasoma. In his middle age he had two sons born to him; the name of the elder was Harisoma and of the younger Devasoma. They pa.s.sed through the age of childhood, and were invested with the sacred thread, and then the Brahman their father lost his wealth, and he and his wife died.

Then those two wretched sons, bereaved of their father, and without subsistence, having had their grant taken from them by their relations, said to one another, "We are now reduced to living on alms, but we get no alms here. So we had better go to the house of our maternal grandfather, though it is far off. Though we have come down in the world, who on earth would welcome us, if we arrive of our own accord. Nevertheless let us go. What else indeed are we to do, for we have no other resource?"

After deliberating to this effect they went, begging their way, by slow stages, to that royal grant, where the house of their grandfather was. There the unfortunate young men found out, by questioning people, that their grandfather, whose name was Somadeva, was dead, and his wife also.

Then, begrimed with dust, they entered despairing the house of their maternal uncles named Yajnadeva and Kratudeva. There those good Brahmans welcomed them kindly, and gave them food and clothing, and they remained engaged in study. But in course of time the wealth of their maternal uncles diminished, and they could keep no servants, and then they came and said to those nephews in the most affectionate way, "Dear boys, we can no longer afford to keep a man to look after our cattle, as we have become poor, so do you look after our cattle for us." When Harisoma and Devasoma's uncles said this to them, their throats were full of tears, but they agreed to their proposal. Then they took the cattle to the forest every day, and looked after them there, and at evening they returned home with them, wearied out.

Then, as they went on looking after the cattle, owing to their falling asleep in the day, some animals were stolen, and others were eaten by tigers. That made their uncles very unhappy: and one day a cow and goat intended for sacrifice, belonging to their uncles, both disappeared somewhere or other. Terrified at that, they took the other animals home before the right time, and running off in search of the two that were missing, they entered a distant forest. There they saw their goat half eaten by a tiger, and after lamenting, being quite despondent, they said, "Our uncles were keeping this goat for a sacrifice, and now that it is destroyed, their anger will be something tremendous. So let us dress its flesh with fire, and eat enough of it to put an end to our hunger, and then let us take the rest, and go off somewhere and support ourselves by begging."

After these reflections they proceeded to roast the goat, and while they were so engaged, their two uncles arrived, who had been running after them, and saw them cooking the goat. When they saw their uncles in the distance, they were terrified, and they rose up in great trepidation, and fled from the spot. And those two uncles in their wrath p.r.o.nounced [661] on them the following curse, "Since, in your longing for flesh, you have done a deed worthy of Rakshasas, you shall become flesh-eating Brahman-Rakshasas." And immediately those two young Brahmans became Brahman-Rakshasas, having mouths formidable with tusks, flaming hair, and insatiable hunger; and they wandered about in the forest catching animals and eating them.

But one day they rushed upon an ascetic, who possessed supernatural power, to slay him, and he in self-defence cursed them, and they became Pisachas. And in their condition as Pisachas, they were carrying off the cow of a Brahman, to kill it, but they were overpowered by his spells, and reduced by his curse to the condition of Chandalas.

One day, as they were roaming about in their condition as Chandalas, bow in hand, tormented with hunger, they reached, in their search for food, a village of bandits. The warders of the village, supposing them to be thieves, arrested them both, as soon as they saw them, and cut off their ears and noses. And they bound them, and beat them with sticks, and brought them in this condition before the chiefs of the bandits. There they were questioned by the chiefs, and being bewildered with fear, and tormented with hunger and pain, [662] they related their history to them. Then the chiefs of the gang, moved by pity, set them at liberty, and said to them, "Remain here and take food; do not be terrified. You have arrived here on the eighth day of the month, the day on which we wors.h.i.+p Kartikeya, and so you are our guests; and should have a share in our feast." [663]

"When the bandits had said this, they wors.h.i.+pped the G.o.ddess Durga, and made the two Chandalas eat in their presence, [664] and having, as it happened, taken a fancy to them, they would not let them out of their sight. Then they lived with those bandits by robbing, and thanks to their courage, became eventually the chiefs of the gang.

And one night those chiefs marched with their followers to plunder a large town, a favourite abode of Siva, which some of their spies had selected for attack. Though they saw an evil omen, they did not turn back, and they reached and plundered the whole city and the temple of the G.o.d. Then the inhabitants cried to the G.o.d for protection, and Siva in his wrath bewildered the bandits by making them blind. And the citizens suddenly perceiving that, and thinking that it was due to the favour of Siva, a.s.sembled and smote those bandits with sticks and stones. And Ganas, moving about invisibly, flung some of the bandits into ravines, and dashed others to pieces against the ground.

And the people, seeing the two leaders, were about to put them to death, but they immediately turned into bob-tailed dogs. And in this transformation they suddenly remembered their former birth, and danced in front of Siva, and fled to him for protection. When the citizens, Brahmans, merchants, and all, saw that, they were delighted at being free from fear of robbers, and went laughing to their houses. And then the delusion, that had possessed those two beings now turned into dogs, disappeared, and they awoke to reality, and in order to put an end to their curse, they fasted, and appealed to Siva by severe asceticism. And the next morning, the citizens, making high festival and wors.h.i.+pping Siva, beheld those dogs absorbed in contemplation, and though they offered them food, the creatures would not touch it.

And the two dogs remained in this state for several days, beheld by all the world, and then Siva's Ganas preferred this prayer to him, "O G.o.d, these two Ganas, Pingesvara and Guhesvara, who were cursed by the G.o.ddess, have been afflicted for a long time, so take pity on them." When the holy G.o.d heard that, he said, "Let these two Ganas be delivered from their canine condition and became crows!" Then they became crows, and broke their fast upon the rice of the offering, and lived happily, remembering their former state, exclusively devoted to Siva.

After some time, Siva having been satisfied by their devotion to him, they became by his command first vultures, and then peac.o.c.ks; then those n.o.ble Ganas, in course of time, became swans; and in that condition also they strove with the utmost devotion to propitiate Siva. And at last they gained the favour of that G.o.d by bathing in sacred waters, by performing vows, by meditations, and acts of wors.h.i.+p, and they became all composed of gold and jewels, and attained supernatural insight.

"Know that we are those very two, Pingesvara and Guhesvara, who by the curse of Parvati endured a succession of woes, and have now become swans. But the Gana Manipushpesvara, who was in love with the daughter of Jaya, and was cursed by the G.o.ddess, has become a king upon earth, even yourself, Brahmadatta. And that daughter of Jaya has been born as this lady, your wife Somaprabha; and that Dhurjata has been born as this your minister Sivabhuti. And therefore we, having attained insight, and remembering the end of the curse appointed by Parvati, appeared to you at night. By means of that artifice we have all been re-united here to-day; and we will bestow on you the perfection of insight.

"Come, let us go to that holy place of Siva on the Tridasa mountain, rightly named Siddhisvara, [665] where the G.o.ds performed asceticism in order to bring about the destruction of the Asura Vidyuddhvaja. And they slew that Asura in fight, with the help of Muktaphalaketu, the head of all the Vidyadhara princes, who had been obtained by the favour of Siva. And that Muktaphalaketu, having pa.s.sed through the state of humanity brought upon him by a curse, obtained reunion with Padmavati by the favour of the same G.o.d. Let us go to that holy place, which has such splendid a.s.sociations connected with it, and there propitiate Siva, and then we will return to our own home, for such was the end of the curse appointed to all of us by the G.o.ddess, to take place at the same time." When the two heavenly swans said this to king Brahmadatta, he was at once excited with curiosity to hear the tale of Muktaphalaketu.

CHAPTER CXV.

Then king Brahmadatta said to those celestial swans, "How did Muktaphalaketu kill that Vidyuddhvaja? And how did he pa.s.s through the state of humanity inflicted on him by a curse, and regain Padmavati? Tell me this first, and afterwards you shall carry out your intentions." When those [666] birds heard this, they began to relate the story of Muktaphalaketu as follows.

Story of Muktaphalaketu and Padmavati.

Once on a time there was a king of the Daityas named Vidyutprabha, hard for G.o.ds to conquer. He, desiring a son, went to the bank of the Ganges, and with his wife performed asceticism for a hundred years to propitiate Brahma. And by the favour of Brahma, who was pleased with his asceticism, that enemy of the G.o.ds obtained a son named Vidyuddhvaja, who was invulnerable at their hands.

That son of the king of the Daityas, even when a child, was of great valour; and one day seeing that their town was guarded on all sides by troops, he said to one of his companions, "Tell me, my friend, what have we to be afraid of, that this town is thus guarded on all sides by troops?" Then his companion said to him, "We have an adversary in Indra the king of the G.o.ds; and it is on his account that this system of guarding the town is kept up. Ten hundred thousand elephants, and fourteen hundred thousand chariots, and thirty hundred thousand hors.e.m.e.n, and a hundred millions of footmen guard the city in turn for one watch of the night, and the turn of guarding comes round for every division in seven years."

When Vidyuddhvaja heard this, he said, "Out on such a throne, that is guarded by the arms of others, and not by its own might! However, I will perform such severe asceticism, as will enable me to conquer my enemy with my own arm, and put an end to all this insolence of his." When Vidyuddhvaja had said this, he put aside that companion of his, who tried to prevent him, and without telling his parents, went to the forest to perform penance.

But his parents heard of it, and in their affection for their child, they followed him, and said to him, "Do not act rashly, son; severe asceticism ill befits a child like you. Our throne has been victorious over its enemies; is there one more powerful in the whole world? What do you desire to get by withering yourself in vain? Why do you afflict us?" When Vidyuddhvaja's parents said this to him, he answered them, "I will acquire, even in my childhood, heavenly arms by the force of asceticism; as for our empire over the world being unopposed by enemies, do I not know so much from the fact that our city is guarded by troops ever ready in their harness?"

When the Asura Vidyuddhvaja, firm in his resolution, had said so much to his parents, and had sent them away, he performed asceticism to win over Brahma. He continued for a period of three hundred years living on fruits only, and successively for similar periods living on water, air, and nothing at all. Then Brahma, seeing that his asceticism was becoming capable of upsetting the system of the world, came to him, and at his request gave him the weapons of Brahma. He said, "This weapon of Brahma cannot be repelled by any weapon except the weapon of Pasupati Rudra, which is unattainable by me. So, if you desire victory, you must not employ it unseasonably." When Brahma had said this, he went away, and that Daitya went home.

Then Vidyuddhvaja marched out to conquer his enemies with his father, and with all his forces, who came together to that great feast of war. Indra, the ruler of the G.o.ds' world, heard of his coming, and kept guard in heaven, and when he drew near, marched out to meet him, eager for battle, accompanied by his friend Chandraketu, the king of the Vidyadharas, and by the supreme lord of the Gandharvas, named Padmasekhara. Then Vidyuddhvaja appeared, hiding the heaven with his forces, and Rudra and others came there to behold that battle. Then there took place between those two armies a battle, which was involved in darkness [667] by the sun's being eclipsed with the clas.h.i.+ng together of missiles; and the sea of war swelled high, lashed by the wind of wrath, with hundreds of chariots for inflowing streams, and rolling horses and elephants for marine monsters.

Then single combats took place between the G.o.ds and Asuras, and Vidyutprabha, the father of Vidyuddhvaja, rushed in wrath upon Indra. Indra found himself being gradually worsted by the Daitya in the interchange of missiles; so he flung his thunderbolt at him. And then that Daitya, smitten by the thunderbolt, fell dead. And that enraged Vidyuddhvaja so that he attacked Indra. And, though his life was not in danger, he began by discharging at him the weapon of Brahma; and other great Asuras struck at him with other weapons. Then Indra called to mind the weapon of Pasupati, presided over by Siva himself, which immediately presented itself in front of him; he wors.h.i.+pped it, and discharged it among his foes. That weapon, which was of the nature of a destroying fire, consumed the army of the Asuras; but Vidyuddhvaja, being a child, only fell senseless when smitten by it; for that weapon does not harm children, old men, or fugitives. Then all the G.o.ds returned home victorious.

And Vidyuddhvaja, for his part, who had fallen senseless, recovered his senses after a very long time, and fled weeping, and then said to the rest of his soldiers, who had a.s.sembled; "In spite of my having acquired the weapon of Brahma, we were not victorious to-day, though victory was in our grasp; on the contrary we were defeated. So I will go and attack Indra, and lose my life in battle. Now that my father is slain, I shall not be able to return to my own city." When he said this, an old minister of his father's said to him, "The weapon of Brahma, discharged unseasonably, is too languid to contend with other weapons discharged, for that great weapon was to-day overcome by the weapon of Siva, which will not brook the presence of others. So you ought not unseasonably to challenge your victorious enemy, for in this way you will strengthen him and destroy yourself. The calm and resolute man preserves his own life, and in due time regains might, and takes revenge on his enemy, and so wins a reputation esteemed by the whole world."

When that old minister said this to Vidyuddhvaja, he said to him, "Then go you and take care of my kingdom, but I will go and propitiate that supreme lord Siva."

When he had said this, he dismissed his followers, though they were loth to leave him, and he went with five young Daityas, companions of equal age, and performed asceticism on the bank of the Ganges, at the foot of mount Kailasa. During the summer he stood in the midst of five fires, and during the winter in the water, meditating on Siva; and for a thousand years he lived on fruits only. For a second thousand years he ate only roots, for a third he subsisted on water, for a fourth on air, and during the fifth he took no food at all.

Brahma once more came to grant him a boon, but he did not shew him any respect: on the contrary he said, "Depart, I have tested the efficiency of thy boon." And he remained fasting for another period of equal duration, and then a great volume of smoke rose up from his head; and Siva manifested himself to him, and said to him, "Choose a boon." When thus addressed, that Daitya said to him, "May I, Lord, by thy favour slay Indra in fight!" The G.o.d answered, "Rise up! There is no distinction between the slain [668] and the conquered; so thou shalt conquer Indra and dwell in his heaven."

When the G.o.d had said this, he disappeared, and Vidyuddhvaja, considering that the wish of his heart was attained, broke his fast, and went to his city. There he was welcomed by the citizens, and met by that minister of his father's, who had endured suffering for his sake, and who now made great rejoicing. He then summoned the armies of the Asuras, and made preparation for battle, and sent an amba.s.sador to Indra to warn him to hold himself in readiness for fight. And he marched out, hiding with his banners the sky, which he clove with the thunderous roar of his host, and so he seemed to be fulfilling the wish [669] of the inhabitants of heaven. And Indra, for his part, knowing that he had returned from winning a boon, was troubled, but after taking counsel with the adviser of the G.o.ds, [670] he summoned his forces.