The Kadambari of Bana Part 3

'At these words the whole a.s.semblage of hermits, aware of his power, became curious to know what was my crime, and why committed, and where, and who I was in a former birth; and implored the saint, saying: (96) "Vouchsafe, sir, to tell us of what kind of misconduct he is reaping the fruits. Who was he in a former birth, and how was he born in the form of a bird? How is he named? Do thou satisfy our curiosity, for thou art the fountain-head of all marvels."

'Thus urged by the a.s.semblage, the great saint replied: "The story of this wonder is very long, the day is almost spent, our bathing-time is near, while the hour for worshipping the G.o.ds is pa.s.sing. Arise, therefore; let each perform his duties as is meet. In the afternoon, after your meal of roots and fruits, when you are resting quietly, I will tell you the whole story from beginning to end--who he is, what he did in another birth, and how he was born in this world. Meanwhile, let him be refreshed with food. He will certainly recall, as it were, the vision of a dream when I tell the whole story of his former birth." So saying, he arose, and with the hermits bathed and performed their other daily duties.

(97) 'The day was now drawing to a close. When the hermits rose from their bathing, and were offering a sacrifice, the sun in the sky seemed to bear upwards before our eyes the offering cast on the ground, with its unguent of red sandal-wood. Then his glow faded and vanished; the effluence of his glory was drunk by the Ushmapas [188]

with faces raised and eyes fixed on his...o...b.. as if they were ascetics; and he glided from the sky pink as a dove's foot, drawing in his rays as though to avoid touching the Seven Rishis as they rose. His...o...b.. with its network of crimson rays reflected on the Western Ocean, was like the lotus of Vishnu on his couch of waters pouring forth nectar; his beams, forsaking the sky and deserting the lotus-groves, lingered at eve like birds on the crest of hill and tree; the splashes of crimson light seemed for a moment to deck the trees with the red bark garments hung up by the ascetics. And when the thousand-rayed sun had gone to rest, twilight sprang up like rosy coral from the Western Ocean. (98) Then the hermitage became the home of quiet thought, as the pleasant sound of milking the sacred cows arose in one quarter, and the fresh kuca gra.s.s was scattered on the altar of Agni, and the rice and oblations to the G.o.ddesses of s.p.a.ce were tossed hither and thither by the hermitage maidens. And red-starred eve seemed to the hermits as the red-eyed cow of the hermitage roaming about, tawny in the fall of day. And when the sun had vanished, the lotus-bed, in the grief of bereavement, seemed to perform a vow in the hopes of rejoining the lord of day, for she lifted the goblets of her buds, and wore the fine white vesture of her hamsas, and was girt with the sacrificial thread of white filaments, and bore a circle of bees as her rosary. And the starry host leapt up and filled the sky, like a splash of spray when the sun fell into the Western Ocean; and for a brief s.p.a.ce the star-bespangled sky shone as though inlaid with flowers offered by the daughters of the Siddhas [189] in honour of twilight; but in a moment the whole glory of the gloaming vanished as though washed away by the libations which the hermits, with faces upraised, cast towards the sky; (99) and at its departure, night, as sorrowing for its loss, wore a deeper darkness, like a black antelope's skin--a blackness which darkened all save the hearts of the hermits.

'Learning that the sun had gone to rest, the lord of rays ambrosial, in pure severity of light, arrayed in the whiteness of clear gossamer, dwelling in the palace of his wives with Tara, [190] mounted the sky which, in that it was outlined with the darkness of tamala-trees, presided over by the circle of Seven Rishis, purified by the wanderings of Arundhati, [191] surrounded by Ashadha, [192] showing its Mula [193] with its soft-eyed white deer, [194] was a very hermitage of heaven. White as a hamsa, moonlight fell on the earth, filling the seas; falling, as Ganges from the head of civa, from the sky which was decked with the moon, and inlaid with the shattered potsherds of the stars. (100) And in the moon-lake, white as an opening lotus, was seen the motionless deer, which went down in eagerness to drink the water of the moonbeams, and was caught, as it were, in the mud of ambrosia. The lakes of the night-lotus were fondly visited by the moonbeams, like hamsas, falling on the ocean white as sinduvara flowers in their fresh purity after the rains. At that moment the globe of the moon lost all the glow of its rising, like the frontal bone of the elephant Airavata when its red lead is washed away by plunging into the heavenly stream; and his highness the cold-shedder had gradually risen high in the sky, and by his light had whitened the earth as with lime-dust; the breezes of early night were blowing, slackened in their course by the cold dew, aromatic with the scent of opening moon-lotuses, (101) and gladly welcomed by the deer, who, with eyes weighed down by the approach of sleep, and eyelashes clinging together, were beginning to ruminate and rest in quiet.

'Only half a watch of the night was spent, when Harita took me after my meal and went with the other holy hermits to his father, who, in a moonlit spot of the hermitage, was sitting on a bamboo stool, gently fanned by a pupil named Jalapada, who held a fan of antelope skin white as dharba gra.s.s, and he spake, saying: "Father, the whole a.s.semblage of hermits is in a circle round thee, with hearts eager to hear this wonder; the little bird, too, has rested. Tell us, therefore, what he has done, who was he, and who will he be in another birth?" Thus addressed, the great saint, looking at me, and seeing the hermits before him intently listening, slowly spake: "Let the tale be told, if ye care to hear it.

'"(102) There is a city named Ujjayini, the proudest gem of earth, the very home of the golden age, created by Mahakala, [195] creator, preserver, and destroyer of the three worlds, and lord of Pramathas, as a habitation meet for himself, as it were a second earth. There the sun is daily seen paying homage to Mahakala, for his steeds vail their heads at the charm of the sweet chant of the women singing in concert in the lofty white palace, and his pennon droops before him.

(109) '"There darkness never falls, and the nights bring no separation to the pairs of cakravakas; nor need they any lamps, for they pa.s.s golden as with morning sunshine, from the bright jewels of women, as though the world were on fire with the flame of love. (110) There the only unending life is in jewelled lamps, the only wavering in pearl necklaces, the only variations in the sound of drum and song, the only disunion of pairs in cakravakas, the only testing of colour [196] in gold pieces, the only unsteadiness in banners, the only hatred of the sun [197] in night-lotuses, the only concealment of metal in the sheathing of the sword. (111) Why should I say more? For he whose bright feet are kissed by the rays of the jewelled crests of G.o.ds and demons, who hath the river of heaven wandering lost in his locks tawny with a wreath of flame for the burning of the world; he the foe of Andhaka; he the holy one; he who hath given up his love for his home on Kailasa; even he whose name is Mahakala hath there made a habitation for himself. And in this city was a king named Tarapida. He was like unto the great kings Nala, Nahusha, Yayati, Dundhumara, Bharata, Bhagiratha, and Dacaratha; by the might of his arm he conquered the whole world; he reaped the fruits of the three powers; [198] wise and resolute, with an intellect unwearied in political science, and a deep study of the law books, he made in light and glory a third with the sun and moon. (112) His form was purified by many a sacrifice; by him the calamities of the whole world were set at rest; to him Lakshmi openly clung, deserting her lotus-woods and despising the happiness of her home in the breast of Narayana, she the lotus-handed, who ever joys in the contest of heroes. He was the source of truth, ever honoured by the race of saints, as the foot of Vishnu was of the stream of the heavenly Ganges.

'"From him arose glory, as from the ocean of the moon, for his brightness, free from heat, consumed his foes; constant, ever roamed; stainless, darkened the brightness of the lotus-faced widows of his foes; white, made all things gay. (113) He was the incarnation of justice, the very representative of Vishnu and the destroyer of all the sorrows of his people.

(115) '"When he approached the throne that blossomed with the rays of many gems and was hung with cl.u.s.ters of pearls, like the elephant of s.p.a.ce approaching the tree of desire, all the wide quarters of s.p.a.ce, like creepers weighed down by bees, bowed down before his majesty; and of him, I think, even Indra was envious. From him, too, proceeded a host of virtues, like a flock of hamsas from Mount Kraunca, brightening the earth's surface, and gladdening the hearts of all mankind. His fame wandered, so that the world echoed with it throughout the ten regions, making fair the world of G.o.ds and demons, like a streak of foam of the stream of milk tossed by Mandara, ambrosial sweet. His royal glory never for a moment laid aside the shade of her umbrella, as though scorched by the heat of a splendour hard to bear. (116) His achievements were heard by the people like news of good fortune, were received like the teaching of a guru, were valued like a good omen, were murmured like a hymn, and were remembered like a sacred text. And while he was king, though the flight of the mountains was stayed, the flight of thought was free; suffixes alone were dependent, and the people feared no foe; nought dared to face him but his mirror; the pressure of Durga [199] was given to civa's image alone; the bow was only borne by the clouds; there was no uprising save of banners, no bending save of bows, no shaft sped home save the bee's on the bamboo, no enforced wandering save of the images of G.o.ds in a procession, no imprisonment save of flowers in their calyx, no restraint save of the senses; wild elephants entered the pale, but none paled before the water-ordeal; the only sharpness was in the edge of the sword; the only endurance of the flame [200] was by ascetics; the only pa.s.sing the Balance [201] was by the stars; the only clearing of baneful [202]

waters was in the rising of Agastya; the only cutting short was of hair and nails; the only stained garb was of the sky on stormy days; the only laying bare was of gems, and not of secret counsels; the only mysteries [203] were those of religion; (117) none ceased to behold the light save slaughtered Taraka [204] in the praises of k.u.mara; none dreaded eclipse save the sun; none pa.s.sed over the First-born [205]

save the moon; none heard of the Disobedient save in the Mahabharata; none grasped the rod [206] save in the decline of life; none clung to a sinister object save the sword-sheath; no stream of liberality was interrupted save the elephant's ichor; no squares were deserted save those on the dice-board.

'"That king had a minister, by name cukanasa, a Brahman, whose intelligence was fixed on all the affairs of the kingdom, whose mind had plunged deeply into the arts and castras, and whose strong affection for the king had grown up in him from childhood. Skilled in the precepts of political science, pilot of the world's government, unshaken in resolve by the greatest difficulties, he was the castle of constancy, the station of steadfastness, the bridge of bright truth, the guide to all goodness, the conductor in conduct, the ordainer of all ordered life. Like the serpent cesha, enduring the weight of the world; like the ocean, full of life; like Jarasandha, shaping war and peace; [207] (118) like civa, at home with Durga [208]; like Yuddhishthira, a dayspring of Dharma, he knew all the Vedas and Vedangas, and was the essence of the kingdom's prosperity. He was like Brihaspati [209] to Sunasira; like cukra to Vrishaparvan; like Vacishtha to Dacaratha; like Vicvamitra to Rama; like Dhaumya to Ajatacatru; like Damanaka to Nala. He, by the force of his knowledge, thought that Lakshmi was not hard to win, resting though she were on the breast of Narayana, terrible with the scars of the weapons of the demons of h.e.l.l, and a strong shoulder hardened by the pitiless pressure of Mount Mandara as it moved to and fro. Near him knowledge spread wide, thick with many a tendril, and showed the fruits gained from conquered realms like a creeper near a tree. (119) To him throughout the earth's surface, measured by the circ.u.mference of the four oceans, and filled with the goings to and fro of many thousands of spies, every whisper of the kings was known as though uttered in his own palace.

'"Now, Tarapida while yet a child had conquered the whole earth ringed by the seven Dvipas by the might of his arm, thick as the trunk of Indra's elephant, and he devolved the weight of the empire on that councillor named cukanasa, and having made his subjects perfectly contented, he searched for anything else that remained to be done.

'"And as he had crushed his enemies and had lost all cause for fear, and as the strain of the world's affairs had become a little relaxed, for the most part he began to pursue the ordinary pleasures of youth.

(124) '"And some time pa.s.sed while the king pursued the pleasures of youth, and entrusted the affairs of state to his minister; and after a time he came to the end of all the other pleasures of life, and the only one he did not get was the sight of a son born to him; so that his zenana was like reeds showing only flowers without fruit; and as youth went by there arose in him a regret produced by childlessness, and his mind was turned away from the desire of the pleasures of sense, and he felt himself alone, though surrounded by a thousand princes; blind, though possessed of sight; without support, though supporting the world.

(125) '"But the fairest ornament of this king was his queen Vilasavati; as the moon's digit to the braided hair of civa, as the splendour of the Kaustubha gem to the breast of the foe [210] of Kaitabha, as the woodland garland to Balarama, as the sh.o.r.e to the ocean, as the creeper to the tree, as the outburst of flowers to the spring, as the moonlight to the moon, as the lotus-bed to the lake, as the array of stars to the sky, as the circling of hamsas to Lake Manasa, as the line of sandal-woods to Mount Malaya, as the jewelled crest to cesha, so was she to her lord; she reigned peerless in the zenana, and created wonder in the three worlds, as though she were the very source of all womanly grace.

'"And it chanced once that, going to her dwelling, he beheld her seated on a stately [211] couch, weeping bitterly, surrounded by her household mute in grief, their glances fixed in meditation, and attended by her chamberlains, who waited afar with eyes motionless in anxious thought, while the old women of the zenana were trying to console her. Her silken robes were wet with ceaseless tears; her ornaments were laid aside; her lotus-face rested on her left hand; and her tresses were unbound and in disorder. As she arose to welcome him, the king placed her on the couch again, and sitting there himself, ignorant of the cause of her weeping, and in great alarm, wiped away with his hand the tears from her cheeks, saying: (126) 'My queen, what means this weeping, voiceless and low with the weight of the heavy sorrow concealed in thy heart? For these eyelashes of thine are stringing, as it were, a network of pearls of dropping tears. Why, slender one, art thou unadorned? and why has not the stream of lac fallen on thy feet like early sunlight on rosy lotus-buds? And why are thy jewelled anklets, with their murmur like teals on the lake of love, not graced with the touch of thy lotus-feet? And why is this waist of thine bereft of the music of the girdle thou hast laid aside? And why is there no device painted on thy breast like the deer on the moon? and why is that slender neck of thine, fair-limbed queen, not adorned with a rope of pearls as the crescent on civa's brow by the heavenly stream? And why dost thou, erst so gay, wear in vain a face whose adornment is washed away with flowing tears? And why is this hand, with its petal-like cl.u.s.ter of soft fingers, exalted into an ear-jewel, as though it were a rosy lotus? (127) And why, froward lady, dost thou raise thy straight brow undecked with the mark of yellow pigment, and surrounded by the ma.s.s of thine unbound tresses? For these flowing locks of thine, bereft of flowers, grieve my eyes, like the loss of the moon in the dark fortnight, clouded in ma.s.ses of thickest gloom. Be kind, and tell me, my queen, the cause of thy grief. For this storm of sighs with which the robe on thy breast is quivering bows my loving heart like a ruddy tendril. Has any wrong been done by me, or by any in thy service? Closely as I examine myself, I can truly see no failure of mine towards thee. For my life and my kingdom are wholly thine. Let the cause of thy woe, fair queen, be told.' But Vilasavati, thus addressed, made no reply, and turning to her attendants, he asked the cause of her exceeding grief. Then her betel-nut bearer, Makarika, who was always near her, said to the king: 'My lord, how could any fault, however slight, be committed by thee? (128) And how in thy presence could any of thy followers, or anyone else, offend? The sorrow of the queen is that her union with the king is fruitless, as though she were seized by Rahu, and for a long time she has been suffering. For at first our lady was like one in heavy grief, was only occupied with difficulty by the persuasion of her attendants in the ordinary duties of the day, however fitting they might be, such as sleeping, bathing, eating, putting on of ornaments, and the like, and, like a Lakshmi of the lower world, ceaselessly upbraided divine love. [212] But in her longing to take away the grief of my lord's heart, she did not show her sad change. Now, however, as it was the fourteenth day of the month, she went to worship holy Mahakala, and heard in a recitation of the Mahabharata, "No bright abodes await the childless, for a son is he who delivers from the sunless shades"; and when she heard this, she returned to her palace, and now, though reverently entreated thereto by her attendants, she takes no pleasure in food, nor does she busy herself in putting on her jewels, nor does she vouchsafe to answer us; (129) she only weeps, and her face is clouded with a storm of ever-flowing tears. My lord has heard, and must judge.' So saying, she ceased; and, with a long and pa.s.sionate sigh, the king spoke thus:

'"'My queen, what can be done in a matter decreed by fate? Enough of this weeping beyond measure! For it is not on us that the G.o.ds are wont to bestow their favours. In truth, our heart is not destined to hold the bliss of that ambrosial draught, the embrace of a child of our own. In a former life no glorious deed was done; for a deed done in a former life brings forth fruit in man's life on earth; even the wisest man cannot change destiny. Let all be done that may be done in this mortal life. Do more honour to the gurus; redouble thy worship of the G.o.ds; let thy good works be seen in thy reverence to the rishis; for the rishis are a powerful deity, and if we serve them with all our might, they will give boons that fulfil our heart's desire, hard though it be to gain. (130) For the tale is an old one how King Brihadratha in Magadha won by the power of Candakaucika a son Jarasandha, victor of Vishnu, peerless in prowess, fatal to his foes. Dacaratha, too, when very old, received by the favour of Rishyacringa, son of the great saint Vibhandaka, four sons, unconquerable as the arms of Narayana, and unshaken as the depths of the oceans. [213] And many other royal sages, having conciliated ascetics, have enjoyed the happiness of tasting the ambrosia of the sight of a son. For the honour paid to saints is never without its reward.

'"'And for me, when shall I behold my queen ready to bear a child, pale as the fourteenth night when the rising of the full moon is at hand; and when will her attendants, hardly able to bear the joy of the great festival of the birth of my son, carry the full basket of gifts? When will my queen gladden me wearing yellow robes, and holding a son in her arms, like the sky with the newly-risen sun and the early sunlight; and when will a son give me joy of heart, with his curly hair yellow with many a plant, a few ashes mixed with mustard-seed on his palate, which has a drop of ghi on it as a talisman, (131) and a thread bright with yellow dye round his neck, as he lies on his back and smiles with a little toothless mouth; when will this baby destroy all the darkness of sorrow in my eyes like an auspicious lamp welcomed by all the people, handed from one to another by the zenana attendants, shining tawny with yellow dye; and when will he adorn the courtyard, as he toddles round it, followed by my heart and my eyes, and gray with the dust of the court; and when will he walk from one place to another and the power of motion be formed in his knees, so that, like a young lion, he may try to catch the young tame deer screened behind the crystal walls? And when, running about at will in the courtyard, will he run after the tame geese, accompanied by the tinkling of the anklets of the zenana, and weary his nurse, who will hasten after him, following the sound of the bells of his golden girdle; (132) and when will he imitate the antics of a wild elephant, and have his cheeks adorned with a line of ichor painted in black aloe, full of joy at the sound of the bell held in his mouth, gray with the dust of sandal-wood scattered by his uplifted hand, shaking his head at the beckoning of the hooked finger; and when will he disguise the faces of the old chamberlains with the juice of handfuls of lac left after being used to colour his mother's feet; and when, with eyes restless in curiosity, will he bend his glance on the inlaid floors, and with tottering steps pursue his own shadow; and when will he creep about during the audience in front of me as I stand in my audience-hall, with his eyes wandering bewildered by the rays of the gems, and have his coming welcomed by the outstretched arms of a thousand kings? Thinking on a hundred such desires, I pa.s.s my nights in suffering. Me, too, the grief arising from our want of children burns like a fire day and night. The world seems empty; I look on my kingdom as without fruit. But what can I do towards Brahma, from whom there is no appeal? Therefore, my queen, cease thy continual grief. Let thy heart be devoted to endurance and to duty. For increase of blessings is ever nigh at hand for those who set their thoughts on duty.' (133) Thus saying, with a hand like a fresh tendril, he took water and wiped her tear-stained face, which showed as an opening lotus; and having comforted her again and again with many a speech sweet with a hundred endearments, skilled to drive away grief, and full of instruction about duty, he at last left her. And when he was gone, Vilasavati's sorrow was a little soothed, and she went about her usual daily duties, such as putting on of her adornments. And from that time forth she was more and more devoted to propitiating the G.o.ds, honouring Brahmans, and paying reverence to all holy persons; whatever recommendation she heard from any source she practised in her longing for a child, nor did she count the fatigue, however great; she slept within the temples of Durga, dark with smoke of bdellium ceaselessly burnt, on a bed of clubs covered with green gra.s.s, fasting, her pure form clothed in white raiment; (134) she bathed under cows endued with auspicious marks, adorned for the occasion by the wives of the old cowherds in the herd-stations, with golden pitchers laden with all sorts of jewels, decorated with branches of the pipal, decked with divers fruits and flowers and filled with holy water; every day she would rise and give to Brahmans golden mustard-leaves adorned with every gem; she stood in the midst of a circle drawn by the king himself, in a place where four roads meet, on the fourteenth night of the dark fortnight, and performed auspicious rites of bathing, in which the G.o.ds of the quarters were gladdened by the various oblations offered; she honoured the shrines of the siddhas and sought the houses of neighbouring Matrikas, [214]

in which faith was displayed by the people; she bathed in all the celebrated snake-ponds; with a sun-wise turn, she worshipped the pipal and other trees to which honour was wont to be shown; after bathing, with hands circled by swaying bracelets, she herself gave to the birds an offering of curds and boiled rice placed in a silver cup; she offered daily to the G.o.ddess Durga a sacrifice consisting of parched grain of oblation, boiled rice, sesamum sweetmeats, cakes, unguents, incense, and flowers, in abundance; (135) she besought, with a mind prostrate in adoration, the naked wandering ascetics, bearing the name of siddhas, and carrying their begging-bowls filled by her; she greatly honoured the directions of fortune-tellers; she frequented all the soothsayers learned in signs; she showed all respect to those who understood the omens of birds; she accepted all the secrets handed down in the tradition of a succession of venerable sages; in her longing for the sight of a son, she made the Brahmans who came into her presence chant the Veda; she heard sacred stories incessantly repeated; she carried about little caskets of mantras filled with birch-leaves written over in yellow letters; she tied strings of medicinal plants as amulets; even her attendants went out to hear pa.s.sing sounds and grasped the omens arising from them; she daily threw out lumps of flesh in the evening for the jackals; she told the pandits the wonders of her dreams, and at the cross-roads she offered oblation to civa.

'"And as time went on, it chanced once that near the end of night, when the sky was gray as an old pigeon's wing, and but few stars were left, the king saw in a dream the full moon entering the mouth of Vilasavati, as she rested on the roof of her white palace, like a ball of lotus-fibres into the mouth of an elephant. (136) Thereupon he woke, and arising, shedding brightness through his dwelling by the joyous dilation of his eyes, he straightway called cukanasa and told him the dream; whereto the latter, filled with sudden joy, replied: 'Sire, our wishes and those of thy subjects are at length fulfilled. After a few days my lord will doubtless experience the happiness of beholding the lotus-face of a son; for I, too, this night in a dream saw a white-robed Brahman, of G.o.dlike bearing and calm aspect, place in Manorama's [215] lap a lotus that rained drops of honey, with a hundred outspread white petals, like the moon's digits, and a thousand quivering stamens forming its matted locks. Now, all auspicious omens which come to us foretell the near approach of joy; and what other cause of joy can there be than this? for dreams seen at the close of night are wont to bear fruit in truth. (137) Certainly ere long the queen shall bear a son that, like Mandhatri, shall be a leader among all royal sages, and a cause of joy to all the world; and he shall gladden thy heart, O king, as the lotus-pool in autumn with its burst of fresh lotuses gladdens the royal elephant; by him thy kingly line shall become strong to bear the weight of the world, and shall be unbroken in its succession as the stream of a wild elephant's ichor.' As he thus spoke, the king, taking him by the hand, entered the inner apartments and gladdened the queen, with both their dreams. And after some days, by the grace of the G.o.ds, the hope of a child came to Vilasavati, like the moon's image on a lake, and she became thereby yet more glorious, like the line of the Nandana wood with the tree of Paradise, or the breast of Vishnu with the Kaustubha gem.

(138) '"On one memorable day the king had gone at evening to an inner pavilion, where, encircled by a thousand lamps, burning bright with abundance of scented oil, he was like the full moon in the midst of stars, or like Narayana seated among the thousand jewelled hoods of the king of snakes; he was surrounded only by a few great kings who had received the sprinkling of coronation; his own attendants stood at some distance; close by cukanasa was sitting on a high stool, clad in white silk, with little adornment, a statesman profound as the depths of ocean; and with him the king was holding a conversation on many topics, full of the confidence that had grown with their growth, when he was approached by the handmaiden Kulavardhana, the queen's chief attendant, always skilled in the ways of a court, well trained by nearness to royalty, and versed in all auspicious ceremonies, who whispered in his ear the news about Vilasavati. (139) At her words, so fresh to his ears, the king's limbs were bedewed as if with ambrosia, a thrill pa.s.sed through his whole body, and he was bewildered with the draught of joy; his cheeks burst into a smile; under the guise of the bright flash of his teeth he scattered abroad the happiness that overflowed his heart, and his eye, with its pupil quivering, and its lashes wet with tears of gladness, fell on the face of cukanasa. And when cukanasa saw the king's exceeding joy, such as he had never seen before, and beheld the approach of Kulavardhana with a radiant smile on her face, though he had not heard the tidings, yet, from constantly revolving the matter in his mind, he saw no other cause befitting the time of this excess of gladness; (140) he saw all, and bringing his seat closer to the king, said in a low voice: 'My lord, there is some truth in that dream; for Kulavardhana has her eyes radiant, and thy twin eyes announce a cause of great joy, for they are dilated, their pupils are tremulous, and they are bathed in tears of joy, and as they seem to creep to the lobes of thy ears in their eagerness to hear the good tidings, they produce, as it were, the beauty of an ear-pendant of blue lotuses. My longing heart yearns to hear the festival that has sprung up for it. Therefore let my lord tell me what is this news.' When he had thus said, the king replied with a smile: 'If it is true as she says, then all our dream is true; but I cannot believe it. How should so great a happiness fall to our lot? For we are no fitting vessel for the bearing of such good tidings. Kulavardhana is always truthful, and yet when I consider how unworthy I am of such joy, I look upon her as having changed her nature. Rise, therefore; I myself will go and ask the queen if it is true, and then I shall know.' (141) So saying, he dismissed all the kings, and taking off his ornaments, gave them to Kulavardhana, and when, on his gracious dismissal of her with gifts, he received her homage paid with a deep reverence as she touched the earth with her straight brow, he rose with cukanasa and went to the inner apartments, hurried on by a mind filled with exceeding happiness, and gladdened by the throbbing of his right eye, which seemed to mimic the play of a blue lotus-petal stirred by the wind. He was followed by a scanty retinue, as befitted so late a visit, and had the thick darkness of the courtyard dispelled by the brightness of the lamps of the women who went before him, though their steady flame flickered in the wind."'

[Bana then describes the birth of Tarapida's son, who is named Candrapida, from the king's dream about the moon, and also that of cukanasa's son Vaicampayana. [216]]

(155) '"And as Candrapida underwent in due course all the circle of ceremonies, beginning with the tying of his top-knot, his childhood pa.s.sed away; and to prevent distraction, Tarapida had built for him a palace of learning outside the city, stretching half a league along the Sipra river, surrounded by a wall of white bricks like the circle of peaks of a snow-mountain, girt with a great moat running along the walls, guarded by very strong gates, having one door kept open for ingress, with stables for horses and palanquins close by, and a gymnasium constructed beneath--a fit palace for the immortals. He took infinite pains in gathering there teachers of every science, and having placed the boy there, like a young lion in a cage, forbidding all egress, surrounding him with a suite composed mainly of the sons of his teachers, removing every allurement to the sports of boyhood, and keeping his mind free from distraction, on an auspicious day (156) he entrusted him, together with Vaicampayana, to masters, that they might acquire all knowledge. Every day when he rose, the king, with Vilasavati and a small retinue, went to watch him, and Candrapida, undisturbed in mind and kept to his work by the king, quickly grasped all the sciences taught him by teachers, whose efforts were quickened by his great powers, as they brought to light his natural abilities; the whole range of arts a.s.sembled in his mind as in a pure jewelled mirror. He gained the highest skill in word, sentence, proof, law, and royal policy; in gymnastics; in all kinds of weapons, such as the bow, quoit, shield, scimitar, dart, mace, battle-axe, and club; in driving and elephant-riding; in musical instruments, such as the lute, fife, drum, cymbal, and pipe; in the laws of dancing laid down by Bharata and others, and the science of music, such as that of Narada; in the management of elephants, the knowledge of a horse's age, and the marks of men; in painting, leaf-cutting, the use of books, and writing; in all the arts of gambling, knowledge of the cries of birds, and astronomy; in testing of jewels, (157) carpentry, the working of ivory; in architecture, physic, mechanics, antidotes, mining, crossing of rivers, leaping and jumping, and sleight of hand; in stories, dramas, romances, poems; in the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Itihasas, and the Ramayana; in all kinds of writing, all foreign languages, all technicalities, all mechanical arts; in metre, and in every other art. And while he ceaselessly studied, even in his childhood an inborn vigour like that of Bhima shone forth in him and stirred the world to wonder. For when he was but in play the young elephants, who had attacked him as if he were a lion's whelp, had their limbs bowed down by his grasp on their ears, and could not move; with one stroke of his scimitar he cut down palm-trees as if they were lotus-stalks; his shafts, like those of Paracurama when he blazed to consume the forest of earth's royal stems, cleft only the loftiest peaks; he exercised himself with an iron club which ten men were needed to lift; and, except in bodily strength, he was followed close in all his accomplishments by Vaicampayana, (158) who, by reason of the honour Candrapida felt for his deep learning, and of his reverence due to cukanasa, and because they had played in the dust and grown up together, was the prince's chief friend, and, as it were, his second heart, and the home of all his confidences. He would not be without Vaicampayana for a moment, while Vaicampayana never for an instant ceased to follow him, any more than the day would cease to follow the sun.

'"And while Candrapida was thus pursuing his acquaintance with all knowledge, the spring of youth, loved of the three worlds as the amrita draught of the ocean, gladdening the hearts of men as moonrise gladdens the gloaming; transient in change of iridescent glow, like the full arch of Indra's bow to the rainy season; weapon of love, like the outburst of flowers to the tree of desire; beautiful in ever freshly revealed glow, like sunrise to the lotus-grove; ready for all play of graceful motion, like the plumes of the peac.o.c.k, became manifest and brought to flower in him, fair as he was, a double beauty; love, lord of the hour, stood ever nigh, as if to do his bidding; his chest expanded like his beauty; his limbs won fulness, like the wishes of his friends; his waist became slender, like the host of his foes; (159) his form broadened, like his liberality; his majesty grew, like his hair; his arms hung down more and more, like the plaits of his enemies'

wives; his eyes became brighter, like his conduct; his shoulders broad, like his knowledge; and his heart deep, like his voice.

'"And so in due course the king, learning that Candrapida had grown to youth, and had completed his knowledge of all the arts, studied all the sciences, and won great praise from his teachers, summoned Balahaka, a mighty warrior, and, with a large escort of cavalry and infantry, sent him on a very auspicious day to fetch the prince. And Balahaka, going to the palace of learning, entered, announced by the porters, and bending his head till its crest-jewels rested on the ground, sat down, by the prince's permission, on a seat befitting his office, as reverently as though in the king's presence; after a short pause he approached Candrapida and respectfully gave the king's message: 'Prince, the king bids me say: "Our desires are fulfilled; the castras have been studied; all the arts have been learnt; thou hast gained the highest skill in all the martial sciences. (160) All thy teachers give thee permission to leave the house of learning. Let the people see that thou hast received thy training, like a young royal elephant come out from the enclosure, having in thy mind the whole orb of the arts, like the full moon newly risen. Let the eyes of the world, long eager to behold thee, fulfil their true function; for all the zenanas are yearning for thy sight. This is now the tenth year of thine abode in the school, and thou didst enter it having reached the experience of thy sixth year. This year, then, so reckoned, is the sixteenth of thy life. Now, therefore, when thou hast come forth and shown thyself to all the mothers longing to see thee, and hast saluted those who deserve thy honour, do thou lay aside thy early discipline, and experience at thy will the pleasures of the court and the delights of fresh youth. Pay thy respects to the chiefs; honour the Brahmans; protect thy people; gladden thy kinsfolk. There stands at the door, sent by the king, this horse, named Indrayudha, swift as Garuda or as the wind, the chief jewel of the three worlds; (161) for in truth the monarch of Persia, who esteemed him the wonder of the universe, sent him with this message: 'This n.o.ble steed, sprung straight from the waters of ocean, was found by me, and is worthy for thee, O king, to mount;' and when he was shown to those skilled in a horse's points, they said: 'He has all the marks of which men tell us as belonging to Uccaihcravas; there never has been nor will be a steed like him.' Therefore let him be honoured by thy mounting him. These thousand princes, all sons of anointed kings, highly-trained, heroic, wise, and accomplished, and of long descent, sent for thine escort, wait on horseback, all eager to salute thee."' Having thus said, Balahaka paused, and Candrapida, laying his father's command on his head, in a voice deep as a new cloud gave the order, 'Let Indrayudha be brought,' for he desired to mount him.

'"Immediately on his command Indrayudha was brought, and he beheld that wondrous steed, led by two men on each side grasping the circle of the bit, and using all their efforts to curb him. He was very large, his back being just within reach of a man's uplifted hand; he seemed to drink the sky, which was on a level with his mouth; with a neigh which shook the cavity of his belly, and filled the hollows of the three worlds, he, as it were, upbraided Garuda for his vain trust in his fabled speed; (162) with a nostril snorting in wrath at any hindrance to his course, he, in his pride, examined the three worlds, that he might leap over them; his body was variegated with streaks of black, yellow, green, and pink, like Indra's bow; he was like a young elephant, with a many-hued rug spread over him; like civa's bull, pink with metallic dust from b.u.t.ting at Kailasa's peaks; like Parvati's lion, with his mane crimsoned with the red streak of the demon's clotted blood; and like the very incarnation of all energy, with a sound emitted from his ever-quivering nostrils, he seemed to pour forth the wind inhaled in his swift course; he scattered the foam-flakes that frothed from his lips from the champing of the points of the bit which rattled as he rolled it in his mouth, as if they were mouthfuls of ambrosia drunk in his ocean home. (164) And, beholding this steed, whose like was never before seen, in form fit for the G.o.ds, meet for the kingdom of the whole universe, (165) possessed of all the favourable marks, the perfection of a horse's shape, the heart of Candrapida, though of a nature not easily moved, was touched with amazement, and the thought arose in his mind: 'What jewel, if not this wondrous horse, was brought up by the Suras and Asuras when they churned the waters of ocean and whirled round Mount Mandara with the serpent Vasuki revolving in ceaseless gyration? And what has Indra gained by his lordship of the three worlds if he did not mount this back, broad as Mount Meru? Surely Indra was cheated by the ocean when his heart was gladdened by Uccaihcravas! And I think that so far he has not crossed the sight of holy Narayana, who even now does not give up his infatuation for riding Garuda. My father's royal glory surpa.s.ses the riches of the kingdom of heaven, in that treasures such as this, which can hardly be gained in the whole universe, come here into servitude. From its magnificence and energy, this form of his seems the shrine of a G.o.d, and the truth of this makes me fear to mount him. For forms like this, fit for the G.o.ds and the wonder of the universe, belong to no common horse. Even deities, subject to a muni's curse, have been known to leave their own bodies and inhabit other bodies brought to them by the terms of the curse. (166) For there is a story of old how Sthulaciras, a muni of great austerity, cursed an Apsaras named Rambha, the ornament of the three worlds; and she, leaving heaven, entered the heart of a horse, and thus, as the story goes, dwelt for a long time on earth as a mare, in the service of King catadhanvan, at Mrittikavati; and many other great-souled beings, having had their glory destroyed by the curse of munis, have roamed the world in various forms. Surely this must be some n.o.ble being subject to a curse! My heart declares his divinity.' Thus thinking, he rose, wishing to mount; and in mind only approaching the steed, he prayed thus: 'n.o.ble charger, thou art that thou art! All hail to thee! Yet let my audacity in mounting thee be forgiven! for even deities whose presence is unknown taste of a contumely all unmeet for them.'

'"As if knowing his thought, Indrayudha looked at him with eye askance, the pupil turned and partly closed by the lashing of his tossing mane, (167) and repeatedly struck the ground with his right hoof, till the hair on his chest was gray with the dust it cast up, as though summoning the prince to mount, with a pleasant whinnying long drawn out into a gentle soft murmur blent with the snorting of his quivering nostrils. Whereupon Candrapida mounted Indrayudha, as though invited thereunto by his pleasant neighing; and, having mounted, he pa.s.sed out, thinking the whole universe but a span long, and beheld a cavalcade of which the furthest limits could not be seen; it deafened the hollows of the three worlds with the clatter of hoofs breaking up the earth, fierce as a shower of stones let fall from the clouds, and with a neighing sounding the fiercer from nostrils choked with dust; it decked the sky with a forest of lances all horrent, whose shafts gleamed bright when touched by the sun, like a lake half hidden in a grove of blue lotus-buds upborne on their stalks; from its darkening the eight quarters with its thousand umbrellas all raised, it was like a ma.s.s of clouds iridescent with the full arch of Indra's bow shining on them; (168) while from the horses' mouths being white with foam-flakes cast abroad, and from the undulating line of their ceaseless curvetting, it rose to sight like a ma.s.s of ocean billows in the flood of final destruction; all the horses were in motion at Candrapida's approach, as the waves of ocean at the moon's rising; and the princes, each wishing to be first in their eagerness to pay their homage, having their heads unprotected by the hasty removal of their umbrellas, and weary with trying to curb their horses, which were wild with trampling on each other, drew around the prince. As Balahaka presented each by name, they bowed, bending low their heads, which showed the glow of loyalty under the guise of the rays uprising from the rubies in their waving crests, and which, from their having buds held up in adoration, were like lotuses resting on the water in the pitchers of coronation. Having saluted them, Candrapida, accompanied by Vaicampayana, also mounted, straightway set out for the city. (169) He was shaded by a very large umbrella with a gold stick, borne above him, formed like the lotus on which royal glory might dwell, like the moon's...o...b..to the moon-lotus grove of royal races, like an island being formed by the flow of the cavalcade, in hue like the circle of Vasuki's hood whitened by the sea of milk, garlanded with many a rope of pearls, bearing the device of a lion designed above. The flowers in his ears were set dancing by the wind of the cowries waved on either side, and his praises were sung by many thousands of retainers running before him, young, for the most part, and brave, and by the bards, who ceaselessly recited aloud auspicious verses, with a soft cry of 'Long life and victory.'

'"And as he pa.s.sed on his way to the city, like a manifestation of the G.o.d of love no longer bodiless, [217] all the people, like a lotus-grove awakened by the moon's rising, left their work and gathered to behold him.

'"'Kartikeya scorns the name of k.u.mara, [218] since his own form is looked on with scorn by the throng of lotus-faces when this prince is by. Surely we reap the reward of great virtue in that we behold that G.o.dlike form with eyes wide with the overflow of love sprung up within us, and upraised in eager curiosity. (170) Our birth in this world has now brought forth its fruit. Nevertheless, all hail to blessed Krishna, who in the guise of Candrapida has a.s.sumed a new form!' With such words the city folk folded their hands in adoration and bowed before him. And from the thousand windows which were unclosed from curiosity to behold Candrapida, the city itself became as it were a ma.s.s of open eyes; for straightway on hearing that he had left the palace of learning filled with all knowledge, women eager to see him mounted the roofs hastily throughout the city, leaving their half-done work; some with mirrors in their left hand were like the nights of the full moon, when the moon's whole orb is gleaming; some, with feet roseate with fresh lac, were like lotus-buds whose flowers had drunk the early sunlight; some, with their tender feet enmeshed in the bells of their girdle, fallen to the ground in their haste, were like elephants moving very slowly, checked by their chain; some were robed in rainbow hues, like the beauty of a day in the rainy season; some raised feet that blossomed into the white rays of their nails, like tame kalahamsas drawn by the sound of the anklets; (171) some held strings of large pearls in their hands, as if in imitation of Rati with her crystal rosary grasped in grief for the death of Love; some, with wreaths of pearls falling between their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, were like the glory of evening when the pairs of cakravakas are separated by a pure slender stream; some, with rainbow flashes rising from the gems of their anklets, shone as if lovingly accompanied by tame peac.o.c.ks; some, with their jewelled cups half drunk, distilled, as it were, from their rosy flower-like lips a sweet nectar. Others, too, with their orbed faces appearing at the interstices of the emerald lattices, presented to the eyes a lotus-grove with its opening buds traversing the sky, as they gazed on the prince. On a sudden there arose a tinkling of ornaments born of hasty motion, with many a sound of lutes struck sweetly on their chords, blended with the cry of cranes summoned by the clanging of the girdles, accompanied by the noise of peac.o.c.ks shut up in the zenana and rejoicing in the thunder caused by the stairs being struck by stumbling feet, (172) soft with the murmur of kalahamsas fluttering in fear of the clash of fresh clouds, imitating the triumphant cry of Love, taking captive the ears of lovely women with their ropes of jewels resounding shrilly as they touched one another, and re-echoing through all the corners of the houses. In a moment the dense throng of maidens made the palaces seem walled with women; the ground seemed to blossom by the laying on it of their lac-strewn lotus-feet; the city seemed girt with grace by the stream of fair forms; the sky seemed all moon by the throng of orbed faces; the circle of s.p.a.ce seemed a lotus-grove by reason of the hands all raised to ward off the heat; the sunshine seemed robed in rainbows by the ma.s.s of rays from the jewels, and the day seemed formed of blue lotus-petals by the long line of bright glances. As the women gazed on him with eyes fixed and widened in curiosity, the form of Candrapida entered into their hearts as though they were mirrors or water or crystal; and as the glow of love manifested itself there, their graceful speech became straightway mirthful, confidential, confused, envious, scornful, derisive, coquettish, loving, or full of longing. (173) As, for instance: 'Hasty one, wait for me! Drunk with gazing, hold thy mantle! Simpleton, lift up the long tresses that hang about thy face! Remove thy moon-digit ornament! Blinded with love, thy feet are caught in the flowers of thine offering, and thou wilt fall! Love-distraught, tie up thy hair! Intent on the sight of Candrapida, raise thy girdle! Naughty one, lift up the ear-flower waving on thy cheek! Heartless one, pick up thine earring! Eager in youth, thou art being watched! Cover thy bosom! Shameless one, gather up thy loosened robe! Artfully artless, go on quicker! Inquisitive girl, take another look at the king! Insatiable, how long wilt thou look? Fickle-hearted, think of thine own people! Impish girl, thy mantle has fallen, and thou art mocked! Thou whose eyes art filled with love, seest thou not thy friends? Maiden full of guile, thou wilt live in sorrow with thy heart in causeless torment! Thou who feignest coyness, what mean thy crafty glances? (174) look boldly! Bright with youth, why rest thy weight against us? Angry one, go in front! Envious girl, why block up the window? Slave of love, thou bringest my outer robe to utter ruin! Drunk with love's breath, restrain thyself! Devoid of self-control, why run before thine elders? Bright in strength, why so confused? Silly girl, hide the thrill of love's fever! Ill-behaved girl, why thus weary thyself? Changeful one, thy girdle presseth thee, and thou sufferest vainly! Absent-minded, thou heedest not thyself, though outside thy house! Lost in curiosity, thou hast forgotten how to breathe! Thou whose eyes art closed in the happy imagination of union with thy beloved, open them! He is pa.s.sing! Bereft of sense by the stroke of love's arrow, place the end of thy silken robe on thy head to keep off the sun's rays! Thou who hast taken the vow of Sati, thou lettest thine eyes wander, not seeing what is to be seen! Wretched one, thou art cast down by the vow not to gaze on other men! Vouchsafe to rise, dear friend, and to look at the blessed fish-bannered G.o.d, [219] without his banner and bereft of Rati, visibly present. (175) His crest of malati flowers under his umbrella looks like a ma.s.s of moonbeams fallen in under the idea that night has set in, on his head dark with swarms of bees. His cheek is fair as a garland of open cirisha flowers touched with green by the splendour of his emerald earring. Our youthful glow of love, under the guise of rich ruby rays among the pearl necklaces, shines out eager to enter his heart. It is so seen by him among the cowries. Moreover, what is he laughing at as he talks to Vaicampayana, so that the circle of s.p.a.ce is whitened with his bright teeth? Balahaka, with the edge of his silken mantle green as a parrot's plumage, is removing from the tips of his hair the dust raised by the horses' hoofs. His bough-like foot, soft as Lakshmi's lotus-hand, is raised and sportively cast athwart his horse's shoulder. His hand, with tapering fingers and bright as pink lotus-buds, is outstretched to its full length to ask for betel-nut, just as an elephant's trunk in eagerness for mouthfuls of vallisneria. (176) Happy is she who, a fellow-bride with earth, shall, like Lakshmi, win that hand outvying the lotus! Happy, too, is Queen Vilasavati, by whom he who is able to bear the whole earth was nourished in birth, as the elephant of the quarters by s.p.a.ce!'

'"And as they uttered these and other sayings of the same kind, Candrapida, drunk in by their eyes, summoned by the tinkling of their ornaments, followed by their hearts, bound by the ropes of the rays of their jewels, honoured with the offering of their fresh youth, bestrewn with flowers and rice in salutation like a marriage fire, advancing step by step on a ma.s.s of white bracelets slipping from their languid arms, reached the palace."'

[Dismounting and leaning on Vaicampayana, he entered the court, preceded by Balahaka, and pa.s.sing through the crowd of attendant kings, beheld his father seated on a white couch and attended by his guards. [220]]

'"(189) And on the chamberlain's saying 'Behold him!' the prince, with his head bent low, and its crest shaking, while yet afar off made his salutation, and his father, crying from afar, 'Come, come hither!' stretched forth both arms, raised himself slightly from his couch, while his eyes filled with tears of joy and a thrill pa.s.sed over his body, and embraced his reverently-bent son as though he would bind him fast [221] and absorb him, and drink him in. And after the embrace, Candrapida sat down on the bare ground by his father's footstool, kicking away the cloak which had been rolled up and hastily made into a seat by his own betel-nut bearer, and softly bidding her take it away; (190) and then Vaicampayana, being embraced by the king like his own son, sat down on a seat placed for him. When he had been there a short time, a.s.sailed, as it were, by glances from the women who stood motionless, with the waving of the cowries forgotten, glances of love, long as strings of lotus stirred by the wind, from fine eyes tremulous and askant, he was dismissed with the words, 'Go, my son, salute thy loving mother, who longs to see thee, and then in turn gladden all who nurtured thee by thy sight.' Respectfully rising, and stopping his suite from following him, he went with Vaicampayana to the zenana, led by the royal servants meet to enter therein, and approaching his mother, saluted her"' [as she sat surrounded by her attendants and by aged ascetic women, who read and recited legends to her [222]].

'"(191) She raised him, while her attendants, skilled in doing her commands, stood around her, and, with a loving caress, held him in a long embrace, as though thinking inwardly of a hundred auspicious words to say, and straightway, when the claims of affection had been satisfied, and she had embraced Vaicampayana, she sat down, and drew Candrapida, who was reverently seated on the ground, forcibly and against his will to rest in her arms; (192) and when Vaicampayana was seated on a stool quickly brought by the attendants, she embraced Candrapida again and again on brow, breast, and shoulders, and said, with many a caressing touch: 'Hard-hearted, my child, was thy father, by whom so fair a form, meet to be cherished by the whole universe, was made to undergo great fatigue for so long! How didst thou endure the tedious restraint of thy gurus? Indeed, young as thou art, thou hast a strong man's fort.i.tude! Thy heart, even in childhood, has lost all idle liking for childish amus.e.m.e.nt and play. Ah well, all devotion to natural and spiritual parents is something apart; and as I now see thee endowed, by thy father's favour, with all knowledge, so I shall soon see thee endowed with worthy wives.' Having thus said as he bent his head, smiling half in shame, she kissed him on the cheek, which was a full reflection of her own, and garlanded with open lotuses; and he, when he had stayed a short time, gladdened in turn by his presence the whole zenana. Then, departing by the royal door, he mounted Indrayudha, who was standing outside, and, followed by the princes, went to see cukanasa,"' [and at the gate of an outer court, filled with priests of many sects, he dismounted [223]] '"(194) and entered the palace of cukanasa, which resembled a second royal court. On entering he saluted cukanasa like a second father as he stood in the midst of thousands of kings, showing him all respect, with his crest bent low even from afar. cukanasa, quickly rising, while the kings rose one after another, and respectfully advancing straight to him, with tears of joy falling from eyes wide with gladness, heartily, and with great affection, embraced him, together with Vaicampayana. Then the prince, rejecting the jewelled seat respectfully brought, sat on the bare ground, and next to him sat Vaicampayana; and when he sat on the ground, the whole circle of kings, except cukanasa, leaving their own seats, sat also on the ground. cukanasa stood silent for a moment, showing his extreme joy by the thrill that pa.s.sed over his limbs, and then said to the prince: 'Truly, my child, now that King Tarapida has seen thee grown to youth and possessed of knowledge, he has at length gained the fruit of his rule over the universe. Now all the blessings of thy parents have been fulfilled. Now the merit acquired in many other births has borne fruit. Now the G.o.ds of thy race are content. (195) For they who, like thee, astonish the three worlds, do not become the sons of the unworthy. For where is thy age? and where thy superhuman power and thy capacity of reaching boundless knowledge? Yea, blessed are those subjects who have thee for their protector, one like unto Bharata and Bhagiratha. What bright deed of merit was done by Earth that she has won thee as lord? Surely, Lakshmi is destroyed by persisting in the caprice of dwelling in Vishnu's bosom, that she does not approach thee in mortal form! But, nevertheless, do thou with thine arm, as the Great Boar with his circle of tusks, bear up for myriads of ages the weight of the earth, helping thy father.' Thus saying, and offering homage with ornaments, dresses, flowers, and unguents, he dismissed him. Thereupon the prince, rising, and entering the zenana, visited Vaicampayana's mother, by name Manorama, and, departing, mounted Indrayudha, and went to his palace. It had been previously arranged by his father, and had white jars filled and placed on the gates, like an image of the royal palace; it had garlands of green sandal boughs, thousands of white flags flying, and filled the air with the sound of auspicious instruments of music; open lotuses were strewn in it. A sacrifice to Agni had just been performed, every attendant was in bright apparel, every auspicious ceremony for entering a house had been prepared. On his arrival he sat for a short time on a couch placed in the hall, and then, together with his princely retinue, performed the day's duties, beginning with bathing and ending with a banquet; (196) and meanwhile he arranged that Indrayudha should dwell in his own chamber.

'"And in these doings of his the day came to a close; the sun's...o...b..fell with lifted rays like the ruby anklet--its interstices veiled in its own light--of the Glory of Day, as she hastens from the sky. (198) And when evening had begun, Candrapida, encircled by a fence of lighted lamps, went on foot to the king's palace, (199) and having stayed a short time with his father, and seen Vilasavati, he returned to his own house and lay down on a couch, many-hued with the radiance of various gems, like Krishna on the circle of cesha's hoods.

'"And when night had turned to dawn, he, with his father's leave, rose before sunrise, in eagerness for the new delight of hunting, and, mounting Indrayudha, went to the wood with a great retinue of runners, horses, and elephants. His eagerness was doubled by huntsmen leading in a golden leash hounds large as a.s.ses. With arrows whose shafts were bright as the leaves of a blossoming lotus, and fit to cleave the frontal bones of young wild elephants, he slew wild boars, lions, carabhas, [224] yaks, and many other kinds of deer by thousands, (200) while the woodland G.o.ddesses looked at him with half-closed eyes, fluttered by fear of the tw.a.n.ging of his bow. Other animals by his great energy he took alive. And when the sun reached the zenith, he rode home from the wood (201) with but a few princes who were well mounted, going over the events of the chase, saying: 'Thus I killed a lion, thus a bear, thus a buffalo, thus a carabha, thus a stag.'

'"On dismounting, he sat down on a seat brought hastily by his attendants, took off his corselet, and removed the rest of his riding apparel; he then rested a short time, till his weariness was removed by the wind of waving fans; having rested, he went to the bathroom, provided with a hundred pitchers of gold, silver, and jewels, and having a gold seat placed in its midst. And when the bath was over, and he had been rubbed in a separate room with cloths, his head was covered with a strip of pure linen, his raiment was put on, and he performed his homage to the G.o.ds; and when he entered the perfuming-room, there approached him the court women attendants, appointed by the grand chamberlain and sent by the king, slaves of Vilasavati, with Kulavardhana, and zenana women sent from the whole zenana, bearing in baskets different ornaments, wreaths, unguents, and robes, which they presented to him. Having taken them in due order from the women, he first himself anointed Vaicampayana. When his own anointing was done, and giving to those around him flowers, perfumes, robes, and jewels, as was meet, (202) he went to the banquet-hall, rich in a thousand jewelled vessels, like the autumn sky gleaming with stars. He there sat on a doubled rug, with Vaicampayana next him, eagerly employed, as was fitting, in praising his virtues, and the host of princes, placed each in order of seniority on the ground, felt the pleasure of their service increased by seeing the great courtesy with which the prince said: 'Let this be given to him, and that to him!' And so he duly partook of his morning meal.

'"After rinsing his mouth and taking betel, he stayed there a short time, and then went to Indrayudha, and there, without sitting down, while his attendants stood behind him, with upraised faces, awaiting his commands, and talking mostly about Indrayudha's points, he himself, with heart uplifted by Indrayudha's merits, scattered the fodder before him, and departing, visited the court; and in the same order of routine he saw the king, and, returning home, spent the night there. Next day, at dawn, he beheld approaching a chamberlain, by name Kailasa, the chief of the zenana, greatly trusted by the king, accompanied by a maiden of n.o.ble form, in her first youth, from her life at court self-possessed, yet not devoid of modesty, (203) growing to maidenhood, and in her veil of silk red with cochineal, resembling the Eastern quarter clothed in early sunshine. (204) And Kailasa, bowing and approaching, with his right hand placed on the ground, spoke as follows:

'"'Prince, Queen Vilasavati bids me say: "This maiden, by name Patralekha, daughter of the King of Kuluta, was brought with the captives by the great king on his conquest of the royal city of Kuluta while she was yet a little child, and was placed among the zenana women. And tenderness grew up in me towards her, seeing she was a king's daughter and without a protector, and she was long cared for and brought up by me just like a daughter. Therefore, I now send her to thee, thinking her fit to be thy betel-bearer; but she must not be looked on by thee, great prince of many days, as thine other attendants. She must be cared for as a young maiden; she must be shielded from the thoughtless like thine own nature; she must be looked on as a pupil. (205) Like a friend, she must be admitted to all thy confidences. By reason of the love that has long grown up in me, my heart rests on her as on my own daughter; and being sprung from a great race, she is fitted for such duties; in truth, she herself will in a few days charm the princ