Ignorance, my son, is to be avoided, for it brings harm in both worlds upon men of bewildered intellects: listen to this legend of sacred story. There lived in Panchala, of old time, a Brahman named Devabhuti, and that Brahman, who was learned in the Vedas, had a chaste wife named Bhogadatta. One day when he had gone to bathe, his wife went into the kitchen-garden to get vegetables, and saw a donkey belonging to a washerman eating them. So she took up a stick and ran after the donkey, and the animal fell into a pit, as it was trying to escape, and broke its hoof. When its master heard of that, he came in a pa.s.sion, and beat with a stick, and kicked the Brahman woman. Accordingly she, being pregnant, had a miscarriage; but the washerman returned home with his donkey.

Then her husband, hearing of it, came home after bathing, and after seeing his wife, went, in his distress, and complained to the chief magistrate of the town. The foolish man immediately had the washerman, whose name was Balasura, brought before him, and, after hearing the pleadings of both parties, delivered this judgment, "Since the donkey's hoof is broken, let the Brahman carry the donkey's load for the washerman, until the donkey is again fit for work. And let the washerman make the Brahman's wife pregnant again, since he made her miscarry. Let this be the punishment of the two parties respectively." When the Brahman heard this, he and his wife, in their despair, took poison and died. And when the king heard of it, he put to death that inconsiderate judge, who had caused the death of a Brahman, and he had to be born for a long time in the bodies of animals.

"So people, who are obscured by the darkness of ignorance, stray into the evil paths of their vices, and not setting in front of them the lamp of sound treatises, of a surety stumble. When the royal sage had said this, Somasura begged him to instruct him further, and Vinitamati, in order to train him aright, said, "Listen, my son, I will teach you in due order the doctrine of perfections."

Story of the generous Induprabha.

There lived a long time ago in Kurukshetra a king of the name of Malayaprabha. One day the king was about to give money to his subjects in a time of famine. But his ministers dissuaded him from doing so, out of avarice; thereupon his son Induprabha said to him; "Father, why do you neglect your subjects at the bidding of wicked ministers? For you are their wishing-tree, and they are your cows of plenty." When his son persisted in saying this, the king, who was under the influence of his ministers, got annoyed, and said to him--"What, my son, do I possess inexhaustible wealth? If, without inexhaustible wealth, I am to be a wishing-tree to my subjects, why do you not take upon yourself that office." When the son heard that speech of his father's, he made a vow that he would attain by austerities the condition of a wishing-tree, or die in the attempt.

Having formed this determination, the heroic prince went off to a forest where austerities were practised, and as soon as he entered it, the famine ceased. And when Indra was pleased with his severe austerities, he craved a boon from him, and became a wishing-tree in his own city. And he seemed to attract the distant, and to summon suitors with his boughs stretched out in all directions, and with the songs of his birds. And every day he granted the most difficult boons to his pet.i.tioners. And he made his father's subjects as happy as if they were in Paradise, since they had nothing left to wish for. One day Indra came to him and said to him, tempting him; "You have fulfilled the duty of benefiting others; come to Paradise." Then that prince, who had become a wishing-tree, answered him, "When these other trees with their pleasing flowers and fruits are for ever engaged in benefiting others, regardless of their own interests, how can I, who am a wishing-tree, disappoint so many men, by going to heaven for the sake of my own happiness?" When Indra heard this n.o.ble answer of his, he said, "Then let all these subjects come to heaven also." Then the prince, who had become a wishing-tree, replied, "If you are pleased with me, take all these subjects to heaven; I do not care for it: I will perform a great penance for the sole object of benefiting others." When Indra heard this, he praised him as an incarnation of Buddha, and being pleased, granted his pet.i.tion, and returned to heaven, taking those subjects with him. And Induprabha left the shape of a tree, and living in the forest, obtained by austerities the rank of a Bodhisattva.

"So those, who are devoted to charity, attain success, and now I have told you the doctrine of the perfection of charity; hear that of the perfection of chast.i.ty."

Story of the parrot, who was taught virtue by the king of the parrots.

A long time ago there lived on the Vindhya mountain a continent king of parrots, named Hemaprabha, who was an incarnation of a portion of a Buddha, and was rich in chast.i.ty that he had practised during a former birth. He remembered his former state and was a teacher of virtue. He had for warder a parrot named Charumati, who was a fool enslaved to his pa.s.sions. Once on a time, a female parrot, his mate, was killed by a fowler, who was laying snares, and he was so much grieved at being separated from her, that he was reduced to a miserable condition. Then Hemaprabha, the wise king of the parrots, in order by an artifice to rescue him from his grief, told him this false tale for his good; "Your wife is not dead, she has escaped from the snare of the fowler, for I saw her alive a moment ago. Come, I will shew her to you." Having said this, the king took Charumati through the air to a lake. There he shewed him his own reflection in the water, and said to him; "Look! here is your wife!" When the foolish parrot heard that, and saw his own reflection in the water, he went into it joyfully, and tried to embrace and kiss his wife. But not being embraced in return by his beloved, and not hearing her voice, he said to himself: "Why does not my beloved embrace me and speak to me." Supposing therefore that she was angry with him, he went and brought an amalaka fruit, and dropped it on his own reflection, thinking that it was his beloved, in order to coax her. The amalaka fruit sank into the water, and rose again to the surface, and the parrot, supposing that his gift had been rejected by his beloved, went full of grief to king Hemaprabha and said to him, "King, that wife of mine will not touch me or speak to me. Moreover she rejected the amalaka fruit which I gave her." When the king heard that, he said to him slowly, as if he were reluctant to tell it, "I ought not to tell you this, but nevertheless I will tell you, because I love you so much. Your wife is at present in love with another, so how can she shew you affection? And I will furnish you with ocular proof of it in this very tank." After saying this, he took him there, and shewed him their two reflections close together in the tank. When the foolish parrot saw it, he thought his wife was in the embrace of another male parrot, and turning round disgusted, he said to the king, "Your Majesty, this is the result of my folly in not listening to your advice: So tell me, now, what I ought to do." When the warder said this, king Hemaprabha, thinking that he had now an opportunity of instructing him, thus addressed him; "It is better to take Halahala poison, it is better to wreathe a serpent round one's neck, than to repose confidence in females, a calamity against which neither charms nor talismanic jewels avail. Females, being, like the winds, very changeful, and enveloped with a thick cloud of pa.s.sion, [214] defile those who are walking in the right path, and disgrace them altogether. So wise men, of firm nature, should not cleave to them, but should practise chast.i.ty, in order to obtain the rank of sages who have subdued their pa.s.sions." Charumati, having been thus instructed by the king, renounced the society of females, and gradually became continent like Buddha.

"So you see, those that are rich in chast.i.ty deliver others; and, now that I have instructed you in the perfection of chast.i.ty, listen to the perfection of patience."

Story of the patient hermit Subhanaya.

There lived on the Kedara mountain a great hermit, named Subhanaya, who was for ever bathing in the waters of the Mandakini, and was gentle and emaciated with penance. One night, some robbers came there to look for some gold, which they had previously buried there, but they could not find it anywhere. Accordingly, thinking that in that uninhabited place it could only have been carried off by the hermit, they entered his cell and said to him: "Ah! you hypocritical hermit, give up our gold, which you have taken from the earth, for you have succeeded in robbing us, who are robbers by profession." When the hermit, who had not taken the treasure, was falsely reproached in these words by the robbers, he said, "I did not take away your gold, and I have never seen any gold." Then the good hermit was beaten with sticks by those robbers, and yet the truthful man continued to tell the same story; and then the robbers cut off, one after another, his hands and his feet, thinking that he was obstinate, and finally gouged out his eyes. But when they found that, in spite of all this, he continued to tell the same tale without flinching, they came to the conclusion that some one else had stolen their gold, and they returned by the way that they came.

The next morning a king, named Sekharajyoti, a pupil of that hermit's, who had come to have an interview with him, saw him in that state. Then, being tortured with sorrow for his spiritual guide, [215] he questioned him, and found out the state of the case, and had a search made for those robbers, and had them brought to that very spot. And he was about to have them put to death, when the hermit said to him; "King, if you put them to death, I will kill myself. If the sword did this work on me, how are they in fault? And if they put the sword in motion, anger put them in motion, and their anger was excited by the loss of their gold, and that was due to my sins in a previous state of existence, and that was due to my ignorance, so my ignorance is the only thing that has injured me. So my ignorance should be slain by me. Moreover, even if these men deserved to be put to death for doing me an injury, ought not their lives to be saved on account of their having done me a benefit? For if they had not done to me what they have done, there would have been no one with regard to whom I could have practised patience, of which the fruit is emanc.i.p.ation? So they have done me a thorough benefit." With many speeches of this kind did the patient hermit instruct the king, and so he delivered the robbers from punishment. And on account of the excellence of his asceticism his body immediately became unmutilated as before, and that moment he attained emanc.i.p.ation.

"Thus patient men escape from the world of births. I have now explained to you the perfection of patience; listen to the perfection of perseverance."

Story of the persevering young Brahman.

Once on a time there was a young Brahman of the name of Maladhara: he beheld one day a prince of the Siddhas flying through the air. Wishing to rival him, he fastened to his sides wings of gra.s.s, and continually leaping up, he tried to learn the art of flying in the air. And as he continued to make this useless attempt every day, he was at last seen by the prince while he was roaming though the air. And the prince thought, "I ought to take pity on this boy who shews spirit in struggling earnestly to attain an impossible object, for it is my business to patronize such." Thereupon, being pleased, he took the Brahman boy, by his magic power, upon his shoulder, and made him one of his followers. "Thus you see that even G.o.ds are pleased with perseverance; I have now set before you the perfection of perseverance; hear the perfection of meditation."

Story of Malayamalin.

Of old time there dwelt in the Carnatic a rich merchant, named Vijayamalin, and he had a son named Malayamalin. One day Malayamalin, when he was grown up, went with his father to the king's court, and there he saw the daughter of the king Indukesarin, Induyasas by name. That maiden, like a bewildering creeper of love, [216] entered the heart of the young merchant, as soon as he saw her. Then he returned home, and remained in a state of pallor, sleepless at night, and during the day cowering with contracted limbs, having taken upon himself the k.u.muda-vow. [217] And thinking continually of her, he was averse to food and all other things of the kind, and even when questioned by his relations, he gave no more answer than if he had been dumb.

Then, one day, the king's painter, whose name was Mantharaka, an intimate friend of his, said to him in private, when in this state owing to the sorrow of separation: "Friend, why do you remain leaning against the wall like a man in a picture? Like a lifeless image, you neither eat, nor hear, nor see." When his friend the painter asked him this question persistently, the merchant's son at last told him his desire. The painter said to him; "It is not fitting that you, a merchant's son, should fall in love with a princess. Let the swan desire the beautiful face of the lotuses of all ordinary lakes, but what has he to do with the delight of enjoying the lotus of that lake, which is the navel of Vishnu?" Still the painter could not prevent him from nursing his pa.s.sion; so he painted the princess on a piece of canvas, and gave her picture to him to solace his longing, and to enable him to while away the time. And the young merchant spent his time in gazing on, coaxing, and touching, and adorning her picture, and he fancied that it was the real princess Induyasas, and gradually became absorbed in her, and did all that he did under that belief. [218] And in course of time he was so engrossed by that fancy, that he seemed to see her, though she was only a painted figure, talking to him and kissing him. Then he was happy, because he had obtained in imagination union with his beloved, and he was contented, because the whole world was for him contained in that piece of painted canvas.

One night, when the moon was rising, he took the picture and went out of his house with it to a garden, to amuse himself with his beloved. And there he put down the picture at the foot of a tree, and went to a distance, to pick flowers for his darling. At that moment he was seen by a hermit, named Vinayajyoti, who came down from heaven out of compa.s.sion, to rescue him from his delusion. He by his supernatural power painted in one part of the picture a live black cobra, and stood near invisible. In the meanwhile Malayamalin returned there, after gathering those flowers, and seeing the black serpent on the canvas, he reflected, "Where does this serpent come from now? Has it been created by fate to protect this fair one, the treasure-house of beauty." Thus reflecting, he adorned with flowers the fair one on the canvas, and fancying that she surrendered herself to him, he embraced her, and asked her the above question, and at that very moment the hermit threw an illusion over him, which made him see her bitten by the black snake and unconscious. Then he forgot that it was only canvas, and exclaiming, alas! alas! he fell distracted on the earth, like a Vidyadhara brought down by the canvas acting as a talisman. But soon he recovered consciousness, and rose up weeping and determined on suicide, and climbed up a lofty tree, and threw himself from its top. But, as he was falling, the great hermit appeared to him, and bore him up in his hands, and consoled him, and said to him, "Foolish boy, do you not know that the real princess is in her palace, and that this princess on the canvas is a painted figure devoid of life? So who is it that you embrace, or who has been bitten by the serpent? Or what is this delusion of attributing reality to the creation of your own desire, that has taken possession of your pa.s.sionate heart? Why do you not investigate the truth with equal intensity of contemplation, in order that you may not again become the victim of such sorrows?"

When the hermit had said this to the young merchant, the night of his delusion was dispersed, and he recovered his senses, and, bowing before the hermit, he said to him; "Holy one, by your favour I have been rescued from this calamity; do me the favour of rescuing me also from this changeful world." When Malayamalin made this request to the hermit, who was a Bodhisattva, he instructed him in his own knowledge and disappeared. Then Malayamalin went to the forest, and by the power of his asceticism he came to know the real truth about that which is to be rejected and that which is to be chosen, with the reasons, and attained the rank of an Arhat. And the compa.s.sionate man returned, and by teaching them knowledge, he made king Indukesarin and his citizens obtain salvation.

"So even untruth, in the ease of those mighty in contemplation, becomes true. I have now explained the perfection of contemplation; listen to the perfection of wisdom."

Story of the robber who won over Yama's secretary.

Long ago there lived in Sinhaladvipa a robber, of the name of Sinhavikrama, who since his birth had nourished his body with other men's wealth stolen from every quarter. In time he grew old, and desisting from his occupation, he reflected; "What resources have I in the other world? Whom shall I betake myself to for protection there? If I betake myself to Siva or Vishnu, what value will they attach to me, when they have G.o.ds, hermits, and others to worship them? So I will worship Chitragupta [219] who alone records the good and evil deeds of men. He may deliver me by his power. For he, being a secretary, does alone the work of Brahma and Siva: he writes down or erases in a moment the whole world, which is in his hand." Having thus reflected, he began to devote himself to Chitragupta; he honoured him specially, and in order to please him, kept continually feeding Brahmans.

While he was carrying on this system of conduct, one day Chitragupta came to the house of that robber, in the form of a guest, to examine into his real feelings. The robber received him courteously, entertained him, and gave him a present, and then said to him, "Say this, 'May Chitragupta be propitious to you'." Then Chitragupta, who was disguised as a Brahman, said, "Why do you neglect Siva, and Vishnu, and the other G.o.ds, and devote yourself to Chitragupta?" When the robber Sinhavikrama heard that, he said to him, "What business is that of yours. I do not need any other G.o.ds but him." Then Chitragupta, wearing the form of a Brahman, went on to say to him, "Well, if you will give me your wife, I will say it." When Sinhavikrama heard that, he was pleased, and said to him: "I hereby give you my wife, in order to please the G.o.d whom I have specially chosen for my own." When Chitragupta heard that, he revealed himself to him and said, "I am Chitragupta himself, and I am pleased with you, so tell me what I am to do for you."

Then Sinhavikrama was exceedingly pleased and said to him, "Holy one, take such order as that I shall not die." Then Chitragupta said, "Death is one from whom it is impossible to guard people; but still I will devise a plan to save you: listen to it. Ever since Death was consumed by Siva, being angry on account of Sveta, and was created again in this world because he was required, [220] wherever Sveta lives, he abstains from injuring other people, as well as Sveta himself, for he is restrained by the command of the G.o.d. And at present the hermit Sveta is on the other side of the eastern ocean, in a grove of ascetics beyond the river Tarangini. That grove cannot be invaded by Death, so I will take you and place you there. But you must not return to this side of the Tarangini. However, if you do return out of carelessness, and Death seizes you, I will devise some way of escape for you, when you have come to the other world."

When Chitragupta had said this, he took the delighted Sinhavikrama, and placed him in that grove of asceticism belonging to Sveta, and then disappeared. And after some time Death went to the hither bank of the river Tarangini, to carry off Sinhavikrama. While there, he created by his delusive power a heavenly nymph, and sent her to him, as he saw no other means of getting hold of him. The fair one went and approached Sinhavikrama, and artfully enslaved him, fascinating him with her wealth of beauty. After some days had pa.s.sed, she entered the Tarangini, which was disturbed with waves, giving out that she wished to see her relations. And while Sinhavikrama, who had followed her, was looking at her from the bank, she slipped in the middle of the river. And there she uttered a piercing cry, as if she was being carried away by the stream, exclaiming, "My husband, can you see me carried away by the stream without saving me? Are you a jackal in courage, and not a lion as your name denotes?" When Sinhavikrama heard that, he rushed into the river, and the nymph pretended to be swept away by the current, and when he followed her to save her, she soon led him to the other bank. When he reached it, Death threw his noose over his neck, and captured him; for destruction is ever impending over those whose minds are captivated by objects of sense.

Then the careless Sinhavikrama was led off by Death to the hall of Yama, and there Chitragupta, whose favour he had long ago won, saw him, and said to him in private; [221] "If you are asked here, whether you will stay in h.e.l.l first or in heaven, ask to be allowed to take your period in heaven first. And while you live in heaven, acquire merit, in order to ensure the permanence of your stay there. And then perform severe asceticism, in order to expiate your sin." When Chitragupta said this to Sinhavikrama, who was standing there abashed, with face fixed on the ground, he readily consented to do it.

And a moment afterwards Yama said to Chitragupta, "Has this robber any amount of merit to his credit or not?" Then Chitragupta said, "Indeed he is hospitable, and he bestowed his own wife on a suitor, in order to please his favourite deity; so he has to go to heaven for a day of the G.o.ds." When Yama heard this, he said to Sinhavikrama; "Tell me, which will you take first, your happiness or your misery?" Then Sinhavikrama entreated that he might have his happiness first. So Yama ordered his chariot to be brought, and Sinhavikrama mounted it, and went off to heaven, remembering the words of Chitragupta.

There he rigidly observed a vow of bathing in the Ganges of heaven, and of muttering prayers, and remained indifferent to the enjoyments of the place, and so he obtained the privilege of dwelling there for another year of the G.o.ds. Thus in course of time he obtained a right to perpetual residence in heaven, by virtue of his severe asceticism, and by propitiating Siva his sin was burnt up, and he obtained knowledge. Then the messengers of h.e.l.l were not able to look him in the face, and Chitragupta blotted out the record of his sin on his birch-bark register, and Yama was silent.

"Thus Sinhavikrama, though a robber, obtained emanc.i.p.ation by virtue of true discernment; and now I have explained to you the perfection of discernment. And thus, my son, the wise embark on these six perfections taught by Buddha, as on a ship, and so cross the ocean of temporal existence."

While Somasura was being thus instructed in the forest by king Vinitamati, who had attained the rank of a Bodhisattva, the sun heard these religious lessons, and became subdued, and a.s.suming the hue of sunset as the red robe of a Buddhist, entered the cavern of the western mountain. Then king Vinitamati and Somasura performed their evening rites, according to pious usage, and spent the night there. And the next day, Vinitamati went on to teach Somasura the law of Buddha with all its secrets. [222] Then Somasura built a hut at the foot of a tree, and remained there in the wood, sitting at the feet of that instructor, absorbed in contemplation. And in course of time those two, the teacher and the pupil, attained supernatural powers, the result of abstraction, and gained the highest illumination.

And in the meanwhile, Indukalasa came, out of jealousy, and by the might of his sword and horse ejected his brother Kanakakalasa from the kingdom of Ahichchhatra also, which Vinitamati gave him, when he was afflicted at losing his first kingdom. He, having been deposed from his throne, wandered about with two or three of his ministers, and, as chance would have it, reached the grove, which was the retreat of Vinitamati. And while he was looking for fruits and water, as he suffered from severe hunger and thirst, Indra burnt up the wood by his magic power, and made it as it was before, wishing to entrap Vinitamati by making it impossible for him to shew such hospitality to every wayfarer. [223] And Vinitamati, beholding the grove, which was his retreat, suddenly turned into a desert, roamed about hither and thither for a short time, in a state of bewilderment. And then he saw Kanakalasa, who in the course of his wanderings had come there with his followers, and was now his guest, and he and his train were all on the point of death from hunger. And the hospitable Bodhisattva approached the king, when he was in this state, and asked him his story, and then he exerted his discernment, and said to him, "Though this wood has become a desert, and affords no hospitable entertainment, still I can tell you an expedient for saving your lives in your present state of hunger. Only half a kos from here there is a deer, which has been killed by falling into a hole, go and save your lives by eating its flesh." His guest, who was suffering from hunger, took his advice, and set out for that place with his followers, but the Bodhisattva Vinitamati got there before him. He reached that hole, and by his supernatural power a.s.sumed the form of a deer, and then he threw himself into it, and sacrificed his life for the sake of his pet.i.tioner. Then Kanakakalasa and his followers slowly reached that hole, and found the deer lying dead in it. So they pulled it out, and made a fire with gra.s.s and thorns, and roasted its flesh, and devoured it all. In the meanwhile the Bodhisattva's two wives, the daughter of the Naga and the princess, seeing that the wood of their retreat had been destroyed, and not seeing their husband, were much distressed, and went and told what had happened, to Somasura, whom they roused from deep meditation. He soon discerned by contemplation what his spiritual teacher had done, and he told the news to his wives, distressing as it was to them. And he quickly went with them to that hole, in which his spiritual guide had sacrificed himself for his guests. There the princess and the Naga's daughter, seeing that only the bones and horns of the deer, into which their husband had turned himself, remained, mourned for him. And the two ladies, who were devoted to their husband, took his horns and bones, and brought a heap of wood from their hermitage, and entered the fire. And then Kanakakalasa and his companions, who were there, being grieved when they heard the story, entered the fire also."

When all this had taken place, Somasura, unable to endure the grief, which he felt for the loss of his spiritual teacher, took to a bed of darbha-gra.s.s with the intention of yielding up his breath. And then Indra appeared to him in person and said to him, "Do not do so, for I did all this to try your spiritual teacher. And I have now sprinkled with amrita the ashes and bones, which were all that remained of him, and his wives, and his guests, and restored them all to life." [224]

When Somasura heard Indra say this, he worshipped him, and rose up delighted, and went and looked, and lo! his spiritual guide the Bodhisattva Vinitamati had risen up again alive, with his wives, and Kanakakalasa, and his attendants. Then he honoured with an inclination of the head, and worshipped with gifts of flowers and respectful speeches, his spiritual father, who had returned from the other world with his wives, and feasted his eyes upon him. And while Kanakakalasa and his followers were respectfully testifying their devotion to him, all the G.o.ds came there, headed by Brahma and Vishnu. And pleased with the goodness of Vinitamati, they all gave him by their divine power boons earned by his disinterestedness, and then disappeared. And Somasura and the others told their history, and then Vinitamati went with them to another and a heavenly wood of ascetics.

"So you see that in this world even those who are reduced to ashes meet again, much more men who are alive and can go where they will. So, my son, no more of abandoning the body! Go, for you are a brave man, and you shall certainly be re-united with Mrigankadatta." When I had heard this tale from the old female ascetic, I bowed before her, and set out, sword in hand, with renewed hope, and in course of time I reached this forest, and was, as fate would have it, captured by these Savaras, who were seeking a victim for Durga. And after wounding me in fight, they bound me, and brought me as a prisoner to this king of the Savaras Mayavatu. Here I have found you, my sovereign, accompanied by two or three of your ministers, and by your favour I am as happy as if I were in my own house.

When Mrigankadatta, who was in the palace of the Savara prince, had heard this history of the adventures of his friend Gunakara told by himself, he was much pleased, and after he had seen the proper remedies applied to the body of that minister who had been wounded in fight, as the day was advancing, he rose up with his other friends, and performed the duties of the day.

And he remained there for some days engaged in restoring Gunakara to health, though eager to go to Ujjayini, in order to be re-united with his other friends and to obtain Sasankavati. [225]

CHAPTER LXXIII.

Then Gunakara's wounds healed, and he recovered his health, so Mrigankadatta took leave of his friend the king of the Savaras, and set out from his town on a lucky day for Ujjayini, to find Sasankavati.

But his friend followed him a long way with his retinue, accompanied by his ally Durgapisacha king of the Matangas, and made a promise to come to his a.s.sistance. And as he was going along with his friends Srutadhi, and Vimalabuddhi, and Gunakara, and Bhimaparakrama, and searching for his other friends in that Vindhya forest, it happened that he slept one day on the road with his ministers at the foot of a certain tree. And he suddenly awoke, and got up, and looked about him, and beheld there another man asleep. And when he uncovered his face, he recognised him as his own minister Vichitrakatha, who had arrived there. And Vichitrakatha too woke up, and saw his master Mrigankadatta, and joyfully embraced his feet. And the prince embraced him, with eyes wide open with delight at seeing him so unexpectedly, and all his ministers woke up and welcomed him. Then all in turn told him their adventures, and asked him to tell his, and Vichitrakatha began to relate his story as follows: