When Mrigankadatta, as he was going to Ujjayini to win his beloved, had heard, on the way, from his minister Vikramakesarin, this account of his adventures since he had been separated from him, that prince rejoiced, as he had in course of time found some of his ministers, who were separated from him by the curse of Paravataksha, and as he augured therefrom success in all that he had in hand.

NOTE.

Properly speaking, there are 24 instead of 25 stories in this version of the Vetala Panchavinsati. The same appears to be the case with the redaction ascribed to Sivadasa, according to Oesterley, and with the Tamul version. The 24th tale in Oesterley's translation is simply a repet.i.tion of the 22nd.

CHAPTER C.

Honour to the vanquisher of obstacles, [421] round whose knees, when he is dancing at night, there winds a garland of stars, which appears as if it had fallen from the globes on his forehead!

Then, the story being ended, the delighted Mrigankadatta rose up from the middle of the path, and set out again for Ujjayini for which he had long ago started in order to find Sasankavati, with a party of eight, including himself, having recovered Vikramakesarin, accompanied by Gunakara, and Vimalabuddhi, and Vichitrakatha, and Bhimaparakrama, and Prachandasakti, and the Brahman Srutadhi, and he kept looking out for those of his companions separated from him by the curse of the Naga, whom he had not yet recovered.

And in course of time, he reached a treeless desert, all the water in which had been dried up by the heat, and which was full of sand heated by the fierce blaze of the sun. And as the prince was traversing it, he said to his ministers, "Observe how long, terrible, and difficult to cross is this great desert; for it has in it no refuge, it is pathless and abandoned by men; and the blaze of its fire of grief seems to ascend in these sandy mirages; its rough and dishevelled locks are represented by the dry rustling blades of gra.s.s; and its thorns make it appear to have its hair standing on end through fear of the lions, tigers, and other noisome beasts; and it laments in the cries of its deer exhausted by the heat and longing for water. So we must cross this terrible desert as quickly as we can."

When Mrigankadatta had said this, he quickly crossed that desert with his ministers, who were afflicted with hunger and thirst. And he beheld in front of him a great lake filled with pellucid and cold water, looking like streams that had flowed down from the moon after it had been melted with the heat of the sun. It was so broad that it filled the whole horizon, and it looked like a jewel-mirror made by the Fortune of the three worlds, in order to behold in it the reflection of herself. That lake resembled the Mahabharata, for in it the Dhartarashtras [422] were making a disturbance, and many Arjuna trees were reflected; [423] and it was refreshing and sweet to the taste; it was like the churned sea of doom, for its precious fluid was drunk by the blue-necked jays that a.s.sembled near it, [424]

and Vishnu might have resorted to it to find the G.o.ddess of Beauty: [425] it resembled an earthly Patala, for its profound cool depths were never reached by the rays of the sun, and it was an unfailing receptacle of lotuses. [426]

And on the western sh.o.r.e of that lake the prince and his ministers saw a great and wonderful tree. Its numerous far-reaching boughs, agitated by the wind, appeared like arms, and the cloud-stream that clung to its head was like the Ganges, so that it resembled Siva dancing. With its lofty top, that pierced the sky, it seemed to be standing erect out of curiosity to see the beauty of the garden Nandana. It was adorned with fruit of heavenly flavour, that clung to its branches, and so it looked like the wishing-tree of heaven, with goblets of nectar suspended on it by the G.o.ds. It waved its shoots like finger-tips, and seemed with the voices of its birds to say again and again, "Let no one question me in any way!"

While prince Mrigankadatta was looking at that tree, his ministers, worn out with hunger and thirst, ran towards it, and the moment they saw those fruits on it, they climbed up to eat them, and immediately they lost their human form, and were all six suddenly turned into fruits. Then Mrigankadatta was bewildered at not seeing those friends of his, and he called on every one of them there by name. But when they gave no answer, and could not be seen anywhere, the prince exclaimed in a voice agonized with despair, "Alas! I am undone!" and fell on the ground in a swoon. And the Brahman Srutadhi, who had not climbed up the tree, was the only one left at his side.

So the Brahman Srutadhi at once said to him by way of consolation, "Why, my sovereign, do you lose your firmness, and despair, though you have learned wisdom? For it is the man, who is not distracted in calamity, that obtains prosperity. Did you not find those ministers, after they had been separated from you by the curse of the Naga? In like manner shall you again recover them, and get back the others also, and moreover you shall soon be united with Sasankavati." When Srutadhi said this to the prince, he answered him; "How can this be? The truth is that all this train of events was arranged for our ruin by the Disposer. If it was not so arranged, how came the Vetala to appear in the night, and Bhimaparakrama to do as he did, and how came it to pa.s.s that I heard about Sasankavati through the conversation that took place between them, and that I set out from Ayodhya to fetch her? How came it to pa.s.s also that we were all separated from one another in the Vindhya forest by the curse of the Naga, and that some of us were in course of time reunited, and that this second separation has now taken place and with it the ruin of all my plans? It all tallies together, my friend. The fact is they have been devoured in that tree by a demon, and without them what is Sasankavati to me, or what is my life worth to me? So away with delusions?" When Mrigankadatta had said this, he rose up to throw himself into the lake out of sorrow, although Srutadhi tried to prevent him.

At that moment a bodiless voice came from the air, "My son, do not act rashly, for all will end well for thee. The G.o.d Ganesa himself dwells in this tree, and he has been to-day insulted by thy ministers unwittingly. For they, king, being pinched with hunger, climbed up into the tree in which he dwells, to pick its fruits, in a state of impurity, having neither rinsed their mouths nor washed their hands and feet; so the moment that they touched the fruits, they became fruits themselves. For Ganesa inflicted on them this curse, 'Let them become that on which their minds are fixed?' Moreover, thy four other ministers, who, the moment they arrived here, climbed up the tree in the same way, were turned into fruits by the G.o.d. Therefore do thou propitiate this Ganesa with ascetic practices, and by his favour thou shalt attain all thy objects."

When Mrigankadatta had been thus addressed by the voice from the air, that seemed to rain nectar into his ears, hope again sprang up in his bosom, and he gave up all idea of suicide. So he bathed in the lake, and worshipped Ganesa, who dwelt in that tree, without taking food, and joining his palms in an att.i.tude of supplication, praised him in the following words; "Hail thou elephant-faced lord, who art, as it were, worshipped by the earth, that with its plains, rocks, and woods, bows under the crushing weight of thy tumultuous dance! Hail thou that hast the twin lotuses of thy feet worshipped by the three worlds, with the G.o.ds, Asuras, and men, that dwell in them; thou, whose body is in shape like a pitcher for the abundant storing of various splendid successes! Hail, thou, the flame of whose might blazes forth like twelve fierce suns rising at once; thou that wast a premature day of doom to the race of the Daityas, whom Siva, Vishnu, and Indra found hard to conquer! Hail, thou that wardest off calamity from thy votaries! Hail, thou that diffusest a blaze of flame with thy hand, while it glitters with thy mighty axe, that seems anxious to illuminate thee in sport! I fly for refuge to thee, O Ganesa, that wast worshipped even by Gauri, in order that her husband might successfully accomplish his undertaking in the conquest of Tripura; honour to thee!" When Mrigankadatta had in these words praised Ganesa, he spent that night fasting, on a bed of kusa-gra.s.s under that tree. In the same way that prince spent eleven nights, being engaged in propitiating Ganesa, the king of impediments; and Srutadhi remained in attendance on him.

And on the night of the twelfth day Ganesa said to him in a dream, "My son, I am pleased with thee; thy ministers shall be released from their curse, and thou shalt recover them; and with them thou shalt go and win Sasankavati in due course; and thou shalt return to thy own city, and rule the whole earth." After Mrigankadatta had been thus informed in a dream by the G.o.d Ganesa, he woke up, when the night came to an end, and told Srutadhi the vision that he had seen. Srutadhi congratulated him on it; and then, in the morning, the prince bathed and worshipped Ganesa, and proceeded to walk round the tree in which the G.o.d dwelt, with his right hand towards it, [427] and while he was thus engaged, all his ten ministers came down from the tree, having been released from the form of fruits, and fell at his feet. Besides the six who were mentioned before, there were Vyaghrasena and Sthulabahu, and Meghabala, and the fourth Dridhamushti.

Then the prince, having recovered all those ministers at the same instant, with eye, with gestures, [428] and with voice agitated by the workings of joy, looked at his ministers, one by one, again and again, exceedingly lovingly, and embraced them, and then spoke to them; having successfully attained his object. And they, beholding with tears in their eyes their master, who, after the asceticism which he had gone through, was slender as a new moon, and having been told the true explanation of the whole by Srutadhi, felicitated themselves on having truly a protecting lord.

Then Mrigankadatta, having attained good hope of accomplishing his enterprise, joyfully broke his fast with those ministers, who had performed all necessary ablutions in the tank.

CHAPTER CI.

Then Mrigankadatta, refreshed by breaking his fast, sat down with those ministers of his on the bank of that lake. Then he courteously asked those four ministers, whom he had recovered that day, for an account of their adventures during the time that he was separated from them. Thereupon that one of them, who was called Vyaghrasena, said to him, "Listen, prince, I now proceed to relate our adventures. When I was carried to a distance from you by the curse of the Naga Paravataksha, I lost my senses, and in that state I wandered through the forest by night. At last I recovered consciousness, but the darkness, which enveloped me, prevented me from seeing where the cardinal points lay, and what path I ought to take. At last the night, that grief made long, [429] came to an end; and in course of time the sun arose, that mighty G.o.d, and revealed all the quarters of the heaven. Then I said to myself 'Alas! Where can that master of mine be gone? And how will he manage to exist here alone separated from us? And how am I to recover him? Where shall I look for him? What course shall I adopt? I had better go to Ujjayini; for I may perhaps find him there; for he must go there, to find Sasankavati.' With such hopes I set out slowly for Ujjayini, threading that difficult forest that resembled calamity, scorched by the rays of the sun, that resembled showers of fiery powder.

"And at last, somehow or other, I reached a lake, with full-blown lotuses for expanded eyes, that seemed to hold converse with me by means of the sweet cries of its swans and other water-birds; it stretched forth its ripples like hands; its surface was calm and broad; [430] the very sight of it took away all grief; and so in all points it resembled a good man. I bathed in it, and ate lotus-fibres, and drank water; and while I was lingering on its bank, I saw these three arrive there, Dridhamushti, and Sthulabahu, and Meghabala. And when we met, we asked one another for tidings of you. And as none of us knew anything about you, and we suspected the worst, we made up our minds to abandon the body, being unable to endure separation from you.

"And at that moment a hermit-boy came to bathe in that lake; his name was Mahatapas, and he was the son of Dirghatapas. He had matted hair, he diffused a brightness of his own, and he seemed like the G.o.d of Fire, blazing with mighty flame, having become incarnate in the body of a Brahman, in order to consume once more the Khandava forest; [431]

he was clothed in the skin of a black antelope, he had an ascetic's water-vessel in his left hand, and on his right wrist he bore a rosary of Aksha-seeds by way of a bracelet; the perfumed earth that he used in bathing was stuck on the horns of the deer that came with him, and he was accompanied by some other hermit-boys like himself. The moment he saw us about to throw ourselves into the lake, he came towards us; for the good are easily melted with compa.s.sion, and shew causeless friendship to all. And he said to us, 'You ought not to commit a crime characteristic of cowards, for poltroons, with their minds blinded with grief, fall into the gulfs of calamity, but resolute men, having eyes enlightened by discernment, behold the right path, and do not fall into the pit, but a.s.suredly attain their goal. And you, being men of auspicious appearance, will no doubt attain prosperity; so tell me, what is your grief? For it grieves my heart to see you thus.'

"When the hermit-boy had said this, I at once told him the whole of our adventure from the beginning; then that boy, who could read the future, [432] and his companions, exhorted us with various speeches, and diverted our minds from suicide. Then the hermit-boy, after he had bathed, took us to his father's hermitage, which was at no great distance, to entertain us.

"There that hermit's son bestowed on us the arghya, and made us sit down in a place, in which even the trees seemed to have entered on a course of penance, for they stood aloft on platforms of earth, and lifted on high their branches like arms, and drank in the rays of the sun. And then he went and asked all the trees in the hermitage, one after another, for alms. And in a moment his alms-vessel was filled with fruits, that of themselves dropped from the trees; and he came back with it to us. And he gave us those fruits of heavenly flavour, and when we had eaten them, we became, as it were, satisfied with nectar.

"And when the day came to an end, and the sun descended into the sea, and the sky was filled with stars, as if with spray flung up by his fall, and the moon, having put on a white bark-robe of moonlight, had gone to the ascetic grove on the top of the eastern mountain, [433] as if desiring to withdraw from the world on account of the fall of the sun, we went to see the hermits, who had finished all their duties, and were sitting together in a certain part of the hermitage. We bowed before them, and sat down, and those great sages welcomed us, and with kindly words at once asked us whence we came. Then that hermit-boy told them our history until the time of our entering the hermitage. Then a wise hermit there, of the name of Kanva, said to us, 'Come, why have you allowed yourselves to become so dispirited, being, as you are, men of valour? For it is the part of a brave man to display unbroken firmness in calamity, and freedom from arrogance in success, and never to abandon fort.i.tude. And great men attain the t.i.tle of great by struggling through great difficulties by the aid of resolution, and accomplishing great things. In ill.u.s.tration of this, listen to this story of Sundarasena, and hear how he endured hardship for the sake of Mandaravati?' When the hermit Kanva had said this, he began, in the hearing of us and of all the hermits, to tell the following tale."

Story of Sundarasena and Mandaravati.

There is a country named Nishada, that adorns the face of the northern quarter; in it there was of old a city of the name of Alaka. In this city the people were always happy in abundance of all things, [434]

and the only things that never enjoyed repose were the jewel-lamps. In it there lived a king of the name of Mahasena, and not without reason was he so named, for his enemies were all consumed by the wonderful and terrible fire of his valour, which resembled that of the G.o.d of war. That king had a prime minister named Gunapalita, who was like a second Sesha, for he was a mine of valour, and could bear up, like that serpent, the weight of the earth. The king, having destroyed his enemies, laid upon him the weight of his kingdom and devoted himself to pleasure; and then he had a son born to him by his queen Sasiprabha, named Sundarasena. Even when he was a child, he was no child in good qualities, and the G.o.ddesses of valour and beauty chose him for their self-elected husband.

That prince had five heroic ministers, equal in age and accomplishments, who had grown up with him from their childhood, Chandaprabha, and Bhimabhuja, and Vyaghraparakrama, and the heroic Vikramasakti, and the fifth was Dridhabuddhi. And they were all men of great courage, endowed with strength and wisdom, well-born, and devoted to their master, and they even understood the cries of birds. [435] And the prince lived with them in his father's house without a suitable wife, being unmarried, though he was grown up. And that heroic Sundarasena and his ministers reflected, "Courage invincible in a.s.sault, and wealth won by his own arm, and a wife equal to him in beauty become a hero on this earth. Otherwise, what is the use of this beauty?"

And one day the prince went out of the town to hunt, accompanied by his soldiers, and by those five companions, and as he was going out, a certain famous female mendicant named Katyayani, bold from the maturity of her age, who had just returned from a distant foreign country, saw him, and said to herself, when she beheld his superhuman beauty, "Is this the Moon without Rohini or the G.o.d of Love without Rati?" But when she asked his attendants, and found out that it was the prince, she was astonished, and praised the marvellousness of the creation of the Disposer. [436] Then she cried out to the prince from a distance with a shrill and far reaching voice, "Be victorious, O prince," and so saying she bowed before him. But at that moment the mind of the prince was wholly occupied by a conversation which he had begun with his ministers, and he went on without hearing the female ascetic. But she was angry, and called out to him in such a loud voice that he could not help hearing her, "Ho! prince! why do you not listen to the blessing of such a one as I am? What king or prince is there on the earth that does not honour me? [437] But if your youth and other advantages render you so proud now, it is certain that, if you obtain for a wife that ornament of the world, the maiden Mandaravati, the daughter of the king of Hansadvipa, you will be too much puffed up with arrogance to listen to the speech of Siva, [438] the great Indra, and other G.o.ds, much less to the words of wretched men."

When the ascetic had said this, Sundarasena, being full of curiosity, called her to him, and bent before her and propitiated her. And being anxious to question her, he sent her under the care of his servants to rest in the house of his minister Vikramasakti. Then the prince went off, and after he had enjoyed the sport of hunting, he returned to his palace, and said his daily prayers, and took his food, and then he sent for the ascetic, and put the following question to her, "Reverend mother, who is this maiden named Mandaravati, that you spoke of to-day? Tell me, for I feel great curiosity about her."

When the ascetic heard this, she said to him, "Listen, I will tell you the whole story. I am in the habit of wandering about the whole of this earth and the islands, for the sake of visiting sacred bathing-places and other holy spots. And in the course of my travels I happened to visit Hansadvipa. There I saw the daughter of king Mandaradeva, a suitable match for the sons of G.o.ds, not to be beheld by those who have done evil works; she bears the name of Mandaravati, and has a form as charming as the presiding G.o.ddess of the garden of the G.o.ds; the sight of her kindles love, and she seems like another moon all composed of nectar, created by the Disposer. There is no other beauty on the earth equal to hers; [439] only you, prince, I think, emulate her wealth of loveliness. As for those who have not seen her, their eyes are useless, and they have been born in vain."

When the prince heard this from the mouth of the female ascetic, he said, "Mother, how are we to get a sight of her beauty, which is so surpa.s.sing?" When the female ascetic heard this speech of his, she said, "I took such interest in her on that occasion that I painted a picture of her on canvas; and I have it with me in a bag; if you feel any curiosity about it, look at it." When she had said this, she took the picture of the lady out of the bag, and shewed it to the gratified prince. And Sundarasena, when he beheld that maiden, who, though she was present there only in a picture, seemed to be of romantic beauty, and like a flowing forth of joy, immediately felt his limbs covered all over with hairs erect from horripilation, as if he had been pierced with the dense arrows of the G.o.d of the flowery bow. [440] He remained motionless, hearing nothing, speaking nothing, seeing nothing; and with his whole heart fixed on her, was for a long time as if painted in a picture.

When the prince's ministers saw that, they said to that female ascetic, "Reverend mother, paint prince Sundarasena on this piece of canvas, and let us have a specimen of your skill in catching likenesses." The moment she heard that, she painted the prince on canvas. And when they saw that it was a striking likeness, all, who were present there, said, "The reverend lady's likenesses exactly resemble the originals, for when one looks at this picture, one thinks that one sees the prince himself; so the beauty of the princess Mandaravati is sure to be such as it is represented in the picture."

When the ministers had said this, prince Sundarasena took the two pictures, and being pleased, honoured that female ascetic. And he dismissed with appropriate honours that dweller in a lonely spot. And he entered the inner part of the palace, carrying with him the picture of his beloved. He flung himself on a bed and said to himself "Can this be my charmer's face, or a moon that has purged away the spot that defiles its beauty?" [441] In this way he remained examining Mandaravati, limb by limb, though he had only her painted form before him: and in this state he continued every day, abstaining from meat and drink; and so in the course of a few days he was completely exhausted by the pain of love's fever.

When his parents, Sasiprabha and Mahasena, found that out, they came of their own accord and asked his friends the cause of his indisposition. And his companions told them the whole story, as it had happened, how the daughter of the king of Hansadvipa had come to be the cause of his complaint. Then Mahasena said to Sundarasena, "My son, why do you so improperly conceal this attachment of yours? For Mandaravati is a pearl of maidens, and she will be a good match for you. Besides, her father Mandaradeva is a great friend of mine. So why do you torment yourself about a matter of this kind, which is quite becoming, and can be easily arranged by an amba.s.sador?" When king Mahasena had said this, he deliberated, and sent off an amba.s.sador named Surathadeva to Hansadvipa, to ask for the daughter of king Mandaradeva. And he put into his hand the portrait of Sundarasena, executed on canvas by that female ascetic, which shewed how wonderfully handsome he was.

The amba.s.sador travelled quickly, and reached the city of king Mahendraditya on the sh.o.r.e of the sea, named Sasankapura. There he embarked on a ship, and after some days he reached the palace of king Mandaradeva in Hansadvipa. He was announced by the wardens and entered the palace, and saw that king, and after he had in due form delivered to him the present, he said to him, "Great monarch, king Mahasena sends you this message, 'Give your daughter to my son Sundarasena; for a female ascetic, of the name of Katyayani, made a portrait of her, and brought it here, and shewed it to my son, as the picture of a pearl of maidens. And as Sundarasena's beauty so nearly resembled hers, I felt a desire to have his form painted on canvas also, and herewith I send the picture. Look at it. Moreover, my son, who is of such astonishing beauty, does not wish to be married, unless he can find a wife that resembles him, and n.o.body but your daughter is a match for him in appearance.' This is the message the king entrusted to me, when he put this portrait into my hand; look at it, king, let the spring-flower creeper be united to the spring."

When the king heard this speech of the amba.s.sador's, he was delighted, and he sent for his daughter Mandaravati and the queen her mother. And in their company he opened and looked at that portrait, and immediately he ceased to cherish the proud thought, that there was no fitting match for his daughter on the earth. And he said, "My daughter's beauty will not have been created in vain, if she is united to this prince. She does not look her best without him, nor is he complete without her; what is the lotus-bed without the swan, and what is the swan without the lotus-bed?"

When the king said this, and the queen expressed her complete approbation of it, Mandaravati suddenly became bewildered with love. She remained with her wide expanded eyes immoveably fixed on the picture, as if possessed, as if asleep, (though she was wide awake,) as if herself a painting. Then Mandaradeva, seeing his daughter in that state, consented to give her in marriage, and he honoured that amba.s.sador.

And on the next day the king sent off his counter-amba.s.sador, who was a Brahman named k.u.maradatta, to king Mahasena. And he said to the two amba.s.sadors, "Go quickly to that king Mahasena, the lord of Alaka, and say to him from me, 'I give you my daughter out of friendship; so tell me, will your son come here, or shall I send my daughter to you?'" When the two amba.s.sadors had received this message from the king, they immediately started off together on the sea in a ship; and they reached Sasankapura, and thence they travelled by land, and reached that opulent city of Alaka, which seemed like the original Alaka. [442] They went to the king's palace, and entered it with the usual courtesies, and saw king Mahasena who welcomed them. And they told that king the answer which Mandaradeva entrusted to them; and when the king heard it, he was pleased, and shewed both of them great honour.

Then the king found out the star, under which the princess was born, from her father's amba.s.sador; and he asked his astrologers when a favourable time would arrive for the marriage of his son. And they answered that an auspicious time would present itself in three months for bridegroom and bride, on the fifth day of the white fortnight of the month Kartika. And so the king of Alaka informed Mandaradeva that the marriage ought to take place on that day, and that he would send his son, and this he wrote in a letter, and committed it to the care of the amba.s.sador k.u.maradatta, and another amba.s.sador of his own named Chandrasvamin. So the amba.s.sadors departed, and gave the letter as they were directed, and told the king of Hansadvipa all that had taken place. The king approved, and after honouring Chandrasvamin, the amba.s.sador of Mahasena, he sent him back to his master. And he returned to Alaka, and reported that the business was satisfactorily settled; and then all on both sides remained eagerly expecting the auspicious day.

And in the meanwhile Mandaravati in Hansadvipa, who had long ago fallen in love with the prince from seeing his picture, thought that the auspicious day for the marriage was a long way off, and felt unable to endure so much delay; and being affectionate, she became desperately enamoured, and was grievously tormented with the fire of love. And in the eager longing of her heart for Sundarasena, even the anointing with sandal-wood ointment became a shower of hot coals on her body, and a bed of lotus-leaves was to her a bed of hot sand, and the rays of the moon seemed like the scorching points of flame of a forest conflagration. She remained silent, avoiding food, adopting a vow of loneliness; and when her confidante questioned her in her anxiety, she was at last, with difficulty, induced to make the following avowal; "My friend, my marriage is far off, and I cannot bear to wait for the time, separated from my intended husband, the son of the king of Alaka. Distant is the time, and the place, and various is the course of Fate; so who knows what will happen to any one here in the meantime? So I had better die." Saying this, Mandaravati, being sick with separation, pa.s.sed immediately into a miserable state.

When her father and mother heard that from the mouth of her confidante, and saw her in such a condition, they deliberated with the ministers, and came to the following conclusion, "That king Mahasena, the sovereign of Alaka, is on good terms with us, and the princess Mandaravati is unable to endure the delay here, so why should we feel any delicacy about it? Happen what will, let us send her to Alaka, for when she is near her beloved, she will be able patiently to endure the delay." When king Mandaradeva had gone through these deliberations, he comforted his daughter Mandaravati, and made her embark on a ship with wealth and attendants, and after her mother had recited a prayer for her good fortune, he sent her off from Hansadvipa by sea on an auspicious day, to travel to Alaka, in order that she might be married there; and he sent with her a minister of his own, named Vinitamati.