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diff --git a/41128-0.txt b/41128-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a0a95a --- /dev/null +++ b/41128-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8626 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41128 *** + + Oriental Translation Fund. + New Series. + + II. + + The + KADAMBARI OF BANA. + + Translated, with Occasional Omissions, + + And Accompanied by a + Full Abstract of the Continuation of the Romance + by the Author's Son Bhushanabhatta, + + By + + C. M. RIDDING, + + Formerly Scholar of Girton College, Cambridge. + + + + Printed and published under the patronage of + The Royal Asiatic Society, + And sold at + 22, Albemarle Street, London. + + 1896. + + + + + + + + To + + MRS. COWELL, + WHO FIRST TOLD ME + THE STORY OF KADAMBARI, + THIS TRANSLATION + IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. + + + 'Anenakaranavishkritavatsalyena caritena + kasya na bandhutvam adhyaropayasi.' + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. [1] + + +The story of Kadambari is interesting for several reasons. It is a +standard example of classical prose; it has enjoyed a long popularity +as a romance; and it is one of the comparatively few Sanskrit works +which can be assigned to a certain date, and so it can serve as a +landmark in the history of Indian literature and Indian thought. + + + +THE AUTHOR. + +Banabhatta, its author, lived in the reign of Harshavardhana of +Thaneçar, the great king mentioned in many inscriptions, [2] who +extended his rule over the whole of Northern India, and from whose +reign (A.D. 606) dates the Harsha era, used in Nepal. Bana, as he +tells us, both in the 'Harsha-Carita' and in the introductory verses +of 'Kadambari,' was a Vatsyayana Brahman. His mother died while he +was yet young, and his father's tender care of him, recorded in the +'Harsha-Carita,' [3] was doubtless in his memory as he recorded the +unselfish love of Vaiçampayana's father in 'Kadambari' (p. 22). In +his youth he travelled much, and for a time 'came into reproach,' +by reason of his unsettled life; but the experience gained in foreign +lands turned his thoughts homewards, and he returned to his kin, and +lived a life of quiet study in their midst. From this he was summoned +to the court of King Harsha, who at first received him coldly, but +afterwards attached him to his service; and Bana in the 'Harsha-Carita' +relates his own life as a prelude to that of his master. + +The other works attributed to him are the 'Candikaçataka,' [4] or +verses in honour of Candika; a drama, 'The Parvatiparinaya'; and +another, called 'Mukutataditaka,' the existence of which is inferred +from Gunavinayagani's commentary on the 'Nalacampu.' Professor +Peterson also mentions that a verse of Bana's ('Subhashitavali,' +1087) is quoted by Kshemendra in his 'Aucityavicaracarca,' with a +statement that it is part of a description of Kadambari's sorrow in +the absence of Candrapida, whence, he adds, 'it would seem that Bana +wrote the story of Kadambari in verse as well as in prose,' and he +gives some verses which may have come from such a work. + +Bana himself died, leaving 'Kadambari' unfinished, and his son +Bhushanabhatta took it up in the midst of a speech in which Kadambari's +sorrows are told, and continued the speech without a break, save for +a few introductory verses in honour of his father, and in apology for +his having undertaken the task, 'as its unfinished state was a grief to +the good.' He continued the story on the same plan, and with careful, +and, indeed, exaggerated, imitation of his father's style. + + + +THE PLOT OF KADAMBARI. + +The story of 'Kadambari' is a very complex one, dealing as it does +with the lives of two heroes, each of whom is reborn twice on earth. + +(1-47) A learned parrot, named Vaiçampayana, was brought by a Candala +maiden to King Çudraka, and told him how it was carried from its +birthplace in the Vindhya Forest to the hermitage of the sage Jabali, +from whom it learnt the story of its former life. + +(47-95) Jabali's story was as follows: Tarapida, King of Ujjayini, won +by penance a son, Candrapida, who was brought up with Vaiçampayana, +son of his minister, Çukanasa. In due time Candrapida was anointed +as Crown Prince, and started on an expedition of world-conquest. At +the end of it he reached Kailasa, and, while resting there, was +led one day in a vain chase of a pair of kinnaras to the shores of +the Acchoda Lake. (95-141) There he beheld a young ascetic maiden, +Mahaçveta, who told him how she, being a Gandharva princess, had seen +and loved a young Brahman Pundarika; how he, returning her feeling, +had died from the torments of a love at variance with his vow; how +a divine being had carried his body to the sky, and bidden her not +to die, for she should be reunited with him; and how she awaited +that time in a life of penance. (141-188) But her friend Kadambari, +another Gandharva princess, had vowed not to marry while Mahaçveta +was in sorrow, and Mahaçveta invited the prince to come to help her +in dissuading Kadambari from the rash vow. Love sprang up between +the prince and Kadambari at first sight; but a sudden summons from +his father took him to Ujjayini without farewell, while Kadambari, +thinking herself deserted, almost died of grief. + +(188-195) Meanwhile news came that his friend Vaiçampayana, whom he had +left in command of the army, had been strangely affected by the sight +of the Acchoda Lake, and refused to leave it. The prince set out to +find him, but in vain; and proceeding to the hermitage of Mahaçveta, +he found her in despair, because, in invoking on a young Brahman, +who had rashly approached her, a curse to the effect that he should +become a parrot, she learnt that she had slain Vaiçampayana. At her +words the prince fell dead from grief, and at that moment Kadambari +came to the hermitage. + +(195-202) Her resolve to follow him in death was broken by the promise +of a voice from the sky that she and Mahaçveta should both be reunited +with their lovers, and she stayed to tend the prince's body, from +which a divine radiance proceeded; while King Tarapida gave up his +kingdom, and lived as a hermit near his son. + +(202 to end) Such was Jabali's tale; and the parrot went on to say how, +hearing it, the memory of its former love for Mahaçveta was reawakened, +and, though bidden to stay in the hermitage, it flew away, only to be +caught and taken to the Candala princess. It was now brought by her to +King Çudraka, but knew no more. The Candala maiden thereupon declared +to Çudraka that she was the goddess Lakshmi, mother of Pundarika or +Vaiçampayana, and announced that the curse for him and Çudraka was +now over. Then Çudraka suddenly remembered his love for Kadambari, +and wasted away in longing for her, while a sudden touch of Kadambari +restored to life the Moon concealed in the body of Candrapida, the +form that he still kept, because in it he had won her love. Now the +Moon, as Candrapida and Çudraka, and Pundarika, in the human and +parrot shape of Vaiçampayana, having both fulfilled the curse of an +unsuccessful love in two births on earth, were at last set free, +and, receiving respectively the hands of Kadambari and Mahaçveta, +lived happily ever afterwards. + +The plot is involved, and consists of stories within each other after +the fashion long familiar to Europeans in the 'Arabian Nights'; but +the author's skill in construction is shown by the fact that each +of the minor stories is essential to the development of the plot, +and it is not till quite the end that we see that Çudraka himself, +the hearer of the story, is really the hero, and that his hearing +the story is necessary to reawaken his love for Kadambari, and +so at the same time fulfil the terms of the curse that he should +love in vain during two lives, and bring the second life to an end +by his longing for reunion. It may help to make the plot clear if +the threads of it are disentangled. The author in person tells all +that happens to Çudraka (pp. 3-16 and pp. 205 to end). The parrot's +tale (pp. 16-205) includes that of Jabali (pp. 47-202) concerning +Candrapida, and Vaiçampayana the Brahman, with the story told by +Mahaçveta (pp. 101-136) of her love for Pundarika. + + + +THE STORY AS TOLD IN THE KATHA-SARIT-SAGARA. + +The story as told in the Katha-Sarit-Sagara of Somadeva [5] differs +in some respects from this. There a Nishada princess brought to King +Sumanas a learned parrot, which told its life in the forest, ended by +a hunt in which its father was killed, and the story of its past life +narrated by the hermit Agastya. In this story a prince, Somaprabha, +after an early life resembling that of Candrapida, was led in his +pursuit of kinnaras to an ascetic maiden, Manorathaprabha, whose +story is that of Mahaçveta, and she took him, at his own request, +to see the maiden Makarandika, who had vowed not to marry while +her friend was unwed. He was borne through the air by a Vidyadhara, +and beheld Makarandika. They loved each other, and a marriage was +arranged between them. The prince, however, was suddenly recalled +by his father, and Makarandika's wild grief brought on her from +her parents a curse that she should be born as a Nishada. Too late +they repented, and died of grief; and her father became a parrot, +keeping from a former birth as a sage his memory of the Çastras, +while her mother became a sow. Pulastya added that the curse would +be over when the story was told in a king's court. + +The parrot's tale reminded King Sumanas of his former birth, and on +the arrival of the ascetic maiden, sent by Çiva, 'who is merciful +to all his worshippers,' he again became the young hermit she had +loved. Somaprabha, too, at Çiva's bidding, went to the king's court, +and at the sight of him the Nishada regained the shape of Makarandika, +and became his wife; while the parrot 'left the body of a bird, and +went to the home earned by his asceticism.' 'Thus,' the story ends, +'the appointed union of human beings certainly takes place in this +world, though vast spaces intervene.' + +The main difference between the stories is in the persons affected +by the curse; and here the artistic superiority of Bana is shown +in his not attaching the degrading forms of birth to Kadambari or +her parents. The horse is given as a present to the hero by Indra, +who sends him a message, saying: 'You are a Vidyadhara, and I give +you the horse in memory of our former friendship. When you mount it +you will be invincible.' The hero's marriage is arranged before his +sudden departure, so that the grief of the heroine is due only to their +separation, and not to the doubts on which Bana dwells so long. It +appears possible that both this story and 'Kadambari' are taken from a +common original now lost, which may be the Brihatkatha of Gunadhya. [6] +In that case the greater refinement of Bana's tale would be the result +of genius giving grace to a story already familiar in a humbler guise. + + + +REFERENCES TO KADAMBARI IN THE SAHITYA-DARPANA AND ELSEWHERE. + +The author of the Sahitya-Darpana [7] speaks of the Katha as follows: +'In the Katha (tale), which is one of the species of poetical +composition in prose, a poetical matter is represented in verse, +and sometimes the Arya, and sometimes the Vaktra and Apavaktraka are +the metres employed in it. It begins with stanzas in salutation to +some divinity, as also descriptive of the behaviour of bad men and +others.' To this the commentary adds: 'The "Kadambari" of Banabhatta is +an example.' Professor Peterson corrects the translation of the words +'Kathayam sarasam vastu padyair eva vinirmitam,' giving as their sense, +'A narration in prose, with here and there a stray verse or two, +of matter already existing in a metrical form.' [8] According to his +rendering, the Katha is in its essence a story claiming to be based +on previous works in verse, whether in this case the original were +Bana's own metrical version of 'Kadambari,' [9] or the work which +was also the original of the Katha-Sarit-Sagara story. + +The story of Pundarika and Mahaçveta receives mention, firstly, for +the introduction of death, contrary to the canon; secondly, for the +determination of the nature of their sorrow, and its poetic quality, +and consequent appeal to the feelings of the reader. Firstly: (§ 215) +'Death, which is a condition to which one may be brought by love, +is not described in poetry and the drama, where the other conditions, +such as anxiety, etc., are constantly described, because it, instead +of enhancing, causes the destruction of "Flavour." [10] But it may be +spoken of (1) as having nearly taken place, or (2) as being mentally +wished for; and it is with propriety described (3) if there is to be, +at no distant date, a restoration to life.' The commentary takes +the story of Pundarika as an example of the third condition, and +describes it as a 'case of pathetic separation.' Secondly: (§ 224) +'Either of two young lovers being dead, and being yet to be regained +through some supernatural interposition, when the one left behind is +sorrowful, then let it be called the separation of tender sadness' +(karunavipralamhha). The commentary gives Mahaçveta as the instance, +and continues: 'But if the lost one be not regainable, or regainable +only after transmigration in another body, the flavour is called the +"Pathetic" simply, there being in this case no room for any admixture +of the "Erotic"; but in the case just mentioned--of Pundarika and +Mahaçveta--immediately on Sarasvati's declaration from the sky that +the lovers should be reunited, there is the "Erotic in its form of +tender sadness," for desire arises on the expectation of reunion, +but PREVIOUSLY to Sarasvati's promise there was the "Pathetic"; +such is the opinion of the competent authorities. And as for what +some say in regard to the case of Pundarika and Mahaçveta, that +"moreover AFTER the expectation of reunion, excited by Sarasvati's +promise to that effect, there is merely your honour's variety of +"love in absence," (§ 222) the one which you call "being abroad" +(§ 221)--others hold it to be distinct, because of the presence of +that distinction, DEATH, which is something else than merely being +abroad.' These are the passages in which direct mention is made of +'Kadambari,' and in § 735, which defines special mention (parisamkhya) +as taking place 'when something is affirmed for the denial, expressed +or understood, of something else similar to it,' the commentary adds: +'When founded upon a Paronomasia, it is peculiarly striking, e.g., +"When that king, the conqueror of the world, was protecting the earth, +the mixture of colours (or castes) was in painting, etc.,"--a passage +from the description of Çudraka in "Kadambari" (P. 5).' + +References to Bana in other works are given by Professor Peterson, so +that three only need be mentioned here. The first I owe to the kindness +of Professor C. Bendall. In a collection of manuscripts at the British +Museum (Or., 445-447) 'consisting chiefly of law-books transcribed +(perhaps for some European) on European paper in the Telugu-Canarese +character,' one, Or., 446 c., the Kamandakiya-Niti-Çastra, contains +on folios 128-131 a passage from 'Kadambari' (pp. 76-84, infra) [11] +on the consecration of a crown-prince, and the duties and dangers of a +king. It forms part of an introduction to the Kamandakiya-Niti-Çastra +and occurs without any hint of its being a quotation from another +work. The author of the Nalacampu not only writes a verse in honour +of Bana, [12] but models his whole style upon him. A curious instance +of the long popularity of 'Kadambari' is that in the 'Durgeçanandini' +by Chattaji, an historical novel, published in 1871, and treating +of the time of Akbar, the heroine is represented as reading in her +boudoir the romance of 'Kadambari.' [13] + + + +THE INTEREST OF 'KADAMBARI.' + +It may be asked What is the value of 'Kadambari' for European +readers? and to different persons the answer will doubtless +be different. Historical interest, so far as that depends on the +narration of historical facts, appears to be entirely lacking, though +it may be that at some future time our knowledge from other sources +may be so increased that we may recognise portraits and allusions in +what seems now purely a work of romance. But in the wider sense in +which history claims to deal with the social ideas that belong to +any epoch, 'Kadambari' will always have value as representing the +ways of thinking and feeling which were either customary or welcome +at its own time, and which have continued to charm Indian readers. It +is indeed true that it probably in many ways does not give a picture +of contemporary manners, just as a mediæval illuminated manuscript +often represents the dress and surroundings prior to the time of +the illuminator, so as to gain the grace of remoteness bestowed by +reverence for the past. In India, where change works but slowly, +the description of the court and city life, where all the subjects +show by outward tokens their sympathy with the joys and sorrows of +their ruler, as in a Greek chorus, is vivid in its fidelity. [14] +The quiet yet busy life of the hermits in the forest, where the day +is spent in worship and in peaceful toils, where at eve the sunbeams +'linger like birds on the crest of hill and tree,' and where night +'darkens all save the hearts of the hermits,' is full of charm. [15] + +The coronation of the crown prince, the penances performed by the +queen to win a son, the reverence paid to Mahakala, also belong to +our picture of the time. The description of Ujjayini, surrounded by +the Sipra, is too general in its terms to give a vivid notion of what +it then was. The site of the temple of Mahakala is still shown outside +the ruins of the old town. A point of special interest is the argument +against the custom of suicide on the death of a friend. Candrapida +consoles Mahaçveta that she has not followed her lover in death +by saying that one who kills himself at his friend's death makes +that friend a sharer in the guilt, and can do no more for him in +another world, whereas by living he can give help by sacrifices and +offerings. Those, too, who die may not be reunited for thousands of +births. In the 'Katha-Koça' [16] a prince is dissuaded from following +his wife to death because 'Even the idea of union with your beloved +will be impossible when you are dead'; but the occurrence of the +idea in a romance is more noteworthy than in a work which illustrates +Jain doctrines. The question of food as affected by caste is touched +on also (p. 205), when the Candala maiden tells the parrot that a +Brahman may, in case of need, receive food of any kind, and that +water poured on the ground, and fruit, are pure even when brought by +the lowest. Another point to be remarked is the mention of followers +of many sects as being present at court. Çiva, especially under the +name of Mahakala at Ujjayini, receives special worship, and Agni and +the Matrikas (p. 14) also receive reverence. The zenanas include aged +ascetic women (p. 217); followers of the Arhat, Krishna, Viçravasa, +Avalokiteçvara, and Viriñca (p. 162); and the courtyard of Çukanasa +has Çaivas and followers of Çakyamuni (p. 217), also Kshapanakas +(explained by the Commentary as Digambaras). The king, [17] however, +is described as having an urna (the hair meeting between the brows), +which is one of Buddha's marks; but the Commentary describes the urna +as cakravartiprabhritinam eva nanyasya, so probably it only belongs to +Buddha as cakravarti, or universal ruler. This shows that the reign of +Harsha was one of religious tolerance. Hiouen Thsang, indeed, claims +him as a Buddhist at heart, and mentions his building Buddhist stupas, +[18] but he describes himself as a Çaiva in the Madhuban grant, [19] +and the preeminence yielded in 'Kadambari' to Çiva certainly shows +that his was then the popular worship. + +Another source of interest in 'Kadambari' lies in its contribution to +folklore. It may perhaps contain nothing not found elsewhere, but the +fact of its having a date gives it a value. The love of snakes for +the breeze and for sandal-trees, the truth of dreams at the end of +night, the magic circles, bathing in snake-ponds to gain a son, the +mustard-seed and ghi put in a baby's mouth, may all be familiar ideas, +but we have a date at which they were known and not despised. Does +the appeal to the truth of her heart by Mahaçveta in invoking the +curse (p. 193) rest on the idea that fidelity to a husband confers +supernatural power, [20] or is it like the 'act of truth' by which +Buddha often performs miracles in the 'Jataka'? + + + +THE STYLE OF 'KADAMBARI.' + +The unsettled chronology of Indian literature makes it impossible +to work out at present Bana's relations with other Sanskrit +writers. Professor Peterson, [21] indeed, makes some interesting +conjectures as to his connection with other authors of his own country, +and also suggests, from similarity of phrase, that he may have fallen +indirectly under the influence of Alexandrian literature. Be that +as it may, he has been for many centuries a model of style, and it +is therefore worth while to consider briefly the characteristics +of his style compared with European standards. The first thing +that strikes the reader is that the sense of proportion, the very +foundation of style as we know it, is entirely absent. No topic is +let go till the author can squeeze no more from it. In descriptions +every possible minor detail is given in all its fulness; then follows +a series of similes, and then a firework of puns. In speeches, be they +lamentations or exhortations, grief is not assuaged, nor advice ended, +till the same thing has been uttered with every existing variety of +synonym. This defect, though it springs from the author's richness of +resource and readiness of wit, makes the task of rendering in English +the merit of the Sanskrit style an impossible one. It gives also a +false impression; for to us a long description, if good, gives the +effect of 'sweetness long drawn out,' and, if bad, brings drowsiness; +whereas in Sanskrit the unending compounds suggest the impetuous rush +of a torrent, and the similes and puns are like the play of light +and shade on its waters. Bana, according to Professor Weber, [22] +'passes for the special representative of the Pañcali style,' [23] +which Bhoja, quoted in the commentary of the 'Sahitya-Darpana,' defines +as 'a sweet and soft style characterized by force (ojas) and elegance +(kanti), containing compounds of five or six words.' But style, +which is to poetic charm as the body to the soul, varies with the +sense to be expressed, and Bana in many of his speeches is perfectly +simple and direct. Owing to the peacefulness of 'Kadambari,' there is +little opportunity for observing the rule that in the 'Katha' letters +'ought not to be too rough, even when the flavour is furious.' [24] +Of the alliteration of initial consonants, the only long passage +is in the description of Çukanasa (p. 50), but in its subtler +forms it constantly occurs. Of shorter passages there are several +examples--e.g., Candra Candala (infra, p. 127); Candrapida Candalo +(Sanskrit text, p. 416); Utkantham sotkantham kanthe jagraha (Ibid., +p. 367); Kamam sakamam kuryam (Ibid., p. 350); Candrapida pidanaya +(Ibid., p. 370). The ornament of çlesha, or paronomasia, which seems +to arise from the untrained philological instinct of mankind seeking +the fundamental identity of like sounds with apparently unlike meaning, +and which lends dramatic intensity when, as sometimes in Shakespeare, +[25] a flash of passionate feeling reveals to the speaker an original +sameness of meaning in words seemingly far apart, is by Bana used +purely as an adornment. He speaks of pleasant stories interwoven +with puns 'as jasmine garlands with campak buds,' and they abound +in his descriptions. The rasanopama, [26] or girdle of similes, +is exemplified (p. 115), 'As youth to beauty, love to youth, spring +to love' so was Kapiñjala to Pundarika. Vishamam (incongruity) is +the figure used in 'the brightness of his glory, free from heat, +consumed his foes; constant, ever roamed' (p. 48). It can scarcely +be separated from virodha (contradiction)--often used, as in 'I +will allay on the funeral pyre the fever which the moon, sandal, +and all cool things have increased' (p. 195)--or from vicitram [27] +(strangeness), where an act is contrary to its apparent purpose: +'There lives not the man whom the virtues of the most courteous lady +Kadambari do not discourteously enslave' (p. 159). Arthapatti [28] (a +fortiori conclusion) is exemplified in 'Even the senseless trees, robed +in bark, seem like fellow-ascetics of this holy man. How much more, +then, living beings endowed with sense!' (p. 43). Time and space would +alike fail for analysis of Bana's similes according to the rules of the +'Sahitya-Darpana.' [29] The author of the 'Raghavapandaviya' considers +Subandhu and Bana as his only equals in vakrokti, or crooked speech, +and the fault of a 'meaning to be guessed out' ('Sahitya-Darpana,' § +574) is not rare. The 'Kavya-Prakaça,' in addition to the references +given by Professor Peterson, quotes a stanza describing a horse in the +'Harsha-Carita' (chap. iii.) as an example of svabhavokti. + +The hero belongs to the division described as the high-spirited, +but temperate and firm ('Sahitya-Darpana,' § 64), i.e., he who +is 'not given to boasting, placable, very profound, with great +self-command, resolute, whose self-esteem is concealed, and faithful +to his engagements,' and who has the 'eight manly qualities' of +'brilliancy, vivacity, sweetness of temper, depth of character, +steadfastness, keen sense of honour, gallantry, and magnanimity' +(Ibid., § 89). Kadambari is the type of the youthful heroine who +feels love for the first time, is shy, and gentle even in indignation +(Ibid., § 98). The companions of each are also those declared in the +books of rhetoric to be appropriate. + + + +LITERARY PARALLELS. + +The work which most invites comparison with 'Kadambari' is one far +removed from it in place and time--Spenser's 'Faerie Queene.' Both +have in great measure the same faults and the same virtues. The +lack of proportion,--due partly to too large a plan, partly to an +imagination wandering at will--the absence of visualization--which +in Spenser produces sometimes a line like + + + 'A lovely Ladie rode him faire beside + Upon a lowly Asse more white then snow, + Yet she much whiter,' + + +and in Bana many a description like that of Mahaçveta's fairness +(pp. 95-97)--the undiscriminating praise bestowed on those whom they +would fain honour, the shadowy nature of many of their personages, +and the intricacies in which the story loses itself, are faults common +to both. Both, too, by a strange coincidence, died with their work +unfinished. But if they have the same faults, they have also many +of the same virtues. The love of what is beautiful and pure both +in character and the world around, tenderness of heart, a gentle +spirit troubled by the disquiet of life, [30] grace and sweetness of +style, and idyllic simplicity, are common to both. Though, however, +Candrapida may have the chivalry and reverence of the Red Cross Knight, +and Una share with Kadambari or Rohini 'nobility, tenderness, loftiness +of soul, devotion and charm,' [31] the English hero and heroine are +more real and more strenuous. We are, indeed, told in one hurried +sentence of the heroic deeds of Candrapida in his world-conquest, +and his self-control and firmness are often insisted on; but as he +appears throughout the book, his self-control is constantly broken +down by affection or grief, and his firmness destroyed by a timid +balancing of conflicting duties, while his real virtue is his unfailing +gentleness and courtesy. Nor could Kadambari, like Una, bid him, in +any conflict, 'Add faith unto your force, and be not faint.' She is, +perhaps, in youth and entire self-surrender, more like Shakespeare's +Juliet, but she lacks her courage and resolve. + + + +THE PURPOSE OF 'KADAMBARI.' + +The likeness of spirit between these two leads to the question, Had +Bana, like Spenser, any purpose, ethical or political, underlying his +story? On the surface it is pure romance, and it is hard to believe +that he had any motive but the simple delight of self-expression +and love for the children of his own imagination. He only claims +to tell a story 'tender with the charm of gracious speech, that +comes of itself, like a bride, to the possession of its lord'; +[32] but it may be that he gladly gathered up in old age the fruits +of his life's experience, and that his own memory of his father's +tenderness to his childhood, of the temptations of youth, and of the +dangers of prosperity and flattery that assail the heart of kings, +was not used only to adorn a tale, but to be a guide to others on the +perilous path of life. Be that as it may, the interest of 'Kadambari,' +like that of the 'Faerie Queene,' does not depend for us now on any +underlying purpose, but on the picture it presents in itself of the +life and thought of a world removed in time, but not in sympathy, from +our own; on the fresh understanding it gives of those who are in the +widest sense our fellow-countrymen; and on the charm, to quote the +beautiful words of Professor Peterson, 'of a story of human sorrow +and divine consolation, of death and the passionate longing for a +union after death, that goes straight from the heart of one who had +himself felt the pang, and nursed the hope, to us who are of like +frame with him ... the story which from the beginning of time mortal +ears have yearned to hear, but which mortal lips have never spoken.' + + + +THE PLAN OF THE TRANSLATION. + +The translation of Bana presents much difficulty from the elaboration +of his style, and it has been a specially hard task, and sometimes +an impossible one, to give any rendering of the constant play on +words in which he delights. I have sometimes endeavoured to give +what might be an English equivalent, and in such cases I have +added in a note the literal meaning of both alternatives; perhaps +too much freedom may have been used, and sometimes also the best +alternative may not have been chosen to place in the text; but those +who have most experience will know how hard it is to do otherwise +than fail. Some long descriptions have been omitted, such, e.g., +as a passage of several pages describing how the dust rose under +the feet of Candrapida's army, and others where there seemed no +special interest or variety to redeem their tediousness. A list of +these omissions [33] is given at the end, together with an appendix, +in which a few passages, chiefly interesting as mentioning religious +sects, are added. I have acted on Professor Cowell's advice as to the +principle on which omissions are made, as also in giving only a full +abstract, and not a translation, of the continuation of 'Kadambari' +by Bhushana. It is so entirely an imitation of his father's work in +style, with all his faults, and without the originality that redeems +them, that it would not reward translation. In my abstract I have +kept the direct narration as more simple, but even when passages are +given rather fully, it does not profess in any case to be more than +a very free rendering; sometimes only the sense of a whole passage +is summed up. I regret that the system of transliteration approved +by the Royal Asiatic Society came too late for adoption here. + +The edition of 'Kadambari' to which the references in the text are +given is that of the Nirnaya-Sagara Press (Bombay, 1890), which +the full commentary makes indispensable, but I have also throughout +made use of Professor Peterson's edition (Bombay Sanskrit Series, +No. xxiv.). For the last half of the Second Part [34] I have referred +to an anonymous literal translation, published by the New Britannia +Press Depository, 78, Amherst Street, Calcutta. + +I have now to offer my grateful thanks to the Secretary of State +for India, without whose kind help the volume could not have been +published. I have also to thank Miss C. M. Duff for allowing me to use +the MS. of her 'Indian Chronology'; Miss E. Dale, of Girton College, +for botanical notes, which I regret that want of space prevented my +printing in full; Mr. C. Tawney, librarian of the Indian Office, for +information as to the sources of Indian fiction; Mr. F. F. Arbuthnot +and Professor Rhys-Davids, for valuable advice; Professor C. Bendall, +for his description of the Kamandakiya-Niti-Çastra, and his constant +kindness about my work; Mr. F. W. Thomas, of Trinity College, for +letting me see the proof-sheets of the translation of the 'Harsha +Carita'; and others for suggested renderings of difficult phrases, +and for help of various kinds. + +But especially my thanks are due to Professor Cowell [35] for a +generosity and unwearied helpfulness which all his pupils know, +and which perhaps few but they could imagine. I read through with +him the whole of the First Part before translating it myself, so that +mistakes in the translation, many as they may be, can arise only from +misunderstanding on my part, from too great freedom of rendering, +or from failing to have recourse to the knowledge he so freely gives. + + + 'Vrihatsahayah karyantam kshodiyanapi gacchati; + Sambhuyambodhim abhyeti mahanadya nagapaga.' + + + + + + + +KADAMBARI. + + +(1) Hail to the Birthless, the cause of creation, continuance, and +destruction, triple [36] in form and quality, who shows activity in +the birth of things, goodness in their continuance, and darkness in +their destruction. + +(2) Glory to the dust of Tryambaka's feet, caressed by the diadem +of the demon Bana [37]; even that dust that kisses the circle of +Ravana's ten crest-gems, that rests on the crests of the lords of +gods and demons, and that destroys our transitory life. + +(3) Glory to Vishnu, who, resolving to strike from afar, with but +a moment's glance from his wrath-inflamed eye stained the breast of +his enemy, as if it had burst of itself in terror. + +I salute the lotus feet of Bhatsu, [38] honoured by crowned Maukharis: +the feet which have their tawny toes rubbed on a footstool made by +the united crowns of neighbouring kings. + +Who is there that fears not the wicked, pitiless in causeless enmity; +in whose mouth calumny hard to bear is always ready as the poison of +a serpent? + +The wicked, like fetters, echo harshly, wound deeply, and leave a +scar; while the good, like jewelled anklets, ever charm the mind with +sweet sounds. + +(4) In a bad man gentle words sink no deeper than the throat, like +nectar swallowed by Rahu. The good man bears them constantly on his +heart, as Hari his pure gem. + +A story tender with the charm of gracious speech, creates in the heart +joy full of fresh interest [39]; and it comes of itself, with native +feeling, to its lord's possession, like a fresh bride. [40] + +Who is not carried captive by tales fashioned in freshness of +speech, all alight with similes, and the lamps of glowing words +[41]: pleasant tales interwoven with many a contrast of words, [42] +as jasmine garlands with campak buds? + +There was once a Brahman, Kuvera by name, sprung from the race of +Vatsyayana, sung throughout the world for his virtue, a leader of the +good: his lotus feet were worshipped by many a Gupta, and he seemed +a very portion of Brahma. + +(5) On his mouth Sarasvati ever dwelt: for in it all evil was stilled +by the Veda; it had lips purified by sacrificial cake, and a palate +bitter with soma, and it was pleasant with smriti and çastra. + +In his house frightened boys, as they repeated verses of the Yajur +and Sama Veda, were chidden at every word by caged parrots and mainas, +who were thoroughly versed in everything belonging to words. + +From him was born Arthapati, a lord of the twice-born, as Hiranyagarbha +from the world-egg, the moon from the Milky Ocean, or Garuda from +Vinata. + +As he unfolded his spreading discourse day by day at dawn, new troops +of pupils, intent on listening, [43] gave him a new glory, like fresh +sandal-shoots fixed on the ear. + +(6) With countless sacrifices adorned with gifts duly offered, [44] +having glowing Mahavira fires in their midst, [45] and raising the +sacrificial posts as their hands, [46] he won easily, as if with a +troop of elephants, the abode of the gods. + +He in due course obtained a son, Citrabhanu, who amongst his other +noble and glorious sons, all versed in çruti and çastra, shone as +crystal, like Kailasa among mountains. + +The virtues of that noble man, reaching far and gleaming bright as a +digit of the moon, yet without its spot, pierced deep even into the +hearts of his foes, like the budding claws of Nrisimha (Vishnu). + +The dark smoke of many a sacrifice rose like curls on the brow of the +goddesses of the sky; or like shoots of tamala on the ear of the bride, +the Threefold Veda, and only made his own glory shine more bright. + +From him was born a son, Bana, when the drops that rose from +the fatigue of the soma sacrifice were wiped from his brow by the +folded lotus hands of Sarasvati, and when the seven worlds had been +illuminated by the rays of his glory. + +(7) By that Brahman, albeit with a mind keeping even in his unspoken +words its original dullness blinded by the darkness of its own utter +folly, and simple from having never gained the charm of ready wit, this +tale, surpassing the other two, [47] was fashioned, even Kadambari. + + + +There was once upon a time a king named Çudraka. Like a second +Indra, he had his commands honoured by the bent heads of all kings; +he was lord of the earth girt in by the four oceans; he had an army +of neighbouring chiefs bowed down in loyalty to his majesty; he had +the signs of a universal emperor; (8) like Vishnu, his lotus-hand bore +the sign of the conch and the quoit; like Çiva, he had overcome Love; +like Kartikeya, he was unconquerable in might [48]; like Brahma, he +had the circle of great kings humbled [49]; like the ocean, he was +the source of Lakshmi; like the stream of Ganges, he followed in the +course of the pious king Bhagiratha; like the sun, he rose daily in +fresh splendour; like Meru, the brightness of his foot was honoured by +all the world; like the elephant of the quarters, [50] he constantly +poured forth a stream of generosity. He was a worker of wonders, an +offerer of sacrifices, a mirror of moral law, a source of the arts, a +native home of virtue; a spring of the ambrosial sweetness of poetry, +a mountain of sunrise to all his friends, [51] and a direful comet to +all his foes. (9) He was, moreover, a founder of literary societies, +a refuge for men of taste, a rejecter of haughty bowholders, a leader +among the bold, a chief among the wise. He was a cause of gladness to +the humble, as Vainateya [52] was to Vinata. He rooted up with the +point of his bow the boundary-mountains of his foes as Prithuraja +did the noble mountains. He mocked Krishna, also, for while the +latter made his boast of his man-lion form, he himself smote down +the hearts of his foes by his very name, and while Krishna wearied +the universe with his three steps, he subdued the whole world by one +heroic effort. Glory long dwelt on the watered edge of his sword, as +if to wash off the stain of contact with a thousand base chieftains, +which had clung to her too long. + +By the indwelling of Dharma in his mind, Yama in his wrath, Kuvera in +his kindness, Agni in his splendour, Earth in his arm, Lakshmi in his +glance, Sarasvati in his eloquence, (10) the Moon in his face, the Wind +in his might, Brihaspati in his knowledge, Love in his beauty, the Sun +in his glory, he resembled holy Narayana, whose nature manifests every +form, and who is the very essence of deity. Royal glory came to him +once for all, like a woman coming to meet her lover, on the nights of +battle stormy with the showers of ichor from the elephants' temples, +and stood by him in the midst of the darkness of thousands of coats of +mail, loosened from the doors of the breasts of warriors. She seemed +to be drawn irresistibly by his sword, which was uneven in its edge, +by reason of the drops of water forced out by the pressure of his +strong hand, and which was decked with large pearls clinging to it +when he clove the frontal bones of wild elephants. The flame of his +majesty burnt day and night, as if it were a fire within his foes' +fair wives, albeit reft of their lords, as if he would destroy the +husbands now only enshrined in their hearts. + +(11) While he, having subdued the earth, was guardian of the world, +the only mixing of colour [53] was in painting; the only pulling of +hair in caresses; the only strict fetters in the laws of poetry; the +only care was concerning moral law; the only deception was in dreams; +the only golden rods [54] were in umbrellas. Banners alone trembled; +songs alone showed variations [55]; elephants alone were rampant; [56] +bows alone had severed cords; [57] lattice windows alone had ensnaring +network; lovers' disputes alone caused sending of messengers; dice and +chessmen alone left empty squares; and his subjects had no deserted +homes. Under him, too, there was only fear of the next world, only +twisting in the curls of the zenana women, only loquacity in anklets, +only taking the hand [58] in marriage, only shedding of tears from +the smoke of ceaseless sacrificial fires; the only sound of the lash +was for horses, while the only twang of the bow was Love's. + +(15) When the thousand-rayed sun, bursting open the young lotus-buds, +had not long risen, though it had lost somewhat of the pinkness of +dawn, a portress approached the king in his hall of audience, and +humbly addressed him. Her form was lovely, yet awe-inspiring, and +with the scimitar (a weapon rarely worn by women) hanging at her left +side, was like a sandal-tree girt by a snake. Her bosom glistened with +rich sandal ointment like the heavenly Ganges when the frontal-bone of +Airavata rises from its waters. (16) The chiefs bent before her seemed, +by her reflection on their crests, to bear her on their foreheads as +a royal command in human form. Like autumn, [59] she was robed in +the whiteness of hamsas; like the blade of Paraçurama she held the +circle of kings in submission; like the forest land of the Vindhyas, +she bore her wand, [60] and she seemed the very guardian-goddess of +the realm. Placing on the ground her lotus hand and knee, she thus +spake: 'Sire, there stands at the gate a Candala maiden from the +South, a royal glory of the race of that Triçamku [61] who climbed +the sky, but fell from it at the murmur of wrathful Indra. She bears +a parrot in a cage, and bids me thus hail your majesty: "Sire, thou, +like the ocean, art alone worthy to receive the treasures of the whole +earth. In the thought that this bird is a marvel, and the treasure of +the whole earth, I bring it to lay at thy feet, and desire to behold +thee." (17) Thou, 0 king, hast heard her message, and must decide!' So +saying, she ended her speech. The king, whose curiosity was aroused, +looked at the chiefs around him, and with the words 'Why not? Bid +her enter?' gave his permission. + +Then the portress, immediately on the king's order, ushered in the +Candala maiden. And she entered and beheld the king in the midst of +a thousand chiefs, like golden-peaked Meru in the midst of the noble +mountains crouching together in fear of Indra's thunderbolt; or, +in that the brightness of the jewels scattered on his dress almost +concealed his form, like a day of storm, whereon the eight quarters of +the globe are covered by Indra's thousand bows. He was sitting on a +couch studded with moon-stones, beneath a small silken canopy, white +as the foam of the rivers of heaven, with its four jewel-encrusted +pillars joined by golden chains, and enwreathed with a rope of large +pearls. Many cowries with golden handles waved around him; (18) his +left foot rested on a footstool of crystal that was like the moon +bent in humiliation before the flashing beauty of his countenance, +and was adorned by the brightness of his feet, which yet were tinged +with blue from the light rays of the sapphire pavement, as though +darkened by the sighs of his conquered foes. His breast, crimsoned by +the rubies which shone on his throne, recalled Krishna, red with blood +from the fresh slaughter of Madhukaitabha; his two silken garments, +white as the foam of ambrosia, with pairs of hamsas painted in yellow +on their hem, waved in the wind raised by the cowries; the fragrant +sandal unguent with which his chest was whitened, besprinkled with +saffron ointment, was like snowy Kailasa with the early sunshine upon +it; his face was encircled by pearls like stars mistaking it for the +moon; the sapphire bracelets that clasped his arms were as a threat of +chains to bind fickle fortune, or as snakes attracted by the smell of +sandal-wood; (19) the lotus in his ear hung down slightly; his nose +was aquiline, his eyes were like lotuses in full blossom, the hair +grew in a circle between his brows, and was purified by the waters +that inaugurated his possession of universal rule; his forehead was +like a piece of the eighth-day moon made into a block of pure gold, +garlanded with sweet jasmine, like the Western Mountain in the dawn +with the stars growing pale on its brow. He was like the God of Love +when struck by Çiva's fire, for his body was tawny from the colour +of his ornaments. His hand-maidens surrounded him, as if they were +the goddesses of the quarters of the globe come to worship him; the +earth bore him, as on her heart, through loyalty, in the reflection +of his image in her clear mosaic pavement; fortune seemed his alone, +though by him she was given to all to enjoy. (20) He was without a +second, though his followers were without number; he trusted only +to his own sword, though he had countless elephants and horses in +his retinue; he filled the whole earth, though he stood in a small +space of ground; he rested only on his bow, and yet was seated on his +throne; he shone with the flame of majesty, though all the fuel of +his enemies was uprooted; he had large eyes, and yet saw the smallest +things; he was the home of all virtues, and yet was overreaching; +[62] he was beloved of his wives, and yet was a despotic lord; he was +free from intoxication, though he had an unfailing stream of bounty; +he was fair in nature, yet in conduct a Krishna; [63] he laid no heavy +hand [64] on his subjects, and yet the whole world rested in his grasp. + +Such was this king. And she yet afar beholding him, with a hand soft +as the petal of a red lotus, and surrounded by a tinkling bracelet, +and clasping the bamboo with its end jagged, (21) struck once on the +mosaic floor to arouse the king; and at the sound, in a moment the +whole assemblage of chiefs turned their eyes from the king to her, +like a herd of wild elephants at the falling of the cocoanut. Then the +king, with the words, 'Look yonder,' to his suite, gazed steadily upon +the Candala maiden, as she was pointed out by the portress. Before +her went a man, whose hair was hoary with age, whose eyes were the +colour of the red lotus, whose joints, despite the loss of youth, +were firm from incessant labour, whose form, though that of a Matanga, +was not to be despised, and who wore the white raiment meet for a +court. Behind her went a Candala boy, with locks falling on either +shoulder, bearing a cage, the bars of which, though of gold, shone +like emerald from the reflection of the parrot's plumage. (22) She +herself seemed by the darkness of her hue to imitate Krishna when he +guilefully assumed a woman's attire to take away the amrita seized by +the demons. She was, as it were, a doll of sapphire walking alone; +and over the blue garment, which reached to her ankle, there fell a +veil of red silk, like evening sunshine falling on blue lotuses. The +circle of her cheek was whitened by the earring that hung from one +ear, like the face of night inlaid with the rays of the rising moon; +she had a tawny tilaka of gorocana, as if it were a third eye, like +Parvati in mountaineer's attire, after the fashion of the garb of Çiva. + +She was like Çri, darkened by the sapphire glory of Narayana reflected +on the robe on her breast; or like Rati, stained by smoke which rose as +Madana was burnt by the fire of wrathful Çiva; or like Yamuna, fleeing +in fear of being drawn along by the ploughshare of wild Balarama; +or, from the rich lac that turned her lotus feet into budding shoots, +like Durga, with her feet crimsoned by the blood of the Asura Mahisha +she had just trampled upon. + +(23) Her nails were rosy from the pink glow of her fingers; the +mosaic pavement seemed too hard for her touch, and she came forward, +placing her feet like tender twigs upon the ground. + +The rays of her anklets, rising in flame-colour, seemed to encircle +her as with the arms of Agni, as though, by his love for her beauty, he +would purify the stain of her birth, and so set the Creator at naught. + +Her girdle was like the stars wreathed on the brow of the elephant +of Love; and her necklace was a rope of large bright pearls, like +the stream of Ganga just tinged by Yamuna. + +Like autumn, she opened her lotus eyes; like the rainy season, she had +cloudy tresses; like the circle of the Malaya Hills, she was wreathed +with sandal; (24) like the zodiac, she was decked with starry gems; +[65] like Çri, she had the fairness of a lotus in her hand; like a +swoon, she entranced the heart; like a forest, she was endowed with +living [66] beauty; like the child of a goddess, she was claimed by +no tribe; [67] like sleep, she charmed the eyes; as a lotus-pool in +a wood is troubled by elephants, so was she dimmed by her Matanga +[68] birth; like a spirit, she might not be touched; like a letter, +she gladdened the eyes alone; like the blossoms of spring, she lacked +the jati flower; [69] her slender waist, like the line of Love's bow, +could be spanned by the hands; with her curly hair, she was like the +Lakshmi of the Yaksha king in Alaka. [70] She had but reached the +flower of her youth, and was beautiful exceedingly. And the king was +amazed; and the thought arose in his mind, (25) 'Ill-placed was the +labour of the Creator in producing this beauty! For if she has been +created as though in mockery of her Candala form, such that all the +world's wealth of loveliness is laughed to scorn by her own, why was +she born in a race with which none can mate? Surely by thought alone +did Prajapati create her, fearing the penalties of contact with the +Matanga race, else whence this unsullied radiance, a grace that belongs +not to limbs sullied by touch? Moreover, though fair in form, by the +baseness of her birth, whereby she, like a Lakshmi of the lower world, +is a perpetual reproach to the gods, [71] she, lovely as she is, causes +fear in Brahma, the maker of so strange a union.' While the king was +thus thinking the maiden, garlanded with flowers, that fell over her +ears, bowed herself before him with a confidence beyond her years. And +when she had made her reverence and stepped on to the mosaic floor, +her attendant, taking the parrot, which had just entered the cage, +advanced a few steps, and, showing it to the king, said: 'Sire, this +parrot, by name Vaiçampayana, knows the meaning of all the çastras, +is expert in the practice of royal policy, (26) skilled in tales, +history, and Puranas, and acquainted with songs and with musical +intervals. He recites, and himself composes graceful and incomparable +modern romances, love-stories, plays, and poems, and the like; he +is versed in witticisms, and is an unrivalled disciple of the vina, +flute, and drum. He is skilled in displaying the different movements of +dancing, dextrous in painting, very bold in play, ready in resources +to calm a maiden angered in a lover's quarrel, and familiar with the +characteristics of elephants, horses, men, and women. He is the gem +of the whole earth; and in the thought that treasures belong to thee, +as pearls to the ocean, the daughter of my lord has brought him hither +to thy feet, O king! Let him be accepted as thine.' + +Having thus said, he laid the cage before the king and retired. (27) +And when he was gone, the king of birds, standing before the king, and +raising his right foot, having uttered the words, 'All hail!' recited +to the king, in a song perfect in the enunciation of each syllable +and accent, a verse [72] to this effect: + + + 'The bosoms of your foemen's queens now mourn, + Keeping a fast of widowed solitude, + Bathed in salt tears, of pearl-wreaths all forlorn, + Scorched by their sad hearts' too close neighbourhood.' + + +And the king, having heard it, was amazed, and joyfully addressed +his minister Kumarapalita, who sat close to him on a costly golden +throne, like Brihaspati in his mastery of political philosophy, aged, +of noble birth, first in the circle of wise councillors: 'Thou hast +heard the bird's clear enunciation of consonants, and the sweetness +of his intonation. This, in the first place, is a great marvel, that +he should raise a song in which the syllables are clearly separated; +and there is a combination of correctness with clearness in the vowels +and anunasikas. (28) Then, again, we had something more than that: +for in him, though a lower creation, are found the accomplishments, +as it were, of a man, in a pleasurable art, and the course of his +song is inspired by knowledge. For it was he who, with the cry, "All +hail!" straightened his right foot and sang this song concerning me, +whereas, generally, birds and beasts are only skilled in the science of +fearing, eating, pairing, and sleeping. This is most wonderful.' And +when the king had said this, Kumarapalita, with a slight smile, +replied: 'Where is the wonder? For all kinds of birds, beginning with +the parrot and the maina, repeat a sound once heard, as thou, O king, +knowest; so it is no wonder that exceeding skill is produced either +by the efforts of men, or in consequence of perfection gained in a +former birth. Moreover, they formerly possessed a voice like that of +men, with clear utterance. The indistinct speech of parrots, as well +as the change in elephants' tongues, arose from a curse of Agni.' + +Hardly had he thus spoken when there arose the blast of the mid-day +conch, following the roar of the drum distinctly struck at the +completion of the hour, and announcing that the sun had reached +the zenith. (29) And, hearing this, the king dismissed his band of +chiefs, as the hour for bathing was at hand, and arose from his hall +of audience. + +Then, as he started, the great chiefs thronged together as they rose, +tearing their silk raiment with the leaf-work of their bracelets, +as it fell from its place in the hurried movement. Their necklaces +were swinging with the shock; the quarters of space were made +tawny by showers of fragrant sandal-powder and saffron scattered +from their limbs in their restlessness; the bees arose in swarms +from their garlands of malati flowers, all quivering; their cheeks +were caressed by the lotuses in their ears, half hanging down; their +strings of pearls were trembling on their bosoms--each longed in his +self-consciousness to pay his respects to the king as he departed. + +The hall of audience was astir on all sides with the sound of the +anklets of the cowrie bearers as they disappeared in all directions, +bearing the cowries on their shoulders, their gems tinkling at every +step, broken by the cry of the kalahamsas, eager to drink the lotus +honey; (30) with the pleasant music of the jewelled girdles and +wreaths of the dancing-girls coming to pay their respects as they +struck their breast and sides; with the cries of the kalahamsas +of the palace lake, which, charmed by the sound of the anklets, +whitened the broad steps of the hall of audience; with the voices of +the tame cranes, eager for the sound of the girdles, screaming more +and more with a prolonged outcry, like the scratching of bell-metal; +with the heavy tramp on the floor of the hall of audience struck +by the feet of a hundred neighbouring chiefs suddenly departing, +which seemed to shake the earth like a hurricane; with the cry of +'Look!' from the wand-bearing ushers, who were driving the people +in confusion before them, and shouting loudly, yet good-naturedly, +'Behold!' long and shrill, resounding far by its echo in the bowers +of the palace; (31) with the ringing of the pavement as it was +scratched by the points of diadems with their projecting aigrettes, +as the kings swiftly bent till their trembling crest-gems touched +the ground; with the tinkling of the earrings as they rang on the +hard mosaic in their owners' obeisance; with the space-pervading din +of the bards reciting auspicious verses, and coming forward with the +pleasant continuous cry, 'Long life and victory to our king!'; with +the hum of the bees as they rose up leaving the flowers, by reason +of the turmoil of the hundreds of departing feet; with the clash of +the jewelled pillars on which the gems were set jangling from being +struck by the points of the bracelets as the chieftains fell hastily +prostrate in their confusion. The king then dismissed the assembled +chiefs, saying, 'Rest awhile'; and after saying to the Candala maiden, +'Let Vaiçampayana be taken into the inner apartments,' and giving the +order to his betel-nut bearer, he went, accompanied by a few favourite +princes, to his private apartments. There, laying aside his adornments, +like the sun divested of his rays, or the sky bare of moon and stars, +he entered the hall of exercise, where all was duly prepared. Having +taken pleasant exercise therein with the princes of his own age, (32) +he then entered the bathing-place, which was covered with a white +canopy, surrounded by the verses of many a bard. It had a gold bath, +filled with scented water in its midst, with a crystal bathing-seat +placed by it, and was adorned with pitchers placed on one side, +full of most fragrant waters, having their mouths darkened by bees +attracted by the odour, as if they were covered with blue cloths, +from fear of the heat. (33) Then the hand-maidens, some darkened by +the reflection of their emerald jars, like embodied lotuses with +their leafy cups, some holding silver pitchers, like night with a +stream of light shed by the full moon, duly besprinkled the king. (34) +Straightway there arose a blare of the trumpets sounded for bathing, +penetrating all the hollows of the universe, accompanied by the din +of song, lute, flute, drum, cymbal, and tabor, resounding shrilly +in diverse tones, mingled with the uproar of a multitude of bards, +and cleaving the path of hearing. Then, in due order, the king put +upon him two white garments, light as a shed snake-skin, and wearing +a turban, with an edge of fine silk, pure as a fleck of white cloud, +like Himalaya with the stream of the heavenly river falling upon it, +he made his libation to the Pitris with a handful of water, consecrated +by a hymn, and then, prostrating himself before the sun, proceeded to +the temple. When he had worshipped Çiva, and made an offering to Agni, +(35) his limbs were anointed in the perfuming-room with sandal-wood, +sweetened with the fragrance of saffron, camphor, and musk, the +scent of which was followed by murmuring bees; he put on a chaplet +of scented malati flowers, changed his garb, and, with no adornment +save his jewelled earrings, he, together with the kings, for whom a +fitting meal was prepared, broke his fast, with the pleasure that +arises from the enjoyment of viands of sweet savour. Then, having +drunk of a fragrant drug, rinsed his mouth, and taken his betel, he +arose from his daïs, with its bright mosaic pavement. The portress, +who was close by, hastened to him, and leaning on her arm, he went +to the hall of audience, followed by the attendants worthy to enter +the inner apartments, whose palms were like boughs, very hard from +their firm grasp of their wands. + +The hall showed as though walled with crystal by reason of the +white silk that draped its ends; the jewelled floor was watered to +coolness with sandal-water, to which was added very fragrant musk; +the pure mosaic was ceaselessly strewn with masses of blossoms, +as the sky with its bevy of stars; (36) many a golden pillar shone +forth, purified with scented water, and decked with countless images, +as though with the household gods in their niches; aloe spread its +fragrance richly; the whole was dominated by an alcove, which held a +couch white as a cloud after storm, with a flower-scented covering, +a pillow of fine linen at the head, castors encrusted with gems, and +a jewelled footstool by its side, like the peak of Himalaya to behold. + +Reclining on this couch, while a maiden, seated on the ground, having +placed in her bosom the dagger she was wont to bear, gently rubbed his +feet with a palm soft as the leaves of fresh lotuses, the king rested +for a short time, and held converse on many a theme with the kings, +ministers, and friends whose presence was meet for that hour. + +He then bade the portress, who was at hand, to fetch Vaiçampayana +from the women's apartments, for he had become curious to learn his +story. And she, bending hand and knee to the ground, with the words +'Thy will shall be done!' taking the command on her head, fulfilled +his bidding. (37) Soon Vaiçampayana approached the king, having his +cage borne by the portress, under the escort of a herald, leaning on +a gold staff, slightly bent, white robed, wearing a top-knot silvered +with age, slow in gait, and tremulous in speech, like an aged flamingo +in his love for the race of birds, who, placing his palm on the ground, +thus delivered his message: 'Sire, the queens send thee word that by +thy command this Vaiçampayana has been bathed and fed, and is now +brought by the portress to thy feet.' Thus speaking, he retired, +and the king asked Vaiçampayana: 'Hast thou in the interval eaten +food sufficient and to thy taste?' 'Sire,' replied he, 'what have +I not eaten? I have drunk my fill of the juice of the jambu fruit, +aromatically sweet, pink and blue as a cuckoo's eye in the gladness +of spring; I have cracked the pomegranate seeds, bright as pearls +wet with blood, which lions' claws have torn from the frontal bones +of elephants. I have torn at my will old myrobalans, green as lotus +leaves, and sweet as grapes. (38) But what need of further words? For +everything brought by the queens with their own hands turns to +ambrosia.' And the king, rebuking his talk, said: 'Let all this +cease for a while, and do thou remove our curiosity. Tell us from +the very beginning the whole history of thy birth--in what country, +and how wert thou born, and by whom was thy name given? Who were thy +father and mother? How came thine attainment of the Vedas, and thine +acquaintance with the Çastras, and thy skill in the fine arts? What +caused thy remembrance of a former birth? Was it a special boon given +thee? Or dost thou dwell in disguise, wearing the form only of a bird, +and where didst thou formerly dwell? How old art thou, and how came +this bondage of a cage, and the falling into the hands of a Candala +maiden, and thy coming hither?' Thus respectfully questioned by the +king, whose curiosity was kindled, Vaiçampayana thought a moment, +and reverently replied, 'Sire, the tale is long; but if it is thy +pleasure, let it be heard.' + + + +'There is a forest, by name Vindhya, that embraces the shores of the +eastern and western ocean, and decks the central region as though +it were the earth's zone. (39) It is beauteous with trees watered +with the ichor of wild elephants, and bearing on their crests masses +of white blossom that rise to the sky and vie with the stars; in +it the pepper-trees, bitten by ospreys in their spring gladness, +spread their boughs; tamala branches trampled by young elephants +fill it with fragrance; shoots in hue like the wine-flushed cheeks +of Malabaris, as though roseate with lac from the feet of wandering +wood-nymphs, overshadow it. Bowers there are, too, wet with drippings +from parrot-pierced pomegranates; bowers in which the ground is covered +with torn fruit and leaves shaken down by restless monkeys from the +kakkola trees, or sprinkled with pollen from ever-falling blossoms, +or strewn with couches of clove-branches by travellers, or hemmed +in by fine cocoanuts, ketakis, kariras, and bakulas; bowers so fair +that with their areca trees girt about with betel vines, they make +a fitting home for a woodland Lakshmi. Thickly growing elas make +the wood dark and fragrant, as with the ichor of wild elephants; +(40) hundreds of lions, who meet their death from barbaric leaders +eager to seize the pearls of the elephants' frontal-bones still +clinging to their mouth and claws, roam therein; it is fearful as +the haunt of death, like the citadel of Yama, and filled with the +buffaloes dear to him; like an army ready for battle, it has bees +resting on its arrow-trees, as the points on arrows, and the roar of +the lion is clear as the lion-cry of onset; it has rhinoceros tusks +dreadful as the dagger of Durga, and like her is adorned with red +sandal-wood; like the story of Karnisuta, it has its Vipula, Acala +and Çaça in the wide mountains haunted by hares, [73] that lie near +it; as the twilight of the last eve of an aeon has the frantic dance +of blue-necked Çiva, so has it the dances of blue-necked peacocks, +and bursts into crimson; as the time of churning the ocean had the +glory of Çri and the tree which grants all desires, and was surrounded +by sweet draughts of Varuna, [74] so is it adorned by Çri trees and +Varuna2 trees. It is densely dark, as the rainy season with clouds, +and decked with pools in countless hundreds; [75] like the moon, it +is always the haunt of the bears, and is the home of the deer. [76] +(41) Like a king's palace, it is adorned by the tails of cowrie deer, +[77] and protected by troops of fierce elephants. Like Durga, it is +strong of nature, [78] and haunted by the lion. Like Sita, it has +its Kuça, and is held by the wanderer of night. [79] Like a maiden +in love, it wears the scent of sandal and musk, and is adorned with +a tilaka of bright aloes; [80] like a lady in her lover's absence, +it is fanned with the wind of many a bough, and possessed of Madana; +[81] like a child's neck, it is bright with rows of tiger's-claws, +[82] and adorned with a rhinoceros; [83] like a hall of revelry with +its honeyed draughts, it has hundreds of beehives [84] visible, and +is strewn with flowers. In parts it has a circle of earth torn up by +the tusks of large boars, like the end of the world when the circle +of the earth was lifted up by the tusks of Mahavaraha; here, like +the city of Ravana, it is filled with lofty çalas [85] inhabited by +restless monkeys; (42) here it is, like the scene of a recent wedding, +bright with fresh kuça grass, fuel, flowers, acacia, and palaça; here, +it seems to bristle in terror at the lions' roar; here, it is vocal +with cuckoos wild for joy; here it is, as if in excitement, resonant +with the sound of palms [86] in the strong wind; here, it drops its +palm-leaves like a widow giving up her earrings; here, like a field of +battle, it is filled with arrowy reeds; [87] here, like Indra's body, +it has a thousand netras; [88] here, like Vishnu's form, it has the +darkness of tamalas; [89] here, like the banner of Arjuna's chariot, +it is blazoned with monkeys; here, like the court of an earthly king, +it is hard of access, through the bamboos; here, like the city of +King Virata, it is guarded by a Kicaka; [90] here, like the Lakshmi of +the sky, it has the tremulous eyes of its deer pursued by the hunter; +[91] here, like an ascetic, it has bark, bushes, and ragged strips and +grass. [92] (43) Though adorned with Saptaparna, [93] it yet possesses +leaves innumerable; though honoured by ascetics, it is yet very savage; +[94] though in its season of blossom, it is yet most pure. + +'In that forest there is a hermitage, famed throughout the world--a +very birthplace of Dharma. It is adorned with trees tended by +Lopamudra as her own children, fed with water sprinkled by her own +hands, and trenched round by herself. She was the wife of the great +ascetic Agastya; he it was who at the prayer of Indra drank up the +waters of ocean, and who, when the Vindhya mountains, by a thousand +wide peaks stretching to the sky in rivalry of Meru, were striving to +stop the course of the sun's chariot, and were despising the prayers +of all the gods, yet had his commands obeyed by them; who digested the +demon Vatapi by his inward fire; who had the dust of his feet kissed +by the tips of the gold ornaments on the crests of gods and demons; who +adorned the brow of the Southern Region; and who manifested his majesty +by casting Nahusha down from heaven by the mere force of his murmur. + +(44) 'The hermitage is also hallowed by Lopamudra's son Dridhadasyu, +an ascetic, bearing his staff of palaça, [95] wearing a sectarial +mark made of purifying ashes, clothed in strips of kuça grass, +girt with muñja, holding a cup of green leaves in his roaming from +hut to hut to ask alms. From the large supply of fuel he brought, +he was surnamed by his father Fuelbearer. + +'The place is also darkened in many a spot by green parrots and by +plantain groves, and is girt by the river Godaveri, which, like a +dutiful wife, followed the path of the ocean when drunk by Agastya. + +'There, too, Rama, when he gave up his kingdom to keep his father's +promise, dwelt happily for some time at Pañcavati with Sita, following +the great ascetic Agastya, living in a pleasant hut made by Lakshmana, +even Rama, the vexer of the triumphs of Ravana's glory. [96] + +'There, even now, the trees, though the hermitage has long been empty, +show, as it were, in the lines of white doves softly nestling in the +boughs, the hermits' pure lines of sacrificial smoke clinging to them; +and there a glow bursts forth on the shoots of creepers, as if it had +passed to them from Sita's hand as she offered flowers of oblation; +(45) there the water of ocean drunk and sent forth by the ascetic +seems to have been wholly distributed among the great lakes round the +hermitage; there the wood, with its fresh foliage, shines as if its +roots had been watered with the blood of countless hosts of demons +struck down by Rama's many keen shafts, and as if now its palaaças +were stained with their crimson hue; there, even yet, the old deer +nurtured by Sita, when they hear the deep roar of fresh clouds in the +rainy season, think on the twang of Rama's bow penetrating all the +hollows of the universe, and refuse their mouthfuls of fresh grass, +while their eyes are dimmed by ceaseless tears, as they see a deserted +world, and their own horns crumbling from age; there, too, the golden +deer, as if it had been incited by the rest of the forest deer slain +in the ceaseless chase, deceived Sita, and led the son of Raghu +far astray; there, too, in their grief for the bitter loss of Sita, +Rama and Lakshmana seized by Kabandha, like an eclipse of sun and moon +heralding the death of Ravana, filled the universe with a mighty dread; +(46) there, too, the arm of Yojanabahu, struck off by Rama's arrow, +caused fear in the saints as it lay on the ground, lest it should be +the serpent form of Nahusha, brought back by Agastya's curse; there, +even now, foresters behold Sita painted inside the hut by her husband +to solace his bereavement, as if she were again rising from the ground +in her longing to see her husband's home. + +'Not far from that hermitage of Agastya, of which the ancient history +is yet clearly to be seen, is a lotus lake called Pampa. It stands +near that hermitage, as if it were a second ocean made by the Creator +in rivalry with Agastya, at the prompting of Varuna, wrathful at +the drinking of ocean; it is like the sky fallen on earth to bind +together the fragments of the eight quarters when severed in the +day of doom. [97] (48) It is, indeed, a peerless home of waters, +and its depth and extent none can tell. There, even now, the wanderer +may see pairs of cakravakas, with their wings turned to blue by the +gleam of the blossoming lotuses, as if they were swallowed up by the +impersonate curse of Rama. + +'On the left bank of that lake, and near a clump of palms broken +by Rama's arrows, was a large old çalmali tree. [98] It shows as +though it were enclosed in a large trench, because its roots are +always encircled by an old snake, like the trunk of the elephants +of the quarters; (49) it seems to be mantled with the slough of +serpents, which hangs on its lofty trunk and waves in the wind; +it strives to compass the measurement of the circle of space by its +many boughs spreading through the firmament, and so to imitate Çiva, +whose thousand arms are outstretched in his wild dance at the day +of doom, and who wears the moon on his crest. Through its weight of +years, it clings for support even to the shoulder of the wind; it is +girt with creepers that cover its whole trunk, and stand out like the +thick veins of old age. Thorns have gathered on its surface like the +moles of old age; not even the thick clouds by which its foliage is +bedewed can behold its top, when, after drinking the waters of ocean, +they return from all sides to the sky, and pause for a moment, weary +with their load of water, like birds amongst its boughs. From its +great height, it seems to be on tiptoe to look [99] at the glory of +the Nandana [100] Wood; its topmost branches are whitened by cotton, +which men might mistake for foam dropped from the corners of their +mouths by the sun's steeds as, beset with weariness of their path +through the sky, they come near it in their course overhead; (50) +it has a root that will last for an aeon, for, with the garland +of drunken bees sticking to the ichor which clings to it where the +cheeks of woodland elephants are rubbed against it, it seems to be +held motionless by iron chains; it seems alive with swarms of bees, +flashing in and out of its hollow trunk. It beholds the alighting of +the wings of birds, as Duryodhana receives proofs of Çakuni's [101] +partizanship; like Krishna, it is encircled by a woodland chaplet; +[102] like a mass of fresh clouds its rising is seen in the sky. It +is a temple whence woodland goddesses can look out upon the whole +world. It is the king of the Dandaka Wood, the leader of the lordly +trees, the friend of the Vindhya Mountains, and it seems to embrace +with the arms of its boughs the whole Vindhya Forest. There, on the +edge of the boughs, in the centre of the crevices, amongst the twigs, +in the joints of the trunks, in the holes of the rotten bark, flocks +of parrots have taken their abode. From its spaciousness, they have +confidently built in it their thousand nests; from its steepness, +they have come to it fearlessly from every quarter. Though its +leaves are thin with age, this lord of the forest still looks green +with dense foliage, as they rest upon it day and night. (51) In it +they spend the nights in their own nests, and daily, as they rise, +they form lines in the sky; they show in heaven like Yamuna with her +wide streams scattered by the tossing of Bala's ploughshare in his +passion; they suggest a lotus-bed of the heavenly Ganges flowing away, +uprooted by the elephant of heaven; they show forth a sky streaked, +as it were, with the brightness of the steeds of the sun's chariot; +they wear the semblance of a moving floor of emerald; they stretch +out in the lake of heaven like long twines of Vallisneria; they fan +the faces of the quarters wearied with the mass of the sun's keen +rays, with their wings spread against the sky like plantain leaves; +they form a grassy path stretching through the heaven, and as they +roam they grace the firmament with a rainbow. After their meal they +return to the young birds which stay in the nest, and give them, +from beaks pink as tiger's claws reddened with the blood of slain +deer, the juice of fruits and many a dainty morsel of rice-clusters, +for by their deep love to their children all their other likings are +subdued; (52) then they spend the night in this same tree with their +young under their wings. + +'Now my father, who by reason of his great age barely dragged on his +life, dwelt with my mother in a certain old hollow, and to him I was, +by the decree of Fate, born as his only son. My mother, overcome by +the pains of child-birth when I was born, went to another world, and, +in spite of his grief for the death of his loved wife, my father, from +love to his child, checked the keen onrush of his sorrow, and devoted +himself in his loneliness wholly to my nurture. From his great age, +the wide wings he raised had lost their power of flight, and hung +loose from his shoulders, so that when he shook them he seemed to +be trying to shake off the painful old age that clung to his body, +while his few remaining tail feathers were broken like a tatter of +kuça grass; and yet, though he was unable to wander far, he gathered +up bits of fruit torn down by parrots and fallen at the foot of the +tree, and picked up grains of rice from rice-stalks that had fallen +from other nests, with a beak the point of which was broken and the +edge worn away and rubbed by breaking rice-clusters, and pink as the +stalk of the sephalika flower when still hard, and he daily made his +own meal on what I left. + +(53) 'But one day I heard a sound of the tumult of the chase. The +moon, reddened by the glow of dawn, was descending to the shore +of the Western Ocean, from the island of the heavenly Ganges, like +an old hamsa with its wings reddened by the honey of the heavenly +lotus-bed; the circle of space was widening, and was white as the +hair of a ranku deer; the throng of stars, like flowers strewn on +the pavement of heaven, were being cast away by the sun's long rays, +as if they were brooms of rubies, for they were red as a lion's +mane dyed in elephant's blood, or pink as sticks of burning lac; the +cluster of the Seven Sages was, as it were, descending the bank of the +Manasa Lake, and rested on the northern quarter to worship the dawn; +the Western Ocean was lifting a mass of pearls, scattered from open +shells on its shore, as though the stars, melted by the sun's rays, +had fallen on it, whitening the surface of its alluvial islands. The +wood was dropping dew; its peacocks were awake; its lions were yawning; +(54) its wild elephants were wakened by herds of she-elephants, and +it, with its boughs raised like reverential hands, sent up towards +the sun, as he rested on the peak of the Eastern Mountain, a mass of +flowers, the filaments of which were heavy with the night dews. The +lines of sacrificial smoke from the hermitages, gray as the hair +of an ass, were gleaming like banners of holiness, and rested like +doves on the tree-tops whereon the wood-nymphs dwelt. The morning +breeze was blowing, and roamed softly, for it was weary at the end +of night; it gladdened swarms of bees by the flowers' perfume; it +rained showers of honey dew from the opened lotuses; it was eager +to teach the dancing creepers with their waving boughs; it carried +drops of foam from the rumination of woodland buffaloes; it removed +the perspiration of the weary mountaineers; it shook the lotuses, and +bore with it the dewdrops. The bees, who ought to be the drums on the +elephant's frontal-bones to recite auspicious songs for the wakening +of the day lotus-groves, now sent up their hum from the hearts of the +night-lotuses, as their wings were clogged in the closing petals; +(55) the deer of the wood had the markings on their breast, gray +with resting on the salt ground, and slowly opened eyes, the pupils +of which were still squinting with the remains of sleep, and were +caught by the cool morning breeze as if their eyelashes were held +together by heated lac; foresters were hastening hither and thither; +the din of the kalahamsas on the Pampa Lake, sweet to the ear, was +now beginning; the pleasant flapping of the wild elephant's ears +breaking forth caused the peacocks to dance; in time the sun himself +slowly arose, and wandered among the tree-tops round the Pampa Lake, +and haunted the mountain peaks, with rays of madder, like a mass of +cowries bending downwards from the sun's elephant as he plunges into +the sky; the fresh light sprung from the sun banished the stars, +falling on the wood like the monkey king who had again lost Tara; +[103] the morning twilight became visible quickly, occupying the +eighth part of the day, and the sun's light became clear. + +'The troops of parrots had all started to the places they desired; +that tree seemed empty by reason of the great stillness, though it had +all the young parrots resting quietly in their nests. (56) My father +was still in his own nest, and I, as from my youth my wings were +hardly fledged and had no strength, was close to him in the hollow, +when I suddenly heard in that forest the sound of the tumult of the +chase. It terrified every woodland creature; it was drawn out by a +sound of birds' wings flying hastily up; it was mingled with cries +from the frightened young elephants; it was increased by the hum of +drunken bees, disturbed on the shaken creepers; it was loud with the +noise of wild boars roaming with raised snouts; it was swollen by the +roar of lions wakened from their sleep in mountain caves; it seemed to +shake the trees, and was great as the noise of the torrents of Ganges, +when brought down by Bhagiratha; and the woodland nymphs listened to +it in terror. + +'When I heard this strange sound I began to tremble in my childishness; +the cavity of my ear was almost broken; I shook for fear, and thinking +that my father, who was close by, could help me, I crept within his +wings, loosened as they were by age. + +'Straightway I heard an outcry of "Hence comes the scent of the +lotus beds the leaders of the elephants have trampled! Hence the +perfume of rushes the boars have chewed! Hence the keen fragrance +of gum-olibanum the young elephants have divided! Hence the rustling +of dry leaves shaken down! (57) Hence the dust of antheaps that the +horns of wild buffaloes have cleft like thunderbolts! Hence came a +herd of deer! Hence a troop of wild elephants! Hence a band of wild +boars! Hence a multitude of wild buffaloes! Hence the shriek of a +circle of peacocks! Hence the murmur of partridges! Hence the cry of +ospreys! Hence the groan of elephants with their frontal bones torn +by lion's claws! This is a boar's path stained with fresh mud! This +a mass of foam from the rumination of deer, darkened by the juice +of mouthfuls of grass just eaten! This the hum of bees garrulous as +they cling to the scent left by the rubbing of elephants' foreheads +with ichor flowing! That the path of the ruru deer pink with withered +leaves bedewed with blood that has been shed. That is a mass of shoots +on the trees crushed by the feet of elephants! Those are the gambols +of rhinoceroses; that is the lion's track jagged with pieces of the +elephant's pearls, pink with blood, and engraved with a monstrous +device by their claws; that is the earth crimsoned with the blood of +the newly born offspring of the does; that is the path, like a widow's +braid, darkened with the ichor of the lord of the herd wandering at his +will! Follow this row of yaks straight before us! Quickly occupy this +part of the wood where the dung of the deer is dried! (58) Climb the +tree-top! Look out in this direction! Listen to this sound! Take the +bow! Stand in your places! Let slip the hounds!" The wood trembled +at the tumult of the hosts of men intent on the chase shouting to +each other and concealed in the hollows of the trees. + +'Then that wood was soon shaken on all sides by the roar of lions +struck by the Çabaras' arrows, deepened by its echo rebounding from +the hollows of the mountains, and strong as the sound of a drum newly +oiled; by the roar from the throats of the elephants that led the herd, +like the growl of thunder, and mixed with the ceaseless lashing of +their trunks, as they came on alone, separated from the frightened +herd; by the piteous cry of the deer, with their tremulous, terrified +eyes, when the hounds suddenly tore their limbs; by the yell of +she-elephants lengthening in grief for the death of their lord and +leader, as they wandered every way with ears raised, ever pausing +to listen to the din, bereft of their slain leaders and followed by +their young; (59) by the bellowing of she-rhinoceroses seeking with +outstretched necks their young, only born a few days before, and now +lost in the panic; by the outcry of birds flying from the tree-tops, +and wandering in confusion; by the tramp of herds of deer with all +the haste of limbs made for speed, seeming to make the earth quake +as it was struck simultaneously by their hurrying feet; by the twang +of bows drawn to the ear, mingled, as they rained their arrows, with +the cry from the throats of the loving she-ospreys; by the clash of +swords with their blades whizzing against the wind and falling on the +strong shoulders of buffaloes; and by the baying of the hounds which, +as it was suddenly sent forth, penetrated all the recesses of the wood. + +'When soon afterwards the noise of the chase was stilled and the +wood had become quiet, like the ocean when its water was stilled by +the ceasing of the churning, or like a mass of clouds silent after +the rainy season, I felt less of fear and became curious, and so, +moving a little from my father's embrace, (60) I stood in the hollow, +stretched out my neck, and with eyes that, from my childishness, were +yet tremulous with fear, in my eagerness to see what this thing was, +I cast my glance in that direction. + +'Before me I saw the Çabara [104] army come out from the wood like +the stream of Narmada tossed by Arjuna's [105] thousand arms; like a +wood of tamalas stirred by the wind; like all the nights of the dark +fortnight rolled into one; like a solid pillar of antimony shaken by +an earthquake; like a grove of darkness disturbed by sunbeams; like +the followers of death roaming; like the demon world that had burst +open hell and risen up; like a crowd of evil deeds come together; +like a caravan of curses of the many hermits dwelling in the Dandaka +Forest; like all the hosts of Dushana [106] and Khara struck by +Rama as he rained his ceaseless shafts, and they turned into demons +for their hatred to him; like the whole confraternity of the Iron +Age come together; like a band of buffaloes prepared for a plunge +into the water; like a mass of black clouds broken by a blow from a +lion's paw as he stands on the mountain peak; [107] like a throng of +meteors risen for the destruction of all form; it darkened the wood; +it numbered many thousands; it inspired great dread; it was like a +multitude of demons portending disasters. + +(61) 'And in the midst of that great host of Çabaras I beheld the +Çabara leader, Matanga by name. He was yet in early youth; from his +great hardness he seemed made of iron; he was like Ekalavya [108] +in another birth; from his growing beard, he was like a young royal +elephant with its temples encircled by its first line of ichor; +he filled the wood with beauty that streamed from him sombre as +dark lotuses, like the waters of Yamuna; he had thick locks curled +at the ends and hanging on his shoulders, like a lion with its +mane stained by elephant's ichor; his brow was broad; his nose was +stern and aquiline; his left side shone reddened by the faint pink +rays of a jewelled snake's hood that was made the ornament for one +of his ears, like the glow of shoots that had clung to him from +his resting on a leafy couch; he was perfumed with fragrant ichor, +bearing the scent of saptacchada blossoms torn from the cheeks of an +elephant freshly slain, like a stain of black aloes; (62) he had the +heat warded off by a swarm of bees, like a peacock-feather parasol, +flying about blinded by the scent, as if they were a branch of tamala; +he was marked with lines of perspiration on his cheek rubbed by his +hand, as if Vindhya Forest, being conquered by his strong arm, were +timidly offering homage under the guise of its slender waving twigs, +and he seemed to tinge space by his eye somewhat pink, as if it were +bloodshot, and shedding a twilight of the night of doom for the deer; +he had mighty arms reaching to his knees, as if the measure of an +elephant's trunk had been taken in making them, and his shoulders were +rough with scars from keen weapons often used to make an offering of +blood to Kali; the space round his eyes was bright and broad as the +Vindhya Mountain, and with the drops of dried deer's blood clinging +on it, and the marking of drops of perspiration, as if they were +adorned by large pearls from an elephant's frontal bone mixed with +guñja fruit; his chest was scarred by constant and ceaseless fatigue; +he was clad in a silk dress red with cochineal, and with his strong +legs he mocked a pair of elephants' posts stained with elephants' +ichor; he seemed from his causeless fierceness to have been marked +on his dread brow by a frown that formed three banners, as if Durga, +propitiated by his great devotion, had marked him with a trident to +denote that he was her servant. (63) He was accompanied by hounds +of every colour, which were his familiar friends; they showed their +weariness by tongues that, dry as they were, seemed by their natural +pinkness to drip deer's blood, and which hung down far from tiredness; +as their mouths were open they raised the corners of their lips and +showed their flashing teeth clearly, like a lion's mane caught between +the teeth; their throats were covered with strings of cowries, and they +were hacked by blows from the large boars' tusks; though but small, +from their great strength they were like lions' cubs with their manes +ungrown; they were skilled in initiating the does in widowhood; with +them came their wives, very large, like lionesses coming to beg an +amnesty for the lions. He was surrounded by troops of Çabaras of all +kinds: some had seized elephants' tusks and the long hair of yaks; +some had vessels for honey made of leaves closely bound; some, like +lions, had hands filled with many a pearl from the frontal bones of +elephants; some, like demons, had pieces of raw flesh; some, like +goblins, were carrying the skins of lions; some, like Jain ascetics, +held peacocks' tails; some, like children, wore crows' feathers; [109] +some represented Krishna's [110] exploits by bearing the elephants' +tusks they had torn out; (64) some, like the days of the rainy season, +had garments dark as clouds. [111] He had his sword-sheath, as a +wood its rhinoceroses; [112] like a fresh cloud, he held a bow [113] +bright as peacocks' tails; like the demon Vaka, [114] he possessed a +peerless army; like Garuda, he had torn out the teeth of many large +nagas; [115] he was hostile to peacocks, as Bhishma to Çikhandi; [116] +like a summer day, he always showed a thirst for deer; [117] like a +heavenly genius, he was impetuous in pride; [118] as Vyasa followed +Yojanagandha, [119] so did he follow the musk deer; like Ghatotkaca, +he was dreadful in form; [120] as the locks of Uma were decked with +Çiva's moon, so was he adorned with the eyes in the peacocks' tails; +[121] as the demon Hiranyakaçipu [122] by Mahavaraha, so he had his +breast torn by the teeth of a great boar; (65) like an ambitious +man, [123] he had a train of captives around him; like a demon, +he loved [124] the hunters; like the gamut of song, he was closed +in by Nishadas; [125] like the trident of Durga, he was wet with the +blood of buffaloes; though quite young, he had seen many lives pass; +[126] though he had many hounds, [127] he lived on roots and fruits; +though of Krishna's hue, [128] he was not good to look on; though +he wandered at will, his mountain fort [129] was his only refuge; +though he always lived at the foot of a lord of earth, [130] he was +unskilled in the service of a king. + +'He was as the child of the Vindhya Mountains, the partial avatar of +death; the born brother of wickedness, the essence of the Iron Age; +horrible as he was, he yet inspired awe by reason of his natural +greatness, [131] and his form could not be surpassed. [132] His name I +afterwards learnt. In my mind was this thought: "Ah, the life of these +men is full of folly, and their career is blamed by the good. (66) +For their one religion is offering human flesh to Durga; their meat, +mead, and so forth, is a meal loathed by the good; their exercise is +the chase; their çastra [133] is the cry of the jackal; their teachers +of good and evil are owls; [134] their knowledge is skill in birds; +[135] their bosom friends are dogs; their kingdom is in deserted +woods; their feast is a drinking bout; their friends are the bows +that work their cruel deeds, and arrows, with their heads smeared, +like snakes, with poison, are their helpers; their song is what draws +on bewildered deer; their wives are the wives of others taken captive; +their dwelling is with savage tigers; their worship of the gods is with +the blood of beasts, their sacrifice with flesh, their livelihood by +theft; the snakes' hood is their ornament; their cosmetic, elephants' +ichor; and the very wood wherein they may dwell is utterly destroyed +root and branch." + +'As I was thus thinking, the Çabara leader, desiring to rest after +his wandering through the forest, approached, and, laying his bow +in the shade beneath that very cotton-tree, sat down on a seat of +twigs gathered hastily by his suite. (67) Another youthful Çabara, +coming down hastily, brought to him from the lake, when he had stirred +its waters with his hand, some water aromatic with lotus-pollen, and +freshly-plucked bright lotus-fibres with their mud washed off; the +water was like liquid lapis lazuli, or showed as if it were painted +with a piece of sky fallen from the heat of the sun's rays in the day +of doom, or had dropped from the moon's orb, or were a mass of melted +pearl, or as if in its great purity it was frozen into ice, and could +only be distinguished from it by touch. After drinking it, the Çabara +in turn devoured the lotus-fibres, as Rahu does the moon's digits; +when he was rested he rose, and, followed by all his host, who had +satisfied their thirst, he went slowly to his desired goal. But one +old Çabara from that barbarous troop had got no deer's flesh, and, +with a demoniac [136] expression coming into his face in his desire +for meat, he lingered a short time by that tree. (68) As soon as the +Çabara leader had vanished, that old Çabara, with eyes pink as drops +of blood and terrible with their overhanging tawny brows, drank in, as +it were, our lives; he seemed to reckon up the number in the parrots' +nests like a falcon eager to taste bird's flesh, and looked up the +tree from its foot, wishing to climb it. The parrots seemed to have +drawn their last breath at that very moment in their terror at the +sight of him. For what is hard for the pitiless? So he climbed the +tree easily and without effort, as if by ladders, though it was as +high as many palms, and the tops of its boughs swept the clouds, +and plucked the young parrots from among its boughs one by one, +as if they were its fruit, for some were not yet strong for flight; +some were only a few days old, and were pink with the down of their +birth, so that they might almost be taken for cotton-flowers; [137] +some, with their wings just sprouting, were like fresh lotus-leaves; +some were like the Asclepias fruit; some, with their beaks growing +red, had the grace of lotus-buds with their heads rising pink from +slowly unfolding leaves; while some, under the guise of the ceaseless +motion of their heads, seemed to try to forbid him, though they could +not stop him, for he slew them and cast them on the ground. + +(69) 'But my father, seeing on a sudden this great, destructive, +remediless, overwhelming calamity that had come on us, trembled doubly, +and, with pupils quivering and wandering from fear of death, cast +all round a glance that grief had made vacant and tears had dimmed; +his palate was dry, and he could not help himself, but he covered me +with his wing, though its joints were relaxed by fear, and bethought +himself of what help could avail at such a moment. Swayed wholly by +love, bewildered how to save me, and puzzled what to do, he stood, +holding me to his breast. That miscreant, however, wandering among +the boughs, came to the entrance of the hollow, and stretched out +his left arm, dreadful as the body of an old black snake, with its +hand redolent of the raw fat of many boars, and its forearm marked +with weals from ceaseless drawing of the bowstrings, like the wand of +death; and though my father gave many a blow with his beak, and moaned +piteously, that murderous wretch dragged him down and slew him. (70) +Me, however, he somehow did not notice, though I was within the wings, +from my being small and curled into a ball from fear, and from my +not having lived my fated life, but he wrung my father's neck and +threw him dead upon the ground. Meanwhile I, with my neck between my +father's feet, clinging quietly to his breast, fell with him, and, +from my having some fated life yet to live, I found that I had fallen +on a large mass of dry leaves, heaped together by the wind, so that +my limbs were not broken. While the Çabara was getting down from the +tree-top, I left my father, like a heartless wretch, though I should +have died with him; but, from my extreme youth, I knew not the love +that belongs to a later age, and was wholly swayed by the fear that +dwells in us from birth; I could hardly be seen from the likeness of +my colour to the fallen leaves; I tottered along with the help of my +wings, which were just beginning to grow, thinking that I had escaped +from the jaws of death, and came to the foot of a very large tamala +tree close by. Its shoots were fitted to be the earrings of Çabara +women, as if it mocked the beauty of Vishnu's body by the colour of +Balarama's dark-blue robe, (71) or as if it were clad in pure strips +of the water of Yamuna; its twigs were watered by the ichor of wild +elephants; it bore the beauty of the tresses of the Vindhya Forest; +the space between its boughs was dark even by day; [138] the ground +round its root was hollow, and unpierced by the sun's rays; and I +entered it as if it were the bosom of my noble father. Then the Çabara +came down and gathered up the tiny parrots scattered on the ground; +he bound them hastily in a basket of leaves with a coil of creepers, +and going off with hasty steps by the path trodden by his leader, +he made for that region. I meanwhile had begun to hope for life, +but my heart was dried up with grief for my father's recent death; my +body was in pain from my long fall, and I was possessed by a violent +thirst, caused by fright, which tortured all my limbs. Then I thought, +"The villain has now gone some way," so I lifted my head a little and +gazed around with eyes tremulous with fear, thinking even when a blade +of grass moved that the wretch was coming back. I watched him go step +by step, and then, leaving the root of the tamala tree, I made a great +effort to creep near the water. (72) My steps were feeble, because +my wings were not yet grown, and again and again I fell on my face; +I supported myself on one wing; I was weak with the weariness [139] +of creeping along the ground, and from my want of practice; after +each step I always lifted my head and panted hard, and as I crept +along I became gray with dust. "Truly even in the hardest trials," +I reflected, "living creatures never become careless of life. Nothing +in this world is dearer to all created beings than life, seeing that +when my honoured father, of well-chosen name, is dead, I still live +with senses unimpaired! Shame on me that I should be so pitiless, +cruel, and ungrateful! For my life goes on shamefully in that the +grief of my father's death is so easily borne. I regard no kindness; +truly my heart is vile! I have even forgotten how, when my mother died, +my father restrained his bitter grief, and from the day of my birth, +old as he was, reckoned lightly in his deep love the great toil of +bringing me up with every care. And yet in a moment I have forgotten +how I was watched over by him! (73) Most vile is this breath of mine +which goes not straightway forth to follow my father on his path, +my father, that was so good to me! Surely there is none that thirst +of life does not harden, if the longing for water can make me take +trouble in my present plight. Methinks this idea of drinking water +is purely hardness of heart, because I think lightly of the grief +of my father's death. Even now the lake is still far off. For the +cry of the kalahamsas, like the anklets of a water-nymph, is still +far away; the cranes' notes are yet dim; the scent of the lotus-bed +comes rarely through the space it creeps through, because the distance +is great; noontide is hard to bear, for the sun is in the midst of +heaven, and scatters with his rays a blazing heat, unceasing, like +fiery dust, and makes my thirst worse; the earth with its hot thick +dust is hard to tread; my limbs are unable to go even a little way, +for they are weary with excessive thirst; I am not master of myself; +(74) my heart sinks; my eyes are darkened. O that pitiless fate would +now bring that death which yet I desire not!" Thus I thought; but +a great ascetic named Jabali dwelt in a hermitage not far from the +lake, and his son Harita, a youthful hermit, was coming down to the +lotus-lake to bathe. He, like the son of Brahma, had a mind purified +with all knowledge; he was coming by the very path where I was with +many holy youths of his own age; like a second sun, his form was hard +to see from its great brightness; he seemed to have dropped [140] +from the rising sun, and to have limbs fashioned from lightning and +a shape painted with molten gold; he showed the beauty of a wood on +fire, or of day with its early sunlight, by reason of the clear tawny +splendour of his form flashing out; he had thick matted locks hanging +on his shoulders red as heated iron, and pure with sprinkling from +many a sacred pool; his top-knot was bound as if he were Agni in the +false guise of a young Brahman in his desire to burn the Khandava Wood; +[141] he carried a bright crystal rosary hanging from his right ear, +like the anklets of the goddesses of the hermitage, and resembling the +circle of Dharma's commandments, made to turn aside all earthly joys; +(75) he adorned his brow with a tripundraka [142] mark in ashes, as if +with threefold truth; [143] he laid his left hand on a crystal pitcher +with its neck held ever upwards as if to look at the path to heaven, +like a crane gazing upwards to the sky; he was covered by a black +antelope skin hanging from his shoulders, like thick smoke that was +coming out again after being swallowed [144] in thirst for penance, +with pale-blue [145] lustre; he wore on his left shoulder a sacrificial +thread, which seemed from its lightness to be fashioned from very young +lotus-fibres, and wavered in the wind as if counting the framework of +his fleshless ribs; he held in his right hand an ashadha [146] staff, +having on its top a leafy basket full of creeper-blossoms gathered +for the worship of Çiva; he was followed by a deer from the hermitage, +still bearing the clay of the bathing-place dug up by its horns, quite +at home with the hermits, fed on mouthfuls of rice, and letting its +eyes wander on all sides to the kuça grass flowers and creepers. Like +a tree, he was covered with soft bark; [147] like a mountain, he was +surrounded by a girdle; [148] like Rahu, he had often tasted Soma; +[149] like a day lotus-bed, he drank the sun's rays; (76) like a +tree by the river's side, his tangled locks were pure with ceaseless +washing; like a young elephant, his teeth were white as [150] pieces +of moon-lotus petals; like Drauni, he had Kripa [151] ever with him; +like the zodiac, he was adorned by having the hide [152] of the +dappled deer; like a summer day, he was free from darkness; [153] +like the rainy season, he had allayed the blinding dust of passion; +[154] like Varuna, he dwelt on the waters; [155] like Krishna, he had +banished the fear of hell; [156] like the beginning of twilight, +he had eyes tawny as the glow of dawn; [157] like early morn, +he was gilded with fresh sunlight; like the chariot of the sun, +he was controlled in his course; [158] like a good king, he brought +to nought the secret guiles of the foe; [159] (77) like the ocean, +his temples were cavernous with meditation; [160] like Bhagiratha, +he had often beheld the descent of Ganges; [161] like a bee, he had +often tasted life in a water-engirt wood; [162] though a woodsman, +he yet entered a great home; [163] though unrestrained, he longed +for release; [164] though intent on works of peace, he bore the +rod; [165] though asleep, he was yet awake; [166] though with two +well-placed eyes, he had his sinister eye abolished. [167] Such was +he who approached the lotus-lake to bathe. + +'Now the mind of the good is ever wont to be compassionate and kind +instinctively. Wherefore he, seeing my plight, was filled with pity, +and said to another young ascetic standing near: (78) "This little +half-fledged parrot has somehow fallen from the top of that tree, +or perhaps from a hawk's mouth. For, owing to his long fall, he has +hardly any life left; his eyes are closed, and he ever falls on his +face and pants violently, and opens his beak, nor can he hold up his +neck. Come, then, take him before his breath deserts him. Carry him +to the water." So saying, he had me taken to the edge of the lake; +and, coming there, he laid down his staff and pitcher near the water, +and, taking me himself, just when I had given up all effort, he lifted +up my head, and with his finger made me drink a few drops of water; +and when I had been sprinkled with water and had gained fresh breath, +he placed me in the cool wet shade of a fresh lotus-leaf growing on +the bank, and went through the wonted rites of bathing. After that, +he purified himself by often holding his breath, and murmuring the +cleansing aghamarshana [168], and then he arose and, with upraised +face, made an offering to the sun with freshly-plucked red lotuses +in a cup of lotus-leaves. Having taken a pure white robe, so that +he was like the glow of evening sunlight accompanied by the moon's +radiance, he rubbed his hair with his hands till it shone, and, (79) +followed by the band of ascetic youths, with their hair yet wet from +recent bathing, he took me and went slowly towards the penance grove. + +'And after going but a short way, I beheld the penance grove, hidden +in thick woods rich in flowers and fruit. + +(80) 'Its precincts were filled by munis entering on all sides, +followed by pupils murmuring the Vedas, and bearing fuel, kuça grass, +flowers, and earth. There the sound of the filling of the pitchers +was eagerly heard by the peacocks; there appeared, as it were, +a bridge to heaven under the guise of smoke waving to exalt to the +gods the muni race while yet in the body by fires satisfied with the +ceaseless offering of ghee; all round were tanks with their waves +traversed by lines of sunbeams stainless as though from contact with +the hermits they rested upon, plunged into by the circle of the Seven +Rishis who had come to see their penance, and lifting by night an open +moon-lotus-bed, like a cluster of constellations descending to honour +the rishis; the hermitage received homage from woodland creepers with +their tops bent by the wind, and from trees with their ever-falling +blossoms, and was worshipped by trees with the añjali of interlaced +boughs; parched grain was scattered in the yards round the huts, +and the fruit of the myrobalan, lavali, jujube, banana, bread-tree, +mango, panasa, [169] and palm pressed on each other; (81) the young +Brahmans were eloquent in reciting the Vedas; the parrot-race was +garrulous with the prayer of oblation that they learnt by hearing it +incessantly; the subrahmanya [170] was recited by many a maina; the +balls of rice offered to the deities were devoured by the cocks of the +forest, and the offering of wild rice was eaten by the young kalahamsas +of the tanks close by. The eating-places of the sages were protected +from pollution by ashes cast round them. (82) The fire for the munis' +homa sacrifice was fanned by the tails of their friends the peacocks; +the sweet scent of the oblation prepared with nectar, the fragrance of +the half-cooked sacrificial cake was spread around; the crackling of +flames in the offering of a stream of unbroken libations made the place +resonant; a host of guests was waited upon; the Pitris were honoured; +Vishnu, Çiva, and Brahma were worshipped. The performance of çraddha +rites was taught; the science of sacrifice explained; the çastras +of right conduct examined; good books of every kind recited; and the +meaning of the çastras pondered. Leafy huts were being begun; courts +smeared with paste, and the inside of the huts scrubbed. Meditation +was being firmly grasped, mantras duly carried out, yoga practised, +and offerings made to woodland deities. Brahmanical girdles of +muñja grass were being made, bark garments washed, fuel brought, +deer-skins decked, grass gathered, lotus-seed dried, rosaries strung, +and bamboos laid in order for future need. [171] Wandering ascetics +received hospitality, and pitchers were filled. + +(84) 'There defilement is found in the smoke of the oblations, not in +evil conduct; redness of face in parrots, not in angry men; sharpness +in blades of grass, not in dispositions; wavering in plantain-leaves, +not in minds; red eyes [172] in cuckoos alone; clasping of necks +with pitchers only; binding of girdles in vows, not in quarrels; +pakshapata [173] in cocks, not in scientific discussions; wandering +in making the sunwise turn round the soma fire, but not error in the +çastras; mention of the Vasus in legends, but not longing for wealth; +counting of beads for Rudra, but no account made of the body; loss of +locks by the saints in the practice of sacrifice, but not loss of their +children [174] by death; propitiation of Rama by reciting the Ramayana, +not of women [175] by youth; wrinkles brought on by old age, not by +pride of riches; the death of a Çakuni [176] in the Mahabharata only; +only in the Purana windy talk; [177] in old age only loss of teeth; +[178] coldness only in the park sandal-trees; [179] (85) in fires only +turning to ashes; [180] only deer love to hear song; only peacocks care +for dancing; only snakes wear hoods; [181] only monkeys desire fruit; +[182] only roots have a downward tendency. + +(85-89, condensed) 'There, beneath the shade of a red açoka-tree, +beauteous with new oblations of flowers, purified with ointment of +fresh gomaya, garlanded with kuça grass and strips of bark tied on +by the hermitage maidens, I saw the holy Jabali surrounded by most +ascetic sages, like time by æons, the last day by suns, the sacrifice +by bearers of the three fires, [183] the golden mountain by the noble +hills, or the earth by the oceans. + +(89) 'And as I looked on him I thought: "Ah! how great is the power of +penance! His form, calm as it is, yet pure as molten gold, overpowers, +like lightning, the brightness of the eye with its brilliance. Though +ever tranquil, it inspires fear at first approach by its inherent +majesty. The splendour of even those ascetics who have practised but +little asceticism is wont to be easily provoked, like fire swiftly +falling on dry reeds, kaça grass, or flowers. (90) How much more, then, +that of holy men like these, whose feet are honoured by the whole +world, whose stains are worn away by penance, who look with divine +insight on the whole earth as if it were a myrobalan [184] in the hand, +and who purge away all sin. For even the mention of a great sage has +its reward; much more, then, the sight of him! Happy is the hermitage +where dwells this king of Brahmans! Nay, rather, happy is the whole +world in being trodden by him who is the very Brahma of earth! Truly +these sages enjoy the reward of their good deeds in that they attend +him day and night with no other duty, hearing holy stories and ever +fixing on him their steady gaze, as if he were another Brahma. Happy +is Sarasvati, who, encircled by his shining teeth, and ever enjoying +the nearness of his lotus-mouth, dwells in his serene mind, with +its unfathomable depths and its full stream of tenderness, like a +hamsa on the Manasa lake. The four Vedas, that have long dwelt in the +four lotus-mouths of Brahma, find here their best and most fitting +home. (91) All the sciences, which became turbid in the rainy season +of the Iron Age, become pure when they reach him, as rivers coming +to autumn. Of a surety, holy Dharma, having taken up his abode here +after quelling the riot of the Iron Age, no longer cares to recall +the Golden Age. Heaven, seeing earth trodden by him, no longer takes +pride in being dwelt in by the Seven Rishis. How bold is old age, +which fears not to fall on his thick matted locks, moonbeam-pale as +they are, and hard to gaze on as the rays of the sun of doom. [185] +For it falls on him as Ganges, white with flecks of foam, on Çiva, +or as an offering of milk on Agni. Even the sun's rays keep far from +the penance-grove, as if terrified by the greatness of the saint whose +hermitage is darkened by the thick smoke of many an oblation. These +fires, too, for love of him, receive oblations purified by hymns, for +their flames are pressed together by the wind, like hands reverently +raised. (92) The wind itself approaches him timidly, just stirring the +linen and bark dresses, fragrant with the sweet creeper blossoms of the +hermitage, and gentle in motion. Yet the glorious might of the elements +is wont to be beyond our resistance! But this man towers above [186] +the mightiest! The earth shines as if with two suns, being trodden by +this noble man. In his support the world stands firm. He is the stream +of sympathy, the bridge over the ocean of transient existence, and the +home of the waters of patience; the axe for the glades of the creepers +of desire, the ocean of the nectar of content, the guide in the path +of perfection, the mountain behind which sets the planet of ill, [187] +the root of the tree of endurance, the nave of the wheel of wisdom, +the staff of the banner of righteousness, the holy place for the +descent of all knowledge, the submarine fire of the ocean of craving, +the touch-stone of the jewels of the çastras, the consuming flame of +the buds of passion, the charm against the snake of wrath, the sun +to dispel the darkness of delusion, the binder of the bolts of hell's +gates, the native home of noble deeds, the temple of propitious rites, +the forbidden ground for the degradation of passion, the sign-post +to the paths of good, the birthplace of holiness, the felly of the +wheel of effort, the abode of strength, the foe of the Iron Age, the +treasury of penance, the friend of truth, the native soil of sincerity, +the source of the heaping up of merit, the closed gate for envy, the +foe of calamity. (93) Truly he is one in whom disrespect can find no +place; for he is averse from pride, unclaimed by meanness, unenslaved +by wrath, and unattracted by pleasure. Purely by the grace of this +holy man the hermitage is free from envy and calm from enmity. Great +is the power of a noble soul. Here, ceasing their constant feud, the +very animals are quiet, and learn the joy of a hermitage life. For +here a snake, wearied by the sun, fearlessly enters, as if into +fresh grass, into the peacock's tail, like an interwoven grove +of open lotuses, with its hundred beauteous eyes, changing in hue +as the eyes of a deer. Here a young antelope, leaving his mother, +makes friends with the lion-cubs whose manes are not yet grown, and +drinks at the bounteous breast of the lioness. Here a lion closes his +eyes, and is pleased to have his moon-white mane pulled by the young +elephants that mistake it for lotus-fibres. Here the monkey-tribe loses +its capriciousness and brings fruit to the young munis after their +bath. There the elephants, too, though excited, are tender-hearted, +and do not drive away by their flapping the bees that dwell round their +frontal bones, and stay motionless to drink their ichor. (94) But what +need of more? There even the senseless trees, with roots and fruits, +clad in bark, and adorned with outer garments of black antelope skin +perpetually made for them by the upward creeping lines of sacrificial +smoke, seem like fellow ascetics of this holy man. How much more, +then, living beings, endowed with sense!" + +'And while I was thus thinking, Harita placed me somewhere in the shade +of the açoka tree, and embracing his father's feet and saluting him, +sat down not far from him on a seat of kuça grass. + +'But the hermits, looking on me, asked him as he rested: "Whence was +this little parrot brought?" "When I went hence to bathe," replied he, +"I found this little parrot fallen from its nest in a tree on the +bank of the lotus-lake, faint with the heat, lying in hot dust, and +shaken by the fall, with little life left in him. And as I could not +replace him in his nest (for that tree was too hard for an ascetic +to climb), I brought him hither in pity. So, while his wings are not +grown, and he cannot fly into the sky, let him live in the hollow of +some hermitage tree, (95) fed on the juice of fruits and on handfuls +of rice brought to him by us and by the young hermits. For it is the +law of our order to protect the weak. But when his wings are grown, +and he can fly into the sky, he shall go where he likes. Or perhaps, +when he knows us well, he will stay here." The holy Jabali, hearing +this and other remarks about me, with some curiosity bent his head +slightly, and, with a very calm glance that seemed to purify me with +holy waters, he gazed long upon me, and then, looking again and again +as if he were beginning to recognise me, said: "He is reaping the fruit +of his own ill-conduct." For by the potency of penance the saint with +divine insight beholds the past, present, and future, and sees the +whole world as though placed on the palm of his hand. He knows past +births. He tells things yet to come. He declares the length of days +of beings within his sight. + +'At these words the whole assemblage 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 assemblage, 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 gods is passing. 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 orb, 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 orb, +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 kuça grass was scattered on the altar of Agni, and the +rice and oblations to the goddesses of space 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 space 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 Çiva, 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 grass, and he spake, saying: "Father, the whole +assemblage 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 pass +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 gods 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 Daçaratha; 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 clusters of pearls, like the elephant of +space approaching the tree of desire, all the wide quarters of space, +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 Krauñca, 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 gods 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 Çiva'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 gods 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 passing +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 Kumara; none +dreaded eclipse save the sun; none passed 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 Çukanasa, a Brahman, whose +intelligence was fixed on all the affairs of the kingdom, whose +mind had plunged deeply into the arts and çastras, 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 Çesha, enduring the weight of +the world; like the ocean, full of life; like Jarasandha, shaping +war and peace; [207] (118) like Çiva, 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 Çukra to Vrishaparvan; +like Vaçishtha to Daçaratha; like Viçvamitra to Rama; like Dhaumya to +Ajataçatru; 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 hell, 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 circumference 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 Çukanasa, 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 passed 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 Çiva, as the splendour +of the Kaustubha gem to the breast of the foe [210] of Kaitabha, +as the woodland garland to Balarama, as the shore 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 +Çesha, 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 Çiva'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 cluster 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 mass 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 +masses 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 passionate 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 gods 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 gods; 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 Candakauçika a son Jarasandha, victor +of Vishnu, peerless in prowess, fatal to his foes. Daçaratha, too, +when very old, received by the favour of Rishyaçringa, 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 pass +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 gods, 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 grass, 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 gods 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 goddess 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 passing 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 Çiva. + +'"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 Çukanasa +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 godlike 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 gods, +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 Çukanasa 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 passed 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 Çukanasa. And when Çukanasa 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 Çukanasa 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 +Çukanasa's son Vaiçampayana. [216]] + + + +(155) '"And as Candrapida underwent in due course all the circle of +ceremonies, beginning with the tying of his top-knot, his childhood +passed 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 Vaiçampayana, 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 assembled 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 Paraçurama 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 Vaiçampayana, (158) +who, by reason of the honour Candrapida felt for his deep learning, +and of his reverence due to Çukanasa, 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 Vaiçampayana for a moment, while Vaiçampayana +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 peacock, 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 çastras +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 noble 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 Uccaihçravas; 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 Çiva's +bull, pink with metallic dust from butting 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 gods, 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 Uccaihçravas! 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 surpasses 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 god, and the truth of this makes me fear to +mount him. For forms like this, fit for the gods 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 Sthulaçiras, 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 Çatadhanvan, 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 noble 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: 'Noble 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 passed 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 mass 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 mass 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 Vaiçampayana, 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 orb 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 passed on his way to the city, like a manifestation +of the god 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 Kumara, [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 +godlike 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 assumed 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 +mass 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 breasts, 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 peacocks; 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 peacocks +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 space seemed a lotus-grove by reason of the hands all +raised to ward off the heat; the sunshine seemed robed in rainbows +by the mass 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 passing! 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 god, +[219] without his banner and bereft of Rati, visibly present. (175) +His crest of malati flowers under his umbrella looks like a mass +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 çirisha 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 Vaiçampayana, so that the circle of space +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 Space!' + +'"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 mass of white bracelets slipping from +their languid arms, reached the palace."' + + + +[Dismounting and leaning on Vaiçampayana, he entered the court, +preceded by Balahaka, and passing 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 passed 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 Vaiçampayana, 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, assailed, 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 Vaiçampayana 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 Vaiçampayana, 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 Vaiçampayana +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 fortitude! Thy heart, even in childhood, has lost +all idle liking for childish amusement 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 +Çukanasa,"' [and at the gate of an outer court, filled with priests +of many sects, he dismounted [223]] '"(194) and entered the palace +of Çukanasa, which resembled a second royal court. On entering he +saluted Çukanasa 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. Çukanasa, 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 Vaiçampayana. Then the +prince, rejecting the jewelled seat respectfully brought, sat on the +bare ground, and next to him sat Vaiçampayana; and when he sat on the +ground, the whole circle of kings, except Çukanasa, leaving their own +seats, sat also on the ground. Çukanasa stood silent for a moment, +showing his extreme joy by the thrill that passed 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 gods 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 Vaiçampayana'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 orb +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 Çesha'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 asses. 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, +çarabhas, [224] yaks, and many other kinds of deer by thousands, +(200) while the woodland goddesses looked at him with half-closed +eyes, fluttered by fear of the twanging 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 çarabha, 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 gods; 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 Vaiçampayana. 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 Vaiçampayana 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 noble 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 prince by her +perfect gentleness. My love for her is of long growth, and therefore +strong; but as the prince does not yet know her character, this is +told to him. Thou must in all ways strive, happy prince, that she may +long be thy fitting companion."' When Kailasa had thus spoken and was +silent, Candrapida looked long and steadily at Patralekha as she made +a courteous obeisance, and with the words, 'As my mother wishes,' +dismissed the chamberlain. And Patralekha, from her first sight of +him, was filled with devotion to him, and never left the prince's +side either by night or day, whether he was sleeping, or sitting, +or standing, or walking, or going to the court, just as if she were +his shadow; while he felt for her a great affection, beginning from +his first glance at her, and constantly growing; he daily showed +more favour to her, and counted her in all his secrets as part of +his own heart. + +'"As the days thus passed on, the king, eager for the anointing of +Candrapida as crown prince, (206) appointed chamberlains to gather +together all things needful for it; and when it was at hand, Çukanasa, +desirous of increasing the prince's modesty, great as it already was, +spoke to him at length during one of his visits: 'Dear Candrapida, +though thou hast learnt what is to be known, and read all the çastras, +no little remains for thee to learn. For truly the darkness arising +from youth is by nature very thick, nor can it be pierced by the sun, +nor cleft by the radiance of jewels, nor dispelled by the brightness +of lamps. The intoxication of Lakshmi is terrible, and does not cease +even in old age. There is, too, another blindness of power, evil, not +to be cured by any salve. The fever of pride runs very high, and no +cooling appliances can allay it. The madness that rises from tasting +the poison of the senses is violent, and not to be counteracted by +roots or charms. The defilement of the stain of passion is never +destroyed by bathing or purification. The sleep of the multitude +of royal pleasures is ever terrible, and the end of night brings no +waking. Thus thou must often be told at length. Lordship inherited even +from birth, fresh youth, peerless beauty, superhuman talent, all this +is a long succession of ills. (207) Each of these separately is a home +of insolence; how much more the assemblage of them! For in early youth +the mind often loses its purity, though it be cleansed with the pure +waters of the çastras. The eyes of the young become inflamed, though +their clearness is not quite lost. Nature, too, when the whirlwind of +passion arises, carries a man far in youth at its own will, like a dry +leaf borne on the wind. This mirage of pleasure, which captivates the +senses as if they were deer, always ends in sorrow. When the mind has +its consciousness dulled by early youth, the characteristics of the +outer world fall on it like water, all the more sweetly for being +but just tasted. Extreme clinging to the things of sense destroys +a man, misleading him like ignorance of his bearings. But men such +as thou art the fitting vessels for instruction. For on a mind free +from stain the virtue of good counsel enters easily, as the moon's +rays on a moon crystal. The words of a guru, though pure, yet cause +great pain when they enter the ears of the bad, as water does; (208) +while in others they produce a nobler beauty, like the ear-jewel on +an elephant. They remove the thick darkness of many sins, like the +moon in the gloaming. [225] The teaching of a guru is calming, and +brings to an end the faults of youth by turning them to virtue, just +as old age takes away the dark stain of the locks by turning them to +gray. This is the time to teach thee, while thou hast not yet tasted +the pleasures of sense. For teaching pours away like water in a heart +shattered by the stroke of love's arrow. Family and sacred tradition +are unavailing to the froward and undisciplined. Does a fire not burn +when fed on sandal-wood? Is not the submarine fire the fiercer in +the water that is wont to quench fire? But the words of a guru are a +bathing without water, able to cleanse all the stains of man; they are +a maturity that changes not the locks to gray; they give weight without +increase of bulk; though not wrought of gold, they are an ear-jewel +of no common order; without light they shine; without startling they +awaken. They are specially needed for kings, for the admonishers of +kings are few. (209) For from fear, men follow like an echo the words +of kings, and so, being unbridled in their pride, and having the cavity +of their ears wholly stopped, they do not hear good advice even when +offered; and when they do hear, by closing their eyes like an elephant, +they show their contempt, and pain the teachers who offer them good +counsel. For the nature of kings, being darkened by the madness of +pride's fever, is perturbed; their wealth causes arrogance and false +self-esteem; their royal glory causes the torpor brought about by the +poison of kingly power. First, let one who strives after happiness +look at Lakshmi. For this Lakshmi, who now rests like a bee on the +lotus-grove of a circle of naked swords, has risen from the milk ocean, +has taken her glow from the buds of the coral-tree, her crookedness +from the moon's digit, her restlessness from the steed Uccaihçrava, +her witchery from Kalakuta poison, her intoxication from nectar, and +from the Kaustubha gem her hardness. (210) All these she has taken +as keepsakes to relieve her longing with memory of her companions' +friendship. There is nothing so little understood here in the world +as this base Lakshmi. When won, she is hard to keep; when bound fast +by the firm cords of heroism, she vanishes; when held by a cage of +swords brandished by a thousand fierce champions, she yet escapes; +when guarded by a thick band of elephants, dark with a storm of ichor, +she yet flees away. She keeps not friendships; she regards not race; +she recks not of beauty; she follows not the fortunes of a family; +she looks not on character; she counts not cleverness; she hears +not sacred learning; she courts not righteousness; she honours not +liberality; she values not discrimination; she guards not conduct; +she understands not truth; she makes not auspicious marks her guide; +like the outline of an aërial city, she vanishes even as we look on +her. She is still dizzy with the feeling produced by the eddying of +the whirlpool made by Mount Mandara. As if she were the tip of a +lotus-stalk bound to the varying motion of a lotus-bed, she gives +no firm foothold anywhere. Even when held fast with great effort +in palaces, she totters as if drunk with the ichor of their many +wild elephants. (211) She dwells on the sword's edge as if to learn +cruelty. She clings to the form of Narayana as if to learn constant +change of form. Full of fickleness, she leaves even a king, richly +endowed with friends, judicial power, treasure, and territory, as she +leaves a lotus at the end of day, though it have root, stalk, bud, and +wide-spreading petals. Like a creeper, she is ever a parasite. [226] +Like Ganga, though producing wealth, she is all astir with bubbles; +like the sun's ray, she alights on one thing after another; like the +cavity of hell, she is full of dense darkness. Like the demon Hidamba, +her heart is only won by the courage of a Bhima; like the rainy season, +she sends forth but a momentary flash; like an evil demon, she, with +the height of many men, [227] crazes the feeble mind. As if jealous, +she embraces not him whom learning has favoured; she touches not +the virtuous man, as being impure; she despises a lofty nature as +unpropitious; she regards not the gently-born, as useless. She leaps +over a courteous man as a snake; (212) she avoids a hero as a thorn; +she forgets a giver as a nightmare; she keeps far from a temperate man +as a villain; she mocks at the wise as a fool; she manifests her ways +in the world as if in a jugglery that unites contradictions. For, +though creating constant fever, [228] she produces a chill; [229] +though exalting men, she shows lowness of soul; though rising from +water, she augments thirst; though bestowing lordship, [230] she +shows an unlordly [231] nature; though loading men with power, she +deprives them of weight; [232] though sister of nectar, she leaves a +bitter taste; though of earthly mould, [233] she is invisible; though +attached to the highest, [234] she loves the base; like a creature of +dust, she soils even the pure. Moreover, let this wavering one shine +as she may, she yet, like lamplight, only sends forth lamp-black. For +she is the fostering rain of the poison-plants of desire, the hunter's +luring song to the deer of the senses, the polluting smoke to the +pictures of virtue, the luxurious couch of infatuation's long sleep, +the ancient watch-tower of the demons of pride and wealth. (213) She is +the cataract gathering over eyes lighted by the çastras, the banner of +the reckless, the native stream of the alligators of wrath, the tavern +of the mead of the senses, the music-hall of alluring dances, the lair +of the serpents of sin, the rod to drive out good practices. She is +the untimely rain to the kalahamsas [235] of the virtues, the hotbed +of the pustules of scandal, the prologue of the drama of fraud, the +roar of the elephant of passion, the slaughter-house of goodness, +the tongue of Rahu for the moon of holiness. Nor see I any who has +not been violently embraced by her while she was yet unknown to him, +and whom she has not deceived. Truly, even in a picture she moves; +even in a book she practises magic; even cut in a gem she deceives; +even when heard she misleads; even when thought on she betrays. + +'"'When this wretched evil creature wins kings after great toil by +the will of destiny, they become helpless, and the abode of every +shameful deed. For at the very moment of coronation their graciousness +is washed away as if by the auspicious water-jars; (214) their heart +is darkened as by the smoke of the sacrificial fire; their patience is +swept away as by the kuça brooms of the priest; their remembrance of +advancing age is concealed as by the donning of the turban; the sight +of the next world is kept afar as by the umbrella's circle; truth is +removed as by the wind of the cowries; virtue is driven out as by the +wands of office; the voices of the good are drowned as by cries of +"All hail!" and glory is flouted as by the streamers of the banners. + +'"'For some kings are deceived by successes which are uncertain as the +tremulous beaks of birds when loose from weariness, and which, though +pleasant for a moment as a firefly's flash, are contemned by the wise; +they forget their origin in the pride of amassing a little wealth, +and are troubled by the onrush of passion as by a blood-poisoning +brought on by accumulated diseases; they are tortured by the senses, +which though but five, in their eagerness to taste every pleasure, +turn to a thousand; they are bewildered by the mind, which, in +native fickleness, follows its own impulses, and, being but one, +gets the force of a hundred thousand in its changes. Thus they fall +into utter helplessness. They are seized by demons, conquered by imps, +(215) possessed by enchantments, held by monsters, mocked by the wind, +swallowed by ogres. Pierced by the arrows of Kama, they make a thousand +contortions; scorched by covetousness, they writhe; struck down by +fierce blows, they sink down. [236] Like crabs, they sidle; like +cripples, with steps broken by sin, they are led helpless by others; +like stammerers from former sins of falsehood, they can scarce babble; +like saptacchada [237] trees, they produce headache in those near them; +like dying men, they know not even their kin; like purblind [238] men, +they cannot see the brightest virtue; like men bitten in a fatal hour, +they are not waked even by mighty charms; like lac-ornaments, they +cannot endure strong heat; [239] like rogue elephants, being firmly +fixed to the pillar of self-conceit, they refuse teaching; bewildered +by the poison of covetousness, they see everything as golden; like +arrows sharpened by polishing, [240] when in the hands of others they +cause destruction; (216) with their rods [241] they strike down great +families, like high-growing fruit; like untimely blossoms, though +fair outwardly, they cause destruction; they are terrible of nature, +like the ashes of a funeral pyre; like men with cataract, they can +see no distance; like men possessed, they have their houses ruled by +court jesters; when but heard of, they terrify, like funeral drums; +when but thought of, like a resolve to commit mortal sin, they bring +about great calamity; being daily filled with sin, they become wholly +puffed up. In this state, having allied themselves to a hundred sins, +they are like drops of water hanging on the tip of the grass on an +anthill, and have fallen without perceiving it. + +'"'But others are deceived by rogues intent on their own +ends, greedy of the flesh-pots of wealth, cranes of the palace +lotus-beds! "Gambling," say these, "is a relaxation; adultery a sign +of cleverness; hunting, exercise; drinking, delight; recklessness, +heroism; neglect of a wife, freedom from infatuation; (217) contempt +of a guru's words, a claim to others' submission; unruliness of +servants, the ensuring of pleasant service; devotion to dance, song, +music, and bad company, is knowledge of the world; hearkening to +shameful crimes is greatness of mind; tame endurance of contempt is +patience; self-will is lordship; disregard of the gods is high spirit; +the praise of bards is glory; restlessness is enterprise; lack of +discernment is impartiality." Thus are kings deceived with more than +mortal praises by men ready to raise faults to the grade of virtues, +practised in deception, laughing in their hearts, utterly villainous; +and thus these monarchs, by reason of their senselessness, have their +minds intoxicated by the pride of wealth, and have a settled false +conceit in them that these things are really so; though subject to +mortal conditions, they look on themselves as having alighted on +earth as divine beings with a superhuman destiny; they employ a pomp +in their undertakings only fit for gods (218) and win the contempt +of all mankind. They welcome this deception of themselves by their +followers. From the delusion as to their own divinity established in +their minds, they are overthrown by false ideas, and they think their +own pair of arms have received another pair; [242] they imagine their +forehead has a third eye buried in the skin. [243] They consider the +sight of themselves a favour; they esteem their glance a benefit; they +regard their words as a present; they hold their command a glorious +boon; they deem their touch a purification. Weighed down by the +pride of their false greatness, they neither do homage to the gods, +nor reverence Brahmans, nor honour the honourable, nor salute those +to whom salutes are due, nor address those who should be addressed, +nor rise to greet their gurus. They laugh at the learned as losing +in useless labour all the enjoyment of pleasure; they look on the +teaching of the old as the wandering talk of dotage; they abuse the +advice of their councillors as an insult to their own wisdom; they +are wroth with the giver of good counsel. + +'"'At all events, the man they welcome, with whom they converse, +whom they place by their side, advance, (219) take as companion of +their pleasure and recipient of their gifts, choose as a friend, +the man to whose voice they listen, on whom they rain favours, of +whom they think highly, in whom they trust, is he who does nothing +day and night but ceaselessly salute them, praise them as divine, +and exalt their greatness. + +'"'What can we expect of those kings whose standard is a law of +deceit, pitiless in the cruelty of its maxims; whose gurus are family +priests, with natures made merciless by magic rites; whose teachers +are councillors skilled to deceive others; whose hearts are set on a +power that hundreds of kings before them have gained and lost; whose +skill in weapons is only to inflict death; whose brothers, tender as +their hearts may be with natural affection, are only to be slaughtered. + +'"'Therefore, my Prince, in this post of empire which is terrible in +the hundreds of evil and perverse impulses which attend it, and in this +season of youth which leads to utter infatuation, thou must strive +earnestly not to be scorned by thy people, nor blamed by the good, +nor cursed by thy gurus, nor reproached by thy friends, nor grieved +over by the wise. Strive, too, that thou be not exposed by knaves, +(220) deceived by sharpers, preyed upon by villains, torn to pieces +by wolvish courtiers, misled by rascals, deluded by women, cheated by +fortune, led a wild dance by pride, maddened by desire, assailed by the +things of sense, dragged headlong by passion, carried away by pleasure. + +'"'Granted that by nature thou art steadfast, and that by thy father's +care thou art trained in goodness, and moreover, that wealth only +intoxicates the light of nature, and the thoughtless, yet my very +delight in thy virtues makes me speak thus at length. + +'"'Let this saying be ever ringing in thine ears: There is none so +wise, so prudent, so magnanimous, so gracious, so steadfast, and +so earnest, that the shameless wretch Fortune cannot grind him to +powder. Yet now mayest thou enjoy the consecration of thy youth to +kinghood by thy father under happy auspices. Bear the yoke handed down +to thee that thy forefathers have borne. Bow the heads of thy foes; +raise the host of thy friends; after thy coronation wander round the +world for conquest; and bring under thy sway the earth with its seven +continents subdued of yore by thy father. + +'"'This is the time to crown thyself with glory. (221) A glorious +king has his commands fulfilled as swiftly as a great ascetic.' + +'"Having said thus much, he was silent, and by his words Candrapida +was, as it were, washed, wakened, purified, brightened, bedewed, +anointed, adorned, cleansed, and made radiant, and with glad heart +he returned after a short time to his own palace. + +'"Some days later, on an auspicious day, the king, surrounded by a +thousand chiefs, raised aloft, with Çukanasa's help, the vessel of +consecration, and himself anointed his son, while the rest of the +rites were performed by the family priest. The water of consecration +was brought from every sacred pool, river and ocean, encircled by +every plant, fruit, earth, and gem, mingled with tears of joy, and +purified by mantras. At that very moment, while the prince was yet wet +with the water of consecration, royal glory passed on to him without +leaving Tarapida, as a creeper still clasping its own tree passes +to another. (222) Straightway he was anointed from head to foot by +Vilasavati, attended by all the zenana, and full of tender love, with +sweet sandal white as moonbeams. He was garlanded with fresh white +flowers; decked [244] with lines of gorocana; adorned with an earring +of durva grass; clad in two new silken robes with long fringes, white +as the moon; bound with an amulet round his hand, tied by the family +priest; and had his breast encircled by a pearl-necklace, like the +circle of the Seven Rishis come down to see his coronation, strung +on filaments from the lotus-pool of the royal fortune of young royalty. + +'"From the complete concealment of his body by wreaths of white flowers +interwoven and hanging to his knees, soft as moonbeams, and from his +wearing snowy robes he was like Narasimha, shaking his thick mane, +[245] or like Kailasa, with its flowing streams, or Airavata, rough +with the tangled lotus-fibres of the heavenly Ganges, or the Milky +Ocean, all covered with flakes of bright foam. + +(223) '"Then his father himself for that time took the chamberlain's +wand to make way for him, and he went to the hall of assembly and +mounted the royal throne, like the moon on Meru's peak. Then, when he +had received due homage from the kings, after a short pause the great +drum that heralded his setting out on his triumphal course resounded +deeply, under the stroke of golden drum-sticks. Its sound was as the +noise of clouds gathering at the day of doom; or the ocean struck by +Mandara; or the foundations of earth by the earthquakes that close an +aeon; or a portent-cloud, with its flashes of lightning; or the hollow +of hell by the blows of the snout of the Great Boar. And by its sound +the spaces of the world were inflated, opened, separated, outspread, +filled, turned sunwise, and deepened, and the bonds that held the +sky were unloosed. The echo of it wandered through the three worlds; +for it was embraced in the lower world by Çesha, with his thousand +hoods raised and bristling in fear; it was challenged in space by the +elephants of the quarters tossing their tusks in opposition; it was +honoured with sunwise turns in the sky by the sun's steeds, tossing +[246] their heads in their snort of terror; (224) it was wondrously +answered on Kailasa's peak by Çiva's bull, with a roar of joy in the +belief that it was his master's loudest laugh; it was met in Meru by +Airavata, with deep trumpeting; it was reverenced in the hall of the +gods by Yama's bull, with his curved horns turned sideways in wrath +at so strange a sound; and it was heard in terror by the guardian +gods of the world. + +'"Then, at the roar of the drum, followed by an outcry of 'All +hail!' from all sides, Candrapida came down from the throne, and +with him went the glory of his foes. He left the hall of assembly, +followed by a thousand chiefs, who rose hastily around him, strewing +on all sides the large pearls that fell from the strings of their +necklaces as they struck against each other, like rice sportively +thrown as a good omen for their setting off to conquer the world. He +showed like the coral-tree amid the white buds of the kalpa-trees; +[247] or Airavata amid the elephants of the quarters bedewing him with +water from their trunks; or heaven, with the firmament showering stars; +or the rainy season with clouds ever pouring heavy drops. + +(225) '"Then an elephant was hastily brought by the mahout, adorned +with all auspicious signs for the journey, and on the inner seat +Patralekha was placed. The prince then mounted, and under the shade of +an umbrella with a hundred wires enmeshed with pearls, beauteous as +Kailasa standing on the arms of Ravana, and white as the whirlpools +of the Milky Ocean under the tossing of the mountain, he started on +his journey. And as he paused in his departure he saw the ten quarters +tawny with the rich sunlight, surpassing molten lac, of the flashing +crest-jewels of the kings who watched him with faces hidden behind the +ramparts, as if the light were the fire of his own majesty, flashing +forth after his coronation. He saw the earth bright as if with his own +glow of loyalty when anointed as heir-apparent, and the sky crimson +as with the flame that heralded the swift destruction of his foes, +and daylight roseate as with lac-juice from the feet of the Lakshmi +of earth coming to greet him. + +'"On the way hosts of kings, with their thousand elephants swaying +in confusion, their umbrellas broken by the pressure of the crowd, +their crest-jewels falling low as their diadems bent in homage, (226) +their earrings hanging down, and the jewels falling on their cheeks, +bowed low before him, as a trusted general recited their names. The +elephant Gandhamadana followed the prince, pink with much red lead, +dangling to the ground his ear-ornaments of pearls, having his head +outlined with many a wreath of white flowers, like Meru with evening +sunlight resting on it, the white stream of Ganges falling across it, +and the spangled roughness of a bevy of stars on its peak. Before +Candrapida went Indrayudha, led by his groom, perfumed with saffron +and many-hued, with the flash of golden trappings on his limbs. And +so the expedition slowly started towards the Eastern Quarter. [248] + +'"Then the whole army set forth with wondrous turmoil, with its forest +of umbrellas stirred by the elephants' movements, like an ocean +of destruction reflecting on its advancing waves a thousand moons, +flooding the earth. + +(227) '"When the prince left his palace Vaiçampayana performed every +auspicious rite, and then, clothed in white, anointed with an ointment +of white flowers, accompanied by a great host of powerful kings, shaded +by a white umbrella, followed close on the prince, mounted on a swift +elephant, like a second Crown Prince, and drew near to him like the +moon to the sun. Straightway the earth heard on all sides the cry: +'The Crown Prince has started!' and shook with the weight of the +advancing army. + +(228) '"In an instant the earth seemed as it were made of horses; +the horizon, of elephants; the atmosphere, of umbrellas; the sky, +of forests of pennons; the wind, of the scent of ichor; the human +race, of kings; the eye, of the rays of jewels; the day, of crests; +the universe, of cries of 'All hail!' + +(228-234 condensed) '"The dust rose at the advance of the army like +a herd of elephants to tear up the lotuses of the sunbeams, or a +veil to cover the Lakshmi of the three worlds. Day became earthy; +the quarters were modelled in clay; the sky was, as it were, resolved +in dust, and the whole universe appeared to consist of but one element. + +(234) '"When the horizon became clear again, Vaiçampayana, looking at +the mighty host which seemed to rise from the ocean, was filled with +wonder, and, turning his glance on every side, said to Candrapida: +'What, prince, has been left unconquered by the mighty King +Tarapida, for thee to conquer? What regions unsubdued, for thee +to subdue? (235) What fortresses untaken, for thee to take? What +continents unappropriated, for thee to appropriate? What treasures +ungained, for thee to gain? What kings have not been humbled? By whom +have the raised hands of salutation, soft as young lotuses, not been +placed on the head? By whose brows, encircled with golden bands, +have the floors of his halls not been polished? Whose crest-jewels +have not scraped his footstool? Who have not accepted his staff of +office? Who have not waved his cowries? Who have not raised the cry of +"Hail!"? Who have not drunk in with the crocodiles of their crests, +the radiance of his feet, like pure streams? For all these princes, +though they are imbued with the pride of armies, ready in their rough +play to plunge into the four oceans; though they are the peers of +the great kings Daçaratha, Bhagiratha, Bharata, Dilipa, Alarka, and +Mandhatri; though they are anointed princes, soma-drinkers, haughty in +the pride of birth, yet they bear on the sprays of crests purified with +the shower of the water of consecration the dust of thy feet of happy +omen, like an amulet of ashes. By them as by fresh noble mountains, +the earth is upheld. These their armies that have entered the heart of +the ten regions follow thee alone. (236) For lo! wherever thy glance +is cast, hell seems to vomit forth armies, the earth to bear them, the +quarters to discharge them, the sky to rain them, the day to create +them. And methinks the earth, trampled by the weight of boundless +hosts, recalls to-day the confusion of the battles of the Mahabharata. + +'"'Here the sun wanders in the groves of pennons, with his orb +stumbling over their tops, as if he were trying, out of curiosity, +to count the banners. The earth is ceaselessly submerged under +ichor sweet as cardamons, and flowing like a plait of hair, from the +elephants who scatter it all round, and thick, too, with the murmur +of the bees settling on it, so that it shines as if filled with the +waves of Yamuna. The lines of moon-white flags hide the horizon, like +rivers that in fear of being made turbid by the heavy host have fled +to the sky. It is a wonder that the earth has not to-day been split +into a thousand pieces by the weight of the army; and that the bonds +of its joints, the noble mountains, are not burst asunder; and that +the hoods of Çesha, the lord of serpents, in distress at the burden +of earth pressed down under the load of troops, do not give way.' + +(237) '"While he was thus speaking, the prince reached his palace. It +was adorned with many lofty triumphal arches; dotted with a thousand +pavilions enclosed in grassy ramparts, and bright with many a tent +of shining white cloth. Here he dismounted, and performed in kingly +wise all due rites; and though the kings and ministers who had come +together sought to divert him with various tales, he spent the rest +of the day in sorrow, for his heart was tortured with bitter grief for +his fresh separation from his father. When day was brought to a close +he passed the night, too, mostly in sleeplessness, with Vaiçampayana +resting on a couch not far from his own, and Patralekha sleeping hard +by on a blanket placed on the ground; his talk was now of his father, +now of his mother, now of Çukanasa, and he rested but little. At dawn +he arose, and with an army that grew at every march, as it advanced +in unchanged order, he hollowed the earth, shook the mountains, dried +the rivers, emptied the lakes, (238) crushed the woods to powder, +levelled the crooked places, tore down the fortresses, filled up the +hollows, and hollowed the solid ground. + +'"By degrees, as he wandered at will, he bowed the haughty, exalted +the humble, encouraged the fearful, protected the suppliant, rooted +out the vicious, and drove out the hostile. He anointed princes in +different places, gathered treasures, accepted gifts, took tribute, +taught local regulations, established monuments of his visit, +made hymns of worship, and inscribed edicts. He honoured Brahmans, +reverenced saints, protected hermitages, and showed a prowess that won +his people's love. He exalted his majesty, heaped up his glory, showed +his virtues far and wide, and won renown for his good deeds. Thus +trampling down the woods on the shore, and turning the whole expanse +of ocean to gray with the dust of his army, he wandered over the earth. + +'"The East was his first conquest, then the Southern Quarter, marked +by Triçanku, then the Western Quarter, which has Varuna for its sign, +and immediately afterwards the Northern Quarter adorned by the Seven +Rishis. Within the three years that he roamed over the world he had +subdued the whole earth, with its continents, bounded only by the +moat of four oceans. + +(239) '"He then, wandering sunwise, conquered and occupied Suvarnapura, +not far from the Eastern Ocean, the abode of those Kiratas who dwell +near Kailasa, and are called Hemajakutas, and as his army was weary +from its worldwide wandering, he encamped there for a few days to rest. + +'"One day during his sojourn there he mounted Indrayudha to hunt, and +as he roamed through the wood he beheld a pair of Kinnaras wandering +down at will from the mountains. Wondering at the strange sight, +and eager to take them, he brought up his horse respectfully near +them and approached them. But they hurried on, fearing the unknown +sight of a man, and fleeing from him, while he pursued them, doubling +Indrayudha's speed by frequent pats on his neck, and went on alone, +leaving his army far behind. Led on by the idea that he was just +catching them, he was borne in an instant fifteen leagues from his +own quarters by Indrayudha's speed as it were at one bound, and was +left companionless. (240) The pair of Kinnaras he was pursuing were +climbing a steep hill in front of him. He at length turned away his +glance, which was following their progress, and, checked by the +steepness of the ascent, reined in Indrayudha. Then, seeing that +both his horse and himself were tired and heated by their toils, +he considered for a moment, and laughed at himself as he thought: +'Why have I thus wearied myself for nothing, like a child? What +matters it whether I catch the pair of Kinnaras or not? If caught, +what is the good? if missed, what is the harm? What a folly this is +of mine! What a love of busying myself in any trifle! What a passion +for aimless toil! What a clinging to childish pleasure! The good +work I was doing has been begun in vain. The needful rite I had begun +has been rendered fruitless. The duty of friendship I undertook has +not been performed. The royal office I was employed in has not been +fulfilled. The great task I had entered on has not been completed. My +earnest labour in a worthy ambition has been brought to nought. Why +have I been so mad as to leave my followers behind and come so +far? (241) and why have I earned for myself the ridicule I should +bestow on another, when I think how aimlessly I have followed these +monsters with their horses' heads? I know not how far off is the army +that follows me. For the swiftness of Indrayudha traverses a vast +space in a moment, and his speed prevented my noticing as I came by +what path I should turn back, for my eyes were fixed on the Kinnaras; +and now I am in a great forest, spread underfoot with dry leaves, +with a dense growth of creepers, underwood, and branching trees. Roam +as I may here I cannot light on any mortal who can show me the way +to Suvarnapura. I have often heard that Suvarnapura is the farthest +bound of earth to the north, and that beyond it lies a supernatural +forest, and beyond that again is Kailasa. This then is Kailasa; so +I must turn back now, and resolutely seek to make my way unaided to +the south. For a man must bear the fruit of his own faults.' + +'"With this purpose he shook the reins in his left hand, and turned +the horse's head. Then he again reflected: (242) 'The blessed sun +with glowing light now adorns the south, as if he were the zone-gem +of the glory of day. Indrayudha is tired; I will just let him eat +a few mouthfuls of grass, and then let him bathe and drink in some +mountain rill or river; and when he is refreshed I will myself drink +some water, and after resting a short time under the shade of a tree, +I will set out again.' + +'"So thinking, constantly turning his eyes on every side for water, he +wandered till at length he saw a track wet with masses of mud raised +by the feet of a large troop of mountain elephants, who had lately +come up from bathing in a lotus-pool. (243) Inferring thence that +there was water near, he went straight on along the slope of Kailasa, +the trees of which, closely crowded as they were, seemed, from their +lack of boughs, to be far apart, for they were mostly pines, çal, and +gum olibanum trees, and were lofty, and like a circle of umbrellas, +to be gazed at with upraised head. There was thick yellow sand, +and by reason of the stony soil the grass and shrubs were but scanty. + +(244) '"At length he beheld, on the north-east of Kailasa, a very +lofty clump of trees, rising like a mass of clouds, heavy with its +weight of rain, and massed as if with the darkness of a night in the +dark fortnight. + +'"The wind from the waves, soft as sandal, dewy, cool from passing +over the water, aromatic with flowers, met him, and seemed to woo him; +and the cries of kalahamsas drunk with lotus-honey, charming his ear, +summoned him to enter. So he went into that clump, and in its midst +beheld the Acchoda Lake, as if it were the mirror of the Lakshmi of the +three worlds, the crystal chamber of the goddess of earth, the path +by which the waters of ocean escape, the oozing of the quarters, the +avatar of part of the sky, Kailasa taught to flow, Himavat liquefied, +moonlight melted, Çiva's smile turned to water, (245) the merit of +the three worlds abiding in the shape of a lake, a range of hills of +lapis lazuli changed into water, or a mass of autumn clouds poured +down in one spot. From its clearness it might be Varuna's mirror; +it seemed to be fashioned of the hearts of ascetics, the virtues of +good men, the bright eyes of deer, or the rays of pearls. + +(247) '"Like the person of a great man, it showed clearly the +signs of fish, crocodile, tortoise, and cakra; [249] like the +story of Kartikeya, the lamentations of the wives of Krauñca [250] +resounded in it; it was shaken by the wings of white Dhartarashtras, +as the Mahabharata by the rivalry of Pandavas and Dhartarashtras; +and the drinking of poison by Çiva was represented by the drinking +of its water by peacocks, as if it were the time of the churning of +ocean. It was fair, like a god, with a gaze that never wavers. (248) +Like a futile argument, it seemed to have no end; and was a lake most +fair and gladdening to the eyes. + +'"The very sight of it seemed to remove Candrapida's weariness, +and as he gazed he thought: + +'"'Though my pursuit of the horse-faced pair was fruitless, yet now +that I see this lake it has gained its reward. My eyes' reward in +beholding all that is to be seen has now been won, the furthest point +of all fair things seen, the limit of all that gladdens us gazed upon, +the boundary line of all that charms us descried, the perfection of all +that causes joy made manifest, and the vanishing-point of all worthy +of sight beheld. (249) By creating this lake water, sweet as nectar, +the Creator has made his own labour of creation superfluous. For this, +too, like the nectar that gladdens all the senses, produces joy to +the eye by its purity, offers the pleasure of touch by its coolness, +gladdens the sense of smell by the fragrance of its lotuses, pleases +the ear with the ceaseless murmur of its hamsas, and delights the +taste with its sweetness. Truly it is from eagerness to behold this +that Çiva leaves not his infatuation for dwelling on Kailasa. Surely +Krishna no longer follows his own natural desire as to a watery couch, +for he sleeps on the ocean, with its water bitter with salt, and leaves +this water sweet as nectar! Nor is this, in sooth, the primæval lake; +for the earth, when fearing the blows of the tusks of the boar of +destruction, entered the ocean, all the waters of which were designed +but to be a draught for Agastya; whereas, if it had plunged into this +mighty lake, deep as many deep hells, it could not have been reached, +I say not by one, but not even by a thousand boars. (250) Verily it +is from this lake that the clouds of doom at the seasons of final +destruction draw little by little their water when they overwhelm the +interstices of the universe, and darken all the quarters with their +destroying storm. And methinks that the world, Brahma's egg, which in +the beginning of creation was made of water, was massed together and +placed here under the guise of a lake.' So thinking, he reached the +south bank, dismounted and took off Indrayudha's harness; (251) and +the latter rolled on the ground, arose, ate some mouthfuls of grass, +and then the prince took him down to the lake, and let him drink and +bathe at will. After that, the prince took off his bridle, bound two +of his feet by a golden chain to the lower bough of a tree hard by, +and, cutting off with his dagger some durva grass from the bank of +the lake, threw it before the horse, and went back himself to the +water. He washed his hands, and feasted, like the cataka, on water; +like the cakravaka, he tasted pieces of lotus-fibre; like the moon +with its beams, he touched the moon-lotuses with his finger-tips; +like a snake, he welcomed the breeze of the waves; [251] like one +wounded with Love's arrows, he placed a covering of lotus-leaves on +his breast; like a mountain elephant, when the tip of his trunk is wet +with spray, he adorned his hands with spray-washed lotuses. Then with +dewy lotus-leaves, with freshly-broken fibres, he made a couch on a +rock embowered in creepers, and rolling up his cloak for a pillow, +lay down to sleep. After a short rest, he heard on the north bank +of the lake a sweet sound of unearthly music, borne on the ear, and +blent with the chords of the vina. (252) Indrayudha heard it first, +and letting fall the grass he was eating, with ears fixed and neck +arched, turned towards the voice. The prince, as he heard it, rose +from his lotus-couch in curiosity to see whence this song could arise +in a place deserted by men, and cast his glance towards the region; +but, from the great distance, he was unable, though he strained his +eyes to the utmost, to discern anything, although he ceaselessly +heard the sound. Desiring in his eagerness to know its source, +he determined to depart, and saddling and mounting Indrayudha, he +set forth by the western forest path, making the song his goal; the +deer, albeit unasked, were his guides, as they rushed on in front, +delighting in the music. [252] + +(253-256 condensed) '"Welcomed by the breezes of Kailasa, he went +towards that spot, which was surrounded by trees on all sides, and +at the foot of the slope of Kailasa, on the left bank of the lake, +called Candraprabha, which whitened the whole region with a splendour +as of moonlight, he beheld an empty temple of Çiva. + +(257) '"As he entered the temple he was whitened by the falling on +him of ketaki pollen, tossed by the wind, as if for the sake of seeing +Çiva he had been forcibly made to perform a vow of putting on ashes, +or as if he were robed in the pure merits of entering the temple; +and, in a crystal shrine resting on four pillars, he beheld Çiva, the +four-faced, teacher of the world, the god whose feet are honoured by +the universe, with his emblem, the linga, made of pure pearl. Homage +had been paid to the deity by shining lotuses of the heavenly Ganges, +that might be mistaken for crests of pearls, freshly-plucked and wet, +with drops falling from the ends of their leaves, like fragments of +the moon's disc split and set upright, or like parts of Çiva's own +smile, or scraps of Çesha's hood, or brothers of Krishna's conch, +or the heart of the Milky Ocean. + +(258) '"But, seated in a posture of meditation, to the right of the +god, facing him, Candrapida beheld a maiden vowed to the service of +Çiva, who turned the region with its mountains and woods to ivory by +the brightness of her beauty. For its lustre shone far, spreading +through space, white as the tide of the Milky Ocean, overwhelming +all things at the day of doom, or like a store of penance gathered +in long years and flowing out, streaming forth massed together +like Ganges between the trees, giving a fresh whiteness to Kailasa, +and purifying the gazer's soul, though it but entered his eye. The +exceeding whiteness of her form concealed her limbs as though she had +entered a crystal shrine, or had plunged into a sea of milk, or were +hidden in spotless silk, or were caught on the surface of a mirror, +or were veiled in autumn clouds. She seemed to be fashioned from the +quintessence of whiteness, without the bevy of helps for the creation +of the body that consist of matter formed of the five gross elements. + +(259) She was like sacrifice impersonate, come to worship Çiva, in +fear of being seized by the unworthy; or Rati, undertaking a rite +of propitiation to conciliate him, for the sake of Kama's body; +or Lakshmi, goddess of the Milky Ocean, longing for a digit of +Çiva's moon, her familiar friend of yore when they dwelt together +in the deep; or the embodied moon seeking Çiva's protection from +Rahu; or the beauty of Airavata, [253] come to fulfil Çiva's wish +to wear an elephant's skin; or the brightness of the smile on the +right face of Çiva become manifest and taking a separate abode; or +the white ash with which Çiva besprinkles himself, in bodily shape; +or moonlight made manifest to dispel the darkness of Çiva's neck; +or the embodied purity of Gauri's mind; or the impersonate chastity +of Kartikeya; or the brightness of Çiva's bull, dwelling apart from +his body; (260) or the wealth of flowers on the temple trees come of +themselves to worship Çiva; or the fulness of Brahma's penance come +down to earth; or the glory of the Prajapatis of the Golden Age, +resting after the fatigue of wandering through the seven worlds; +or the Three Vedas, dwelling in the woods in grief at the overthrow +of righteousness in the Kali Age; or the germ of a future Golden Age, +in the form of a maiden; or the fulness of a muni's contemplation, in +human shape; or a troop of heavenly elephants, falling into confusion +on reaching the heavenly Ganges; or the beauty of Kailasa, fallen in +dread of being uprooted by Ravana; or the Lakshmi of the Çvetadvipa +[254] come to behold another continent; or the grace of an opening +kaça-blossom looking for the autumn; or the brightness of Çesha's +body leaving hell and come to earth; or the brilliance of Balarama, +which had left him in weariness of his intoxication; or a succession +of bright fortnights massed together. + +'"She seemed from her whiteness to have taken a share from all the +hamsas; (261) or to have come from the heart of righteousness; or to +have been fashioned from a shell; or drawn from a pearl; or formed +from lotus-fibres; or made of flakes of ivory; or purified by brushes +of moonbeams; or inlaid with lime; or whitened with foam-balls of +ambrosia; or laved in streams of quicksilver; or rubbed with melted +silver; or dug out from the moon's orb; or decked with the hues of +kutaja, jasmine, and sinduvara flowers. She seemed, in truth, to be +the very furthest bound of whiteness. Her head was bright with matted +locks hanging on her shoulders, made, as it were, of the brightness of +morning rays taken from the sun on the Eastern Mountain, tawny like +the quivering splendour of flashing lightning, and, being wet from +recent bathing, marked with the dust of Çiva's feet clasped in her +devotion; she bore Çiva's feet marked with his name in jewels on her +head, fastened with a band of hair; (262) and her brow had a sectarial +mark of ashes pure as the dust of stars ground by the heels of the +sun's horses. (266) She was a goddess, and her age could not be known +by earthly reckoning, but she resembled a maiden of eighteen summers. + +'"Having beheld her, Candrapida dismounted, tied his horse to a +bough, and then, reverently bowing before the blessed Çiva, gazed +again on that heavenly maiden with a steady unswerving glance. And +as her beauty, grace, and serenity stirred his wonder, the thought +arose in him: 'How in this world each matter in its turn becomes of +no value! For when I was pursuing the pair of Kinnaras wantonly and +vainly I beheld this most beautiful place, inaccessible to men, and +haunted by the immortals. (267) Then in my search for water I saw +this delightful lake sought by the Siddhas. While I rested on its +bank I heard a divine song; and as I followed the sound, this divine +maiden, too fair for mortal sight, met my eyes. For I cannot doubt +her divinity. Her very beauty proclaims her a goddess. And whence +in the world of men could there arise such harmonies of heavenly +minstrelsy? If, therefore, she vanishes not from my sight, nor mounts +the summit of Kailasa, nor flies to the sky, I will draw near and ask +her, "Who art thou, and what is thy name, and why hast thou in the +dawn of life undertaken this vow?" This is all full of wonder.' With +this resolve he approached another pillar of the crystal shrine, +and sat there, awaiting the end of the song. + +'"Then when she had stilled her lute, like a moon-lotus bed when +the pleasant hum of the bees is silenced, (268) the maiden rose, +made a sunwise turn and an obeisance to Çiva, and then turning round, +with a glance by nature clear, and by the power of penance confident, +she, as it were, gave courage to Candrapida, as if thereby she were +sprinkling him with merits, laving him with holy water, purifying him +with penance, freeing him from stain, giving him his heart's desire, +and leading him to purity. + +'"'Hail to my guest!' said she. 'How has my lord reached this +place? Rise, draw near, and receive a guest's due welcome.' So she +spake; and he, deeming himself honoured even by her deigning to speak +with him, reverently arose and bowed before her. 'As thou biddest, +lady,' he replied, and showed his courtesy by following in her steps +like a pupil. And on the way he thought: 'Lo, even when she beheld me +she did not vanish! Truly a hope of asking her questions has taken hold +of my heart. And when I see the courteous welcome, rich in kindness, +of this maiden, fair though she be with a beauty rare in ascetics, +I surely trust that at my petition she will tell me all her story.' + +(269) '"Having gone about a hundred paces, he beheld a cave, with +its entrance veiled by dense tamalas, showing even by day a night of +their own; its edge was vocal with the glad bees' deep murmur on the +bowers of creepers with their opening blossoms; it was bedewed with +torrents that in their sheer descent fell in foam, dashing against +the white rock, and cleft by the axe-like points of the jagged +cliff, with a shrill crash as the cold spray rose up and broke; +it was like a mass of waving cowries hanging from a door, from the +cascades streaming down on either side, white as Çiva's smile, or as +pearly frost. Within was a circle of jewelled pitchers; on one side +hung a veil worn in sacred meditation; a clean pair of shoes made of +cocoanut matting hung on a peg; one corner held a bark bed gray with +dust scattered by the ashes the maiden wore; the place of honour was +filled by a bowl of shell carved with a chisel, like the orb of the +moon; and close by there stood a gourd of ashes. + +'"On the rock at the entrance Candrapida took his seat, and when the +maiden, having laid her lute on the pillow of the bark bed, took in +a leafy cup some water from the cascade to offer to her guest, and he +said as she approached (270): 'Enough of these thy great toils. Cease +this excess of grace. Be persuaded, lady. Let this too great honour +be abandoned. The very sight of thee, like the aghamarshana hymn, +stills all evil and sufficeth for purification. Deign to take thy +seat!' Yet being urged by her, he reverently, with head bent low, +accepted all the homage she gave to her guest. When her cares for +her guest were over, she sat down on another rock, and after a short +silence he told, at her request, the whole story of his coming in +pursuit of the pair of Kinnaras, beginning with his expedition of +conquest. The maiden then rose, and, taking a begging bowl, wandered +among the trees round the temple; and ere long her bowl was filled +with fruits that had fallen of their own accord. As she invited +Candrapida to the enjoyment of them, the thought arose in his heart: +'Of a truth, there is nought beyond the power of penance. For it is +a great marvel how the lords of the forest, albeit devoid of sense, +yet, like beings endowed with sense, gain honour for themselves by +casting down their fruits for this maiden. A wondrous sight is this, +and one never seen before.' + +'"So, marvelling yet more, he brought Indrayudha to that spot, +unsaddled him, and tied him up hard by. (271) Then, having bathed in +the torrent, he partook of the fruits, sweet as ambrosia, and drank +the cool water of the cascade, and having rinsed his mouth, he waited +apart while the maiden enjoyed her repast of water, roots, and fruit. + +'"When her meal was ended and she had said her evening prayer, and +taken her seat fearlessly on the rock, the Prince quietly approached +her, and sitting down near her, paused awhile and then respectfully +said: + +'"'Lady, the folly that besets mankind impels me even against my +will to question thee, for I am bewildered by a curiosity that has +taken courage from thy kindness. For even the slightest grace of +a lord emboldens a weak nature: even a short time spent together +creates intimacy. Even a slight acceptance of homage produces +affection. Therefore, if it weary thee not, I pray thee to honour me +with thy story. For from my first sight of thee a great eagerness has +possessed me as to this matter. Is the race honoured by thy birth, +lady, that of the Maruts, or Rishis, or Gandharvas, or Guhyakas, +or Apsarases? And wherefore in thy fresh youth, tender as a flower, +has this vow been taken? (272) For how far apart would seem thy youth, +thy beauty, and thine exceeding grace, from this thy peace from all +thoughts of earth! This is marvellous in mine eyes! And wherefore +hast thou left the heavenly hermitages that gods may win, and that +hold all things needful for the highest saints, to dwell alone in +this deserted wood? And whereby hath thy body, though formed of the +five gross elements, put on this pure whiteness? Never have I heard +or seen aught such as this. I pray thee dispel my curiosity, and tell +me all I ask.' + +'"For a little time she pondered his request in silence, and then she +began to weep noiselessly, and her eyes were blinded by tears which +fell in large drops, carrying with them the purity of her heart, +showering down the innocence of her senses, distilling the essence +of asceticism, dropping in a liquid form the brightness of her eyes, +most pure, falling on her white cheeks like a broken string of pearls, +unceasing, splashing on her bosom covered by the bark robe. + +(273) '"And as he beheld her weeping Candrapida reflected: 'How hardly +can misfortune be warded off, if it takes for its own a beauty like +this, which one might have deemed beyond its might! Of a truth there +is none whom the sorrows of life in the body leave untouched. Strong +indeed is the working of the opposed powers of pleasure and pain. [255] +These her tears have created in me a further curiosity, even greater +than before. It is no slight grief that can take its abode in a +form like hers. For it is not a feeble blow that causes the earth +to tremble.' + +'"While his curiosity was thus increased he felt himself guilty of +recalling her grief, and rising, brought in his folded hand from the +torrent some water to bathe her face. But she, though the torrent of +her tears was in nowise checked by his gentleness, yet bathed her +reddened eyes, and drying her face with the edge of her bark robe, +slowly said with a long and bitter sigh: + +(274) '"'Wherefore, Prince, wilt thou hear the story of my ascetic +life, all unfit for thy ears? for cruel has been my heart, hard my +destiny, and evil my condition, even from my birth. Still, if thy +desire to know be great, hearken. It has come within the range of +our hearing, usually directed to auspicious knowledge, that there +are in the abode of the gods maidens called Apsarases. Of these +there are fourteen families: one sprung from the mind of Brahma, +another from the Vedas, another from fire, another from the wind, +another from nectar when it was churned, another from water, another +from the sun's rays, another from the moon's beams, another from +earth, and another from lightning; one was fashioned by Death, and +another created by Love; besides, Daksha, father of all, had among +his many daughters two, Muni and Arishta, and from their union with +the Gandharvas were sprung the other two families. These are, in sum, +the fourteen races. But from the Gandharvas and the daughters of +Daksha sprang these two families. Here Muni bore a sixteenth son, by +name Citraratha, who excelled in virtues Sena and all the rest of his +fifteen brothers. For his heroism was famed through the three worlds; +his dignity was increased by the name of Friend, bestowed by Indra, +whose lotus feet are caressed by the crests of the gods cast down +before him; and even in childhood he gained the sovereignty of all the +Gandharvas by a right arm tinged with the flashing of his sword. (275) +Not far hence, north of the land of Bharata, is his dwelling, Hemakuta, +a boundary mountain in the Kimpurusha country. There, protected by +his arm, dwell innumerable Gandharvas. By him this pleasant wood, +Caitraratha, was made, this great lake Acchoda was dug out, and this +image of Çiva was fashioned. But the son of Arishta, in the second +Gandharva family, was as a child anointed king by Citraratha, lord of +the Gandharvas, and now holds royal rank, and with a countless retinue +of Gandharvas dwells likewise on this mountain. Now, from that family +of Apsarases which sprang from the moon's nectar was born a maiden, +fashioned as though by the grace of all the moon's digits poured in +one stream, gladdening the eyes of the universe, moonbeam-fair, in +name and nature a second Gauri. [256] (276) Her Hamsa, lord of the +second family, wooed, as the Milky Ocean the Ganges; with him she +was united, as Rati with Kama, or the lotus-bed with the autumn; +and enjoying the great happiness of such a union she became the +queen of his zenana. To this noble pair I was born as only daughter, +ill-omened, a prey for grief, and a vessel for countless sorrows; +my father, however, having no other child, greeted my birth with a +great festival, surpassing that for a son, and on the tenth day, with +the customary rites he gave me the fitting name of Mahaçveta. In his +palace I spent my childhood, passed from lap to lap of the Gandharva +dames, like a lute, as I murmured the prattle of babyhood, ignorant as +yet of the sorrows of love; but in time fresh youth came to me as the +honey-month to the spring, fresh shoots to the honey-month, flowers +to the fresh shoots, bees to the flowers, and honey to the bees. + +'"' [257]And one day in the month of honey I went down with my mother +to the Acchoda lake to bathe, when its beauties were spread wide in +the spring, and all its lotuses were in flower. + +(278) '"'I worshipped the pictures of Çiva, attended by Bringiriti, +which were carved on the rocks of the bank by Parvati when she came +down to bathe, and which had the reverential attendance of ascetics +portrayed by the thin footprints left in the dust. "How beautiful!" I +cried, "is this bower of creepers, with its clusters of flowers of +which the bees' weight has broken the centre and bowed the filaments; +this mango is fully in flower, and the honey pours through the holes in +the stalks of its buds, which the cuckoo's sharp claws have pierced; +how cool this sandal avenue, which the serpents, terrified at the +murmur of hosts of wild peacocks, have deserted; how delightful the +waving creepers, which betray by their fallen blossoms the swinging of +the wood-nymphs upon them; how pleasant the foot of the trees on the +bank where the kalahamsas have left the line of their steps imprinted +in the pollen of many a flower!" Drawn on thus by the ever-growing +charms of the wood, I wandered with my companions. (279) And at a +certain spot I smelt the fragrance of a flower strongly borne on the +wind, overpowering that of all the rest, though the wood was in full +blossom; it drew near, and by its great sweetness seemed to anoint, to +delight, and to fill the sense of smell. Bees followed it, seeking to +make it their own: it was truly a perfume unknown heretofore, and fit +for the gods. I, too, eager to learn whence it came, with eyes turned +into buds, and drawn on like a bee by that scent, and attracting to +me the kalahamsas of the lake by the jangling of my anklets loudly +clashed in the tremulous speed of my curiosity, advanced a few steps +and beheld a graceful youthful ascetic coming down to bathe. He was +like Spring doing penance in grief for Love made the fuel of Çiva's +fire, or the crescent on Çiva's brow performing a vow to win a full +orb, or Love restrained in his eagerness to conquer Çiva: by his great +splendour he appeared to be girt by a cage of quivering lightning, +embosomed in the globe of the summer sun, or encircled in the flames +of a furnace: (280) by the brightness of his form, flashing forth ever +more and more, yellow as lamplight, he made the grove a tawny gold; +his locks were yellow and soft like an amulet dyed in gorocana. The +line of ashes on his brow made him like Ganges with the line of a +fresh sandbank, as though it were a sandal-mark to win Sarasvati, +[258] and played the part of a banner of holiness; his eyebrows were +an arch rising high over the abode of men's curses; his eyes were +so long that he seemed to wear them as a chaplet; he shared with +the deer the beauty of their glance; his nose was long and aquiline; +the citron of his lower lip was rosy as with the glow of youth, which +was refused an entrance to his heart; with his beardless cheek he was +like a fresh lotus, the filaments of which have not yet been tossed +by the bees in their sport; he was adorned with a sacrificial thread +like the bent string of Love's bow, or a filament from the lotus grove +of the pool of penance; in one hand he bore a pitcher like a kesara +fruit with its stalk; in the other a crystal rosary, strung as it were +with the tears of Rati wailing in grief for Love's death. (281) His +loins were girt with a muñja-grass girdle, as though he had assumed +a halo, having outvied the sun by his innate splendour; the office +of vesture was performed by the bark of the heavenly coral-tree, +[259] bright as the pink eyelid of an old partridge, and washed in +the waves of the heavenly Ganges; he was the ornament of ascetic +life, the youthful grace of holiness, the delight of Sarasvati, the +chosen lord of all the sciences, and the meeting-place of all divine +tradition. He had, like the summer season, [260] his ashadha [261]; +he had, like a winter wood, the brightness of opening millet, and he +had like the month of honey, a face adorned with white tilaka. [262] +With him there was a youthful ascetic gathering flowers to worship +the gods, his equal in age and a friend worthy of himself. + +(282) '"'Then I saw a wondrous spray of flowers which decked his ear, +like the bright smile of woodland Çri joying in the sight of spring, +or the grain-offering of the honey-month welcoming the Malaya winds, or +the youth of the Lakshmi of flowers, or the cowrie that adorns Love's +elephant; it was wooed by the bees; the Pleiads lent it their grace; +and its honey was nectar. "Surely," I decided, "this is the fragrance +which makes all other flowers scentless," and gazing at the youthful +ascetic, the thought arose in my mind: "Ah, how lavish is the Creator +who has skill [263] to produce the highest perfection of form, for he +has compounded Kama of all miraculous beauty, excelling the universe, +and yet has created this ascetic even more fair, surpassing him, like a +second love-god, born of enchantment. (283) Methinks that when Brahma +[264] made the moon's orb to gladden the world, and the lotuses to be +Lakshmi's palace of delight, he was but practising to gain skill for +the creation of this ascetic's face; why else should such things be +created? Surely it is false that the sun with its ray Sushumna [265] +drinks all the digits of the moon as it wanes in the dark fortnight, +for their beams are cast down to enter this fair form. How otherwise +could there be such grace in one who lives in weary penance, beauty's +destroyer?" As I thus thought, Love, beauty's firm adherent, who knows +not good from ill, and who is ever at hand to the young, enthralled +me, together with my sighs, as the madness of spring takes captive +the bee. Then with a right eye gazing steadily, the eyelashes half +closed, the iris darkened by the pupil's tremulous sidelong glance, +I looked long on him. With this glance I, as it were, drank him in, +besought him, told him I was wholly his, offered my heart, tried +to enter into him with my whole soul, sought to be absorbed in him, +implored his protection to save Love's victim, showed my suppliant +state that asked for a place in his heart; (284) and though I asked +myself, "What is this shameful feeling that has arisen in me, unseemly +and unworthy a noble maiden?" yet knowing this, I could not master +myself, but with great difficulty stood firm, gazing at him. For +I seemed to be paralyzed, or in a picture, or scattered abroad, or +bound, or in a trance, and yet in wondrous wise upheld, as though +when my limbs were failing, support was at the same moment given; +for I know not how one can be certain in a matter that can neither +be told nor taught, and that is not capable of being told, for it +is only learnt from within. Can it be ascertained as presented by +his beauty, or by my own mind, or by love, or by youth or affection, +or by any other causes? I cannot tell. Lifted up and dragged towards +him by my senses, led forward by my heart, urged from behind by Love, +I yet by a strong effort restrained my impulse. (285) Straightway +a storm of sighs went forth unceasingly, prompted by Love as he +strove to find a place within me; and my bosom heaved as longing to +speak earnestly to my heart, and then I thought to myself: "What an +unworthy action is this of vile Kama, who surrenders me to this cold +ascetic free from all thoughts of love! Truly, the heart of woman +is foolish exceedingly, since it cannot weigh the fitness of that +which it loves. For what has this bright home of glory and penance +to do with the stirrings of love that meaner men welcome? Surely +in his heart he scorns me for being thus deceived by Kama! Strange +it is that I who know this cannot restrain my feeling! (286) Other +maidens, indeed, laying shame aside, have of their own accord gone +to their lords; others have been maddened by that reckless love-god; +but not as I am here alone! How in that one moment has my heart been +thrown into turmoil by the mere sight of his form, and passed from my +control! for time for knowledge and good qualities always make Love +invincible. It is best for me to leave this place while I yet have +my senses, and while he does not clearly see this my hateful folly +of love. Perchance if he sees in me the effects of a love he cannot +approve, he will in wrath make me feel his curse. For ascetics are +ever prone to wrath." Thus having resolved, I was eager to depart, +but, remembering that holy men should be reverenced by all, I made an +obeisance to him with eyes turned to his face, eyelashes motionless, +not glancing downwards, my cheek uncaressed by the flowers dancing +in my ears, my garland tossing on my waving hair, and my jewelled +earrings swinging on my shoulders. + +'"'As I thus bent, the irresistible command of love, the inspiration +of the spring, the charm of the place, the frowardness of youth, the +unsteadiness of the senses, (287) the impatient longing for earthly +goods, the fickleness of the mind, the destiny that rules events--in +a word, my own cruel fate, and the fact that all my trouble was +caused by him, were the means by which Love destroyed his firmness +by the sight of my feeling, and made him waver towards me like a +flame in the wind. He too was visibly thrilled, as if to welcome the +newly-entering Love; his sighs went before him to show the way to his +mind which was hastening towards me; the rosary in his hand trembled +and shook, fearing the breaking of his vow; drops rose on his cheek, +like a second garland hanging from his ear; his eyes, as his pupils +dilated and his glance widened in the joy of beholding me, turned +the spot to a very lotus-grove, so that the ten regions were filled +by the long rays coming forth like masses of open lotuses that had +of their own accord left the Acchoda lake and were rising to the sky. + +'"'By the manifest change in him my love was redoubled, and I fell +that moment into a state I cannot describe, all unworthy of my +caste. "Surely," I reflected, "Kama himself teaches this play of the +eye, though generally after a long happy love, else whence comes this +ascetic's gaze? (288) For his mind is unversed in the mingled feelings +of earthly joys, and yet his eyes, though they have never learnt the +art, pour forth the stream of love's sweetness, rain nectar, are half +closed by joy, are slow with distress, heavy with sleep, roaming with +pupils tremulous and languid with the weight of gladness, and yet +bright with the play of his eyebrows. Whence comes this exceeding +skill that tells the heart's longing wordlessly by a glance alone?" + +'"'Impelled by these thoughts I advanced, and bowing to the second +young ascetic, his companion, I asked: "What is the name of his +Reverence? Of what ascetic is he the son? From what tree is this +garland woven? For its scent, hitherto unknown, and of rare sweetness, +kindles great curiosity in me." + +'"'With a slight smile, he replied: "Maiden, what needs this +question? But I will enlighten thy curiosity. Listen! + +'"'"There dwells in the world of gods a great sage, Çvetaketu; his +noble character is famed through the universe; his feet are honoured by +bands of siddhas, gods, and demons; (289) his beauty, exceeding that +of Nalakubara, [266] is dear to the three worlds, and gladdens the +hearts of goddesses. Once upon a time, when seeking lotuses for the +worship of the gods, he went down to the Heavenly Ganges, which lay +white as Çiva's smile, while its water was studded as with peacocks' +eyes by the ichor of Airavata. Straightway Lakshmi, enthroned on +a thousand-petalled white lotus close by, beheld him coming down +among the flowers, and looking on him, she drank in his beauty with +eyes half closed by love, and quivering with weight of joyous tears, +and with her slender fingers laid on her softly-opening lips; and +her heart was disturbed by Love; by her glance alone she won his +affection. A son was born, and taking him in her arms with the words, +'Take him, for he is thine,' she gave him to Çvetaketu, who performed +all the rites of a son's birth, and called him Pundarika, because he +was born in a pundarika lotus. Moreover, after initiation, he led him +through the whole circle of the arts. (290) This is Pundarika whom you +see. And this spray comes from the parijata tree, [267] which rose +when the Milky Ocean was churned by gods and demons. How it gained +a place in his ear contrary to his vow, I will now tell. This being +the fourteenth day of the month, he started with me from heaven to +worship Çiva, who had gone to Kailasa. On the way, near the Nandana +Wood, a nymph, drunk with the juice of flowers, wearing fresh mango +shoots in her ear, veiled completely by garlands falling to the knees, +girt with kesara flowers, and resting on the fair hand lent her by the +Lakshmi of spring, took this spray of parijata, and bending low, thus +addressed Pundarika: 'Sir, let, I pray, this thy form, that gladdens +the eyes of the universe, have this spray as its fitting adornment; +let it be placed on the tip of thy ear, for it has but the playfulness +that belongs to a garland; let the birth of the parijata now reap +its full blessing!' At her words, his eyes were cast down in modesty +at the praise he so well deserved, and he turned to depart without +regarding her; but as I saw her following us, I said, 'What is the +harm, friend. Let her courteous gift be accepted!' and so by force, +against his will, the spray adorns his ear. Now all has been told: +who he is, whose son, and what this flower is, and how it has been +raised to his ear." (291) When he had thus spoken, Pundarika said to +me with a slight smile: "Ah, curious maiden, why didst thou take the +trouble to ask this? If the flower, with its sweet scent, please thee, +do thou accept it," and advancing, he took it from his own ear and +placed it in mine, as though, with the soft murmur of the bees on it, +it were a prayer for love. At once, in my eagerness to touch his hand, +a thrill arose in me, like a second parijata flower, where the garland +lay; while he, in the pleasure of touching my cheek, did not see that +from his tremulous fingers he had dropped his rosary at the same time +as his timidity; but before it reached the ground I seized it, and +playfully placed it on my neck, where it wore the grace of a necklace +unlike all others, while I learnt the joy of having my neck clasped, +as it were, by his arm. + +'"'As our hearts were thus occupied with each other, my umbrella-bearer +addressed me: "Princess, the Queen has bathed. It is nearly time +to go home. Do thou, therefore, also bathe." At her words, like a +newly-caught elephant, rebellious at the first touch of the new hook, +I was unwillingly dragged away, and as I went down to bathe, I could +hardly withdraw my eyes, for they seemed to be drowned in the ambrosial +beauty of his face, or caught in the thicket of my thrilling cheek, +or pinned down by Love's shafts, or sewn fast by the cords [268] +of his charms. + +(292) '"'Meanwhile, the second young ascetic, seeing that he was +losing his self-control, gently upbraided him: "Dear Pundarika, this +is unworthy of thee. This is the way trodden by common men. For the +good are rich in self-control. Why dost thou, like a man of low caste, +fail to restrain the turmoil of thy soul? Whence comes this hitherto +unknown assault of the senses, which so transforms thee? Where is +thine old firmness? Where thy conquest of the senses? Where thy +self-control? Where thy calm of mind, thine inherited holiness, +thy carelessness of earthly things? Where the teaching of thy guru, +thy learning of the Vedas, thy resolves of asceticism, thy hatred of +pleasure, thine aversion to vain delights, thy passion for penance, thy +distaste for enjoyments, thy rule over the impulses of youth? Verily +all knowledge is fruitless, study of holy books is useless, initiation +has lost its meaning, pondering the teaching of gurus avails not, +proficiency is worthless, learning leads to nought, since even men like +thee are stained by the touch of passion, and overcome by folly. (293) +Thou dost not even see that thy rosary has fallen from thy hand, +and has been carried away. Alas! how good sense fails in men thus +struck down. Hold back this heart of thine, for this worthless girl +is seeking to carry it away." + +'"'To these words he replied, with some shame: "Dear Kapiñjala, +why dost thou thus misunderstand me? I am not one to endure this +reckless girl's offence in taking my rosary!" and with his moonlike +face beautiful in its feigned wrath, and adorned the more by the dread +frown he tried to assume, while his lip trembled with longing to kiss +me, he said to me, "Playful maiden, thou shalt not move a step from +this place without giving back my rosary." Thereupon I loosed from +my neck a single row of pearls as the flower-offering that begins +a dance in Kama's honour, and placed it in his outstretched hand, +while his eyes were fixed on my face, and his mind was far away. I +started to bathe, but how I started I know not, for my mother and my +companions could hardly lead me away by force, like a river driven +backwards, and I went home thinking only of him. + +(294) '"'And entering the maidens' dwelling, I began straightway to ask +myself in my grief at his loss: "Am I really back, or still there? Am +I alone, or with my maidens? Am I silent, or beginning to speak? Am +I awake or asleep? Do I weep or hold back my tears? Is this joy or +sorrow, longing or despair, misfortune or gladness, day or night? Are +these things pleasures or pains?" All this I understood not. In my +ignorance of Love's course, I knew not whither to go, what to do, +hear, see, or speak, whom to tell, nor what remedy to seek. Entering +the maidens' palace, I dismissed my friends at the door, and shut +out my attendants, and then, putting aside all my occupations, I +stood alone with my face against the jewelled window. I gazed at the +region which, in its possession of him, was richly decked, endowed +with great treasure, overflowed by the ocean of nectar, adorned with +the rising of the full moon, and most fair to behold, I longed to ask +his doings even of the breeze wafted from thence, or of the scent of +the woodland flowers, or of the song of the birds. (295) I envied even +the toils of penance for his devotion to them. For his sake, in the +blind adherence of love, I took a vow of silence. I attributed grace +to the ascetic garb, because he accepted it, beauty to youth because +he owned it, charm to the parijata flower because it touched his ear, +delight to heaven because he dwelt there, and invincible power to +love because he was so fair. Though far away, I turned towards him +as the lotus-bed to the sun, the tide to the moon, or the peacock +to the cloud. I bore on my neck his rosary, like a charm against the +loss of the life stricken by his absence. I stood motionless, though +a thrill made the down on my cheek like a kadamba flower ear-ring, +as it rose from the joy of being touched by his hand, and from the +parijata spray in my ear, which spoke sweetly to me of him. + +'"'Now my betel-bearer, Taralika, had been with me to bathe; she came +back after me rather late, and softly addressed me in my sadness: +"Princess, one of those godlike ascetics we saw on the bank of Lake +Acchoda--(296) he by whom this spray of the heavenly tree was placed +in thy ear--as I was following thee, eluded the glance of his other +self, and approaching me with soft steps between the branches of a +flowering creeper, asked me concerning thee, saying, 'Damsel, who is +this maiden? Whose daughter is she? What is her name? And whither goes +she?' I replied: 'She is sprung from Gauri, an Apsaras of the moon +race, and her father Hamsa is king of all the Gandharvas; the nails of +his feet are burnished by the tips of the jewelled aigrettes on the +turbans of all the Gandharvas; his tree-like arms are marked by the +cosmetics on the cheeks of his Gandharva wives, and the lotus-hand of +Lakshmi forms his footstool. The princess is named Mahaçveta, and she +has set out now for the hill of Hemakuta, the abode of the Gandharvas.' + +'"'"When this tale had been told by me, he thought silently for a +moment, and then looking long at me with a steady gaze, as if gently +entreating me, he said: 'Damsel, thy form, young as thou art, is of +fair promise, and augurs truth and steadfastness. Grant me, therefore, +one request.' Courteously raising my hands, I reverently replied: +(297) 'Wherefore say this? Who am I? When great-souled men such as +thou, meet for the honour of the whole universe, deign to cast even +their sin-removing glance on one like me, their act wins merit--much +more if they give a command. Say, therefore, freely what is to be +done. Let me be honoured by thy bidding.' + +'"'"Thus addressed, he saluted me with a kindly glance, as a friend, +a helper, or a giver of life; and taking a shoot from a tamala-tree +hard by, he crushed it on the stones of the bank, broke off a piece +from his upper bark garment as a tablet, and with the tamala-juice, +sweet as the ichor of a gandha elephant, wrote with the nail of the +little finger of his lotus-hand, and placed it in my hand, saying, 'Let +this letter be secretly given by thee to that maiden when alone.'" With +these words she drew it from the betel-box and showed it to me. + +'"'As I took from her hand that bark letter, I was filled with this +talk about him, which, though but a sound, produced the joy of contact, +and though for the ears alone, had its pervading presence in all my +limbs manifested by a thrill, as if it were a spell to invoke Love; +and in his letter I beheld these lines: [269] + + + A hamsa on the Manas lake, lured by a creeper's treacherous shine, + My heart is led a weary chase, lured by that pearly wreath of + thine. [270] + + +(298) '"'By the reading of this, an even greater change for the worse +was wrought in my lovesick mind, as in one who has lost his way, +by also losing his bearings; as in a blind man, by a night of the +dark fortnight; as in a dumb man, by cutting out the tongue; as in an +ignorant man, by a conjuror's waving fan; as in a confused talker, +by the delirium of fever; as in one poisoned, by the fatal sleep; +as in a wicked man, by atheistic philosophy; as in one distraught, by +strong drink; or as in one possessed, by the action of the possessing +demon; so that in the turmoil it created in me, I was tossed like a +river in flood. I honoured Taralika for having seen him again, as one +who had acquired great merit, or who had tasted the joys of heaven, +or had been visited by a god, or had her highest boon granted, or +had drunk nectar, or had been anointed queen of the three worlds. I +spoke to her reverently, as if, though always by me, she were a +rare visitant, and though my familiar friend, she were hitherto +unknown. I looked on her, though behind me, as above the world; +I tenderly caressed the curls on her cheek, and entirely set at +nought the condition of mistress and maid, again and again asking, +(299) "How was he seen by thee? What did he say to thee? How long +wert thou there? How far did he follow us?" And shutting out all my +attendants, I spent the whole day with her in the palace, listening to +that tale. The sun's orb hanging in the sky became crimson, sharing +my heart's glow; the Lakshmi of sunlight longing for the sight of +the flushed sun, and preparing her lotus-couch, turned pale as though +faint with love; the sunbeams, rosy as they fell on waters dyed with +red chalk, rose from the lotus-beds clustering like herds of woodland +elephants; the day, with an echo of the joyous neighing of the steeds +of the sun's chariot longing to rest after their descent of the sky, +entered the caves of Mount Meru; the lotus-beds, as the bees entered +the folded leaves of the red lilies, seemed to close their eyes as +though their hearts were darkened by a swoon at the sun's departure; +the pairs of cakravakas, each taking the other's heart, safely hidden +in the hollow lotus-stalks whereof they had eaten together, were +now parted; and my umbrella-bearer approaching me, said as follows: +(300) "Princess, one of those youthful hermits is at the door, and +says he has come to beg for a rosary." At the hermit's name, though +motionless, I seemed to approach the door, and suspecting the reason of +his coming, I summoned another chamberlain, whom I sent, saying, "Go +and admit him." A moment later I beheld the young ascetic Kapiñjala, +who is to Pundarika as youth to beauty, love to youth, spring to love, +southern breezes to spring, and who is indeed a friend worthy of him; +he followed the hoary chamberlain as sunlight after moonlight. As he +drew near his appearance betrayed to me trouble, sadness, distraction, +entreaty, and a yearning unfulfilled. With a reverence I rose and +respectfully brought him a seat; and when he was reluctantly forced +to accept it, I washed his feet and dried them on the silken edge of +my upper robe; and then sat by him on the bare ground. For a moment +he waited, as if eager to speak, when he cast his eyes on Taralika +close by. Knowing his desire at a glance, I said, "Sir, she is one +with me. (301) Speak fearlessly." At my words Kapiñjala replied: +"Princess, what can I say? for through shame my voice does not reach +the sphere of utterance. How far is the passionless ascetic who +lives on roots in the woods from the illusion of passion that finds +its home in restless souls, and is stained with longing for earthly +pleasures, and filled with the manifold sports of the Love God. See how +unseemly all this is! What has fate begun? God easily turns us into +a laughing-stock! I know not if this be fitting with bark garments, +or seemly for matted locks, or meet for penance, or consonant with the +teaching of holiness! Such a mockery was never known! I needs must +tell you the story. No other course is visible; no other remedy is +perceived; no other refuge is at hand; no other way is before me. If +it remains untold, even greater trouble will arise. A friend's life +must be saved even at the loss of our own; so I will tell the tale: + +'"'"It was in thy presence that I sternly rebuked Pundarika, and after +that speech I left him in anger and went to another place, leaving +my task of gathering flowers. After thy departure, I remained apart a +short time, (302) and then, becoming anxious as to what he was doing, +I turned back and examined the spot from behind a tree. As I did not +see him there, the thought arose within me, 'His mind was enslaved +by love, and perchance he followed her; and now that she is gone, +he has regained his senses, and is ashamed to come within my sight; +or he has gone from me in wrath, or departed hence to another place +in search of me.' Thus thinking, I waited some time, but, troubled by +an absence I had never since my birth suffered for a moment, I again +thought, 'It may be that, in shame at his failure in firmness, he will +come to some harm; for shame makes everything possible; he must not, +then, be left alone.' With this resolve, I earnestly made search for +him. But as I could not see him, though I sought on all sides, made +anxious by love for my friend, I pictured this or that misfortune, +and wandered long, examining glades of trees, creeper bowers among the +sandal avenues, and the banks of lakes, carefully glancing on every +side. (303) At length I beheld him in a thicket of creepers near +a lake, a very birthplace for spring, most fair, and in its close +growth appearing to be made wholly of flowers, of bees, of cuckoos, +and of peacocks. From his entire absence of employment, he was as one +painted, or engraved, or paralyzed, or dead, or asleep, or in a trance +of meditation; he was motionless, yet wandering from his right course; +alone, yet possessed by Love; all aglow, yet raising a pallid face; +absent-minded, yet giving his love a place within him; silent, and yet +telling a tale of Love's great woe; seated on a stone, yet standing +in face of death. He was tormented by Kama, who yet, in fear of many +a curse, remained unseen. By his great stillness he appeared to be +deserted by the senses which had entered into him to behold the love +that dwelt in his heart, and had fainted in fear at its unbearable +heat, or had left him in wrath at the tossing of his mind. From eyes +steadily closed, and dimmed within by the smoke of Love's keen fire, +he ceaselessly poured forth a storm of tears trickling down through +his eyelashes. (304) The filaments of the creepers near trembled in +the sighs which rushed out, bearing the redness of his lips like the +upstarting ruddy flame of Kama burning his heart. As his hand rested +on his left cheek, his brow, from the clear rays of his nails rising +upwards, seemed to have a fresh mark of sandal very pure; from the late +removal of his earring, the parijata flower, his ear was endowed with +a tamala shoot or a blue lotus by the bees that murmured a charm to +bewitch love, under the guise of their soft hum as they crept up in +longing for what remained of that fragrance. Under the guise of his +hair rising in a passionate thrill he seemed to bear on his limbs a +mass of broken points of the flowery darts of Love's arrows discharged +into his pores. With his right hand he bore on his breast a string of +pearls that, by being interlaced with the flashing rays of his nails, +seemed bristling in joy at the pleasure of touching his palm, and that +was, as it were, a banner of recklessness. He was pelted by the trees +with pollen, like a powder to subdue Love; he was caressed by açoka +shoots tossed by the wind, and transferring to him their rosy glow; +he was besprinkled by woodland Lakshmi with honey-dew from clusters +of fresh flowers, like waters to crown Love; he was struck by Love +with campak buds, which, as their fragrance was drunk in by bees, were +like fiery barbs all smoking; (305) he was rebuked by the south wind, +as if by the hum of the bees maddened by the many scents of the wood; +he was bewildered by the honey-month, as by cries of 'All hail!' to +Spring raised by the cuckoos in their melodious ecstasy. Like the +risen moon, he was robed in paleness; like the stream of Ganges in +summer, he had dwindled to meagreness; like a sandal-tree with a +fire at its heart, he was fading away. He seemed to have entered +on another birth, and was as another man, strange and unfamiliar; +he was changed into another shape. As one entered by an evil spirit, +ruled by a great demon, possessed by a strong devil, drunk, deluded, +blind, deaf, dumb, all merged in joy and love, he had reached the +climax of the mind's slavery when possessed by Love, and his old self +could no longer be known. + +'"'"As with a steady glance I long examined his sad state, I became +despondent, and thought in my trembling heart: 'This is of a truth +that Love whose force none can resist; for by him Pundarika has +been in a moment brought to a state for which there is no cure. For +how else could such a storehouse of learning become straightway +unavailing? (306) It is, alas! a miracle in him who from childhood has +been firm of nature and unswerving in conduct, and whose life was the +envy of myself and the other young ascetics. Here, like a mean man, +despising knowledge, contemning the power of penance, he has rooted +up his deep steadfastness, and is paralyzed by Love. A youth which has +never swerved is indeed rare!' I went forward, and sitting down by him +on the same stone, with my hand resting on his shoulder, I asked him, +though his eyes were still closed: 'Dear Pundarika, tell me what this +means.' Then with great difficulty and effort he opened his eyes, +which seemed fastened together by their long closing, and which were +red from incessant weeping and overflowing with tears as if shaken +and in pain, while their colour was that of a red lotus-bed veiled in +white silk. He looked at me long with a very languid glance, and then, +deeply sighing, in accents broken by shame, he slowly and with pain +murmured: 'Dear Kapiñjala, why ask me what thou knowest?' Hearing this, +and thinking that Pundarika was suffering in this way a cureless ill, +but that still, as far as possible, a friend who is entering a wrong +course should be held back to the utmost by those who love him, +I replied: 'Dear Pundarika, I know it well. (307) I will only ask +this question: Is this course you have begun taught by your gurus, +or read in the holy books? or is this a way of winning holiness, +or a fresh form of penance, or a path to heaven, or a mystic vow, +or a means of salvation, or any other kind of discipline? Is this +fitting for thee even to imagine, much less to see or tell? Like a +fool, thou seest not that thou art made a laughing-stock by that +miscreant Love. For it is the fool who is tormented by Love. For +what is thy hope of happiness in such things as are honoured by the +base, but blamed by the good? He truly waters a poison tree under +the idea of duty, or embraces the sword plant for a lotus-wreath, or +lays hold on a black snake, taking it for a line of smoke of black +aloes, or touches a burning coal for a jewel, or tries to pull out +the club-like tusk of a wild elephant, thinking it a lotus-fibre; he +is a fool who places happiness in the pleasures of sense which end +in sorrow. And thou, though knowing the real nature of the senses, +why dost thou carry thy knowledge as the firefly his light, [271] +only to be concealed, in that thou restrainest not thy senses when they +start out of their course like streams turbid [272] in their passionate +onrush? Nor dost thou curb thy tossing mind. (308) Who, forsooth, is +this Love-god? Relying on thy firmness, do thou revile this miscreant.' + +'"'"As I thus spoke he wiped with his hand his eyes streaming with +tears poured through his eyelashes, and while he yet leant on me, +replied, rebuking my speech: 'Friend, what need of many words? Thou +at least art untouched! Thou hast not fallen within the range of +Love's shafts, cruel with the poison of snakes! It is easy to teach +another! and when that other has his senses and his mind, and sees, +hears, and knows what he has heard, and can discern good and evil, +he is then fit for advice. But all this is far from me; all talk of +stability, judgment, firmness, reflection, has come to an end. How +do I even breathe but by strong effort? The time for advice is long +past. The opportunity for firmness has been let slip; the hour for +reflection is gone; the season for stability and judgment has passed +away. Who but thee could give advice at this time, or could attempt +to restrain my wandering? To whom but thee should I listen? or who +else in the world is a friend like thee? What ails me that I cannot +restrain myself? Thou sawest in a moment my wretched plight. The +time, then, for advice is now past. (309) While I breathe, I long +for some cure for the fever of love, violent as the rays of twelve +suns [273] at the end of the world. My limbs are baked, my heart is +seething, my eyes are burning, and my body on fire. Do, therefore, +what the time demands.' He then became silent, and after this speech +I tried again and again to rouse him; but as he did not listen even +when tenderly and affectionately exhorted in the words of the pure +teaching of the çastras full of cases like his own, together with +the legendary histories, I thought, 'He is gone too far; he cannot +be turned back. Advice is now useless, so I will make an effort +just to preserve his life.' With this resolve I rose and went, and +tore up some juicy lotus-fibres from the lake; then, taking some +lotus-petals marked by water, I plucked lotuses of all kinds, sweet +with the fragrance of the aromatic pollen within, and prepared a +couch on that same rock in the bower. And as he rested there at ease +(310), I crushed soft twigs of the sandal-trees hard by, and with +its juice, naturally sweet and cold as ice, made a mark on his brow, +and anointed him from head to foot. I allayed the perspiration by +camphor-dust powdered in my hand, broken from the interstices of the +split bark of the trees near, and fanned him with a plantain-leaf +dripping with pure water, while the bark robe he wore was moist with +the sandal placed on his breast; and as I again and again strewed +fresh lotus couches, and anointed him with sandal, and removed the +perspiration, and constantly fanned him, the thought arose in my mind, +'Surely nothing is too hard for Love! For how far apart would seem +Pundarika, by nature simple and content with his woodland home, like +a fawn, and Mahaçveta, the Gandharva princess, a galaxy of graces: +surely there is nothing for Love in the world hard, or difficult, or +unsubdued, or impossible. He scornfully attempts the hardest tasks, +nor can any resist him. For why speak of beings endowed with sense +when, if it so please him, he can bring together even things without +sense? For the night lotus-bed falls in love with the sun's ray, +and the day-lotus leaves her hatred of the moon, and night is joined +to day, (311) and moonlight waits on darkness, and shade stands in +the face of light, and lightning stays firm in the cloud, and old age +accompanies youth; and what more difficult thing can there be than that +one like Pundarika, who is an ocean of unfathomable depth, should thus +be brought to the lightness of grass? Where is his former penance, and +where his present state? Truly it is a cureless ill that has befallen +him! What must I now do or attempt, or whither go, or what refuge or +resource, or help or remedy, or plan, or recourse, is there by which +his life may be sustained? Or by what skill, or device, or means, +or support, or thought, or solace, may he yet live?' These and other +such thoughts arose in my downcast heart. But again I thought, 'What +avails dwelling on this useless thought? His life must be preserved +by any means, good or bad, (312) and there is no other way to save it +but by her union with him; and as he is timid by reason of his youth, +and moreover thinks the affairs of love contrary to his vow, unseemly, +and a mockery in himself, he certainly, even at his last breath, will +not gratify his longing by himself approaching her. This his disease +of love admits no delay. Good men always hold that a friend's life +must be saved even by a blameworthy deed; so that though this is a +shameful and wrong action, it has yet become imperative for me. What +else can be done? What other course is there? I will certainly go to +her. I will tell her his state.' Thus thinking, I left the place on +some pretext, and came hither without telling him, lest perchance +he should feel that I was engaged in an unseemly employment, and +should in shame hold me back. This being the state of affairs, +thou, lady, art the judge of what action is needful for the time, +worthy of so great a love, fitting for my coming, and right for +thyself." With these words he became silent, fixing his eyes on my +face to see what I should say. But I, having heard him, was plunged, +as it were, into a lake of ambrosial joy, or immersed in an ocean +of the sweets of love, floating above all joys, mounting to the +pinnacle of all desires, resting at the utmost bound of gladness. I +showed my happiness by joyful tears pouring clear, large, and heavy, +because my eyelashes were not closed, strung like a garland by their +unceasing succession, and not touching my cheek, because my face was +somewhat bent in sudden shame; (313) and I thought at once: "0 joy, +that Love entangles him as well as me, so that even while tormenting +me, he has in part showed me kindness; and if Pundarika is indeed in +such a plight, what help has not Love given me, or what has he not +done for me, or what friend is like him, or how could a false tale, +even in sleep, pass the lips of the calm-souled Kapiñjala? And if this +be so, what must I do, and what must I say in his presence?" While +I was thus deliberating, a portress hastily entered, and said to me: +"Princess, the Queen has learnt from her attendants that thou art ill, +and is now coming." On hearing this, Kapiñjala, fearing the contact +of a great throng, quickly rose, saying: "Princess, a cause of great +delay has arisen. The sun, the crest-jewel of the three worlds, is +now sinking, so I will depart. But I raise my hands in salutation as +a slight offering for the saving of my dear friend's life; that is +my greatest treasure." (314) Then, without awaiting my reply, he with +difficulty departed, for the door was blocked by the entrance of the +attendants that heralded my Lady Mother. There were the portresses +bearing golden staves; the chamberlains with unguents, cosmetics, +flowers, and betel, holding waving cowries; and in their train were +humpbacks, barbarians, deaf men, eunuchs, dwarfs, and deaf mutes. + +'"'Then the Queen came to me, and after a long visit, went home; +but I observed nothing of what she did, said, or attempted while +with me, for my heart was far away. When she went the sun, with his +steeds bright as haritala pigeons, lord of life to the lotuses, and +friend of the cakravakas, had sunk to rest, and the face of the West +was growing crimson, and the lotus-beds were turning green, and the +East was darkening to blue; and the world of mortals was overcome +by a blackness like a wave of the ocean of final destruction turbid +with the mud of hell. I knew not what to do, and asked Taralika, +"Seest thou not, Taralika, how confused is my mind? My senses are +bewildered with uncertainty, and I am unable myself to see in the +least what I should do. (315) Do thou tell me what is right to do, for +Kapiñjala is now gone, and he told his tale in thy presence. What if, +like a base-born maiden, I cast away shame, relinquish self-control, +desert modesty, contemn the reproach of men, transgress good behaviour, +trample on conduct, despise noble birth, accept the disgrace of a +course blinded by love, and without my father's leave, or my mother's +approval, I were to go to him myself and offer him my hand? This +transgression against my parents would be a great wrong. But if, +taking the other alternative, I follow duty, I shall in the first +place accept death, and even so I shall break the heart of his +reverence Kapiñjala, who loved him first, and who came hither of +his own accord. And again, if perchance that man's death is brought +about by my deed in destroying his hopes, then causing the death of +an ascetic would be a grave sin." While I thus considered, the East +became gray with the glimmering light of moonrise, like a line of +woods in spring with the pollen of flowers. And in the moonlight the +eastern quarter showed white as if with the powdered pearls from the +frontal bone of the elephant of darkness torn open by the lion-moon, +(316) or pale with sandal-dust falling from the breast of the nymphs +of the eastern mountain, or light with the rising of sand in an +island left by the tide, stirred by the wind on the waves of the +ever-moving ocean. Slowly the moonlight glided down, and made bright +the face of night, as if it were the flash of her teeth as she softly +smiled at the sight of the moon; then evening shone with the moon's +orb, as if it were the circle of Çesha's hoods breaking through the +earth as it rose from hell; after that, night became fair with the +moon, the gladdener of the world of mortals, the delight of lovers, +now leaving its childhood behind and becoming the ally of Love, +with a youthful glow arising within it, the only fitting light for +the enjoyment of Love's pleasures, ambrosial, climbing the sky like +youth impersonate. Then I beheld the risen moon as if flushed with +the coral of the ocean it had just left, crimsoned with the blood +of its deer struck by the paw of the lion of the Eastern Mountain, +marked with the lac of Rohini's [274] feet, as she spurned her lord +in a love quarrel, (317) and ruddy with his newly-kindled glow. And +I, though the fire of Love burnt within me, had my heart darkened; +though my body rested on the lap of Taralika, I was a captive in the +hands of Love; though my eyes were fixed on the moon, I was looking +on death, and I straightway thought, "There are the honey-month, the +Malaya winds, and all other such things brought together, and in the +same place to have this evil miscreant moon cannot be endured. My +heart cannot bear it. Its rising now is like a shower of coals to +one consumed by fever, or a fall of snow to one ill from cold, or the +bite of a black snake to one faint with the swelling of poison." And +as I thus thought, a swoon closed my eyes, like the sleep brought +by moonlight that withers the lotuses of the day. Soon, however, I +regained consciousness by means of the fanning and sandal unguents +of the bewildered Taralika, and I saw her weeping, her face dimmed +with ceaseless tears, pressing the point of a moist moonstone to my +brow, and seeming possessed by despair impersonate. As I opened my +eyes, she fell at my feet, and said, raising hands yet wet with the +thick sandal ointment: "Princess, why think of shame or disrespect to +parents? Be kind; send me, and I will fetch the beloved of thy heart; +(318) rise, or go thither thyself. Henceforth thou canst not bear +this Love that is an ocean whose manifold passionate waves [275] +are swelling at the rise of a strong moon." To this speech I replied: +"Mad girl, what is love to me? The moon it is, even the lord of the +night lotuses, who removes all scruples, undermines all search for +means of escape, conceals all difficulties, takes away all doubts, +contemns all fears, roots out all shame, veils the sinful levity of +going myself to my lover, avoids all delay, and has come merely to +lead me either to Pundarika or to death. Rise, therefore; for while I +have life I will follow him and honour him who, dear as he is, tortures +my heart." Thus saying, I rose, leaning on her, for my limbs were yet +unsteady with the weakness of the swoon caused by Love, and as I rose +my right eye throbbed, presaging ill, and in sudden terror I thought: +"What new thing is this threatened by Destiny?" + +(319) '"'The firmament was now flooded with moonlight, as if the +moon's orb, which had not yet risen far, was, like the waterpipe +of the temple of the universe, discharging a thousand streams of +the heavenly Ganges, pouring forth the waves of an ambrosial ocean, +shedding many a cascade of sandal-juice, and bearing floods of nectar; +the world seemed to learn what life was in the White Continent, +and the pleasures of seeing the land of Soma; the round earth was +being poured out from the depths of a Milky Ocean by the moon, which +was like the rounded tusk of the Great Boar; the moonrise offerings +were being presented in every house by the women with sandal-water +fragrant with open lotuses; the highways were crowded with thousands +of women-messengers sent by fair ladies; girls going to meet their +lovers ran hither and thither, veiled in blue silk and fluttered +by the dread of the bright moonlight as if they were the nymphs of +the white day lotus groves concealed in the splendours of the blue +lotuses; the sky became an alluvial island in the river of night, with +its centre whitened by the thick pollen of the groves of open night +lotuses; while the night lotus-beds in the house-tanks were waking, +encircled by bees which clung to every blossom; (320) the world of +mortals was, like the ocean, unable to contain the joy of moonrise, +and seemed made of love, of festivity, of mirth, and of tenderness: +evening was pleasant with the murmur of peacocks garrulous in gladness +at the cascade that fell from the waterpipes of moonstone. + +'"'Taralika accompanied me, holding powders, perfumes, unguents, +betel, and various flowers, and I had also that napkin, wet with +the sandal ointment which had been applied in my swoon, and which +had its nap slightly disordered and gray with the partly-dried +mark of sandalwood clinging to it; the rosary was on my neck; the +parijata spray was kissing the tip of my ear; veiled in red silk +that seemed fashioned from rays of rubies, I went down from the top +of that palace, unseen by any of my devoted attendants. On my way I +was pursued by a swarm of bees, which hastened, leaving lotus-beds +and deserting gardens, drawn by the scent of the parijata spray, +sportively forming a blue veil round me. I departed through the door +of the pleasure-grove and set out to meet Pundarika. (321) As I went, +I thought, seeing myself attended by Taralika only: "What needs pomp +of retinue when we seek our dearest! Surely our servants then but +play a mockery of attendance, for Love follows me with shaft fitted +to the strung bow; the moon, stretching out a long ray, [276] draws +me on like a hand; passion supports me at every step from fear of +a fall; my heart rushes on with the senses, leaving shame behind; +longing has gained certainty, and leads me on." Aloud I said: "Oh, +Taralika, would that this miscreant moon would with its beams seize +him by the hair and draw him forward like myself!" As I thus spoke, +she smilingly replied: "Thou art foolish, my princess! What does +the moon want with Pundarika? Nay, rather, he himself, as though +wounded by Love, does all these things for thee; for under the guise +of his image he kisses thy cheeks marked with drops of perspiration; +with trembling ray he falls on thy fair breast; he touches the gems +of thy girdle; entangled in thy bright nails, he falls at thy feet; +moreover, the form of this lovesick moon wears the pallor of a sandal +unguent dried by fever; (322) he stretches out his rays [277] white +as lotus-fibres; under the guise of his reflection he falls on crystal +pavements; with rays [278] gray as the dust from the filaments inside +the ketaki, he plunges into lotus-pools; he touches with his beams +[279] the moonstones wet with spray; he hates the day lotus-groves +with their pairs of cakravakas once severed." With such discourse +fitting for the time I approached that spot in her company. I then +bathed my feet, gray with pollen from the creeper flowers on our path, +in a spot near Kapiñjala's abode which had a stream of moonstone, +liquefied by moonrise, flowing from Kailasa's slope; and there, +on the left bank of the lake, I heard the sound of a man's weeping, +softened by distance. Some fear had arisen within me at first, from +the quivering of my right eye, and now that my heart was yet more +torn by this cry, as if my downcast mind were telling some dreadful +tidings within, I cried in terror: "Taralika, what means this?" And +with trembling limbs I breathlessly hastened on. + +'"'Then I heard afar a bitter cry, clear in the calm of night: "Alas, +I am undone! I am consumed! I am deceived! What is this that has +befallen me? What has happened? I am uprooted! (323) Cruel demon Love, +evil and pitiless, what shameful deed hast thou brought to pass? Ah, +wicked, evil, wanton Mahaçveta, how had he harmed thee? Ah, evil, +wanton, monstrous [280] moon, thou hast gained thy desire. Cruel +soft breeze of the South, thy softness is gone, and thy will is +fulfilled. That which was to be done is done. Go now as thou wilt! Ah, +venerable Çvetaketu, tender to thy son, thou knowest not that thy +life is stolen from thee! Dharma, thou art dispossessed! Penance, +thou art protectorless! Eloquence, thou art widowed! Truth, thou art +lordless! Heaven, thou art void! Friend, protect me! Yet I will follow +thee! I cannot remain even a moment without thee, alone! How canst thou +now suddenly leave me, and go thy way like a stranger on whom my eyes +had never rested? Whence comes this thy great hardness? Say, whither, +without thee, shall I go? Whom shall I implore? What refuge shall I +seek? I am blinded! For me space is empty! Life is aimless, penance +vain, the world void of joy! With whom shall I wander, to whom speak, +with whom hold converse? Do thou arise! Grant me an answer. Friend, +where is thine old love to me? Where that smiling welcome that never +failed me?" + +(324) '"'Such were the words I heard Kapiñjala utter; and as I heard +them I uttered a loud cry, while yet far off, as if my life had fallen; +and with my silk cloak torn as it clung to the creepers by the lake's +bank, and my feet placed on the ground regardless of its being rough +or even, and as hastily as I could, I went on to that place, stumbling +at every step, and yet as if led on by one who lifted me up again. + +'"'There I beheld Pundarika lying on a couch made on a slab of +moonstone wet with showers of cool spray, close to the lake; it +was made of lotus-fibres like a garland of tender flowers from +all lilies, and seemed to be formed wholly of the points of Love's +arrows. Pundarika seemed from his great stillness to be listening for +the sound of my step. He seemed to have gained a moment's happiness in +sleep, as if Love's pain had been quenched by inward wrath; he seemed +engaged in a yoga penance of holding his breath, as an atonement +for his breach of ascetic duty; he seemed to murmur, with bright yet +trembling lip: "By thy deed am I come to this pass." He seemed pierced +by the moonbeams which, under the guise of his bright finger-nails +placed on a heart throbbing with Love's fire, fell on his back as he +lay averted in hatred of the moon. (325) He bore a mark on his brow +of a line of sandal, which, by its being pale from dryness, was like +a digit of Love's waning moon portending his own destruction. Life +seemed to leave him in anger, saying: "Fool, another is dearer to thee +than I!" His eyes were not wholly closed; their pupils were slightly +turned to look; they were red with ceaseless weeping; they seemed to +drop blood, since by failure of breath his tears were exhausted; and +they were partly curved in pain at Love's darts. He now experienced +the pain of unconsciousness, as if together with the torment of love he +were also yielding life itself; he seemed to meditate a new version of +Love's mystery, and to practise an unwonted retention of breath. His +life seemed to be carried off as a prize [281] by Love, who had in +kindness arranged my coming. On his brow was a sandal tripundraka mark; +he wore a sacrificial thread of juicy lotus-fibre; his dress clung +to his shoulder beautiful as the leaf that ensheathes a plantain; +his rosary had only the thickness of a single row; [282] the ashes on +his brow were of abundant white camphor-powder; he was fair with the +string of lotus-fibre, bound on his arm as an amulet; he seemed to wear +the garb of Love's vow, as if completing a charm for my coming. With +his eye he tenderly uttered the reproach: "Hard-hearted! I was but +followed by one glance, and never again received thy favour." (326) +His lips were slightly open, so that his form gleamed white in the +rays of his teeth, which came forth as if they were moonbeams that +had entered him to take away his life; with his left hand placed on +a heart breaking with the pain of love, he seemed to say: "Be kind, +depart not with my life, thou that art dear as life!" and so to hold +me firmly in his heart; his right hand, which from the uneven rays +of his nails jutting forth seemed to drop sandal, was raised as if to +ward off the moonlight; near him stood his pitcher, the friend of his +penance, with neck upright, as if it gazed at the path by which his +life was just rising; the garland of lotus-fibres which adorned his +neck bound him as if with a rope of moonbeams to lead him to another +world; and when, at the sight of me, Kapiñjala, with a cry of "Help, +help!" raised his hands, and crying aloud with redoubled tears, fell +on his neck, at that very moment I, wicked and ill-fated as I was, +beheld that noble youth yield up his life. The darkness of a swoon came +upon me, and I descended into hell; nor knew I anything of whither +I then went, or what I did or said. Neither knew I why my life did +not at that moment leave me; (327) whether from the utter hardness +of my stupefied heart, or from the callousness to bear thousands +of troubles of my wretched body, or from being fated to endure a +long grief, or from being a vessel of evil earned in another birth, +or from the skill of my cruel destiny in bestowing sorrow, or from +the singular perversity of malign accursed love. Only this I know: +that when at length in my misery I regained consciousness, I found +myself writhing on the ground, tortured, as if I had fallen on a fire, +by a grief too hard to bear. I could not believe aught so impossible +as that he should die and I yet live, and rising with a bitter cry of +"Alas, what is this--mother, father, friends?" I exclaimed: "Ah, my +Lord, thou who upholdest my life, speak to me! Whither goest thou, +pitilessly leaving me alone and protectorless? Ask Taralika what I +have suffered for thy sake. Hardly have I been able to pass the day, +drawn out into a thousand ages. Be gracious! Utter but one word! Show +tenderness to her that loves thee! Look but a little on me! Fulfil +my longing! I am wretched! I am loyal! I am thine in heart! I am +lordless! I am young! I am helpless! I am unhappy! I am bereft of +other refuge! I am vanquished by Love! Why showest thou no pity? Say +what I have done or left undone, what command I have neglected, +or in what thing pleasing to thee I have not shown affection, that +thou art wroth. (328) Fearest thou not the reproach of men in that +thou goest, deserting me, thy handmaid, without cause? Yet why think +of me, perverse and wicked, and skilled to deceive by false shows of +love! Alas, I yet live! Alas, I am accursed and undone! For why? I +have neither thee, nor honour, nor kinsfolk, nor heaven. Shame on +me, a worker of evil deeds, for whose sake this fate hath befallen +thee. There is none of so murderous a heart as I who went home, +leaving one so peerless as thou. What to me were home, mother, +father, kinsfolk, followers? Alas, to what refuge shall I flee? Fate, +show pity to me! I entreat thee. Lady of destiny, give me a boon of +mercy! Show compassion! Protect a lordless lady! Ye woodland goddesses, +be kind! Give back his life! Help, Earth, that bringest favours to +all! Night, showest thou no mercy? Father Kailasa, thy protection +I implore. Show thy wonted pity!" Such were my laments, so far as +I remember, and I murmured incoherently as one held by a demon, +or possessed or mad, or struck down by an evil spirit. In the tears +that fell in torrents upon me I was turned to water, I melted away, +I took upon me a shape of water; my laments, followed by the sharp +rays of my teeth, fell as if with showers of tears; (329) my hair, +with its flowers ever falling, seemed to shed teardrops, and my +very ornaments by the tears of pure gemlight that sprang from them +seemed to raise their lament. I longed for my own death as for his +life; I yearned to enter his heart with my whole soul, dead though +he were; with my hand I touched his cheeks, and his brow with the +roots of his hair, white with dry sandal, and his shoulders with the +lotus-fibres on them, and his heart covered with lotus-leaves and +flecks of sandal-juice. With the tender reproach, "Thou art cruel, +Pundarika! Thou carest nought that I am thus wretched!" I again +sought to win him back. I again embraced him, I again clasped his +neck, and wept aloud. Then I rebuked that string of pearls, saying: +"Ah, wicked one, couldst not even thou have preserved his life till +my coming?" Then again I fell at Kapiñjala's feet with the prayer, +"Be kind, my lord; restore him to life!" and again, clinging to +Taralika's neck, I wept. Even now, when I think of it, I know +not how these piteous, tender words came forth from my ill-fated +heart--words all unthought, unlearnt, untaught, unseen before; +nor whence these utterances arose; nor whence these heart-rending +cries of despair. My whole being was changed. (330) For there rose a +deluge wave of inward tears, the springs of weeping were set loose, +the buds of wailing came forth, the peaks of sorrow grew lofty and +a long line of madness was begun.' And so, as she thus told her own +tale, she seemed again to taste the bitterness of that former plight, +so cruel, and so hardly endured, and a swoon bereft her of sense. In +the force of her swoon she fell on the rock, and Candrapida hastily +stretched out his hand, like her servant, and supported her, full of +sorrow. At length he brought her back to consciousness by fanning +her with the edge of her own bark garment, wet with tears. Filled +with pity, and with his cheeks bathed in tears, he said to her, +as she came to life: 'Lady, it is by my fault that thy grief has +been brought back to its first freshness, and that thou hast come to +this pass. Therefore no more of this tale. Let it be ended. Even I +cannot bear to hear it. For the story even of past sorrow endured by +a friend pains us as if we ourselves were living through it. [283] +Thou wilt not therefore surely place on the fire of grief that life +so precious and so hardly preserved?' (331) Thus addressed, with a +long, hot sigh and eyes dissolved in tears, she despairingly replied: +'Prince, even in that dreadful night my hated life did not desert me; +[284] it is not likely that it will leave me now. Even blessed Death +turns away his eyes from one so ill-fated and wicked. Whence could +one so hard-hearted feel grief? all this can be but feigned in a +nature so vile. But be that as it may, that shameless heart has +made me chief among the shameless. For to one so adamantine as to +have seen love in all his power, and yet to have lived through this, +what can mere speaking of it matter? + +'"'Or what could there be harder to tell than this very thing, which +is supposed to be impossible to hear or say? I will at least briefly +tell the marvel that followed on that thunderbolt, and I will tell, +too, what came as a tiny dim cause of my prolonging my life, which by +its mirage so deludes me that I bear about a hated body, almost dead, +alien to me, burdensome, unfitted to my needs, and thankless for my +care. That shall suffice. Afterwards, in a sudden change [285] of +feeling, with resolve firmly set on death, lamenting bitterly, I cried +to Taralika: "Rise, cruel-hearted girl; how long wilt thou weep? Bring +together wood and make a pile. I will follow the lord of my life." + +(332) '"'Straightway a being swiftly left the moon's orb and descended +from the sky. Behind him he trailed a silken vesture hanging from +his crest, white as the foam of nectar, and waving in the wind; +his cheeks were reddened with the bright gems that swayed in his +ears; on his breast he bore a radiant necklace, from the size of its +pearls like a cluster of stars; his turban was tied with strips of +white silk; his head was thick with curling locks, and dark as bees; +his earring was an open moon lotus; on his shoulder was the impress +of the saffron lines that adorned his wives; he was white as a moon +lotus, lofty in stature, endowed with all the marks of greatness, and +godlike in form; he seemed to purify space by the light shed round him +clear as pure water, and to anoint it as by a thick frost with a dewy +ambrosial shower that created a chill as he shed it from his limbs, +cool and fragrant, and to besprinkle it with a rich store of goçirsha +[286] sandal-juice. + +'"'With arms sturdy as the trunk of Airavata, and fingers white as +lotus-fibres and cool to the touch, he lifted my dead lord, (333) +and, in a voice deep as a drum, he said to me: "Mahaçveta, my child, +thou must not die; for thou shalt again be united with him!" And with +these words, tender as a father's, he flew into the sky with Pundarika. + +'"'But this sudden event filled me with fear, dismay, and eager +anxiety, and with upraised face I asked Kapiñjala what it might +mean. He, however, started up hastily without replying, and with the +cry, "Monster, whither goest thou with my friend?" with uplifted eyes +and sudden wrath he hastily girt up his loins, and following him in +his flight, in hot pursuit he rose into the sky; and while I yet gazed +they all entered amongst the stars. But the departure of Kapiñjala was +to me like a second death of my beloved, and it redoubled my grief, +so that my heart was rent asunder. Bewildered what to do, I cried +to Taralika: "Knowest thou not? Tell me what this means!" But she, +with all a woman's timidity at the sight, was at that very moment +trembling in all her limbs, overcome by a fear stronger than her grief, +and was frightened, moreover, by the dread of my death; and so with +downcast heart she piteously replied: "Princess, wretch that I am, +I know not! Yet this is a great miracle. The man is of no mortal +mould, and thou wert pityingly comforted by him in his flight as by a +father. Such godlike beings are not wont to deceive us, even in sleep, +much less face to face; and when I think it over I cannot see the +least cause for his speaking falsely. (334) It is meet, therefore, +that thou shouldst weigh it, and restrain thy longing for death. In +thy present state it is in truth a great ground for comfort. Moreover, +Kapiñjala has gone in pursuit of Pundarika. From him thou canst learn +whence and who this being is, and why Pundarika on his death was by +him raised and carried off, and whither he is carried, and wherefore +thou wert consoled by him with the boon of a hope of reunion that +exceeds thought; then thou canst devote thyself either to life or +death. For when death is resolved upon, it is easy to compass. But +this can wait; for Kapiñjala, if he lives, will certainly not rest +without seeing thee; therefore let thy life be preserved till his +return." Thus saying, she fell at my feet. And I, from the thirst +for life that mortals find so hard to overcome, and from the weakness +of woman's nature, and from the illusion his words had created, and +from my anxiety for Kapiñjala's return, thought that that plan was +best for the time, and did not die. For what will not hope achieve? + +'"'That night I spent in Taralika's company on the bank of the lake. To +my wretchedness it was like a night of doom, [287] drawn out to a +thousand years, all torment, all grief, all hell, all fire. (335) +Sleep was rooted out, and I tossed on the ground; my face was hidden +by the loosened and dishevelled tresses that clung to my cheeks, +wet with tears and gray with dust, and my throat was weak, for my +voice failed, broken with piteous weeping. + +'"'At dawn I arose and bathed in the lake, and having formed my +resolve, I took, for love of Pundarika, his pitcher and his bark +garments and his rosary; for I clearly knew the worthlessness of the +world. I perceived my own lack of merit; I pictured to myself the +remediless cruelty of the blows of fate; I pondered the inevitableness +of grief; I beheld the harshness of destiny; I meditated the course +of love, rich in sorrow; I learnt the inconstancy of earthly things; +I considered the frailness of all joys. Father and mother were +disregarded; kinsfolk and followers abandoned; the joys of earth were +banished from my mind; the senses held in firm restraint. + +'"'I took the ascetic vow, and sought the protection of Çiva, lord +of the three worlds and helper of the helpless. Next day my father +came, having somehow learnt my story, bringing with him my mother and +kinsfolk. Long he wept, and strove with all his might and by every +means--prayers, admonitions, and tender words of every kind--to lead +me home. (336) And when he understood my firm resolve, and knew that I +could not be turned from that infatuation, he could not, even though +without hope, part with his love for his child; and though I often +bade him go, he stayed for some days, and went home at length full +of grief, and with his heart hot within him. + +'"'After his going, it was only by empty tears that I could show +my gratitude to my lord; by many a penance I wasted my hated body, +worn away by love of him, rich in ill, devoid of shame, ill-omened, +and the home of a thousand tortures of grief; I lived but on water +and the roots and fruits of the wood; under the guise of telling +my beads I counted his virtues; thrice a day I bathed in the lake; +I daily worshipped Çiva, and in this cell I dwelt with Taralika, +tasting the bitterness of a long grief. Such am I, evil, ill-omened, +shameless, cruel, cold, murderous, contemptible, useless, fruitless, +helpless, and joyless. (337) Why should one so noble as thou deign +to look on or speak with me, the doer of that monstrous crime, the +slaughter of a Brahman?' Thus saying, she covered her face with the +white edge of her bark garment, as if veiling the moon with a fleck +of autumn cloud, and, unable to quell the irresistible torrent of +her tears, she gave way to her sobs, and began to weep loud and long. + +'"From the very first Candrapida had been filled with reverence +by her beauty, modesty, and courtesy; by the charm of her speech, +her unselfishness and her austerity; and by her serenity, humility, +dignity, and purity. But now he was carried away both by the story of +her life, which showed her noble character, and by her devoted spirit, +and a fresh tenderness arose in him. With softened heart he gently +said: 'Lady, those may weep who fear pain, and are devoid of gratitude, +and love pleasure, for they are unable to do anything worthy of love, +and show their affection merely by vain tears. But thou who hast +done all rightly, what duty of love hast thou left undone, that thou +weepest? For Pundarika's sake, thy kinsfolk who from thy birth have +been around thee, dear as they were, have been forsaken as if they +were strangers. (338) Earthly pleasures, though at thy feet, have +been despised and reckoned light as grass. The joys of power, though +their riches excelled the empire of Indra, have been resigned. Thy +form has been emaciated by dread penances, even though by nature it +was slender as a lotus-stalk. Thou hast taken the ascetic vow. Thy +soul has been devoted to great penance. Thou hast dwelt in the woods, +hard though it be for a woman. Moreover, life is easily resigned by +those whom sorrow has overwhelmed, but it needs a greater effort not +to throw away life in heavy grief. This following another to death is +most vain! It is a path followed by the ignorant! It is a mere freak +of madness, a path of ignorance, an enterprise of recklessness, a view +of baseness, a sign of utter thoughtlessness, and a blunder of folly, +that one should resign life on the death of father, brother, friend, +or husband. If life leaves us not of itself, we must not resign +it. For this leaving of life, if we examine it, is merely for our +own interest, because we cannot bear our own cureless pain. To the +dead man it brings no good whatever. For it is no means of bringing +him back to life, or heaping up merit, or gaining heaven for him, +or saving him from hell, or seeing him again, or being reunited with +him. (339) For he is led helplessly, irresistibly to another state +meet for the fruits of his own deeds. And yet he shares in the guilt +of the friend who has killed himself. But a man who lives on can help +greatly, by offerings of water and the like, both the dead man and +himself; but by dying he helps neither. Remember how Rati, the sole +and beloved wife of Love, when her noble husband, who won the hearts +of all women, was burnt up by the fire of Çiva, yet did not yield +her life; and remember also Kunti, of the race of Vrishni, daughter +of Surasena, for her lord was Pandu the wise; his seat was perfumed +by the flowers in the crests of all the kings whom he had conquered +without an effort, and he received the tribute of the whole earth, +and yet when he was consumed by Kindama's curse she still remained +alive. Uttara, too, the young daughter of Virata, on the death of +Abhimanyu, gentle and heroic, and joyful to the eyes as the young +moon, yet lived on. And Duhçalya, too, daughter of Dhritarashtra, +tenderly cared for by her hundred brothers; when Jayadratha, king of +Sindhu, was slain by Arjuna, fair as he was and great as he had become +by Çiva's [288] gift, yet made no resignation of her life. (340) +And others are told of by thousands, daughters of Rakshasas, gods, +demons, ascetics, mortals, siddhas and Gandharvas, who when bereft +of their husbands yet preserved their lives. Still, where reunion +is doubtful, life might be yielded. But for thee, thou hast heard +from that great being a promise of reunion. What doubt can there be +in a matter of thine own experience, and how could falsehood find +a place in the words of such noble truth-speaking saints, even when +there might be greater cause? And what union could there be between +the dead and the living? Therefore of a surety that wondrous being +was filled with pity and carried away Pundarika to heaven solely +to bring him back to life. For the power of great men transcends +thought. Life has many aspects. Destiny is manifold. Those skilled in +penance are fitted for wondrous miracles. Many are the forms of power +gained by previous actions. Moreover, however subtly we may consider +the matter, what other cause can we imagine for Pundarika's being +taken away, but the gift of fresh life. And this, thou must know, +is not impossible. It is a path often trodden. (341) For Pramadvara, +daughter of Viçvavasu, king of the Gandharvas and Menaka, lost her +life through a poisonous snake at the hermitage of Sthulakeça, and +the young ascetic Ruru, son of Pramati and grandson of the Bhrigu +Cyavana, provided her with half his own life. And when Arjuna was +following the Açvamedha steed, he was pierced in the van of the +battle by an arrow from his own son Babhruvahana, and a Naga maiden, +Ulupa, brought him back to life. When Parikshit, Abhimanyu's son, +was consumed by Açvatthama's fiery dart, though he had already died +at birth, Krishna, filled with pity by Uttara's lament, restored +his precious life. And at Ujjayini, he whose steps are honoured +by the three worlds, carried off from the city of death the son of +Sandipani the Brahman, and brought him back. [289] And in thy case, +too, the same will somehow come to pass. For by thy present grief, +what is effected or what won? Fate is all-powerful. Destiny is +strong. We cannot even draw a breath at our own will. The freaks of +that accursed and most harsh destiny are exceeding cruel. A love fair +in its sincerity is not allowed long to endure; for joys are wont to +be in their essence frail and unlasting, while sorrows by their nature +are long-lived. (342) For how hardly are mortals united in one life, +while in a thousand lives they are separated. Thou canst not surely +then blame thyself, all undeserving of blame. For these things often +happen to those who enter the tangled path of transmigration, and it +is the brave who conquer misfortune.' With such gentle and soothing +words he consoled her, and made her, albeit reluctantly, bathe her +face with water brought in his joined hands from the cascade. + +'"Straightway the sun began to sink, as if he were leaving the day's +duties from grief at hearing Mahaçveta's story. Then day faded away; +the sun hung shining red as the pollen of a cluster of priyangu in full +blossom; the quarters of space were losing the glow of sunset soft +as silk dyed in the juice of many lotuses; (343) the sky was tinged +with red, glowing like the pupils of a partridge, [290] while its +blue was hidden; twilight was reddening and lighting up the earth, +tawny as a pigeon's eye; the clusters of stars shone forth, vying +with each other; the darkness of night was deepening into black, +and stealing away the broad path of the stars with its form dark as a +forest buffalo; the woodland avenues seemed massed together as their +green was hidden by deep gloom; the wind wandered cooled by night-dew, +with its path tracked by the perfume of the wild flowers as it stirred +the tangle of trees and creepers; and when night had its birds all +still in sleep Mahaçveta slowly rose, and saying her evening prayers, +washed her feet with water from the pitcher and sat down with a hot, +sorrowful sigh on her bark couch. Candrapida, too, rose and poured a +libation of water strewn with flowers, said his evening prayer, and +made a couch on the other rock with soft creeper boughs. As he rested +upon it he went over Mahaçveta's story again in his mind. 'This evil +Love,' thought he, 'has a power hard alike to cure and to endure. For +even great men, when overcome by him, regard not the course of time, +but suddenly lose all courage and surrender life. Yet all hail to +Love, whose rule is honoured throughout the three worlds!' (344) +And again he asked her: 'She that was thy handmaiden, thy friend in +the resolve to dwell in the woods, and the sharer of the ascetic vow +taken in thy sorrow--Taralika, where is she?' 'Noble sir,' she replied, +'from the race of Apsarases sprung from ambrosia of which I told you, +there was born a fair-eyed daughter named Madira, [291] who married +King Citraratha, the king whose footstool was formed of the buds in +the crests of all the Gandharvas. Charmed by her countless virtues, +he showed his favour by giving her the title of Chief Queen, bearing +with it cowrie, sceptre and umbrella, marked by a golden throne, +and placing all the zenana below her--a woman's rarest glory! And, +as they pursued together the joys of youth in their utter devotion +to each other, a priceless daughter was in due time born to them, +by name Kadambari, most wondrous, the very life of her parents, and +of the whole Gandharva race, and even of all living beings. From her +birth she was the friend of my childhood, and shared with me seat, +couch, meat and drink; on her my deepest love was set, and she was +the home of all my confidence, and like my other heart. Together we +learnt to dance and sing, and our childhood passed away free from +restraint in the sports that belong to it. (345) From sorrow at my +unhappy story she made a resolve that she would in nowise accept a +husband while I was still in grief, and before her girl friends she +took an oath, saying: "If my father should in anywise or at any time +wish to marry me against my will and by force, I will end my life +by hunger, fire, cord, or poison." Citraratha himself heard all the +resolution of his daughter, spoken of positively in the repeated +gossip of her attendants, and as time went on, seeing that she was +growing to full youth, he became prey to great vexation, and for a +time took pleasure in nothing, and yet, as she was his only child and +he dearly loved her, he could say nothing to her, though he saw no +other resource. But as he deemed the time now ripe, he considered the +matter with Queen Madira, and sent the herald Kshiroda to me at early +dawn with the message: "Dear Mahaçveta, our hearts were already burnt +up by thy sad fate, and now this new thing has come upon us. To thee +we look to win back Kadambari." Thereupon, in reverence to the words +of one so respected, and in love to my friend, I sent Taralika with +Kshiroda to bid Kadambari not add grief to one already sad enough; +(346) for if she wished me to live she must fulfil her father's words; +and ere Taralika had been long gone, thou, noble sir, camest to this +spot.' So saying she was silent. + +'"Then the moon arose, simulating by his mark the heart of Mahaçveta, +burnt through by the fire of grief, bearing the great crime of +the young ascetic's death, showing the long ingrained scar of the +burning of Daksha's curse, [292] white with thick ashes, and half +covered by black antelope skin, like the left breast of Durga, the +crest-jewel of Çiva's thick locks. (347) Then at length Candrapida +beheld Mahaçveta asleep, and quietly lay down himself on his leafy +couch and fell asleep while thinking what Vaiçampayana and sorrowing +Patralekha and his princely compeers would then be imagining about him. + +'"Then at dawn, when Mahaçveta had honoured the twilight and was +murmuring the aghamarshana, and Candrapida had said his morning +prayer, Taralika was seen coming with a Gandharva boy named Keyuraka +(348). As she drew near, she looked long at Candrapida, wondering +who he might be, and approaching Mahaçveta, she bowed low and sat +respectfully by her. Then Keyuraka, with head low bent even from +afar, took his place on a rock some way off, assigned to him by a +glance from Mahaçveta, and was filled with wonder at the sight of +Candrapida's marvellous beauty, rare, mocking that of gods, demons, +Gandharvas, and Vidyadharas, and surpassing even the god of love. + +(349) '"When she had finished her prayers, Mahaçveta asked Taralika, +'Didst thou see my dear Kadambari well? and will she do as I +said?' 'Princess,' said Taralika, in a very sweet voice, with +head respectfully inclined, 'I saw Princess Kadambari well in all +respects, and told her all thine advice; and what was her reply, +when with a continuous stream of thick tears she had heard it, that +her lute-player Keyuraka, whom she has sent, shall tell thee;' and +as she ceased Keyuraka said, 'Princess Mahaçveta, my lady Kadambari, +with a close embrace, sends this message, "Is this, that Taralika +has been sent to tell me, said to please my parents or to test my +feelings, or to subtly reproach me for my crime in dwelling at home; +or is it a desire to break our friendship, or a device to desert +one who loves her, or is it simply anger? Thou knowest that my heart +overflows with a love that was inborn in me. How wert thou not ashamed +to send so cruel a message? Thou, erst so soft of speech, from whom +hast thou learnt to speak unkindness and utter reproach? Who in his +senses would, even if happy, make up his mind to undertake even a +slight matter that would end in pain? how much less one like me, +whose heart is struck down by deep grief? For in a heart worn by a +friend's sorrow, what hope is there of joy, what contentment, what +pleasures or what mirth? (350) How should I fulfil the desire of Love, +poisonous, pitiless, unkind, who has brought my dear friend to so +sad a plight? Even the hen cakravaka, when the lotus-beds are widowed +by the sun's setting, renounces from the friendship that arises from +dwelling among them, the joys of union with her lord; how much more, +then, should women! While my friend dwells day and night sorrowing +for the loss of her lord and avoiding the sight of mankind, how +could anyone else enter my heart; and while my friend in her sorrow +tortures herself with penances and suffers great pain, how could I +think so lightly of that as to seek my own happiness and accept a +husband, or how could any happiness befall me? For from love of thee +I have in this matter accepted disgrace by embracing an independent +life contrary to the wont of maidens. I have despised noble breeding, +transgressed my parent's commands, set at nought the gossip of mankind, +thrown away modesty, a woman's inborn grace; how, tell me, should such +a one go back? Therefore I salute thee, I bow before thee, I embrace +thy feet; be gracious to me. As thou hast gone hence into the forest, +taking my life with thee, make not this request in thy mind, even in +a dream."' (351) Thus having said, he became silent, and Mahaçveta +thought long, and then dismissed Keyuraka, saying, 'Do thou depart; +I will go to her and do what is fitting.' On his departure she said +to Candrapida, 'Prince, Hemakuta is pleasant and the royal city of +Citraratha marvellous; the Kinnara country is curious, the Gandharva +world beautiful, and Kadambari is noble and generous of heart. If +thou deemest not the journey too tedious, if no serious business is +hindered, if thy mind is curious to behold rare sights, if thou art +encouraged by my words, if the sight of wonders gives thee joy, if +thou wilt deign to grant my request, if thou thinkest me worthy of +not being denied, if any friendship has grown up between us, or if +I am deserving of thy favour, then thou canst not disdain to fulfil +this prayer. Thou canst go hence with me, and see not only Hemakuta, +that treasure of beauty, but my second self, Kadambari; and having +removed this foolish freak of hers, thou canst rest for one day, +and return hither the next morn. For by the sight of thy kindness so +freely [293] given, my grief has become bearable, since I have told +thee my story, breathed out as it was from a heart long overwhelmed +with the darkness of grief. (352) For the presence of the good gives +joy even to those who are sad at heart, and a virtue springs from +such as thou art that wholly tends to make others happy.' + +'"'Lady,' replied Candrapida, 'from the first moment of seeing thee +I have been devoted to thy service. Let thy will be imposed without +hesitation'; so saying, he started in her company. + +'"In due time he reached Hemakuta, the royal city of the Gandharvas, +and passing through the seven inner courts with their golden arches, +the prince approached the door of the maidens' dwelling. Escorted +by porters, who ran forward at the sight of Mahaçveta, bowing while +yet far off, and holding their golden staves, he entered and beheld +the inside of the maidens' palace. It seemed a new woman's world, +consisting wholly of women in countless numbers, as if the womankind +of the three worlds had been gathered together to make such a total; +or it might be a fresh manless creation, a yet unborn continent of +girls, a fifth women's era, a fresh race created by Prajapati out of +hatred for men, or a treasury of women prepared for the making of many +yugas. The wave of girlish beauty which surrounded it on all sides, +which flooded space, sprinkled nectar on the day, rained splendour on +the interstices of the world, and shone lustrous as an emerald, made +the place all aglow as if with thousands of moons; (353) it seemed +modelled in moonlight; jewels made another sky; service was done by +bright glances; every part was made for youthful pleasures; here was +an assemblage for Rati's sports, a material for Love's practice; here +the entrance of all was made smooth by Love; here all was affection, +beauty, the supreme deity of passion, the arrows of Love, here all +was wonder, marvel, and tenderness of youth. (356) When he had gone a +little way in he heard the pleasant talk of the maidens round Kadambari +as they wandered hither and thither. Such as 'Lavalika, deck the +lavali trenches with ketaki pollen. Sagarika, sprinkle jewelled dust +in the tanks of scented water. Mrinalika, inlay with saffron dust the +pairs of toy [294] cakravakas in the artificial lotus-beds. Makarika, +scent the pot-pourri with camphor-juice. Rajanika, place jewelled +lamps in the dark tamala avenues. Kumudika, cover the pomegranates +with pearly nets to keep off the birds. Nipunika, draw saffron +lines on the breasts of the jewelled dolls. Utpalika, sweep with +golden brooms the emerald arbour in the plaintain house. Kesarika, +sprinkle with wine the houses of bakul flowers. Malatika, redden with +red lead the ivory roof of Kama's shrine. Nalinika, give the tame +kalahamsas lotus-honey to drink. Kadalika, take the tame peacocks to +the shower-bath. Kamalinika, give some sap from the lotus-fibres to +the young cakravakas. Cutalatika, give the caged pigeons their meal +of mango-buds. Pallavika, distribute to the tame haritala pigeons +some topmost leaves of the pepper-tree. Lavangika, throw some pieces +of pippali leaves into the partridges' cages. Madhukarika, make some +flowery ornaments. Mayurika, dismiss the pairs of kinnaras in the +singing-room. Kandalika, bring up the pairs of partridges to the top +of the playing hill. Harinika, give the caged parrots and mainas +their lesson.' + +(358) '"Then he beheld Kadambari herself in the midst of her pavilion +encircled by a bevy of maidens sitting by her, whose glittering gems +made them like a cluster of kalpa trees. [295] (359) She was resting +on her bent arms, which lay on a white pillow placed on a small couch +covered with blue silk; she was fanned by cowrie-bearers, that in the +motion of their waving arms were like swimmers in the wide-flowing +stream of her beauty, as if it covered the earth, which was only held +up by the tusks of Mahavaraha. + +'"And as her reflection fell, she seemed on the jewelled pavement +below to be borne away by serpents; on the walls hard by to be led +by the guardians of space; on the roof above to be cast upwards by +the gods; to be received by the pillars into their inmost heart; +to be drunk in by the palace mirrors, to be lifted to the sky by the +Vidyadharas scattered in the pavilion, looking down from the roof; +to be surrounded by the universe concealed in the guise of pictures, +all thronging together to see her; to be gazed at by the palace itself, +which had gained a thousand eyes to behold her, in that the eyes of its +peacocks' tails were outspread as they danced to the clashing of her +gems; and to be steadily looked on by her own attendants, who seemed +in their eagerness to behold her to have gained a divine insight. + +'"Her beauty bore the impress of awakening love, though but yet in +promise, and she seemed to be casting childhood aside like a thing +of no worth. + +(365) '"Such was Kadambari as the prince beheld her. Before her was +seated Keyuraka, loud in praise of Candrapida's beauty, as Kadambari +questioned him, saying, 'Who is he, and what are his parentage, name, +appearance, and age? What did he say, and what didst thou reply? How +long didst thou see him? how has he become so close a friend to +Mahaçveta? and why is he coming hither?' + +'"Now, on beholding the moonlike beauty of Kadambari's face, the +prince's heart was stirred like the tide of ocean. 'Why,' thought he, +'did not the Creator make all my senses into sight, or what noble +deed has my eye done that it may look on her unchecked? Surely it is +a wonder! The Creator has here made a home for every charm! Whence +have the parts of this exceeding beauty been gathered? Surely from +the tears that fell from the Creator's eyes in the labour of thought, +as he gently moulded her with his hands, all the lotuses in the world +have their birth.' + +(366) '"And as he thus thought his eye met hers, and she, thinking, +'This is he of whom Keyuraka spoke,' let her glance, widened by wonder +at his exceeding beauty, dwell long and quietly on him. Confused +by the sight of Kadambari, yet illumined by the brightness of her +gaze, he stood for a moment like a rock, while at the sight of him a +thrill rose in Kadambari, her jewels clashed, and she half rose. Then +love caused a glow, but the excuse was the effort of hastily rising; +trembling hindered her steps--the hamsas around, drawn by the sound of +the anklets, got the blame; the heaving of a sigh stirred her robe--it +was thought due to the wind of the cowries; her hand fell on her heart, +as if to touch Candrapida's image that had entered in--it pretended to +cover her bosom; she let fall tears of joy--the excuse was the pollen +falling from the flowers in her ear. Shame choked her voice--the swarm +of bees hastening to the lotus sweetness of her mouth was the cause; +(367) the pain of the first touch of Love's arrow caused a sigh--the +pain of the ketaki thorns amidst the flowers shared the guilt; a tremor +shook her hand--keeping off the portress who had come with a message +was her pretence; and while love was thus entering into Kadambari, +a second love, as it were, arose, who with her entered the heart +of Candrapida. For he thought the flash of her jewels but a veil, +her entrance into his heart a favour, the tinkling of her gems a +conversation, her capture of all his senses a grace, and contact +with her bright beauty the fulfilment of all his wishes. Meanwhile +Kadambari, advancing with difficulty a few steps, affectionately and +with yearning embraced her friend, who also yearned for the sight +of her so long delayed; and Mahaçveta returned her embrace yet more +closely, and said, 'Dear Kadambari, in the land of Bharata there is a +king named Tarapida, who wards off all grief [296] from his subjects, +and who has impressed his seal on the Four Oceans by the edge of the +hoofs of his noble steeds; and this his son, named Candrapida, decked +[297] with the orb of earth resting on the support of his own rock-like +arms, has, in pursuit of world conquest, approached this land; and +he, from the moment I first beheld him, has instinctively become my +friend, though there was nought to make him so; and, though my heart +was cold from its resignation of all ties, yet he has attracted it by +the rare and innate nobility of his character. (368) For it is rare +to find a man of keen mind who is at once true of heart, unselfish in +friendship, and wholly swayed by courtesy. Wherefore, having beheld +him, I brought him hither by force. For I thought thou shouldst +behold as I have done a wonder of Brahma's workmanship, a peerless +owner of beauty, a supplanter of Lakshmi, earth's joy in a noble lord, +the surpassing of gods by mortals, the full fruition of woman's eyes, +the only meeting-place of all graces, the empire of nobility, and the +mirror of courtesy for men. And my dear friend has often been spoken +of to him by me. Therefore dismiss shame on the ground of his being +unseen before, lay aside diffidence as to his being a stranger, cast +away suspicion rising from his character being unknown, and behave +to him as to me. He is thy friend, thy kinsman, and thy servant.' At +these words of hers Candrapida bowed low before Kadambari, and as she +glanced sideways at him affectionately there fell from her eyes, with +their beautiful pupils turned towards the corner of their long orbs, +a flood of joyous tears, as though from weariness. The moonlight of a +smile, white as nectar, darted forth, as if it were the dust raised +by the heart as it hastily set out; one eyebrow was raised as if to +bid the head honour with an answering reverence the guest so dear to +the heart; (369) her hand crept to her softly parting lips, and might +seem, as the light of an emerald ring flashed between the fingers, +to have taken some betel. She bowed diffidently, and then sat down on +the couch with Mahaçveta, and the attendants quickly brought a stool +with gold feet and a covering of white silk, and placed it near the +couch, and Candrapida took his seat thereon. To please Mahaçveta, the +portresses, knowing Kadambari's wishes, and having by a hand placed on +closed lips received an order to stop all sounds, checked on every side +the sound of pipe, lute and song, and the Magadha women's cry of 'All +hail!' (370) When the servants had quickly brought water, Kadambari +herself washed Mahaçveta's feet, and, drying them with her robe, +sat on the couch again; and Madalekha, a friend worthy of Kadambari, +dear as her own life and the home of all her confidence, insisted +on washing Candrapida's feet, unwilling though he were. Mahaçveta +meanwhile asked Kadambari how she was, and lovingly touched with her +hand the corner of her friend's eyes, which shone with the reflected +light of her earrings; she lifted the flowers in Kadambari's ear, +all covered with bees, and softly stroked the coils of her hair, +roughened by the wind of the cowries. And Kadambari, ashamed, from +love to her friend, of her own well-being, as though feeling that in +still dwelling at home she had committed a crime, said with an effort +that all was well with her. Then, though filled with grief and intent +on gazing at Mahaçveta's face, yet her eye, with its pupil dark and +quivering as it looked out sideways, was, under the influence of love, +with bow fully bent, irresistibly drawn by Candrapida's face, and she +could not turn it away. At that same moment she felt jealousy [298] +of his being pictured on the cheek of her friend standing near--the +pain of absence as his reflection faded away on her own breast, +pierced by a thrill--the anger of a rival wife as the image of the +statues fell on him--the sorrow of despair as he closed his eyes, +and blindness as his image was veiled by tears of joy. + +(371) '"At the end of a moment Mahaçveta said to Kadambari as she was +intent on giving betel: 'Dear Kadambari, the moment has approached for +us to show honour to our newly arrived guest, Candrapida. Therefore +give him some.' But averting her bent face, Kadambari replied slowly +and indistinctly, 'Dear friend, I am ashamed to do so, for I do not +know him. Do thou take it, for thou canst without the forwardness +there would be in me, and give it him'; and it was only after many +persuasions, that with difficulty, and like a village maiden, she +resolved to give it. Her eyes were never drawn from Mahaçveta's face, +her limbs trembled, her glance wavered, she sighed deeply, she was +stunned by Love with his shaft, and she seemed a prey to terror +as she stretched forth her hand, holding the betel as if trying to +cling to something under the idea she was falling. The hand Candrapida +stretched out, by nature pink, as if red lead had fallen upon it from +the flapping of his triumphal elephant, was darkened by the scars of +the bowstring, and seemed to have drops of collyrium clinging to it +from touching the eyes of his enemies' Lakshmi, weeping as he drew +her by the hair; (372) its fingers by the forth-flashing rays of +his nails seemed to run up hastily, to grow long and to laugh, and +the hand seemed to raise five other fingers in the five senses that, +in desire to touch her, had just made their entry full of love. Then +contending feelings [299] took possession of Kadambari as if they +had gathered together in curiosity to see the grace at that moment so +easy of access. Her hand, as she did not look whither it was going, +was stretched vainly forth, and the rays of its nails seemed to hasten +forward to seek Candrapida's hand; and with the murmur of the line +of bracelets stirred by her trembling, it seemed to say, as drops of +moisture arose on it, 'Let this slave offered by Love be accepted,' +[300] as if she were offering herself, and 'Henceforth it is in thy +hand,' as if she were making it into a living being, and so she gave +the betel. And in drawing back her hand she did not notice the fall +of her bracelet, which had slipped down her arm in eagerness to touch +him, like her heart pierced by Love's shaft; and taking another piece +of betel, she gave it to Mahaçveta. + +(373) '"Then there came up with hasty steps a maina, a very flower, +in that her feet were yellow as lotus filaments, her beak was like +a campak bud, and her wings blue as a lotus petal. Close behind her +came a parrot, slow in gait, emerald-winged, with a beak like coral +and neck bearing a curved, three-rayed rainbow. Angrily the maina +began: 'Princess Kadambari, why dost thou not restrain this wretched, +ill-mannered, conceited bird from following me? If thou overlookest +my being oppressed by him, I will certainly destroy myself. I swear +it truly by thy lotus feet.' At these words Kadambari smiled; but +Mahaçveta, not knowing the story, asked Madalekha what she was saying, +and she told the following tale: 'This maina, Kalindi, is a friend +of Princess Kadambari, and was given by her solemnly in marriage to +Parihasa, the parrot. And to-day, ever since she saw him reciting +something at early dawn to Kadambari's betel-bearer, Tamalika, alone, +she has been filled with jealousy, and in frowardness of wrath will +not go near him, or speak, or touch, or look at him; and though +we have all tried to soothe her, she will not be soothed.' (374) +Thereat a smile spread over Candrapida's face, and he softly laughed +and said, 'This is the course of gossip. It is heard in the court; +by a succession of ears the attendants pass it on; the outside +world repeats it; the tale wanders to the ends of the earth, and we +too hear how this parrot Parihasa has fallen in love with Princess +Kadambari's betel-bearer, and, enslaved by love, knows nothing of the +past. Away with this ill-behaved, shameless deserter of his wife, +and away with her too! But is it fitting in the Princess not to +restrain her giddy slave? Perhaps her cruelty, however, was shown at +the first in giving poor Kalindi to this ill-conducted bird. What can +she do now? For women feel that a shared wifehood is the bitterest +matter for indignation, the chief cause for estrangement, and the +greatest possible insult. Kalindi has been only too patient that in +the aversion caused by this weight of grief she has not slain herself +by poison, fire, or famine. For nothing makes a woman more despised; +and if, after such a crime, she is willing to be reconciled and to +live with him again, shame on her! enough of her! let her be banished +and cast out in scorn! Who will speak to her or look at her again, +and who will mention her name?' A laugh arose among Kadambari's women +as they heard [301] his mirthful words. (375) But Parihasa, hearing +his jesting speech, said: 'Cunning Prince, she is clever. Unsteady +as she is, she is not to be taken in by thee or anyone else. She +knows all these crooked speeches. She understands a jest. Her mind is +sharpened by contact with a court. Cease thy jests. She is no subject +for the talk of bold men. For, soft of speech as she is, she knows +well the time, cause, measure, object, and topic for wrath and for +peace.' Meanwhile, a herald came up and said to Mahaçveta: 'Princess, +King Citraratha and Queen Madira send to see thee,' and she, eager +to go, asked Kadambari, 'Friend, where should Candrapida stay?' The +latter, inwardly smiling at the thought that he had already found a +place in the heart of thousands of women, said aloud, 'Dear Mahaçveta, +why speak thus? Since I beheld him I have not been mistress of myself, +far less than of my palace and my servants. Let him stay wherever it +pleases him and my dear friend's heart.' Thereon Mahaçveta replied, +"Let him stay in the jewelled house on the playing hill of the royal +garden near thy palace,' and went to see the king. + +(376) '"Candrapida went away at her departure, followed by maidens, +sent for his amusement by the portress at Kadambari's bidding, +players on lute and pipe, singers, skilful dice and draught players, +practised painters and reciters of graceful verses; he was led by +his old acquaintance Keyuraka to the jewelled hall on the playing hill. + +'"When he was gone the Gandharva princess dismissed her girl-friends +and attendants, and followed only by a few, went into the palace. There +she fell on her couch, while her maidens stayed some way off, full +of respect, and tried to comfort her. At length she came to herself, +and remaining alone, she was filled with shame. For Modesty censured +her: 'Light one, what hast thou begun?' Self-respect reproached her: +'Gandharva Princess, how is this fitting for thee?' Simplicity mocked +her: 'Where has thy childhood gone before its day was over?' Youth +warned her: 'Wilful girl, do not carry out alone any wild plan of +thine own!' Dignity rebuked her: 'Timid child, this is not the course +of a high-born maiden.' Conduct blamed her: 'Reckless girl, avoid +this unseemly behaviour!' High Birth admonished her: 'Foolish one, +love hath led thee into lightness.' Steadfastness cried shame on her: +'Whence comes thine unsteadiness of nature?' Nobility rebuked her: +'Self-willed, my authority is set at nought by thee.' + +(377) '"And she thought within herself, 'What shameful conduct is this +of mine, in that I cast away all fear, and show my unsteadiness and +am blinded by folly. In my audacity I never thought he was a stranger; +in my shamelessness I did not consider that he would think me light of +nature; I never examined his character; I never thought in my folly if +I were worthy of his regard; I had no dread of an unexpected rebuff; +I had no fear of my parents, no anxiety about gossip. Nay, more, I +did not in my unkindness [302] remember that Mahaçveta was in sorrow; +in my stupidity I did not notice that my friends stood by and beheld +me; in my utter dullness I did not see that my servants behind were +observing me. Even grave minds would mark such utter forgetfulness of +seemliness; how much more Mahaçveta, who knows the course of love; +and my friends skilled in all its ways, and my attendants who know +all its symptoms, and whose wits are sharpened by life at court. The +slaves of a zenana have keen eyes in such matters. My evil fate has +undone me! Better were it for me now to die than live a shameful +life. What will my father and mother and the Gandharvas say when they +hear this tale? What can I do? What remedy is there? How can I cover +this error? To whom can I tell this folly of my undisciplined senses, +(378) and where shall I go, consumed by Kama, the five-arrowed god? I +had made a promise in Mahaçveta's sorrow, I had announced it before +my friends, I had sent a message of it by the hands of Keyuraka, and +how it has now come about that that beguiling Candrapida has been +brought hither, I know not, ill-fated that I am; whether it be by +cruel fate or proud love, or nemesis of my former deeds, or accursed +death, or anything else. But some power unseen, unknown, unheard of, +unthought of and unimagined before, has come to delude me. At the +mere sight of him I am a captive in bonds; I am cast into a cage +and handed over by my senses; I am enslaved and led to him by Love; +I am sent away by affection; I am sold at a price by my feelings; I +am made as a household chattel by my heart. I will have nothing to do +with this worthless one!' Thus for a moment she resolved. But having +made this resolve, she was mocked by Candrapida's image stirred by +the trembling of her heart, 'If thou, in thy false reserve, will have +nought to do with me, I will go.' She was asked by her life, which +clung to her in a farewell embrace before starting at the moment of +her determination to give up Candrapida; (379) she was addressed by a +tear that rose at that moment, 'Let him be seen once more with clearer +eyes, whether he be worthy of rejection or no'; she was chidden by +Love, saying, 'I will take away thy pride together with thy life;' +and so her heart was again turned to Candrapida. Overwhelmed, when +the force of her meditation had collapsed, by the access of love, +she rose, under its sway, and stood looking through the window at the +playing hill. And there, as if bewildered by a veil of joyful tears, +she saw with her memory, not her eyes; as if fearing to soil with a +hot hand her picture, she painted with her fancy, not with her brush; +dreading the intervention of a thrill, she offered an embrace with +her heart, not her breast; unable to bear his delay in coming, she +sent her mind, not her servants, to meet him. + +'"Meanwhile, Candrapida willingly entered the jewelled house, as if it +were a second heart of Kadambari. On the rock was strewn a blanket, +with pillows piled on it at either end, and thereon he lay down, +with his feet in Keyuraka's lap, while the maidens sat round him +in the places appointed for them. With a heart in turmoil he betook +himself to reflection: 'Are these graces of Princess Kadambari, that +steal all men's hearts, innate in her, or has Love, with kindness won +by no service of mine, ordained them for me? (380) For she gave me a +sidelong glance with loving, reddened eyes half curved as if they were +covered with the pollen of Love's flowery darts as they fell on her +heart. She modestly veiled herself with a bright smile fair as silk +as I looked at her. She offered the mirror of her cheek to receive my +image, as in shame at my gaze she averted her face. She sketched on +the couch with her nail the first trace of wilfulness of a heart that +was giving me entrance. Her hand, moist with the fatigue of bringing +me the betel, seemed in its trembling to fan her hot face, as if it +were a tamala branch she had taken, for a swarm of bees hovered round +it, mistaking it for a rosy lotus. Perhaps,' he went on to reflect, +'the light readiness to hope so common among mortals is now deceiving +me with a throng of vain desires; and the glow of youth, devoid of +judgment, or Love himself, makes my brain reel; whence the eyes of +the young, as though struck by cataract, magnify even a small spot; +and a tiny speck of affection is spread far by youthful ardour as by +water. An excited heart like a poet's imagination is bewildered by +the throng of fancies that it calls up of itself, and draws likenesses +from everything; youthful feelings in the hand of cunning love are as +a brush, and shrink from painting nothing; and imagination, proud of +her suddenly gained beauty, turns in every direction. (381) Longing +shows as in a dream what I have felt. Hope, like a conjuror's wand, +[303] sets before us what can never be. Why, then,' thought he again, +'should I thus weary my mind in vain? If this bright-eyed maiden +is indeed thus inclined towards me, Love, who is so kind without my +asking, will ere long make it plain to me. He will be the decider of +this doubt.' Having at length come to this decision, he rose, then +sat down, and merrily joined the damsels in gentle talk and graceful +amusements--with dice, song, lute, tabor, concerts of mingled sound, +and murmur of tender verse. After resting a short time he went out +to see the park, and climbed to the top of the pleasure hill. + +'"Kadambari saw him, and bade that the window should be opened to watch +for Mahaçveta's return, saying, 'She tarries long,' and, with a heart +tossed by Love, mounted to the roof of the palace. There she stayed +with a few attendants, protected from the heat by a gold-handled +umbrella, white as the full moon, and fanned by the waving of four +yaks' tails pure as foam. She seemed to be practising an adornment fit +for going to meet [304] Candrapida, by means of the bees which hovered +round her head, eager for the scent of the flowers, which veiled her +even by day in darkness. Now she leaned on the point of the cowrie, +now on the stick of the umbrella; now she laid her hands on Tamalika's +shoulder, (382), now she clung to Madalekha; now she hid herself amidst +her maidens, looking with sidelong glance; now she turned herself +round; now she laid her cheek on the tip of the portress's staff; +now with a steady hand she placed betel on her fresh lips; now she +laughingly ran a few steps in pursuit of her maidens scattered by the +blows of the lotuses she threw at them. And in looking at the prince, +and being gazed at by him, she knew not how long a time had passed. At +last a portress announced Mahaçveta's return, and she went down, and +albeit unwilling, yet to please Mahaçveta she bathed and performed +the wonted duties of the day. + +'"But Candrapida went down, and dismissing Kadambari's followers, +performed the rites of bathing, and worshipped the deity honoured +throughout the mountain, and did all the duties of the day, including +his meal, on the pleasure hill. There he sat on an emerald seat +which commanded the front of the pleasure hill, pleasant, green as +a pigeon, bedewed with foam from the chewing of fawns, shining like +Yamuna's waters standing still in fear of Balarama's plough, glowing +crimson with lac-juice from the girls' feet, sanded with flower-dust, +hidden in a bower, a concert-house of peacocks. He suddenly beheld +day eclipsed by a stream of white radiance, rich in glory, (383) +light drunk up as by a garland of lotus-fibres, earth flooded as by +a Milky Ocean, space bedewed as by a storm of sandal-juice, and the +sky painted as with white chunam. + +'"'What!' thought he, 'is our lord, the Moon, king of plants, +suddenly risen, or are a thousand shower-baths set going with their +white streams let loose by a spring, or is it the heavenly Ganges, +whitening the earth with her wind-tossed spray, that has come down +to earth in curiosity?' + + [305]'"Then, turning his eyes in the direction of the light, he + beheld Kadambari, and with her Madalekha and Taralika bearing a + pearl necklace on a tray covered with white silk. (384) Thereupon + Candrapida decided that it was this necklace that eclipsed [306] + moonlight, and was the cause of the brightness, and by rising while + she was yet far off, and by all wonted courtesies, he greeted the + approach of Madalekha. For a moment she rested on that emerald seat, + and then, rising, anointed him with sandal perfume, put on him two + white robes, (385) crowned him with malati flowers, and then gave + him the necklace, saying, 'This thy gentleness, my Prince, so devoid + of pride, must needs subjugate every heart. Thy kindness gives an + opening even to one like me; by thy form thou art lord of life to + all; by that tenderness shown even where there is no claim on thee, + thou throwest on all a bond of love; the innate sweetness of thy + bearing makes every man thy friend; these thy virtues, manifested + with such natural gentleness, give confidence to all. Thy form + must take the blame, for it inspires trust even at first sight; + else words addressed to one of such dignity as thou would seem all + unmeet. For to speak with thee would be an insult; our very respect + would bring on us the charge of forwardness; our very praise would + display our boldness; our subservience would manifest lightness, + our love self-deception, our speech to thee audacity, our service + impertinence, our gift an insult. Nay, more, thou hast conquered + our hearts; what is left for us to give thee? Thou art lord of our + life; what can we offer thee? Thou hast already bestowed the great + favour of thy presence; what return could we make? Thou by thy sight + hast made our life worth having; how can we reward thy coming? (386) + Therefore Kadambari with this excuse shows her affection rather than + her dignity. Noble hearts admit no question of mine and thine. Away + with the thought of dignity. Even if she accepted slavery to one + like thee, she would do no unworthy act; even if she gave herself + to thee, she would not be deceived; if she gave her life, she + would not repent. The generosity of a noble heart is always bent + on kindness, and does not willingly reject affection, and askers + are less shamefaced than givers. But it is true that Kadambari + knows she has offended thee in this matter. Now, this necklace, + called Çesha, [307] because it was the only jewel left of all that + rose at the churning of nectar, was for that reason greatly valued + by the Lord of Ocean, and was given by him to Varuna on his return + home. By the latter it was given to the Gandharva king, and by him + to Kadambari. And she, thinking thy form worthy of this ornament, + in that not the earth, but the sky, is the home of the moon, hath + sent it to thee. And though men like thee, who bear no ornament + but a noble spirit, find it irksome to wear the gems honoured by + meaner men, yet here Kadambari's affection is a reason for thee to + do so. (387) Did not Vishnu show his reverence by wearing on his + breast the kaustubha gem, because it rose with Lakshmi; and yet he + was not greater than thee, nor did the kaustubha gem in the least + surpass the Çesha in worth; nor, indeed, does Lakshmi approach in + the slightest degree to imitating Kadambari's beauty. And in truth, + if her love is crushed by thee, she will grieve Mahaçveta [308] with + a thousand reproaches, and will slay herself. Mahaçveta therefore + sends Taralika with the necklace to thee, and bids me say thus: + "Let not Kadambari's first impulse of love be crushed by thee, even + in thought, most noble prince."' Thus having said, she fastened on + his breast the necklace that rested like a bevy of stars on the slope + of the golden mountain. Filled with amazement, Candrapida replied: + 'What means this, Madalekha? Thou art clever, and knowest how to + win acceptance for thy gifts. By leaving me no chance of a reply, + thou hast shown skill in oratory. Nay, foolish maiden, what are we + in respect of thee, or of acceptance and refusal; truly this talk + is nought. Having received kindness from ladies so rich in courtesy, + let me be employed in any matter, whether pleasing or displeasing to + me. But truly there lives not the man whom the virtues of the most + courteous lady Kadambari do not discourteously [309] enslave.' (388) + Thus saying, after some talk about Kadambari, he dismissed Madalekha, + and ere she had long gone the daughter of Citraratha dismissed her + attendants, rejected the insignia of wand, umbrella, and cowrie, + and accompanied only by Tamalika, again mounted to the roof of her + palace to behold Candrapida, bright with pearls, silk raiment and + sandal, go to the pleasure hill, like the moon to the mount of + rising. There, with passionate glances imbued with every grace, + she stole his heart. (390) And when it became too dark to see, she + descended from the roof, and Candrapida, from the slope of the hill. + +'"Then the moon, source of nectar, gladdener of all eyes, arose with +his rays gathered in; he seemed to be worshipped by the night-lotuses, +to calm the quarters whose faces were dark as if with anger, and +to avoid the day-lotuses as if from fear of waking them; under the +guise of his mark he wore night on his heart; he bore in the glow of +rising the lac that had clung to him from the spurning of Rohini's +feet; he pursued the sky, in its dark blue veil, like a mistress; +and by reason of his great goodwill, spread beauty everywhere. + +'"And when the moon, the umbrella of the supreme rule of Kama, the +lord of the lotuses, the ivory earring that decks the night, had +risen, and when the world was turned to whiteness, as though overlaid +with ivory, Candrapida lay down on a cool moonlit slab, pearl white, +pointed out by Kadambari's servants. It was washed with fresh sandal, +garlanded with pure sinduvara flowers, and carved round with a leafy +tracery of lotus petals. It lay on the shore of a palace lotus tank, +that seemed from the full moonlight to be made of night-lotuses, +[310] with steps white with bricks washed by the waves, as it wafted a +breeze fanned by the ripples; (391) pairs of hamsas lay there asleep, +and pairs of cakravakas kept up their dirge of separation thereon. And +while the Prince yet rested there Keyuraka approached him, and told +him that Princess Kadambari had come to see him. Then Candrapida rose +hastily, and beheld Kadambari drawing near. Few of her friends were +with her; all her royal insignia were removed; she was as it were +a new self, in the single necklace she wore; her slender form was +white with the purest sandal-juice; an earring hung from one ear; she +wore a lotus-petal in the ear, soft as a budding digit of the moon; +she was clad in robes of the kalpa-tree, [311] clear as moonlight; +and in the garb that consorted with that hour she stood revealed like +the very goddess of moonrise, as she rested on the hand offered by +Madalekha. Drawing near, she showed a grace prompted by love, and +took her seat on the ground, where servants are wont to sit, like a +maiden of low degree; and Candrapida, too, though often entreated by +Madalekha to sit on the rocky seat, took his place on the ground by +Madalekha; and when all the women were seated he made an effort to +speak, saying, 'Princess, to one who is thy slave, and whom even a +glance gladdens, there needs not the favour of speech with thee, far +less so great a grace as this. (392) For, deeply as I think, I cannot +see in myself any worth that this height of favour may befit. Most +noble and sweet in its laying aside of pride is this thy courtesy, +in that such grace is shown to one but newly thy servant. Perchance +thou thinkest me a churl that must be won by gifts. Blessed, truly, +is the servant over whom is thy sway! How great honour is bestowed +on the servants deemed worthy of the bestowal of thy commands. But +the body is a gift at the service of any man, and life is light as +grass, so that I am ashamed in my devotion to greet thy coming with +such a gift. Here am I, here my body, my life, my senses! Do thou, +by accepting one of them, raise it to honour.' + +'"Madalekha smilingly replied to this speech of his: 'Enough, +Prince. My friend Kadambari is pained by thy too great ceremony. Why +speakest thou thus? She accepts thy words without further talk. And +why, too, is she brought to suspense by these too flattering +speeches?' and then, waiting a short time, she began afresh: 'How is +King Tarapida, how Queen Vilasavati, how the noble Çukanasa? What is +Ujjayini like, and how far off is it? What is the land of Bharata? And +is the world of mortals pleasant?' So she questioned him. (393) +After spending some time in such talk, Kadambari rose, and summoning +Keyuraka, who was lying near Candrapida, and her attendants, she went +up to her sleeping-chamber. There she adorned a couch strewn with +a coverlet of white silk. Candrapida, however, on his rock passed +the night like a moment in thinking, while his feet were rubbed by +Keyuraka, of the humility, beauty, and depth of Kadambari's character, +the causeless kindness of Mahaçveta, the courtesy of Madalekha, the +dignity of the attendants, the great splendour of the Gandharva world, +and the charm of the Kimpurusha land. + +'"Then the moon, lord of stars, weary of being kept awake by the sight +of Kadambari, descended, as if to sleep, to the forest on the shore, +with its palms and tamalas, talis, banyans, and kandalas, [312] cool +with the breeze from the hardly stirred [313] ripples. As though with +the feverish sighs of a woman grieving for her lover's approaching +absence, the moonlight faded away. Lakshmi, having passed the night +on the moon lotuses, lay on the sun lotuses, as though love had sprung +up in her at the sight of Candrapida. At the close of night, when the +palace lamps grew pale, as if dwindling in longing as they remembered +the blows of the lotuses in maidens' ears, the breezes of dawn, +fragrant with creeper-flowers, were wafted, sportive with the sighs +of Love weary from ceaselessly discharging his shafts; the stars were +eclipsed by the rising dawn, and took their abode, as through fear, in +the thick creeper bowers of Mount Mandara. [314] (394) Then when the +sun arose, with its orb crimson as if a glow remained from dwelling +in the hearts of the cakravakas, Candrapida, rising from the rock, +bathed his lotus face, said his morning prayer, took his betel, and +then bade Keyuraka see whether Princess Kadambari was awake or no, and +where she was; and when it was announced to him by the latter on his +return that she was with Mahaçveta in the bower of the courtyard below +the Mandara palace, he started to see the daughter of the Gandharva +king. There he beheld Mahaçveta surrounded by wandering ascetic women +like visible goddesses of prayer, with marks of white ash on their +brow, and hands quickly moving as they turned their rosaries; bearing +the vow of Çiva's followers, clad in robes tawny with mineral dyes, +bound to wear red cloth, robed in the ruddy bark of ripe cocoanuts, +or girdled with thick white cloth; with fans of white cloth; with +staves, matted locks, deer-skins, and bark dresses; with the marks of +male ascetics; reciting the pure praises of Çiva, Durga, Kartikeya, +Viçravasa, [315] Krishna, Avalokiteçvara, the Arhat, Viriñca. [316] +Mahaçveta herself was showing honour to the elder kinswomen of the +king, the foremost of the zenana, by salutes, courteous speeches, +by rising to meet them and placing reed seats for them. + +(395) '"He beheld Kadambari also giving her attention to the +recitation of the Mahabharata, that transcends all good omens, by +Narada's sweet-voiced daughter, with an accompaniment of flutes soft +as the murmur of bees, played by a pair of Kinnaras sitting behind +her. She was looking in a mirror fixed before her at her lip, pale as +beeswax when the honey is gone, bathed in the moonlight of her teeth, +though within it was darkened by betel. She was being honoured by a +sunwise turn in departing by a tame goose wandering like the moon +in a fixed circle, with wide eyes raised to her sirisha earrings +in its longing for vallisneria. Here the prince approached, and, +saluting her, sat down on a seat placed on the dais. After a short +stay he looked at Mahaçveta's face with a gentle smile that dimpled +his cheek, and she, at once knowing his wish, said to Kadambari: +'Dear friend, Candrapida is softened by thy virtues as the moonstone +by the moon, and cannot speak for himself. He wishes to depart; for +the court he has left behind is thrown into distress, not knowing what +has happened. Moreover, however far apart you may be from each other, +this your love, like that of the sun and the day lotus, or the moon and +the night lotus, will last till the day of doom. Therefore let him go.' + +(396) '"'Dear Mahaçveta,' replied Kadambari, 'I and my retinue belong +as wholly to the prince as his own soul. Why, then, this ceremony?' So +saying, and summoning the Gandharva princes, she bade them escort +the prince to his own place, and he, rising, bowed before Mahaçveta +first, and then Kadambari, and was greeted by her with eyes and +heart softened by affection; and with the words, 'Lady, what shall +I say? For men distrust the multitude of words. Let me be remembered +in the talk of thy retinue,' he went out of the zenana; and all the +maidens but Kadambari, drawn by reverence for Candrapida's virtues, +followed him on his way like his subjects to the outer gate. + +'"On their return, he mounted the steed brought by Keyuraka, and, +escorted by the Gandharva princes, turned to leave Hemakuta. His whole +thoughts on the way were about Kadambari in all things both within and +without. With a mind wholly imbued with her, he beheld her behind him, +dwelling within him in his bitter grief for the cruel separation; +or before him, stopping him in his path; or cast on the sky, as if +by the force of longing in his heart troubled by parting, so that +he could perfectly see her face; he beheld her very self resting +on his heart, as if her mind were wounded with his loss. When he +reached Mahaçveta's hermitage, he there beheld his own camp, which +had followed the tracks of Indrayudha. + +(397) '"Dismissing the Gandharva princes, he entered his own abode +amidst the salutations of his troops full of joy, curiosity, +and wonder; and after greeting the rest of the court, he spent +the day mostly in talk with Vaiçampayana and Patralekha, saying, +'Thus said Mahaçveta, thus Kadambari, thus Madalekha, thus Tamalika, +thus Keyuraka.' No longer did royal Glory, envious at the sight +of Kadambari's beauty, find in him her joy; for him night passed +in wakefulness as he thought, with a mind in ceaseless longing, of +that bright-eyed maiden. Next morning, at sunrise, he went to his +pavilion with his mind still fixed on her, and suddenly saw Keyuraka +entering with a doorkeeper; and as the latter, while yet far off, +cast himself on the ground, so that his crest swept the floor, +Candrapida cried, 'Come, come,' greeting him first with a sidelong +glance, then with his heart, then with a thrill. Then at last he +hastened forward to give him a hearty and frank embrace, and made +him sit down by himself. Then, in words brightened by the nectar of +a smile, and transfused with overflowing love, he reverently asked: +'Say, Keyuraka, is the lady Kadambari well, and her friends, and +her retinue, and the lady Mahaçveta?' With a low bow, Keyuraka, as +though he had been bathed, anointed, and refreshed by the smile that +the prince's deep affection had prompted, replied respectfully: + +'"'She is now well, in that my lord asks for her.' And then he showed +a folded lotus-leaf, wrapped in wet cloth, with its opening closed +by lotus filaments, and a seal of tender lotus filaments set in a +paste of wet sandal. (398) This he opened, and showed the tokens +sent by Kadambari, such as milky betel-nuts of emerald hue, with +their shells removed and surrounded with fresh sprays, betel-leaves +pale as the cheek of a hen-parrot, camphor like a solid piece of +Çiva's moon, and sandal ointment pleasant with rich musk scent. 'The +lady Kadambari,' said he, 'salutes thee with folded hands that kiss +her crest, and that are rosy with the rays of her tender fingers; +Mahaçveta with a greeting and embrace; Madalekha with a reverence +and a brow bathed in the moonlight of the crest-gem she has let fall; +the maidens with the points of the fish-ornaments and the parting of +their hair resting on the ground; and Taralika, with a prostration +to touch the dust of thy feet. Mahaçveta sends thee this message: +"Happy truly are they from whose eyes thou art never absent. For +in truth thy virtues, snowy, cold as the moon when thou art by, in +thine absence burn like sunlight. Truly all yearn for the past day +as though it were that day whereon fate with such toil brought forth +amrita. Without thee the royal Gandharva city is languid as at the end +of a feast. (399) Thou knowest that I have surrendered all things; yet +my heart, in my despite, desires to see thee who art so undeservedly +kind. Kadambari, moreover, is far from well. She recalls thee with thy +smiling face like Love himself. Thou, by the honour of thy return, +canst make her proud of having some virtues of her own. For respect +shown by the noble must needs confer honour. And thou must forgive +the trouble of knowing such as we. For thine own nobility gives this +boldness to our address. And here is this Çesha necklace, which was +left by thee on thy couch."' So saying, he loosed it from his band, +where it was visible by reason of the long rays that shot through the +interstices of the fine thread, and placed it in the fan-bearer's hand. + +'"'This, indeed, is the reward of doing homage at Mahaçveta's feet, +that the lady Kadambari should lay so great a weight of honour on +her slave as to remember him," said Candrapida, as he placed all on +his head [317] and accepted it. The necklace he put round his neck, +after anointing it with an ointment cool, pleasant, and fragrant, +as it were with the beauty of Kadambari's cheeks distilled, or the +light of her smile liquefied, or her heart melted, or her virtues +throbbing forth. (400) Taking some betel, he rose and stood, with his +left arm on Keyuraka's shoulder, and then dismissed the courtiers, +who were gladly paying their wonted homage, and at length went +to see his elephant Gandhamadana. There he stayed a short time, +and after he had himself given to the elephant a handful of grass, +that, being jagged with the rays of his nails, was like lotus-fibre, +he went to the stable of his favourite steed. On the way he turned +his face now on this side, now on that, to glance at his retinue, +and the porters, understanding his wish, forbade all to follow him, +and dismissed the retinue, so that he entered the stable with Keyuraka +alone. The grooms bowed and departed, with eyes bewildered by terror +at their dismissal, and the prince set straight Indrayudha's cloth, +which had fallen a little on one side, pushed back his mane, tawny +as a lion's, which was falling on his eyes and half closing them, and +then, negligently resting his foot on the peg of the tethering-rope, +and leaning against the stable wall, he eagerly asked: + +'"'Tell me, Keyuraka, what has happened in the Gandharva court since +my departure? In what occupation has the Gandharva princess spent +the time? What were Mahaçveta and Madalekha doing? What talk was +there? How were you and the retinue employed? And was there any +talk about me?' Then Keyuraka told him all: 'Listen, prince. On +thy departure, the lady Kadambari, with her retinue, climbed to the +palace roof, making in the maidens' palace with the sound of anklets +the beat of farewell drums that rose from a thousand hearts; (401) +and she gazed on thy path, gray with the dust of the cavalcade. When +thou wert out of sight, she laid her face on Mahaçveta's shoulder, and, +in her love, sprinkled the region of thy journey with glances fair as +the Milky Ocean, and, warding off the sun's touch, as it were, with +the moon assuming in jealousy the guise of a white umbrella, she long +remained there. Thence she reluctantly tore herself away and came down, +and after but a short rest in the pavilion, she arose and went to the +pleasaunce where thou hadst been. She was guided by bees murmuring in +the flowers of oblation; startled by the cry of the house peacocks, +she checked their note as they looked up at the shower-like rays of +her nails, by the circlets which lay loose round her throat; at every +step she let her hand rest on creeper-twigs white with flowers, and +her mind on thy virtues. When she reached the pleasaunce, her retinue +needlessly told her: "Here the prince stayed on the spray-washed rock, +with its creeper-bower bedewed by the stream from a pipe that ends +in an emerald fish-head; here he bathed in a place covered by bees +absorbed in the fragrance of the scented water; here he worshipped +Çiva on the bank of the mountain stream, sandy with flower-dust; here +he ate on a crystal stone which eclipsed moonlight; and here he slept +on a pearly slab with a mark of sandal-juice imprinted on it." (402) +And so she passed the day, gazing on the signs of thy presence; and +at close of day Mahaçveta prepared for her, though against her will, a +meal in that crystal dwelling. And when the sun set and the moon rose, +soon, as though she were a moonstone that moonlight would melt, and +therefore dreaded the entrance of the moon's reflection, she laid her +hands on her cheeks, and, as if in thought, remained for a few minutes +with closed eyes; and then rising, went to her sleeping-chamber, +scarcely raising her feet as they moved with graceful, languid gait, +seemingly heavy with bearing the moon's reflection on their bright +nails. Throwing herself on her couch, she was racked by a severe +headache, and overcome by a burning fever, and, in company with the +palace-lamps, the moon-lotuses, and the cakravakas, she passed the +night open-eyed in bitter grief. And at dawn she summoned me, and +reproachfully bade me seek for tidings of thee.' + +'"At these words, Candrapida, all eager to depart, shouted: 'A +horse! a horse!' and left the palace. Indrayudha was hastily saddled, +and brought round by the grooms, and Candrapida mounted, placing +Patralekha behind him, leaving Vaiçampayana in charge of the camp, +dismissing all his retinue, and followed by Keyuraka on another steed, +he went to Hemakuta. (403) On his arrival, he dismounted at the gate of +Kadambari's palace, giving his horse to the doorkeeper, and, followed +by Patralekha, eager for the first sight of Kadambari, he entered, and +asked a eunuch who came forward where the lady Kadambari was. Bending +low, the latter informed him, that she was in the ice-bower on the +bank of the lotus-tank below the Mattamayura pleasaunce; and then the +prince, guided by Keyuraka, went some distance through the women's +garden, and beheld day grow green, and the sunbeams turn into grass +by the reflection of the plantain-groves with their emerald glow, +and there he beheld Kadambari. (410) Then she looked with tremulous +glance at her retinue, as, coming in one after another, they announced +Candrapida's approach, and asked each by name: 'Tell me, has he really +come, and hast thou seen him? How far off is he?' She gazed with +eyes gradually brightening as she saw him yet afar off, and rose from +her couch of flowers, standing like a newly-caught elephant bound to +her post, and trembling in every limb. She was veiled in bees drawn +as vassals by the fragrance of her flowery couch, all murmuring; her +upper garment was in confusion, and she sought to place on her bosom +the shining necklace; (411) she seemed to beg the support of a hand +from her own shadow as she laid her left hand on the jewelled pavement; +she seemed to receive herself as a gift by sprinkling [318] with her +right hand moist with the toil of binding together her falling locks; +she poured forth tears of joy cool as though the sandal-juice of her +sectarial mark had entered in and been united with them; she washed +with a line of glad tears her smooth cheeks, that the pollen from +her garland had tinged with gray, as if in eagerness that the image +of her beloved might fall thereon; she seemed to be drawn forward by +her long eyes fastened on Candrapida's face, with its pupil fixed in +a sidelong glance, and her head somewhat bent, as if from the weight +of the sandal-mark on her brow. + +'"And Candrapida, approaching, bowed first before Mahaçveta, then +courteously saluted Kadambari, and when she had returned his obeisance, +and seated herself again on the couch, and the portress had brought +him a gold stool with legs gleaming with gems, he pushed it away +with his foot, and sat down on the ground. Then Keyuraka presented +Patralekha, saying: 'This is Prince Candrapida's betel-box bearer +and most favoured friend.' And Kadambari, looking on her, thought: +'How great partiality does Prajapati bestow on mortal women!' And +as Patralekha bowed respectfully, she bade her approach, and placed +her close behind herself, amidst the curious glances of all her +retinue. (412) Filled even at first sight with great love for her, +Kadambari often touched her caressingly with her slender hand. + +'"Now, Candrapida, having quickly performed all the courtesies of +arrival, beheld the state of Citraratha's daughter, and thought: +'Surely my heart is dull, in that it cannot even now believe. Be +it so. I will, nevertheless, ask her with a skilfully-devised +speech.' [319] Then he said aloud: 'Princess, I know that this pain, +with its unceasing torment, has come on thee from love. Yet, slender +maiden, it torments thee not as us. I would gladly, by the offering +of myself, restore thee to health. For I pity thee as thou tremblest; +and as I see thee fallen under the pain of love, my heart, too, falls +prostrate. For thine arms are slender and unadorned, and thou bearest +in thine eye a red lotus like a hybiscus [320] from the deep wasting +of fever. And all thy retinue weep ceaselessly for thy pain. Accept +thine ornaments. Take of thine own accord thy richest adornments; for +as the creeper shines hidden in bees and flowers, so shouldst thou.' + +'"Then Kadambari, though naturally simple by reason of her youth, yet, +from a knowledge taught by love, understood all the meaning of this +darkly-expressed speech. (413) Yet, not realizing that she had come to +such a point in her desires, supported by her modesty, she remained +silent. She sent forth, however, the radiance of a smile at that +moment on some pretext, as though to see his face darkened by the bees +which were gathered round its sweetness. Madalekha therefore replied: +'Prince, what shall I say? This pain is cruel beyond words. Moreover, +in one of so delicate a nature what does not tend to pain? Even cool +lotus-fibres turn to fire and moonlight burns. Seest thou not the pain +produced in her mind by the breezes of the fans? Only her strength +of mind keeps her alive.' But in heart alone did Kadambari admit +Madalekha's words as an answer to the prince. His mind, however, was in +suspense from the doubtfulness of her meaning, and after spending some +time in affectionate talk with Mahaçveta, at length with a great effort +he withdrew himself, and left Kadambari's palace to go to the camp. + +'"As he was about to mount his horse, Keyuraka came up behind him, +and said: 'Prince, Madalekha bids me say that Princess Kadambari, ever +since she beheld Patralekha, has been charmed by her, and wishes to +keep her. She shall return later. (414) Having heard her message, thou +must decide' 'Happy,' replied the prince, 'and enviable is Patralekha, +in that she is honoured by so rare a favour by the princess. Let her +be taken in.' So saying, he went to the camp. + +'"At the moment of his arrival he beheld a letter-carrier well known +to him, that had come from his father's presence, and, stopping +his horse, he asked from afar, with eyes widened by affection: +'Is my father well, and all his retinue? and my mother and all the +zenana?' Then the man, approaching with a reverence, saying, 'As +thou sayest, prince,' gave him two letters. Then the prince, placing +them on his head, and himself opening them in order, read as follows: +'Hail from Ujjayini. King Tarapida, king of kings, whose lotus-feet +are made the crest on the head of all kings, greets Candrapida, the +home of all good fortune, kissing him on his head, which kisses the +circle of the flashing rays of his crest jewels. Our subjects are +well. Why has so long a time passed since we have seen thee? Our +heart longs eagerly for thee. The queen and the zenana pine for +thee. Therefore, let the cutting short of this letter be a cause of +thy setting out.' And in the second letter, sent by Çukanasa, he read +words of like import. Vaiçampayana, too, at that moment came up, and +showed another pair of letters of his own to the same effect. (415) +So with the words, 'As my father commands,' he at once mounted his +horse, and caused the drum of departure to be sounded. He instructed +Meghanada, son of Balahaka, the commander-in-chief, who stood near him +surrounded by a large troop: 'Thou must come with Patralekha. Keyuraka +will surely bring her as far as here, and by his lips a message must +be sent with a salutation to Princess Kadambari. Truly the nature of +mortals deserves the blame of the three worlds, for it is discourteous, +unfriendly, and hard to grasp, in that, when the loves of men suddenly +clash, they do not set its full value on spontaneous tenderness. Thus, +by my going, my love has become a cheating counterfeit; my faith +has gained skill in false tones; my self-devotion has sunk into base +deceit, having only a pretended sweetness; and the variance of voice +and thought has been laid bare. But enough of myself. The princess, +though a mate for the gods, has, by showing her favour to an unworthy +object, [321] incurred reproach. For the ambrosially kind glances of +the great, when they fall in vain on unfitting objects, cause shame +afterwards. And yet my heart is not so much weighed down by shame +for her as for Mahaçveta. For the princess will doubtless often blame +her for her ill-placed partiality in having painted my virtues with +a false imputation of qualities I did not possess. What, then, shall +I do? My parents' command is the weightier. Yet it controls my body +alone. (416) But my heart, in its yearning to dwell at Hemakuta, has +written a bond of slavery for a thousand births to Princess Kadambari, +[322] and her favour holds it fast [323] as the dense thicket holds a +forester. Nevertheless, I go at my father's command. Truly from this +cause the infamous Candrapida will be a byword to the people. Yet, +think not that Candrapida, if he lives, will rest without again tasting +the joy of worshipping the lotus-feet of the princess. Salute with +bent head and sunwise turn the feet of Mahaçveta. Tell Madalekha that +a hearty embrace, preceded by an obeisance, is offered her; salute +Tamalika, and inquire on my behalf after all Kadambari's retinue. Let +blessed Hemakuta be honoured by me with upraised hands.' After giving +this message, he set Vaiçampayana over the camp, instructing his friend +to march [324] slowly, without overtasking the army. Then he mounted, +accompanied by his cavalry, mostly mounted on young horses, wearing the +grace of a forest of spears, breaking up the earth with their hoofs, +and shaking Kailasa with their joyful neighing as they set out; and +though his heart was empty, in the fresh separation from Kadambari, +he asked the letter-carrier who clung to his saddle concerning the +way to Ujjayini. + +(417-426 condensed) '"And on the way he beheld in the forest a red +flag, near which was a shrine of Durga, guarded by an old Dravidian +hermit, who made his abode thereby. + +(426) '"Dismounting, he entered, and bent reverently before the +goddess, and, bowing again after a sunwise turn, he wandered about, +interested in the calm of the place, and beheld on one side the +wrathful hermit, howling and shouting at him; and at the sight, +tossed as he was by passionate longing in his absence from Kadambari, +he could not forbear smiling a moment; but he checked his soldiers, +who were laughing and beginning a quarrel with the hermit; and at +length, with great difficulty, he calmed him with many a soothing and +courteous speech, and asked him about his birthplace, caste, knowledge, +wife and children, wealth, age, and the cause of his ascetic vow. On +being asked, the latter described himself, and the prince was greatly +interested by him as he garrulously described his past heroism, beauty, +and wealth, and thus diverted his mind in its soreness of bereavement; +and, having become friendly with him, he caused betel to be offered to +him. (427) When the sun set, the princes encamped under the trees that +chanced [325] to be near; the golden saddles of the steeds were hung +on boughs; the steeds showed the exertions they had gone through, +from the tossing of their manes dusty with rolling on the earth, +and after they had taken some handfuls of grass and been watered, +and were refreshed, they were tethered, with the spears dug into the +ground before them; the soldiery, wearied [326] with the day's march, +appointed a watch, and gladly went to sleep on heaps of leaves near +the horses; the encampment was bright as day, for the darkness was +drunk up by the light of many a bivouac fire, and Candrapida went to a +couch prepared for him by his retinue, and pointed out to him by his +porters, in front of the place where Indrayudha was tethered. But +the very moment he lay down restlessness seized his heart, and, +overcome by pain, he dismissed the princes, and said nothing even +to the special favourites who stood behind him. With closed eyes +he again and again went in heart to the Kimpurusha land. With fixed +thought he recalled Hemakuta. He thought on the spontaneous kindness +of Mahaçveta's favours. [327] He constantly longed for the sight +of Kadambari as his life's highest fruit. He continually desired +the converse of Madalekha, so charming in its absence of pride. He +wished to see Tamalika. He looked forward to Keyuraka's coming. He +beheld in fancy the winter palace. He often sighed a long, feverish +sigh. He bestowed on the Çesha necklace a kindness beyond that for +his kin. (428) He thought he saw fortunate Patralekha standing behind +him. Thus he passed the night without sleep; and, rising at dawn, +he fulfilled the hermit's wish by wealth poured out at his desire, +and, sojourning at pleasant spots on the way, in a few days he +reached Ujjayini. A thousand hands, like lotuses of offering to a +guest raised in reverent salutation, were raised by the citizens in +their confusion and joy at his sudden coming, as he then unexpectedly +entered the city. The king heard from the retinue [328] hastening to +be first to tell him that Candrapida was at the gate, and bewildered +by sudden gladness, with steps slow from the weight of joy, he went to +meet his son. Like Mandara, he drew to himself as a Milky Ocean his +spotless silk mantle that was slipping down; like the kalpa-tree, +with its shower of choice pearls, he rained tears of gladness; +he was followed by a thousand chiefs that were round him--chiefs +with topknots white with age, anointed with sandal, wearing untorn +[329] linen robes, bracelets, turbans, crests and wreaths, bearing +swords, staves, umbrellas and cowries, making the earth appear rich +in Kailasas and Milky Oceans. The prince, seeing his father from afar, +dismounted, and touched the ground with a head garlanded by the rays of +his crest-jewels. Then his father stretched out his arms, bidding him +approach, and embraced him closely; and when he had paid his respects +to all the honourable persons who were there, he was led by the king +to Vilasavati's palace. (429) His coming was greeted by her and her +retinue, and when he had performed all the auspicious ceremonies of +arrival, he stayed some time in talk about his expedition of conquest, +and then went to see Çukanasa. Having duly stayed there some time, he +told him that Vaiçampayana was at the camp and well, and saw Manorama; +and then returning, he mechanically [330] performed the ceremonies +of bathing, and so forth, in Vilasavati's palace. On the morrow he +went to his own palace, and there, with a mind tossed by anxiety, +he deemed that not only himself, but his palace and the city, and, +indeed, the whole world, was but a void without Kadambari, and so, in +his longing to hear news of her, he awaited the return of Patralekha, +as though it were a festival, or the winning of a boon, or the time +of the rising of amrita. + +'"A few days later Meghanada came with Patralekha, and led her in; +and as she made obeisance from afar, Candrapida smiled affectionately, +and, rising reverently, embraced her; for though she was naturally +dear to him, she was now yet dearer as having won a fresh splendour +from Kadambari's presence. He laid his slender hand on Meghanada's +back as he bent before him, and then, sitting down, he said: 'Tell me, +Patralekha, is all well with Mahaçveta and Madalekha, and the lady +Kadambari? (430) And are all her retinue well, with Tamalika and +Keyuraka?' 'Prince,' she replied, 'all is well, as thou sayest. The +lady Kadambari, with her friends and retinue, do thee homage by making +their raised hands into a wreath for their brows.' At these words the +prince dismissed his royal retinue, and went with Patralekha into +the palace. Then, with a tortured heart, no longer able from its +intense love to overcome his eagerness to hear, he sent his retinue +far away and entered the house. With his lotus-feet he pushed away +the pair of hamsas that were sleeping happily on the slope beneath a +leafy bower that made an emerald banner; and, resting in the midst +of a fresh bed of hybiscus, that made a sunshade with its broad, +long-stalked leaves, he sat down, and asked: 'Tell me, Patralekha, +how thou hast fared. How many days wert thou there? What favour did +the princess show thee? What talk was there, and what conversation +arose? Who most remembers us, and whose affection is greatest?' [331] +Thus questioned, she told him: 'Give thy mind and hear all. When thou +wert gone, I returned with Keyuraka, and sat down near the couch of +flowers; and there I gladly remained, receiving ever fresh marks of +kindness from the princess. What need of words? (431) The whole of +that day her eye, her form, her hand, were on mine; her speech dwelt +on my name and her heart on my love. On the morrow, leaning on me, +she left the winter palace, and, wandering at will, bade her retinue +remain behind, and entered the maidens' garden. By a flight of emerald +steps, that might have been formed from Jamuna's [332] waves, she +ascended to a white summer-house, and in it she stayed some time, +leaning against a jewelled pillar, deliberating with her heart, +wishing to say something, and gazing on my face with fixed pupil +and motionless eyelashes. As she looked she formed her resolve, and, +as if longing to enter love's fire, she was bathed in perspiration; +whereat a trembling came upon her, so that, shaking in every limb as +though fearing to fall, she was seized by despair. + +'"'But when I, who knew her thoughts, fixed my mind on her, and, +fastening my eyes on her face, bade her speak, she seemed to be +restrained by her own trembling limbs; with a toe that marked the +floor as if for retreat, she seemed to rub out her own image in shame +that it should hear her secret; (432) with her lotus foot--its anklets +all set jingling by the scratching of the floor--she pushed aside the +tame geese; with a strip of silk made into a fan for her hot face, +she drove away the bees on her ear-lotuses; to the peacock she gave, +like a bribe, a piece of betel broken by her teeth; and gazing often +on every side lest a wood-goddess should listen, much as she longed +to speak, she was checked in her utterance by shame, and could not +speak a word. [333] Her voice, in spite of her greatest efforts, +was wholly burnt up by love's fire, borne away by a ceaseless flow +of tears, overwhelmed by onrushing griefs, broken by love's falling +shafts, banished by invading sighs, restrained by the hundred +cares that dwelt in her heart, and drunk by the bees that tasted +her breath, so that it could not come forth. In brief, she made a +pearl rosary to count her many griefs with the bright tears that +fell without touching her cheeks, as with bent head she made the +very image of a storm. Then from her shame learnt its full grace; +modesty, a transcendant modesty; simplicity, simplicity; courtesy, +courtesy; (433) fear, timidity; coquetry, its quintessence; despair, +its own nature; and charm, a further charm. And so, when I asked her, +"Princess, what means this?" she wiped her reddened eyes, and, holding +a garland woven by the flowers of the bower with arms which, soft as +lotus-fibres, seemed meant to hold her firmly in the excess of her +grief, she raised one eyebrow, as if gazing on the path of death, +and sighed a long, fevered sigh. And as, in desire to know the cause +of her sorrow, I pressed her to tell me, she seemed to write on the +ketaki petals scratched by her nails in her shame, and so deliver her +message. She moved her lower lip in eagerness to speak, and seemed to +be whispering to the bees who drank her breath, and thus she remained +some time with eyes fixed on the ground. + +'"'At last, often turning her glance to my face, she seemed to purify, +with the tears that fell from her brimming eyes, the voice that the +smoke of Love's fire had dimmed. And, in the guise of tears, she bound +up with the rays of her teeth, flashing in a forced smile, the strange +syllables of what she had meant to say, but forgotten in her tremor, +and with great difficulty betook herself to speech. "Patralekha," she +said to me, "by reason of my great favour for thee, neither father, +mother, Mahaçveta, Madalekha, nor life itself is dear to me as thou +hast been since I first beheld thee. (434) I know not why my heart has +cast off all my friends and trusts in thee alone. To whom else can I +complain, or tell my humiliation, or give a share in my woe? When I +have shown thee the unbearable burden of my woe, I will die. By my life +I swear to thee I am put to shame by even my own heart's knowledge of +my story; how much more by another's? How should such as I stain by +ill report a race pure as moonbeams, and lose the honour which has +descended from my sires, and turn my thoughts on unmaidenly levity, +acting thus without my father's will, or my mother's bestowal, or my +elders' congratulations, without any announcement, without sending +of gifts, or showing of pictures? Timidly, as one unprotected, +have I been led to deserve my parents' blame by that overweening +Candrapida. Is this, I pray, the conduct of noble men? Is this the +fruit of our meeting, that my heart, tender as a lotus filament, +is now crushed? For maidens should not be lightly treated by youths; +the fire of love is wont to consume first their reserve and then their +heart; the arrows of love pierce first their dignity and then their +life. Therefore, I bid thee farewell till our meeting in another birth, +for none is dearer to me than thou. (435) By carrying out my resolve +of death, I shall cleanse my own stain." So saying, she was silent. + +'"'Not knowing the truth of her tale, I sorrowfully, as if ashamed, +afraid, bewildered, and bereft of sense, adjured her, saying: +"Princess, I long to hear. Tell me what Prince Candrapida has +done. What offence has been committed? By what discourtesy has he +vexed that lotus-soft heart of thine, that none should vex? When I +have heard this, thou shalt die on my lifeless body." Thus urged, +she again began: "I will tell thee; listen carefully. In my dreams +that cunning villain comes daily and employs in secret messages a +caged parrot and a starling. In my dreams he, bewildered in mind with +vain desires, writes in my earrings to appoint meetings. He sends +love-letters with their syllables washed away, filled with mad hopes, +most sweet, and showing his own state by the lines of tears stained +with pigment falling on them. By the glow of his feelings he dyes my +feet against my will. In his reckless insolence he prides himself on +his own reflection in my nails. (436) In his unwarranted boldness +he embraces me against my will in the gardens when I am alone, +and almost dead from fear of being caught, as the clinging of my +silken skirts to the branches hinders my steps, and my friends the +creepers seize and deliver me to him. Naturally crooked, he teaches +the very essence of crookedness to a heart by nature simple by the +blazonry he paints on my breast. Full of guileful flattery, he fans +with his cool breath my cheeks all wet and shining as with a breeze +from the waves of my heart's longing. He boldly places the rays of his +nails like young barley-sheaves on my ear, though his hand is empty, +because its lotus has fallen from his grasp relaxed in weariness. He +audaciously draws me by the hair to quaff the sweet wine of his breath, +inhaled by him when he watered his favourite bakul-flowers. Mocked by +his own folly, he demands on his head the touch of my foot, destined +for the palace açoka-tree. [334] In his utter love madness, he says: +'Tell me, Patralekha, how a madman can be rejected?' For he considers +refusal a sign of jealousy; he deems abuse a gentle jest; he looks +on silence as pettishness; he regards the mention of his faults as a +device for thinking of him; he views contempt as the familiarity of +love; he esteems the blame of mankind as renown." + +'"'A sweet joy filled me as I heard her say this, and I thought, +(437) "Surely Love has led her far in her feelings for Candrapida. If +this indeed be true, he shows in visible form, under the guise of +Kadambari, his tender feeling towards the prince, and he is met +by the prince's innate and carefully-trained virtues. The quarters +gleam with his glory; a rain of pearls is cast by his youth on the +waves of the ocean of tenderness; his name is written by his youthful +gaiety on the moon; his own fortune is proclaimed by his happy lot; +and nectar is showered down by his grace as by the digits of the moon." + +'"'Moreover, the Malaya wind has at length its season; moonrise has +gained its full chance; the luxuriance of spring flowers has won a +fitting fruit; the sharpness of wine has mellowed to its full virtue, +and the descent of love's era is now clearly manifest on earth. + +'"'Then I smiled, and said aloud: "If it be so, princess, cease thy +wrath. Be appeased. Thou canst not punish the prince for the faults of +Kama. These truly are the sports of Love, the god of the Flowery Bow, +not of a wanton Candrapida." + +'"'As I said this, she eagerly asked me: "As for this Kama, whoever +he may be, tell me what forms he assumes." + +'"'"How can he have forms?" replied I. "He is a formless fire. For +without flame he creates heat; without smoke he makes tears flow; +without the dust of ashes he shows whiteness. Nor is there a being +in all the wide universe who is not, or has not been, or will not be, +the victim of his shaft. Who is there that fears him not? (438) Even +a strong man is pierced by him when he takes in hand his flowery bow. + +'"'"Moreover, when tender women are possessed by him, they gaze, +and the sky is crowded with a thousand images of their beloved. They +paint the loved form; the earth is a canvas all too small. They reckon +the virtues of their hero; number itself fails them. They listen to +talk about their dearest; the Goddess of Speech herself seems all too +silent. They muse on the joys of union with him who is their life; +and time itself is all too short to their heart." + +'"'She pondered a moment on this ere she replied: "As thou sayest, +Patralekha, Love has led me into tenderness for the prince. For all +these signs and more are found in me. Thou art one with my own heart, +and I ask thee to tell me what I should now do? I am all unversed in +such matters. Moreover, if I were forced to tell my parents, I should +be so ashamed that my heart would choose death rather than life." + +'"'Then again I answered; "Enough, princess! Why this needless talk +of death as a necessary condition? [335] Surely, fair maiden, though +thou hast not sought to please him, Love has in kindness given thee +this boon. Why tell thy parents? Love himself, like a parent, plans +for thee; (439) like a mother, he approves thee; like a father, he +bestows thee; like a girl friend, he kindles thine affection; like +a nurse, he teaches thy tender age the secrets of love. Why should I +tell thee of those who have themselves chosen their lords? For were +it not so, the ordinance of the svayamvara in our law-books [336] +would be meaningless. Be at rest, then, princess. Enough of this talk +of death. I conjure thee by touching thy lotus-foot to send me. I am +ready to go. I will bring back to thee, princess, thy heart's beloved." + +'"'When I had said this, she seemed to drink me in with a tender +glance; she was confused by an ardour of affection which, though +restrained, found a path, and burst through the reserve that Love's +shafts had pierced. In her pleasure at my words, she cast off the +silken outer robe which clung to her through her weariness, and +left it suspended on her thrilling limbs. [337] She loosened the +moonbeam necklace on her neck, put there as a noose to hang herself, +and entangled in the fish ornaments of her swinging earring. Yet, +though her whole soul was in a fever of joy, she supported herself +by the modesty which is a maiden's natural dower, and said: "I +know thy great love. But how could a woman, tender of nature as a +young çirisha-blossom, show such boldness, especially one so young +as I? (440) Bold, indeed, are they who themselves send messages, or +themselves deliver a message. I, a young maiden, [338] am ashamed to +send a bold message. What, indeed, could I say? 'Thou art very dear,' +is superfluous. 'Am I dear to thee?' is a senseless question. 'My +love for thee is great,' is the speech of the shameless. 'Without +thee I cannot live,' is contrary to experience. 'Love conquers +me,' is a reproach of my own fault. 'I am given to thee by Love,' +is a bold offering of one's self. 'Thou art my captive,' is the +daring speech of immodesty. 'Thou must needs come,' is the pride of +fortune. 'I will come myself,' is a woman's weakness. 'I am wholly +devoted to thee,' is the lightness of obtruded affection. 'I send +no message from fear of a rebuff,' is to wake the sleeper. [339] +'Let me be a warning of the sorrow of a service that is despised,' +is an excess of tenderness. 'Thou shalt know my love by my death,' +is a thought that may not enter the mind."'"' + + + + + + + +PART II. + + +(441) I hail, for the completion of the difficult toil of this +unfinished tale, Uma and Çiva, parents of earth, whose single body, +formed from the union of two halves, shows neither point of union +nor division. + +(442) I salute Narayana, creator of all, by whom the man-lion form +was manifested happily, showing a face terrible with its tossing mane, +and displaying in his hand quoit, sword, club and conch. + +I do homage to my father, that lord of speech, the creator by whom that +story was made that none else could fashion, that noble man whom all +honour in every house, and from whom I, in reward of a former life, +received my being. + +(443) When my father rose to the sky, on earth the stream of the +story failed with his voice. And I, as I saw its unfinished state +was a grief to the good, began it, but from no poetic pride. + +For that the words flow with such beauty is my father's special gift; +a single touch of the ray of the moon, the one source of nectar, +suffices to melt the moonstone. + +As other rivers at their full enter the Ganges, and by being absorbed +in it reach the ocean, so my speech is cast by me for the completion +of this story on the ocean-flowing stream of my father's eloquence. + +Reeling under the strong sweetness of Kadambari [340] as one +intoxicated, I am bereft of sense, in that I fear not to compose an +ending in my own speech devoid of sweetness and colour. + +(444) The seeds that promise fruit and are destined to flower are +forced by the sower with fitting toils; scattered in good ground, they +grow to ripeness; but it is the sower's son who gathers them. [341] + + + +'"Moreover," Kadambari continued, "if the prince were brought shame +itself, put to shame by my weakness, would not allow a sight of +him. (446) Fear itself, frightened at the crime of bringing him by +force, would not enter his presence. Then all would be over if my +friend Patralekha did her utmost from love to me, and yet could not +induce him to come, even by falling at his feet, either perchance +from his respect for his parents, or devotion to royal duty, or love +of his native land, or reluctance towards me. Nay, more. (448) I am +that Kadambari whom he saw resting on a couch of flowers in the winter +palace, and he is that Candrapida, all ignorant of another's pain, +who stayed but two days, and then departed. I had promised Mahaçveta +not to marry while she was in trouble, though she besought me not +to promise, saying, that Kama often takes our life by love even for +one unseen. (449) But this is not my case. For the prince, imaged by +fancy, ever presents himself to my sight, and, sleeping or waking, +in every place I behold him. Therefore talk not of bringing him." + +'(450) Thereupon I [342] reflected, "Truly the beloved, as shaped in +the imagination, is a great support to women separated from their +loves, especially to maidens of noble birth." (451) And I promised +Kadambari that I would bring thee, O Prince. (452) Then she, roused by +my speech full of thy name, as by a charm to remove poison, suddenly +opened her eyes, and said, "I say not that thy going pleases me, +Patralekha. (453) It is only when I see thee that I can endure my +life; yet if this desire possess thee, do what thou wilt!" So saying, +she dismissed me with many presents. + +'Then with slightly downcast face Patralekha continued: "The recent +kindness of the princess has given me courage, my prince, and I am +grieved for her, and so I say to thee, 'Didst thou act worthily of +thy tender nature in leaving her in this state?'" + +'Thus reproached by Patralekha, and hearing the words of Kadambari, +so full of conflicting impulses, the prince became confused; (454) +and sharing in Kadambari's feeling, he asked Patralekha with tears, +"What am I to do? Love has made me a cause of sorrow to Kadambari, +and of reproach to thee. (455) And methinks this was some curse that +darkened my mind; else how was my mind deceived when clear signs were +given, which would create no doubt even in a dull mind? All this my +fault has arisen from a mistake. I will therefore now, by devoting +myself to her, even with my life, act so that the princess may know +me not to be of so hard a heart." + +'(456) While he thus spoke a portress hastened in and said: "Prince, +Queen Vilasavati sends a message saying, 'I hear from the talk +of my attendants that Patralekha, who had stayed behind, has now +returned. And I love her equally with thyself. Do thou therefore come, +and bring her with thee. The sight of thy lotus face, won by a thousand +longings, is rarely given.'" + +'"How my life now is tossed with doubts!" thought the prince. "My +mother is sorrowful if even for a moment she sees me not. (457) My +subjects love me; but the Gandharva princess loves me more. Princess +Kadambari is worthy of my winning, and my mind is impatient of delay;" +so thinking, he went to the queen, and spent the day in a longing of +heart hard to bear; (458) while the night he spent thinking of the +beauty of Kadambari, which was as a shrine of love. + +'(459) Thenceforth pleasant talk found no entrance into him. His +friends' words seemed harsh to him; the conversation of his kinsmen +gave him no delight. (460) His body was dried up by love's fire, but +he did not yield up the tenderness of his heart. (461) He despised +happiness, but not self-control. + +'While he was thus drawn forward by strong love, which had its +life resting on the goodness and beauty of Kadambari, and held +backwards by his very deep affection for his parents, he beheld +one day, when wandering on the banks of the Sipra, a troop of horse +approaching. (462) He sent a man to inquire what this might be, and +himself crossing the Sipra where the water rose but to his thigh, +he awaited his messenger's return in a shrine of Kartikeya. Drawing +Patralekha to him, he said, "Look! that horse-man whose face can +scarce be descried is Keyuraka!" + +'(463) He then beheld Keyuraka throw himself from his horse while +yet far off, gray with dust from swift riding, while by his changed +appearance, his lack of adornment, his despondent face, and his eyes +that heralded his inward grief, he announced, even without words, +the evil plight of Kadambari. Candrapida lovingly called him as he +hastily bowed and drew near, and embraced him. And when he had drawn +back and paid his homage, the prince, having gratified his followers by +courteous inquiries, looked at him eagerly, and said, "By the sight of +thee, Keyuraka, the well-being of the lady Kadambari and her attendants +is proclaimed. When thou art rested and at ease, thou shalt tell me +the cause of thy coming;" and he took Keyuraka and Patralekha home +with him on his elephant. (464) Then he dismissed his followers, and +only accompanied by Patralekha, he called Keyuraka to him, and said: +"Tell me the message of Kadambari, Madalekha and Mahaçveta." + +'"What shall I say?" replied Keyuraka; "I have no message from any of +these. For when I had entrusted Patralekha to Meghanada, and returned, +and had told of thy going to Ujjayini, Mahaçveta looked upwards, +sighed a long, hot sigh, and saying sadly, 'It is so then,' returned +to her own hermitage to her penance. Kadambari, as though bereft of +consciousness, ignorant of Mahaçveta's departure, only opened her eyes +after a long time, scornfully bidding me tell Mahaçveta; and asking +Madalekha (465) if anyone ever had done, or would do, such a deed as +Candrapida, she dismissed her attendants, threw herself on her couch, +veiled her head, and spent the day without speaking even to Madalekha, +who wholly shared her grief. When early next morning I went to her, +she gazed at me long with tearful eyes, as if blaming me. And I, when +thus looked at by my sorrowing mistress, deemed myself ordered to go, +and so, without telling the princess, I have approached my lord's +feet. Therefore vouchsafe to hear attentively the bidding of Keyuraka, +whose heart is anxious to save the life of one whose sole refuge is in +thee. For, as by thy first coming that virgin [343] forest was stirred +as by the fragrant Malaya wind, so when she beheld thee, the joy of +the whole world, like the spring, love entered her as though she were +a red açoka creeper. (466) But now she endures great torture for thy +sake." (466-470) Then Keyuraka told at length all her sufferings, till +the prince, overcome by grief, could bear it no longer and swooned. + +'Then, awakening from his swoon, he lamented that he was thought too +hard of heart to receive a message from Kadambari or her friends, +and blamed them for not telling him of her love while he was there. + +(476) '"Why should there be shame concerning one who is her servant, +ever at her feet, that grief should have made its home in one so +tender, and my desires be unfulfilled? (477) Now, what can I do +when at some days' distance from her. Her body cannot even endure +the fall of a flower upon it, while even on adamantine hearts like +mine the arrows of love are hard to bear. When I see the unstable +works began by cruel Fate, I know not where it will stop. (478) +Else where was my approach to the land of the immortals, in my vain +hunt for the Kinnaras? where my journey to Hemakuta with Mahaçveta, +or my sight of the princess there, or the birth of her love for me, +or my father's command, that I could not transgress, for me to return, +though my longing was yet unfulfilled? It is by evil destiny that +we have been raised high, and then dashed to the ground. Therefore +let us do our utmost to console [344] the princess." (479) Then in +the evening he asked Keyuraka, "What thinkest thou? Will Kadambari +support life till we arrive? (480) Or shall I again behold her face, +with its eyes like a timid fawn's?" "Be firm, prince," he replied. "Do +thine utmost to go." The prince had himself begun plans for going; +but what happiness or what content of heart would there be without +his father's leave, and how after his long absence could that be +gained? A friend's help was needed here, but Vaiçampayana was away. + +'(484) But next morning he heard a report that his army had reached +Daçapura, and thinking with joy that he was now to receive the favour +of Fate, in that Vaiçampayana was now at hand, he joyfully told the +news to Keyuraka. (485) "This event," replied the latter, "surely +announces thy going. Doubtless thou wilt gain the princess. For when +was the moon ever beheld by any without moonlight, or a lotus-pool +without a lotus, or a garden without creeper? Yet there must be delay +in the arrival of Vaiçampayana, and the settling with him of thy +plans. But I have told thee the state of the princess, which admits +of no delay. Therefore, my heart, rendered insolent by the grace +bestowed by thy affection, desires that favour may be shown me by a +command to go at once to announce the joy of my lord's coming." (486) +Whereat the prince, with a glance that showed his inward satisfaction, +replied: "Who else is there who so well knows time and place, or who +else is so sincerely loyal? This, therefore, is a happy thought. Go to +support the life of the princess and to prepare for my return. But let +Patralekha go forward, too, with thee to the feet of the princess. For +she is favoured by the princess." Then he called Meghanada, and bade +him escort Patralekha, (487) while he himself would overtake them +when he had seen Vaiçampayana. Then he bade Patralekha tell Kadambari +that her noble sincerity and native tenderness preserved him, even +though far away and burnt by love's fire, (489) and requested her +bidding to come. (491) After their departure, he went to ask his +father's leave to go to meet Vaiçampayana. The king lovingly received +him, and said to Çukanasa: (492) "He has now come to the age for +marriage. So, having entered upon the matter with Queen Vilasavati, +let some fair maiden be chosen. For a face like my son's is not often +to be seen. Let us then gladden ourselves now by the sight of the +lotus face of a bride." Çukanasa agreed that as the prince had gained +all knowledge, made royal fortune firmly his own, and wed the earth, +there remained nothing for him to do but to marry a wife. "How fitly," +thought Candrapida, "does my father's plan come for my thoughts of a +union with Kadambari! (493) The proverb 'light to one in darkness,' +or 'a shower of nectar to a dying man,' is coming true in me. After +just seeing Vaiçampayana, I shall win Kadambari." Then the king went +to Vilasavati, and playfully reproached her for giving no counsel as +to a bride for her son. (494) Meanwhile the prince spent the day in +awaiting Vaiçampayana's return. And after spending over two watches +of the night sleepless in yearning for him, (495) the energy of his +love was redoubled, and he ordered the conch to be sounded for his +going. (497) Then he started on the road to Daçapura, and after going +some distance he beheld the camp, (501) and rejoiced to think he would +now see Vaiçampayana; and going on alone, he asked where his friend +was. But weeping women replied: "Why ask? How should he be here?" And +in utter bewilderment he hastened to the midst of the camp. (502) There +he was recognised, and on his question the chieftains besought him to +rest under a tree while they related Vaiçampayana's fate. He was, they +said, yet alive, and they told what had happened. (505) "When left by +thee, he halted a day, and then gave the order for our march. 'Yet,' +said he, 'Lake Acchoda is mentioned in the Purana as very holy. Let us +bathe and worship Çiva in the shrine on its bank. For who will ever, +even in a dream, behold again this place haunted by the gods?' (506) +But beholding a bower on the bank he gazed at it like a brother long +lost to sight, as if memories were awakened in him. And when we urged +him to depart, he made as though he heard us not; but at last he +bade us go, saying that he would not leave that spot. (508) 'Do I not +know well' said he, 'all that you urge for my departure? But I have +no power over myself, and I am, as it were, nailed to the spot, and +cannot go with you.' (510) So at length we left him, and came hither." + +'Amazed at this story, which he could not have even in a dream +imagined, Candrapida wondered: "What can be the cause of his resolve +to leave all and dwell in the woods? I see no fault of my own. He +shares everything with me. Has anything been said that could hurt him +by my father or Çukanasa?" (517) He at length returned to Ujjayini, +thinking that where Vaiçampayana was there was Kadambari also, +and resolved to fetch him back. (518) He heard that the king and +queen had gone to Çukanasa's house, and followed them thither. (519) +There he heard Manorama lamenting the absence of the son without +whose sight she could not live, and who had never before, even in +his earliest years, shown neglect of her. (520) On his entrance the +king thus greeted him: "I know thy great love for him. Yet when I +hear thy story my heart suspects some fault of thine." But Çukanasa, +his face darkened with grief and impatience, said reproachfully: "If, +O king, there is heat in the moon or coolness in fire, then there may +be fault in the prince. (521) Men such as Vaiçampayana are portents of +destruction, (522) fire without fuel, polished mirrors that present +everything the reverse way; (523) for them the base are exalted, +wrong is right, and ignorance wisdom. All in them makes for evil, and +not for good. Therefore Vaiçampayana has not feared thy wrath, nor +thought that his mother's life depends on him, nor that he was born +to be a giver of offerings for the continuance of his race. (524) +Surely the birth of one so evil and demoniac was but to cause us +grief." (525) To this the king replied: "Surely for such as I to +admonish thee were for a lamp to give light to fire, or daylight an +equal splendour to the sun. Yet the mind of the wisest is made turbid +by grief as the Manasa Lake by the rainy season, and then sight is +destroyed. Who is there in this world who is not changed by youth? When +youth shows itself, love for elders flows away with childhood. (528) +My heart grieves when I hear thee speak harshly of Vaiçampayana. Let +him be brought hither. Then we can do as is fitting." (529) Çukanasa +persisted in blaming his son; but Candrapida implored leave to fetch +him home, and Çukanasa at length yielded. (532) Then Candrapida +summoned the astrologers, and secretly bade them name the day for +his departure, when asked by the king or Çukanasa, so as not to delay +his departure. "The conjunction of the planets," they answered him, +"is against thy going. (533) Yet a king is the determiner of time. On +whatever time thy will is set, that is the time for every matter." Then +they announced the morrow as the time for his departure; and he spent +that day and night intent on his journey, and deeming that he already +beheld Kadambari and Vaiçampayana before him. + +'(534) And when the time came, Vilasavati bade him farewell in deep +sorrow: "I grieved not so for thy first going as I do now. My heart +is torn; my body is in torture; my mind is overwhelmed. (535) I know +not why my heart so suffers. Stay not long away." He tried to console +her, and then went to his father, who received him tenderly, (539) +and finally dismissed him, saying: "My desire is that thou shouldst +take a wife and receive the burden of royalty, so that I may enter on +the path followed by royal sages; but this matter of Vaiçampayana is +in the way of it, and I have misgivings that my longing is not to be +fulfilled; else how could he have acted in so strange a way? Therefore, +though thou must go, my son, return soon, that my heart's desire may +not fail." (540) At length he started, and spent day and night on his +journey in the thought of his friend and of the Gandharva world. (544) +And when he had travelled far the rainy season came on, and all the +workings of the storms found their counterpart in his own heart. (548) +Yet he paused not on his way, nor did he heed the entreaties of his +chieftains to bestow some care on himself, but rode on all day. (549) +But a third part of the way remained to traverse when he beheld +Meghanada, and, asking him eagerly concerning Vaiçampayana, (550) he +learnt that Patralekha, sure that the rains would delay his coming, +had sent Meghanada to meet him, and that the latter had not been to the +Acchoda lake. (552) With redoubled grief the prince rode to the lake, +and bade his followers guard it on all sides, lest Vaiçampayana should +in shame flee from them; but all his search found no traces of his +friend. (553) "My feet," thought he, "cannot leave this spot without +him, and yet Kadambari has not been seen. Perchance Mahaçveta may know +about this matter; I will at least see her." So he mounted Indrayudha, +and went towards her hermitage. There dismounting, he entered; but +in the entrance of the cave he beheld Mahaçveta, with difficulty +supported by Taralika, weeping bitterly. (554) "May no ill," thought +he, "have befallen Kadambari, that Mahaçveta should be in this state, +when my coming should be a cause of joy." Eagerly and sorrowfully he +questioned Taralika, but she only gazed on Mahaçveta's face. Then +the latter at last spoke falteringly: "What can one so wretched +tell thee? Yet the tale shall be told. When I heard from Keyuraka of +thy departure, my heart was torn by the thought that the wishes of +Kadambari's parents, my own longing, and the sight of Kadambari's +happiness in her union with thee had not been brought about, and, +cleaving even the bond of my love to her, I returned home to yet +harsher penance than before. (555) Here I beheld a young Brahman, +like unto thee, gazing hither and thither with vacant glance. But at +the sight of me his eyes were fixed on me alone, as if, though unseen +before, he recognised me, though a stranger, he had long known me, +and gazing at me like one mad or possessed, he said at last: 'Fair +maiden, only they who do what is fitting for their birth, age, and form +escape blame in this world. Why toilest thou thus, like perverse fate, +in so unmeet an employment, in that thou wastest in stern penance a +body tender as a garland? (556) The toil of penance is for those who +have enjoyed the pleasures of life and have lost its graces, but not +for one endowed with beauty. If thou turnest from the joys of earth, +in vain does Love bend his bow, or the moon rise. Moonlight and the +Malaya wind serve for naught.'" + +'"But I, caring for nothing since the loss of Pundarika, asked no +questions about him, (557) and bade Taralika keep him away, for some +evil would surely happen should he return. But in spite of being kept +away, whether from the fault of love or the destiny of suffering that +lay upon us, he did not give up his affection; and one night, while +Taralika slept, and I was thinking of Pundarika, (559) I beheld in the +moonlight, clear as day, that youth approaching like one possessed. The +utmost fear seized me at the sight. 'An evil thing,' I thought, +'has befallen me. If he draw near, and but touch me with his hand, +this accursed life must be destroyed; and then that endurance of it, +which I accepted in the hope of again beholding Pundarika, will have +been in vain.' While I thus thought he drew near, and said: 'Moon-faced +maiden, the moon, Love's ally, is striving to slay me. Therefore I +come to ask protection. Save me, who am without refuge, and cannot +help myself, for my life is devoted to thee. (560) It is the duty of +ascetics to protect those who flee to them for protection. If, then, +thou deign not to bestow thyself on me, the moon and love will slay +me.' At these words, in a voice choked by wrath, I exclaimed: 'Wretch, +how has a thunderbolt failed to strike thy head in the utterance of +these thy words? Surely the five elements that give witness of right +and wrong to mortals are lacking in thy frame, in that earth and air +and fire and the rest have not utterly destroyed thee. Thou hast learnt +to speak like a parrot, without thought of what was right or wrong +to say. Why wert thou not born as a parrot? (561) I lay on thee this +fate, that thou mayest enter on a birth suited to thine own speech, +and cease to make love to one such as I.' So saying, I turned towards +the moon, and with raised hands prayed: 'Blessed one, lord of all, +guardian of the world, if since the sight of Pundarika my heart has +been free from the thought of any other man, may this false lover by +the truth of this my saying, fall into the existence pronounced by +me.' Then straightway, I know not how, whether from the force of love, +or of his own sin, or from the power of my words, he fell lifeless, +like a tree torn up by the roots. And it was not till he was dead that +I learnt from his weeping attendants that he was thy friend, noble +prince." Having thus said, she bent her face in shame and silently +wept. But Candrapida, with fixed glance and broken voice, replied: +"Lady, thou hast done thine utmost, and yet I am too ill-fated to +have gained in this life the joy of honouring the feet of the lady +Kadambari. Mayest thou in another life create this bliss for me." (562) +With these words his tender heart broke, as if from grief at failing +to win Kadambari, like a bud ready to open when pierced by a bee. + +'Then Taralika burst into laments over his lifeless body and into +reproaches to Mahaçveta. And as the chieftains, too, raised their cry +of grief and wonder, (564) there entered, with but few followers, +Kadambari herself, attired as to meet her lover, though a visit +to Mahaçveta was the pretext of her coming, and while she leant on +Patralekha's hand, she expressed her doubts of the prince's promised +return, (565) and declared that if she again beheld him she would not +speak to him, nor be reconciled either by his humility or her friend's +endeavours. Such were her words; but she counted all the toil of +the journey light in her longing to behold him again. But when she +beheld him dead, with a sudden cry she fell to the ground. And when +she recovered from her swoon, she gazed at him with fixed eyes and +quivering mouth, like a creeper trembling under the blow of a keen +axe, and then stood still with a firmness foreign to her woman's +nature. (566) Madalekha implored her to give her grief the relief of +tears, lest her heart should break, and remember that on her rested the +hopes of two races. "Foolish girl," replied Kadambari, with a smile, +"how should my adamantine heart break if it has not broken at this +sight? These thoughts of family and friends are for one who wills to +live, not for me, who have chosen death; for I have won the body of +my beloved, which is life to me, and which, whether living or dead, +whether by an earthly union, or by my following it in death, suffices +to calm every grief. It is for my sake that my lord came hither and +lost his life; how, then, could I, by shedding tears, make light of +the great honour to which he has raised me? or how bring an ill-omened +mourning to his departure to heaven? or how weep at the joyous moment +when, like the dust of his feet, I may follow him? Now all sorrow is +far away. (567) For him I neglected all other ties; and now, when he is +dead, how canst thou ask me to live? In dying now lies my life, and to +live would be death to me. Do thou take my place with my parents and +my friends, and mayest thou be the mother of a son to offer libations +of water for me when I am in another world. Thou must wed the young +mango in the courtyard, dear to me as my own child, to the madhavi +creeper. Let not a twig of the açoka-tree that my feet have caressed be +broken, even to make an earring. Let the flowers of the malati creeper +I tended be plucked only to offer to the gods. Let the picture of Kama +in my room near my pillow be torn in pieces. The mango-trees I planted +must be tended so that they may come to fruit. (568) Set free from the +misery of their cage the maina Kalindi and the parrot Parihasa. Let +the little mongoose that rested in my lap now rest in thine. Let my +child, the fawn Taralaka, be given to a hermitage. Let the partridges +on the pleasure-hill that grew up in my hand be kept alive. See that +the hamsa that followed my steps be not killed. Let my poor ape be +set free, for she is unhappy in the house. Let the pleasure-hill be +given to some calm-souled hermit, and let the things I use myself be +given to Brahmans. My lute thou must lovingly keep in thine own lap, +and anything else that pleases thee must be thine own. But as for +me, I will cling to my lord's neck, and so on the funeral pyre allay +the fever which the moon, sandal, lotus-fibres, and all cool things +have but increased." (569) Then she embraced Mahaçveta, saying: "Thou +indeed hast some hope whereby to endure life, even though its pains +be worse than death; but I have none, and so I bid thee farewell, +dear friend, till we meet in another birth." + +'As though she felt the joy of reunion, she honoured the feet of +Candrapida with bent head, and placed them in her lap. (570) At +her touch a strange bright light arose from Candrapida's body, and +straightway a voice was heard in the sky: "Dear Mahaçveta, I will +again console thee. The body of thy Pundarika, nourished in my world +and by my light, free from death, awaits its reunion with thee. The +other body, that of Candrapida, is filled with my light, and so is +not subject to death, both from its own nature, and because it is +nourished by the touch of Kadambari; it has been deserted by the +soul by reason of a curse, like the body of a mystic whose spirit +has passed into another form. Let it rest here to console thee and +Kadambari till the curse be ended. Let it not be burnt, nor cast into +water, nor deserted. It must be kept with all care till its reunion." + +'All but Patralekha were astounded at this saying, and fixed their +gaze on the sky; but she, recovering, at the cool touch of that light, +from the swoon brought on by seeing the death of Candrapida, rose, +hastily seizing Indrayudha from his groom, saying: "However it may be +for us, thou must not for a moment leave thy master to go alone without +a steed on his long journey;" and plunged, together with Indrayudha, +into the Acchoda Lake. (571) Straightway there rose from the lake a +young ascetic, and approaching Mahaçveta, said mournfully: "Princess +of the Gandharvas, knowest thou me, now that I have passed through +another birth?" Divided between joy and grief, she paid homage to +his feet, and replied: "Blessed Kapiñjala, am I so devoid of virtue +that I could forget thee? And yet this thought of me is natural, +since I am so strangely ignorant of myself and deluded by madness +that when my lord Pundarika is gone to heaven I yet live. (572) Tell +me of Pundarika." He then recalled how he had flown into the sky in +pursuit of the being who carried off Pundarika, and passing by the +wondering gods in their heavenly cars, he had reached the world of +the moon. "Then that being," he continued, "placed Pundarika's body +on a couch in the hall called Mahodaya, and said: 'Know me to be the +moon! (573) When I was rising to help the world I was cursed by thy +friend, because my beams were slaying him before he could meet his +beloved; and he prayed that I, too, might die in the land of Bharata, +the home of all sacred rites, knowing myself the pains of love. But I, +wrathful at being cursed for what was his own fault, uttered the curse +that he should endure the same lot of joy or sorrow as myself. When, +however, my anger passed away, I understood what had happened about +Mahaçveta. Now, she is sprung from the race that had its origin in +my beams, and she chose him for her lord. Yet he and I must both +be born twice in the world of mortals, else the due order of births +will not be fulfilled. I have therefore carried the body hither, and +I nourish it with my light lest it should perish before the curse is +ended, and I have comforted Mahaçveta. (574) Tell the whole matter to +Pundarika's father. His spiritual power is great, and he may find a +remedy.' And I, rushing away in grief, leapt off another rider in a +heavenly chariot, and in wrath he said to me: 'Since in the wide path +of heaven thou hast leapt over me like a horse in its wild course, +do thou become a horse, and descend into the world of mortals.' To +my tearful assurance that I had leapt over him in the blindness of +grief, and not from contempt, he replied: 'The curse, once uttered, +cannot be recalled. But when thy rider shall die, thou shalt bathe and +be freed from the curse.' Then I implored him that as my friend was +about to be born with the moon-god, in the world of mortals, I might, +as a horse, constantly dwell with him. (575) Softened by my affection, +he told me that the moon would be born as a son to King Tarapida +at Ujjayini, Pundarika would be the son of his minister, Çukanasa, +and that I should be the prince's steed. Straightway I plunged into +the ocean, and rose as a horse, but yet lost not consciousness of the +past. I it was who purposely brought Candrapida hither in pursuit of +the kinnaras. And he who sought thee by reason of the love implanted +in a former birth, and was consumed by a curse in thine ignorance, +was my friend Pundarika come down to earth." + +'Then Mahaçveta beat her breast with a bitter cry, saying: "Thou didst +keep thy love for me through another birth, Pundarika; I was all the +world to thee; and yet, like a demon, born for thy destruction even in +a fresh life, I have received length of years but to slay thee again +and again. (576) Even in thee, methinks, coldness must now have sprung +up towards one so ill-fated, in that thou answerest not my laments;" +and she flung herself on the ground. But Kapiñjala pityingly replied: +"Thou art blameless, princess, and joy is at hand. Grieve not, +therefore, but pursue the penance undertaken by thee; for to perfect +penance naught is impossible, and by the power of thine austerities +thou shalt soon be in the arms of my friend." + +'(577) Then Kadambari asked Kapiñjala what had become of Patralekha +when she plunged with him into the tank. But he knew naught of what +had happened since then, either to her, or his friend, or Candrapida, +and rose to the sky to ask the sage Çvetaketu, Pundarika's father, +to whom everything in the three worlds was visible. + +'(577-578) Then Mahaçveta counselled Kadambari, whose love to her was +drawn the closer from the likeness of her sorrow, that she should +spend her life in ministering to the body of Candrapida, nothing +doubting that while others, to gain good, worshipped shapes of wood +and stone that were but images of invisible gods, she ought to worship +the present deity, veiled under the name of Candrapida. Laying his +body tenderly on a rock, Kadambari put off the adornments with which +she had come to meet her lover, keeping but one bracelet as a happy +omen. She bathed, put on two white robes, rubbed off the deep stain of +betel from her lips, (579) and the very flowers, incense, and unguents +she had brought to grace a happy love she now offered to Candrapida +in the worship due to a god. That day and night she spent motionless, +holding the feet of the prince, and on the morrow she joyfully saw +that his brightness was unchanged, (581) and gladdened her friends +and the prince's followers by the tidings. (582) The next day she sent +Madalekha to console her parents, and they sent back an assurance that +they had never thought to see her wed, and that now they rejoiced +that she had chosen for her husband the incarnation of the moon-god +himself. They hoped, when the curse was over, to behold again her +lotus-face in the company of their son-in-law. (583) So comforted, +Kadambari remained to tend and worship the prince's body. Now, when +the rainy season was over, Meghanada came to Kadambari, and told her +that messengers had been sent by Tarapida to ask the cause of the +prince's delay, (584) and that he, to spare her grief, had told them +the whole story, and bade them hasten to tell all to the king. They, +however, had replied that this might doubtless be so; yet, to say +nothing of their hereditary love for the prince, the desire to see so +great a marvel urged them to ask to be allowed to behold him; their +long service deserved the favour; and what would the king say if they +failed to see Candrapida's body? (585) Sorrowfully picturing to herself +what the grief of Tarapida would be, Kadambari admitted the messengers, +(586) and as they tearfully prostrated themselves, she consoled them, +saying that this was a cause for joy rather than sorrow. "Ye have seen +the prince's face, and his body free from change; therefore hasten to +the king's feet. Yet do not spread abroad this story, but say that ye +have seen the prince, and that he tarries by the Acchoda Lake. For +death must come to all, and is easily believed; but this event, +even when seen, can scarce win faith. It profits not now, therefore, +by telling this to his parents, to create in them a suspicion of +his death; but when he comes to life again, this wondrous tale will +become clear to them." (587) But they replied: "Then we must either not +return or keep silence. But neither course is possible; nor could we +so greet the sorrowing king." She therefore sent Candrapida's servant +Tvaritaka with them, to give credit to the story, for the prince's +royal retinue had all taken a vow to live there, eating only roots +and fruits, and not to return till the prince himself should do so. + +(589) 'After many days, Queen Vilasavati, in her deep longing for +news of her son, went to the temple of the Divine Mothers of Avanti, +[345] the guardian goddesses of Ujjayini, to pray for his return; and +on a sudden a cry arose from the retinue: "Thou art happy, O Queen! The +Mothers have shown favour to thee! Messengers from the prince are at +hand." Then she saw the messengers, with the city-folk crowding round +them, asking news of the prince, or of sons, brothers, and other +kinsfolk among his followers, (591) but receiving no answers. She +sent for them to the temple court, and cried: "Tell me quickly of my +son. (592) Have ye seen him?" And they, striving to hide their grief, +replied: "O Queen, he has been seen by us on the shore of the Acchoda +Lake, and Tvaritaka will tell thee the rest." "What more," said she, +"can this unhappy man tell me? For your own sorrowful bearing has +told the tale. Alas, my child! Wherefore hast thou not returned? When +thou didst bid me farewell, I knew by my forebodings that I should not +behold thy face again. (593) This all comes from the evil deeds of my +former birth. Yet think not, my son, that I will live without thee, +for how could I thus even face thy father? And yet, whether it be +from love, or from the thought that one so fair must needs live, or +from the native simplicity of a woman's mind, my heart cannot believe +that ill has befallen thee." (594) Meanwhile, the news was told to +the king, and he hastened to the temple with Çukanasa, and tried to +rouse the queen from the stupor of grief, saying: (595) "My queen, +we dishonour ourselves by this show of grief. Our good deeds in a +former life have carried us thus far. We are not the vessel of further +joys. That which we have not earned is not won at will by beating +the breast. The Creator does what He wills, and depends on none. We +have had the joy of our son's babyhood and boyhood and youth. We have +crowned him, and greeted his return from his world conquest. (596) +All that is lacking to our wishes is that we have not seen him wed, +so that we might leave him in our place, and retire to a hermitage. But +to gain every desire is the fruit of very rare merit. We must, however, +question Tvaritaka, for we know not all yet." (597) But when he heard +from Tvaritaka how the prince's heart had broken, he interrupted him, +and cried that a funeral pyre should be prepared for himself near the +shrine of Mahakala. (598) All his treasure was to be given to Brahmans, +and the kings who followed him were to return to their own lands. Then +Tvaritaka implored him to hear the rest of the story of Vaiçampayana, +and his grief was followed by wonder; while Çukanasa, showing the +desire of a true friend to forget his own grief and offer consolation, +said: (599) "Sire, in this wondrous transitory existence, wherein +wander gods, demons, animals and men, filled with joy and grief, +there is no event which is not possible. Why then doubt concerning +this? If from a search for reason, how many things rest only on +tradition, and are yet seen to be true? As the use of meditation +or certain postures to cure a poisoned man, the attraction of the +loadstone, the efficacy of mantras, Vedic or otherwise, in actions +of all kinds, wherein sacred tradition is our authority. (600) Now +there are many stories of curses in the Puranas, the Ramayana, the +Mahabharata, and the rest. For it was owing to a curse that Nahusha +[346] became a serpent, Saudasa [347] a cannibal, Yayati decrepit, +Triçamku [348] a Candala, the heaven-dwelling Mahabhisha was born +as Çantanu, while Ganga became his wife, and the Vasus, [349] his +sons. Nay, even the Supreme God, Vishnu, was born as Yamadagni's son, +and, dividing himself into four, he was born to Daçaratha, and also +to Vasudeva at Mathura. Therefore the birth of gods among mortals +is not hard of belief. And thou, sire, art not behind the men of +old in virtue, nor is the moon greater than the god from whom the +lotus springs. Our dreams at our sons' birth confirm the tale; the +nectar that dwells in the moon preserves the prince's body, (601) +and his beauty that gladdens the world must be destined to dwell in +the world. We shall therefore soon see his marriage with Kadambari, +and therein find all the past troubles of life more than repaid. Do +then thine utmost by worshipping gods, giving gifts to Brahmans, +and practising austerities, to secure this blessing." (602-604) The +king assented, but expressed his resolve to go himself to behold the +prince, and he and the queen, together with Çukanasa and his wife, +went to the lake. (605) Comforted by the assurance of Meghanada, who +came to meet him, that the prince's body daily grew in brightness, +he entered the hermitage; (606) while, at the news of his coming, +Mahaçveta fled in shame within the cave, and Kadambari swooned. And +as he looked on his son, who seemed but to sleep, the queen rushed +forward, and with fond reproaches entreated Candrapida to speak +to them. (608) But the king reminded her that it was her part to +comfort Çukanasa and his wife. "She also, to whom we shall owe the +joy of again beholding our son alive, even the Gandharva princess, +is yet in a swoon; do thou take her in thine arms, and bring her +back to consciousness." Then she tenderly touched Kadambari, saying +"Be comforted, my mother, [350] for without thee, who could have +preserved the body of my son Candrapida? Surely thou must be wholly +made of amrita, that we are again able to behold his face." (609) At +the name of Candrapida and the touch of the queen, so like his own, +Kadambari recovered her senses, and was helped by Madalekha to pay +due honour, though with face bent in shame, to his parents. She +received their blessing--"Mayest thou live long, and long enjoy an +unwidowed life"--and was set close behind Vilasavati. The king then +bade her resume her care of the prince, and took up his abode in +a leafy bower near the hermitage, provided with a cool stone slab, +and meet for a hermit, (610) and told his royal retinue that he would +now carry out his long-cherished desire of an ascetic life, and that +they must protect his subjects. "It is surely a gain if I hand over +my place to one worthy of it, and by this enfeebled and useless body +of mine win the joys of another world." + +'So saying, he gave up all his wonted joys, and betook himself to +the unwonted life in the woods; he found a palace beneath the trees; +the delights of the zenana, in the creepers; the affection of friends, +in the fawns; the pleasure of attire, in rags and bark garments. (611) +His weapons were rosaries; his ambition was for another world; his +desire for wealth was in penance. He refused all the delicacies that +Kadambari and Mahaçveta offered him, and so dwelt with his queen and +Çukanasa, counting all pains light, so that every morning and evening +he might have the joy of seeing Candrapida.' + +Having told this tale, [351] the sage Jabali said with a scornful +smile to his son Harita and the other ascetics: 'Ye have seen how this +story has had power to hold us long, and to charm our hearts. And this +is the love-stricken being who by his own fault fell from heaven, +and became on earth Vaiçampayana, son of Çukanasa. He it is who, +by the curse of his own wrathful father, and by Mahaçveta's appeal +to the truth of her heart, has been born as a parrot.' (612) As he +thus spoke, I awoke, as it were, out of sleep, and, young as I was, +I had on the tip of my tongue all the knowledge gained in a former +birth; I became skilled in all arts; I had a clear human voice, +memory, and all but the shape of a man. My affection for the prince, +my uncontrolled passion, my devotion to Mahaçveta, all returned. A +yearning arose in me to know about them and my other friends, and +though in deepest shame, I faintly asked Jabali: 'Now, blessed saint, +that thou hast brought back my knowledge, my heart breaks for the +prince who died in grief for my death. (613) Vouchsafe to tell me +of him, so that I may be near him; even my birth as an animal will +not grieve me.' With mingled scorn and pity he replied: 'Wilt thou +not even now restrain thine old impatience? Ask, when thy wings are +grown.' Then to his son's inquiry how one of saintly race should be +so enslaved by love, he replied that this weak and unrestrained nature +belonged to those born, like me, from a mother only. For the Veda says, +'As a man's parents are, so is he,' (614) and medical science, too, +declares their weakness. And he said my life now would be but short, +but that when the curse was over, I should win length of years. I +humbly asked by what sacrifices I should gain a longer life, but he +bade me wait, and as the whole night had passed unobserved in his +story, (615) he sent the ascetics to offer the morning oblation, while +Harita took me, and placed me in his own hut near his couch, and went +to his morning duties. (616) During his absence, I sorrowfully thought +how hard it would be to rise from being a bird to being a Brahman, +not to say a saint, who has the bliss of heaven. Yet if I could not +be united to those I loved in past lives why should I yet live? But +Harita then returned, and told me that Kapiñjala was there. (617-618) +When I saw him weary, yet loving as ever, I strove to fly to him, and +he, lifting me up, placed me in his bosom, and then on his head. (619) +Then he told me, 'Thy father Çvetaketu knew by divine insight of +thy plight, and has begun a rite to help thee. As he began it I was +set free from my horse's shape; (620) but he kept me till Jabali had +recalled the past to thee, and now sends me to give thee his blessing, +and say that thy mother Lakshmi is also helping in the rite.' (621) +Then, bidding me stay in the hermitage, he rose to the sky, to take +part in the rite. (622) After some days, however, my wings were grown, +and I resolved to fly to Mahaçveta, so I set off towards the north; +(623) but weariness soon overtook me, and I went to sleep in a tree, +only to wake in the snare of a terrible Candala. (624) I besought +him to free me, for I was on the way to my beloved, but he said he +had captured me for the young Candala princess, who had heard of +my gifts. With horror I heard that I, the son of Lakshmi and of a +great saint, must dwell with a tribe shunned even by barbarians; +(625) but when I urged that he could set me free without danger, +for none would see him, he laughed, and replied: 'He, for whom there +exist not the five guardians of the world, [352] witnesses of right +and wrong, dwelling within his own body to behold his actions, will +not do his duty for fear of any other being.' (626) So he carried me +off, and as I looked out in hope of getting free from him, I beheld +the barbarian settlement, a very market-place of evil deeds. It was +surrounded on all sides by boys engaged in the chase, unleashing their +hounds, teaching their falcons, mending snares, carrying weapons, and +fishing, horrible in their attire, like demoniacs. Here and there the +entrance to their dwellings, hidden by thick bamboo forests, was to +be inferred, from the rising of smoke of orpiment. On all sides the +enclosures were made with skulls; (627) the dustheaps in the roads +were filled with bones; the yards of the huts were miry with blood, +fat, and meat chopped up. The life there consisted of hunting; the +food, of flesh; the ointment, of fat; the garments, of coarse silk; +the couches, of dried skins; the household attendants, of dogs; the +animals for riding, of cows; the men's employment, of wine and women; +the oblation to the gods, of blood; the sacrifice, of cattle. The +place was the image of all hells. (628) Then the man brought me to +the Candala maiden, who received me gladly, and placed me in a cage, +saying: 'I will take from thee all thy wilfulness.' What was I to +do? Were I to pray her to release me, it was my power of speech that +had made her desire me; were I silent, anger might make her cruel; +(629) still, it was my want of self-restraint that had caused all my +misery, and so I resolved to restrain all my senses, and I therefore +kept entire silence and refused all food. + +Next day, however, the maiden brought fruits and water, and when I +did not touch them she said tenderly: 'It is unnatural for birds and +beasts to refuse food when hungry. If thou, mindful of a former birth, +makest distinction of what may or may not be eaten, yet thou art now +born as an animal, and canst keep no such distinction. (630) There is +no sin in acting in accordance with the state to which thy past deeds +have brought thee. Nay, even for those who have a law concerning food, +it is lawful, in a time of distress, to eat food not meet for them, +in order to preserve life. Much more, then, for thee. Nor needst thou +fear this food as coming from our caste; for fruit may be accepted +even from us; and water, even from our vessels, is pure, so men say, +when it falls on the ground.' I, wondering at her wisdom, partook of +food, but still kept silence. + +'After some time, when I had grown up, I woke one day to find myself +in this golden cage, and beheld the Candala maiden as thou, O king, +hast seen her. (631) The whole barbarian settlement shewed like +a city of the gods, and before I could ask what it all meant, the +maiden brought me to thy feet. But who she is and why she has become a +Candala, and why I am bound or brought hither, I am as eager as thou, +O king, to learn.' + +Thereupon the king, in great amazement, sent for the maiden, and she, +entering, overawed the king with her majesty, and said with dignity: +'Thou gem of earth, lord of Rohini, joy of Kadambari's eyes--thou, O +moon, hast heard the story of thy past birth, and that of this foolish +being. Thou knowest from him how even in this birth he disregarded his +father's command, and set off to seek his bride. Now I am Lakshmi, +his mother, and his father, seeing by divine insight that he had +started, bade me keep him in safety till the religious rite for him was +completed, and lead him to repentance. (632) The rite is now over. The +end of the curse is at hand. I brought him to thee that thou mightest +rejoice with him thereat. I became a Candala to avoid contact with +mankind. Do ye both therefore, straightway leave bodies beset with the +ills of birth, old age, pain, and death, and win the joy of union with +your beloved.' So saying, she suddenly rose to the sky, followed by +the gaze of all the people, while the firmament rang with her tinkling +anklets. The king, at her words, remembered his former birth and said: +'Dear Pundarika, now called Vaiçampayana, happy is it that the curse +comes to an end at the same moment for us both'; but while he spoke, +Love drew his bow, taking Kadambari as his best weapon, and entered +into the king's heart to destroy his life. (635) The flame of love +wholly consumed him, and from longing for Mahaçveta, Vaiçampayana, +who was in truth Pundarika, endured the same sufferings as the king. + +Now at this time there set in the fragrant season of spring, as if to +burn him utterly, (636) and while it intoxicated all living beings, +it was used by Love as his strongest shaft to bewilder the heart of +Kadambari. On Kama's festival she passed the day with great difficulty, +and at twilight, when the quarters were growing dark, she bathed, +worshipped Kama, and placed before him the body of Candrapida, washed, +anointed with musk-scented sandal, and decked with flowers. (637) +Filled with a deep longing, she drew nigh, as if unconsciously and +suddenly, bereft by love of a woman's native timidity, she could +no longer restrain herself, and clasped Candrapida's neck as though +he were yet alive. At her ambrosial embrace the prince's life came +back to him, and, clasping her closely, like one awakened from sleep +(638), he gladdened her by saying: 'Timid one, away with fear! Thine +embrace hath brought me to life; for thou art born of the Apsaras race +sprung from nectar, and it was but the curse that prevented thy touch +from reviving me before. I have now left the mortal shape of Çudraka, +that caused the pain of separation from thee; but this body I kept, +because it won thy love. Now both this world and the moon are bound +to thy feet. Vaiçampayana, too, the beloved of thy friend Mahaçveta, +has been freed from the curse with me.' While the moon, hidden +in the shape of Candrapida, thus spoke, Pundarika descended from +the sky, pale, wearing still the row of pearls given by Mahaçveta, +and holding the hand of Kapiñjala. (639) Gladly Kadambari hastened +to tell Mahaçveta of her lover's return, while Candrapida said: +'Dear Pundarika, though in an earlier birth thou wast my son-in-law, +[353] thou must now be my friend, as in our last birth.' Meanwhile, +Keyuraka set off to Hemakuta to tell Hamsa and Citraratha, and +Madalekha fell at the feet of Tarapida, who was absorbed in prayer +to Çiva, Vanquisher of Death, and Vilasavati, and told them the +glad tidings. (640) Then the aged king came, leaning on Çukanasa, +with the queen and Manorama, and great was the joy of all. Kapiñjala +too brought a message to Çukanasa from Çvetakatu, saying: 'Pundarika +was but brought up by me; but he is thy son, and loves thee; do thou +therefore keep him from ill, and care for him as thine own. (641) I +have placed in him my own life, and he will live as long as the moon; +so that my desires are fulfilled. The divine spirit of life in me now +yearns to reach a region surpassing the world of gods.' That night +passed in talk of their former birth; and next day the two Gandharva +kings came with their queens, and the festivities were increased a +thousandfold. Citraratha, however, said: 'Why, when we have palaces of +our own, do we feast in the forest? Moreover, though marriage resting +only on mutual love is lawful among us, [354] yet let us follow the +custom of the world.' 'Nay,' replied Tarapida. 'Where a man hath +known his greatest happiness, there is his home, even if it be the +forest.1 (642) And where else have I known such joy as here? [355] +All my palaces, too, have been given over to thy son-in-law; take +my son, therefore, with his bride, and taste the joys of home.' Then +Citraratha went with Candrapida to Hemakuta, and offered him his whole +kingdom with the hand of Kadambari. Hamsa did the same to Pundarika; +but both refused to accept anything, for their longings were satisfied +with winning the brides dear to their hearts. + +Now, one day Kadambari, though her joy was complete, asked her husband +with tears: 'How is it that when we all have died and come to life, +and have been united with each other, Patralekha alone is not here, +nor do we know what has become of her?' 'How could she be here, my +beloved?' replied the prince tenderly. 'For she is my wife Rohini, +and, when she heard I was cursed, grieving for my grief, she refused +to leave me alone in the world of mortals, and though I sought to +dissuade her, she accepted birth in that world even before me, that +she might wait upon me. (643) When I entered on another birth, she +again wished to descend to earth; but I sent her back to the world +of the moon. There thou wilt again behold her.' But Kadambari, in +wonder at Rohini's nobility, tenderness, loftiness of soul, devotion, +and charm, was abashed, and could not utter a word. + +The ten nights that Candrapida spent at Hemakuta passed as swiftly +as one day; and then, dismissed by Citraratha and Madira, who were +wholly content with him, he approached the feet of his father. There he +bestowed on the chieftains who had shared his sufferings a condition +like his own, and laying on Pundarika the burden of government, +followed the steps of his parents, who had given up all earthly +duties. Sometimes from love of his native land, he would dwell in +Ujjayini, where the citizens gazed at him with wide, wondering eyes; +sometimes, from respect to the Gandharva king, at Hemakuta, beautiful +beyond compare; sometimes, from reverence to Rohini, in the world +of the moon, where every place was charming from the coolness and +fragrance of nectar; sometimes, from love to Pundarika, by the lake +where Lakshmi dwelt, on which the lotuses ever blossomed night and day, +and often, to please Kadambari, in many another fair spot. + +With Kadambari he enjoyed many a pleasure, to which the yearning of +two births gave an ever fresh [356] and inexhaustible delight. Nor +did the Moon rejoice alone with Kadambari, nor she with Mahaçveta, +but Mahaçveta with Pundarika, and Pundarika with the Moon, all spent +an eternity of joy in each other's company, and reached the very +pinnacle of happiness. + + + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +DESCRIPTION OF UJJAYINI. + + +(102) There is a town by name Ujjayini, the proudest gem of the +three worlds, the very birthplace of the golden age, created by the +blessed Mahakala, [357] Lord of Pramathas, [358] Creator, Preserver +and Destroyer of the Universe, as a habitation meet for himself, like +a second earth. It is encompassed by a moat deep as hell--as by the +ocean, mistaking it for another earth--and surrounded by fenced walls, +white with plaster, like Kailasa, with its many points showing clear +against the sky, through joy at being the dwelling of Çiva. + +It is adorned with large bazaars, like the oceans when their waters +were drunk by Agastya, stretching far, with gold-dust for sand, +with conch and oyster pearls, coral and emeralds laid bare. The +painted halls that deck it are filled with gods, demons, Siddhas, +[359] Gandharvas, genii, and snakes, (103) and show like a row of +heavenly chariots come down from the sky to behold fair women at +ceaseless festivals. Its crossways shine with temples like Mandara +whitened by the milk raised up by the churning stick, with spotless +golden vases for peaks, and white banners stirred by the breeze +like the peaks of Himalaya with the heavenly Ganges falling on +them. Commons gray with ketaki pollen, dark with green gardens, +watered by buckets constantly at work, and having wells adorned with +brick seats, lend their charm. Its groves are darkened by bees vocal +with honey draughts, its breeze laden with the sweetness of creeper +flowers, all trembling. It pays open honour to Kama, with banners +marked with the fish on the house-poles, with bells ringing merrily, +with crimson pennons of silk, and red cowries steady, made of coral, +standing upright in every house. Its sin is washed away by the +perpetual recitation of sacred books. (104) It resounds with the cry +of the peacocks, intent on a wild dance with their tails outspread +from excitement in the bathing-houses, wherein is the steady, deep +sound of the drums, and a storm caused by the heavy showers of spray, +and beautiful rainbows made by the sunbeams cast upon it. It glitters +with lakes, fair with open blue water-lilies, with their centre white +as unclosed moon-lotuses, beautiful in their unwavering gaze, [360] +like the thousand eyes of Indra. It is whitened with ivory turrets on +all sides, endowed with plantain groves, white as flecks of ambrosial +foam. It is girt with the river Sipra, which seems to purify the sky, +with its waves forming a ceaseless frown, as though jealously beholding +the river of heaven on the head of Çiva, while its waters sway over +the rounded forms of the Malavis, wild with the sweetness of youth. + +The light-hearted race that dwell there, like the moon on the locks +of Çiva, spread their glory [361] through all the earth, and have +their horn filled with plenty; [362] like Mainaka, they have known no +pakshapata; [363] like the stream of the heavenly Ganges, with its +golden lotuses, their heaps of gold and rubies [364] shine forth; +like the law-books, they order the making of water-works, bridges, +temples, pleasure-grounds, wells, hostels for novices, wayside sheds +for watering cattle, and halls of assembly; like Mandara, they have +the best treasures of ocean drawn up for them; though they have charms +against poison, [365] yet they fear snakes; [366] though they live +on the wicked, [367] they give their best to the good; though bold, +they are very courteous; though pleasant of speech, they are truthful; +though handsome, [368] content with their wives; though they invite +the entrance of guests, they know not how to ask a boon; though they +seek love and wealth, they are strictly just; though virtuous, they +fear another world. [369] They are connoisseurs in all arts, pleasant +[370] and intelligent. They talk merrily, are charming in their humour, +spotless in their attire, (106) skilled in foreign languages, clever +at subtleties of speech, [371] versed in stories of all kinds, [372] +accomplished in letters, having a keen delight in the Mahabharata, +Puranas, and Ramayana, familiar with the Brihatkatha, masters of the +whole circle of arts, especially gambling, lovers of the çastras, +devoted to light literature, calm as a fragrant spring breeze, +constantly going to the south; [373] upright, [374] like the wood of +Himalaya; skilled in the worship of Rama, [375] like Lakshmana; open +lovers of Bharata, like Çatrughna; [376] like the day, following the +sun; [377] like a Buddhist, bold in saying 'Yes' about all kinds of +gifts; [378] like the doctrine of the Samkhya philosophy, possessed +of noble men; [379] like Jinadharma, pitiful to life. + +The city seems possessed of rocks, with its palaces; it stretches like +a suburb with its long houses; it is like the tree that grants desires +with its good citizens; it bears in its painted halls the mirror of +all forms. Like twilight, it shines with the redness of rubies; [380] +(107) like the form of the Lord of Heaven, it is purified with the +smoke of a hundred sacrifices; like the wild dance of Çiva, it has +the smiles, which are its white markets; [381] like an old woman, it +has its beauty worn; [382] like the form of Garuda, it is pleasing +in being the resting-place of Vishnu; [383] like the hour of dawn, +it has its people all alert; like the home of a mountaineer, it has +palaces in which ivory cowries [384] are hanging; like the form of +Çesha, [385] it always bears the world; like the hour of churning +the ocean, it fills the end of the earth with its hubbub; [386] +like the rite of inauguration, it has a thousand gold pitchers [387] +at hand; like Gauri, it has a form fit to sit on the lion-throne; +like Aditi, honoured in a hundred houses of the gods; like the +sports of Mahavaraha, showing the casting down of Hiranyaksha; +[388] like Kadru, it is a joy to the race of reptiles; [389] like +the Harivamça, it is charming with the games of many children. [390] +(108) Though its courts are open to all, its glory is uninjured; +[391] though it glows with colour, [392] it is white as nectar; +though it is hung with strings of pearls, yet when unadorned [393] +it is adorned the most; though composed of many elements, [394] it is +yet stable, and it surpasses in splendour the world of the immortals. + +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 palaces, and his pennon droops before +him. There his rays fall on the vermeil floors like the crimson of +eve; and on the emerald seats, as though busy in creating lotus beds; +on the lapis-lazuli, as though scattered on the sky; on the circling +aloe smoke, as though eager to break its dense gloom; on the wreaths +of pearl, as though disdaining the clusters of stars; (109) on the +women's faces, as though kissing unfolding lotuses; on the splendour of +crystal walls, as though falling amid the pale moonlight of morning; +on the white silken banners, as though hanging on the waves of the +heavenly Ganges; on the sun-gems, as though blossoming from them; +on the sapphire lattices, as though entering the jaws of Rahu. There +darkness never falls, and the nights bring no separation to the pairs +of cakravakas; nor need they any lamps, for they pass golden as with +morning sunshine, from the bright jewels of women, as though the world +were on fire with the flame of love. There, though Çiva is at hand, +the cry of the hamsas in the houses, arising sweet and ceaseless, +at the kindling of love, fills the city with music, like the mourning +of Rati for the burning of the God of Love. There the palaces stretch +forth their flags, whose silken fringes gleam and flutter at night +in the wind, like arms to remove the mark of the moon put to shame +by the fair lotus-faced Malavis. (110) There the moon, deer-marked, +moves, in the guise of his reflection, on the jewel pavement, cool +with the sprinkling of much sandal-water, as though he had fallen +captive to Love at the sight of the faces of the fair city dames +resting on the palace roofs. There the auspicious songs of dawn +raised by the company of caged parrots and starlings, though they +sing their shrillest, as they wake at night's close, are drowned and +rendered vain by the tinkling of women's ornaments, reaching far, +and outvying the ambrosial voices of the tame cranes. [395] (111) +There dwells Çiva, who has pierced the demon Andhaka with his sharp +trident, who has a piece of the moon on his brow polished by the +points of Gauri's anklets, whose cosmetic is the dust of Tripura, +and whose feet are honoured by many bracelets fallen from Rati's +outstretched arms as she pacifies him when bereft of Kama. + + + +DESCRIPTION OF TARAPIDA. [396] + +(112) Like hell, he was the refuge of the lords of earth, [397] +fearing when their soaring pride was shorn; [398] like the stars, he +was followed by the wise men; [399] like Love, he destroyed strife; +[400] like Daçaratha, he had good friends; [401] (113) like Çiva, +he was followed by a mighty host; [402] like Çesha, he had the weight +of the earth upon him; [403] like the stream of Narmada, his descent +was from a noble tree. [404] He was the incarnation of Justice, the +very representative of Vishnu, the destroyer of all the sorrows of +his people. He re-established justice, which had been shaken to its +foundations by the Kali Age, set on iniquity, and mantled in gloom +by the spread of darkness, just as Çiva re-established Kailasa when +carried off by Ravana. He was honoured by the world as a second Kama, +created by Çiva when his heart was softened by the lamentations +of Rati. + +(113-115) Before him bowed conquered kings with eyes whose pupils were +tremulous and quivering from fear, with the bands of the wreaths on +their crest ornaments caught by the rays of his feet, and with the line +of their heads broken by the lotus-buds held up in adoration. They +came from the Mount of Sunrise, [405] which has its girdle washed +by the ocean waves, where the flowers on the trees of its slopes are +doubled by stars wandering among the leaves, where the sandal-wood is +wet with the drops of ambrosia that fall from the moon as it rises, +where the clove-trees [406] blossom when pierced by the hoofs of +the horses of the sun's chariot, where the leaves and shoots of the +olibanum-trees are cut by the trunk of the elephant Airavata; (114) +from Setubandha, built with a thousand mountains seized by the hand +of Nala, [407] where the fruit on the lavali-trees is carried off by +monkeys, where the feet of Rama are worshipped by the water-deities +coming up from the sea, and where the rock is starred with pieces +of shell broken by the fall of the mountain; from Mandara, where the +stars are washed by the waters of pure waterfalls, where the stones are +polished by the rubbing of the edge of the fish ornament of Krishna +rising at the churning of ambrosia, where the slopes are torn by the +weight of the feet moving in the effort of drawing hither and thither +Vasuki coiled in the struggles of Gods and demons, where the peaks are +sprinkled with ambrosial spray; from Gandhamadana, beautiful with the +hermitage of Badarika marked with the footprints of Nara and Narayana, +where the peaks are resonant with the tinkling of the ornaments of +the fair dames of Kuvera's city, where the water of the streams is +purified by the evening worship of the Seven Rishis, and where the +land around is perfumed by the fragments of lotuses torn up by Bhima. + + + +CANDRAPIDA'S ENTRY INTO THE PALACE. + +(188) Preceded by groups of chamberlains, hastening up and bowing, +he received the respectful homage of the kings, who had already taken +their position there, who came forward on all sides, who had the ground +kissed by the rays of the crest-jewels loosened from their crests and +thrown afar, and who were introduced one by one by the chamberlains; +at every step he had auspicious words for his dismounting uttered by +old women of the zenana, who had come out from inside, and were skilled +in old customs; having passed through the seven inner courts crowded +with thousands of different living beings, as if they were different +worlds, he beheld his father. The king was stationed within, surrounded +by a body-guard whose hands were stained black by ceaseless grasping of +weapons, who had their bodies, with the exception of hands, feet, and +eyes, covered with dark iron coats of mail, (189) like elephant-posts +covered with swarms of bees ceaselessly attracted by desire of the +scent of ichor, hereditary in their office, of noble birth, faithful; +whose heroism might be inferred from their character and gestures, +and who in their energy and fierceness were like demons. On either +side he had white cowries ceaselessly waved by his women; and he +sat on a couch white as a wild goose, and bright as a fair island, +as if he were the heavenly elephant on the water of Ganges. + + + +VILASAVATI'S ATTENDANTS. + +(190) Approaching his mother, he saluted her. She was surrounded by +countless zenana attendants in white jackets, like Çri with the waves +of milk, and was having her time wiled away by elderly ascetic women, +very calm in aspect, wearing tawny robes, like twilight in its clouds, +worthy of honour from all the world, with the lobes of their ears long, +knowing many stories, relating holy tales of old, reciting legends, +holding books, and giving instructions about righteousness. (191) +She was attended by eunuchs using the speech and dress of women, and +wearing strange decorations; she had a mass of cowries constantly waved +around her, and was waited upon by a bevy of women seated around her, +bearing clothes, jewels, flowers, perfumes, betel, fans, unguents, +and golden jars; she had strings of pearls resting on her bosom, as +the earth has the stream of Ganges flowing in the midst of mountains, +and the reflection of her face fell on a mirror close by, like the +sky when the moon's orb has entered into the sun. + + + +ÇUKANASA'S PALACE. + +(192) He reached Çukanasa's gate, which was crowded with a troop of +elephants appointed for the watch, obstructed by thousands of horses, +(193) confused with the hustling of countless multitudes, visited +day and night by Brahmans, Çaivas, and red-robed men skilled in +the teaching of Çakyamuni, clothed as it were in the garments of +righteousness, sitting on one side by thousands, forming circles, +coming for various purposes, eager to see Çukanasa, having their +eyes opened by the ointment of their several çastras, and showing +their respectful devotion by an appearance of humility. The gateway +was filled with a hundred thousand she-elephants of the tributary +kings who had entered the palace with double blankets drawn round +the mahouts who sat on their shoulders, having their mahouts asleep +from weariness of their long waiting, some saddled and some not, +nodding their heads from their long standing motionless. The prince +dismounted in the outer court, as though he were in a royal palace, +though not stopped by the guards standing in the entrance and running +up in haste; and having left his horse at the entrance, leaning on +Vaiçampayana, and having his way shown by circles of gatekeepers, +who hastened up, pushing away the bystanders, he received the salutes +of bands of chiefs who arose with waving crests to do him homage, +and beheld the inner courts with all the attendants mute in fear +of the scolding of cross porters, and having the ground shaken by +hundreds of feet of the retinues of neighbouring kings frightened by +the moving wands, (194) and finally entered the palace of Çukanasa, +bright inside with fresh plaster, as if it were a second royal court. + + + +DESCRIPTION OF NIGHT. + +(196) The brightness of day approached the west, following the path +of the sun's chariot-wheels, like a stream of water. Day wiped away +all the glow of the lotuses with the sun's orb hastening downwards +like a hand roseate as fresh shoots. The pairs of cakravakas, whose +necks were hidden in swarms of bees approaching from familiarity +with the scent of lotuses, were separated as if drawn by the noose +of destiny. The sun's orb poured forth, under the guise of a rosy +glow, the lotus honey-draught, as it were, drunk in with its rays +till the end of day, as if in weariness of its path through the +heavens. And when in turn the blessed sun approached another world, +and was a very red lotus-earring of the West, when twilight shone +forth with its lotus-beds opening into the lake of heaven, (197) +when in the quarters of space lines of darkness showed clear like +decorations of black aloes; when the glow of eve was driven out by +darkness like a band of red lotuses by blue lotuses dark with bees; +when bees slowly entered the hearts of red lotuses, as if they were +shoots of darkness, to uproot the sunshine drunk in by the lotus-beds; +when the evening glow had melted away, like the garland round the face +of the Lady of night; when the oblations in honour of the goddess of +twilight were cast abroad in all quarters; when the peacock's poles +seemed tenanted by peacocks, by reason of the darkness gathered round +their summits, though no peacocks were there; when the doves, very +ear-lotuses of the Lakshmi of palaces, were roosting in the holes of +the lattices; when the swings of the zenana had their bells dumb, +and their gold seats motionless and bearing no fair dames; when +the bands of parrots and mainas ceased chattering, and had their +cages hung up on the branches of the palace mango-trees; when the +lutes were banished, and their sound at rest in the ceasing of the +concert; when the tame geese were quiet as the sound of the maidens' +anklets was stilled; (198) when the wild elephants had the clefts of +their cheeks free from bees, and their ornaments of pearls, cowries, +and shells taken away; when the lights were kindled in the stables +of the king's favourite steeds; when the troops of elephants for the +first watch were entering; when the family priests, having given their +blessing, were departing; when the jewelled pavements, emptied almost +of attendants on the dismissal of the king's suite, spread out wide, +kissed by the reflection of a thousand lights shining in the inner +apartments, like offerings of golden campak-blossoms; when the palace +tanks, with the splendours of the lamps falling on them, seemed as if +the fresh sunlight had approached to soothe the lotus-beds grieved by +separation from the sun; when the caged lions were heavy with sleep; +and when Love had entered the zenana like a watchman, with arrows in +hand and bow strung; when the words of Love's messenger were uttered +in the ear, bright in tone as the blossoms in a garland; when the +hearts of froward dames, widowed by grief, were smouldering in the +fire transmitted to them from the sun-crystals; and when evening had +closed in, Candrapida ... went to the king's palace.... + + + +THE REGION OF KAILASA. + +(243) The red arsenic-dust scattered by the elephants' tusks crimsoned +the earth. The clefts of the rock were festooned with shoots of +creepers, now separating and now uniting, hanging in twists, twining +like leafage; the stones were wet with the ceaseless dripping of +gum-trees; the boulders were slippery with the bitumen that oozed from +the rocks. The slope was dusty with fragments of yellow orpiment broken +by the mountain horses' hoofs; powdered with gold scattered from the +holes dug out by the claws of rats; lined by the hoofs of musk-deer +and yaks sunk in the sand and covered with the hair of rallakas and +rankus fallen about; filled with pairs of partridges resting on the +broken pieces of rock; with the mouths of its caves inhabited by pairs +of orang-outangs; with the sweet scent of sulphur, and with bamboos +that had grown to the length of wands of office. + + + +PASSAGES PRINTED IN THE APPENDIX. [408] + + + 102, 1--110, 6 + 111, 1-4 + 112, 6--115, 1 + 188, 4--189, 5 + 190, 6--191, 5 + 192, 11--194, 2 + 196, 4--199, 1 + 243, 4-10 + + + +PASSAGES CONDENSED OR OMITTED. [409] + + + 11, 7--15, 2 + *31, 10--34, 2 + 46, 7--48, 4 + 81, 3-10 + 83, 1-8 + 85, 3--89, 4 + 119, 3--124, 3 + 137, 7--138, 3 + 141, 6--155, 5 + 162, 8--164, 8 + 176, 6--188, 4 + *199, 5--200, 9 + 203, 2--204, 2 + *227, 4--234, 6 + 242, 6-10 + *245, 4--248, 3 + 250, 3-8 + *252, 7--256, 5 + 262, 1--266, 3 + 276, 9--277, 8 + 285, 2-4 + *346, 7--348, 7 + 353, 6--355, 9 + 357, 1-10 + 359, 12--365, 2 + 369, 2-8 + *383, 6--384,9 + 388, 5--390, 4 + 403, 6--410, 3 + 417, 1--426, 3 + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] It is needless to give here more than the few facts essential +for the understanding of 'Kadambari,' for the life and times of Bana +will probably be treated of in the translation of the 'Harsha-Carita' +by Professor Cowell and Mr. Thomas in this series; and Professor +Peterson's Introduction to his edition of 'Kadambari' (Bombay Sanskrit +Series, 1889) deals fully with Bana's place in literature. The facts +here given are, for the most part, taken from the latter work. + +[2] E.g., the Madhuban grant of Sam 25, E. I. i., 67 ff. For this +and other chronological references I am indebted to Miss C. M. Duff, +who has let me use the MS. of her 'Chronology of India.' + +[3] For Bana's early life, V. 'Harsha-Carita,' chs. i., ii. I have +to thank Mr. F. W. Thomas for allowing me to see the proof-sheets of +his translation. + +[4] Peterson, 'Kadambari,' pp. 96-98; and 'The Subhashitavali,' +edited by Peterson (Bombay Sanskrit Series, 1886), pp. 62-66. + +[5] Translated by Mr. C. Tawney (Calcutta, 1884), vol. ii., +pp. 17-26. Somadeva's date is about A.D. 1063. + +[6] V. Peterson, 'Kadambari,' pp. 82-96. + +[7] Translated by Ballantyne and Pramada-Dasa-Mitra (Calcutta, 1875), +§ 567. The italics represent words supplied by the translators. + +[8] Kadambari,' p. 69. + +[9] Professor Peterson does not, however, make this deduction in +favour of Bana's own version. + +[10] I.e., rasa, poetic charm. + +[11] 'Kadambari,' Nirnaya Sagara Press, Bombay, pp. 205-221. 'Evam +samatikramatsu--ajagama.' + +[12] Bombay edition, p. 6. + +[13] Professor Cowells review of 'A Bengali Historical +Novel.' Macmillan, April, 1872. + +[14] V. Peterson, 'Kadambari,' p. 42. + +[15] Indeed, this description is so like in spirit to that of +Clairvaux, that I cannot forbear quoting a few lines of the latter. The +writer describes the workshops where the brethren labour, and the +orchard used for rest and quiet thought, and goes on to say how the +Aube is raised by the toils of the brethren to the level of the Abbey; +it throws half its water into the Abbey, 'as if to salute the brethren, +and seems to excuse itself for not coming in its whole force.' Then +'it returns with rapid current to the stream, and renders to it, +in the name of Clairvaux, thanks for all the services which it has +performed.' The writer then goes on to tell of the fountain which, +protected by a grassy pavilion, rises from the mountain, and is +quickly engulfed in the valley, 'offering itself to charm the sight +and supply the wants of the brethren, as if it were not willing to +have communition with any others than saints.' This last is surely +a touch worthy of Bana. V. Dr. Eale's translation of 'St. Bernard's +Works.' London, 1889, vol. ii., pp. 462-467. + +[16] Translated by Mr. C. Tawney. Oriental Translation Fund Series, +p. 113. + +[17] V. 'Kadambari,' Nirnaya Sagara, p. 19, l. 2. + +[18] 'Hiouen Thsang,' translated by St. Julien, 'Mémoires sur les +Contrées Occidentals,' I., pp. 247-265. Cf. also 'Harsha-Carita,' +ch. viii. (p. 236 of the translation), where he pays great honour to +a Buddhist sage. + +[19] E. I. i. 67. + +[20] V. 'Katha-Sarit-Sagara,' i. 505. + +[21] V. 'Kadambari,' pp. 97-104. + +[22] V. 'History of Indian Literature,' translation, London, 1878, +p. 232. + +[23] V. 'Sahitya-Darpana,' § 626-628. + +[24] Ibid., § 630. + +[25] + + 'Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, + Thou makest thy knife keen.' + + 'Merchant of Venice,' IV. 1, 123 (Globe edition). + + + 'Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough, + When there is in it but one only man.' + + 'Julius Cæsar,' I. 2, 156. + +[26] V. 'Sahitya-Darpana,' § 664. + +[27] Ibid., § 718-722. + +[28] Ibid., § 738. + +[29] V. Peterson, 'Kadambari,' p. 36. + +[30] Cf. Spenser's stanzas on Mutability. + +[31] V. infra, p. 208. + +[32] V. infra, p. 2. + +[33] The list looks long, but the pages in the 'Nirnaya-Sagara' +edition contain frequently but few lines, and many of the omissions +are a line or two of oft-repeated similes. + +[34] Beginning at p. 566 of the 'Nirnaya-Sagara' edition. + +[35] I here take the opportunity to acknowledge what by an oversight +was omitted in its proper place, my indebtedness to Professor Cowell +for the rendering into English verse of two couplets given on pp. 11 +and 113. + +[36] As the three Vedas, or the triad. + +[37] Vishnu Purana, Bk. v., ch. 33. + +[38] His guru. + +[39] Rasa = (a) the eight rasas; (b) love. + +[40] Çayya = (a) composition; (b) couch. + +[41] (a) Which sparkle with emphatic words and similes; (b) like +flashing lamps. + +[42] (a) Pun; (b) proximity. + +[43] Hanging on his ear (as an ornament). + +[44] In the case of elephants, 'having their ichor regulated by a +proper regimen.' + +[45] With renowned warriors on their backs. + +[46] Having trunks as thick as sacrificial posts. + +[47] I.e., Vasavadatta and the Brihatkatha; or, r., advitiya, +unrivalled. + +[48] (a) Unconquerable in might; (b) having unconquerable shafts. + +[49] In the case of Brahma, 'he made his chariot of flamingoes.' + +[50] (a) His hand was wet with a stream of constant giving; (b) +the trunk was wet with ichor. + +[51] Or, to the sun's orb. + +[52] Vinata = (a) mother of Garuda; (b) humble. + +[53] Or, caste. + +[54] Or, fines of gold. + +[55] Or, fickle affections. + +[56] Had, mada = (a) pride; (b) ichor. + +[57] Or, breaking away from virtue. + +[58] Or, tribute. + +[59] In autumn, the hamsas, or wild geese, return. + +[60] Or, bamboos. + +[61] Ram. I. 60. + +[62] He had (a) great faults; (b) a long arm. + +[63] Dark. + +[64] I.e., imposed no heavy tribute. + +[65] Or, 'with citra and çravana,' lunar mansions. + +[66] Or, living creatures. + +[67] (a) Of lowly birth; (b) not dwelling on earth. + +[68] (a) Candala; (b) elephant. + +[69] Or, ajati, without caste. + +[70] Alaka = (a) curls; (b) a city. + +[71] Or, whose love would be a reproach. + +[72] A verse in the arya measure. + +[73] Vipula, Acala, and Çaça, characters in the Brihatkatha. Or, +broad mountains and hares. + +[74] Varuna, tree; varuna, wine. + +[75] Or, with lightning. + +[76] Constellations. The moon was supposed to have a deer dwelling +in it. + +[77] (a) The cowries held by the suite; (b) different kinds of deer. + +[78] (a) Rocky; (b) having Çiva. + +[79] Kuça: (a) Sita's son; (b) grass. Niçacara: (a) Ravana; (b) owls. + +[80] (a) Mark of aloes on the brow; (b) tilaka trees and aloe trees +all bright. + +[81] (a) Love; (b) madana trees. + +[82] As an amulet. + +[83] Name of an ornament. + +[84] Wine-cups. + +[85] (a) Halls; (b) çal trees. + +[86] (a) Clapping of hands; (b) palm-trees. + +[87] (a) Arrows; (b) reeds. + +[88] (a) Trees; (b) eyes. + +[89] (a) As tamala trees (very dark); (b) with tamala trees. + +[90] Virata, a king who befriended the Pandavas. The chief of his army +was named Kicaka. F. Mbh., Bk. iv., 815. Kicaka also means 'bamboo.' + +[91] Or, the twinkling stars of the Deer constellation, pursued by +the Hunter (a constellation). + +[92] Bark garments, matted locks, and rags of grass. + +[93] (a) Seven leaves; (b) a tree. + +[94] (a) Of fierce disposition; (b) full of wild beasts. + +[95] The sign of a vow. + +[96] Or perhaps, 'not caring for the fascination of the beauty of +Ravana,' i.e. his sister. He was loved by Ravana's sister. + +[97] Does this refer to the reflection of the sky in its clear water? + +[98] Çalmali = silk cotton-tree. + +[99] Lit., 'striving upwards to see.' + +[100] Indra's wood. + +[101] Çakuni = (a) bird; (b) name of Duryodhana's supporter. + +[102] Or, 'by Vanamala,' Krishna's chaplet. + +[103] Tara = (a) wife of Sugriva, the monkey king; (b) star. + +[104] Mountaineer. + +[105] Arjuna, or Karttavirya, was captured by Ravana when sporting +in the Nerbuddha, and was killed by Paraçurama. V. Vishnu Purana, +Bk. iv., ch. 11. + +[106] Dushana was one of Ravana's generals; Khara was Ravana's brother, +and was slain by Rama. + +[107] Cf. Uttararamacarita, Act V. + +[108] Ekalavya, king of the Nishadas, killed by Krishna. Mbh., I., 132. + +[109] Or, curls. + +[110] V. Harivamça, 83. + +[111] Or, with clouds. + +[112] She-rhinoceros. + +[113] Or, rainbows. + +[114] Ekacakra = (a) a city possessed by Vaka; (b) one army, or +one quoit. + +[115] Naga = (a) elephant; (b) snake. + +[116] Or, Çikhandi, a son of Drupada, a friend of the Pandavas. + +[117] Or, mirage. + +[118] Or, eager for the Manasa lake. The Vidyadhara was a good or +evil genius attending the gods. V. Kulluka on Manu, xii., 47. + +[119] Yojanagandha, mother of Vyasa. + +[120] Or, 'bearing the form of Bhima.' He was Bhima's son. V. Mbh., +I., 155. + +[121] (a) Crescent moon of Çiva; (b) eyes of peacocks' tails. + +[122] Hiranyakaçipu. V. Harivamça, 225. + +[123] Or, an ambitious man surrounded by bards (to sing his praises). + +[124] Or, loving blood. + +[125] Nishadas = (a) mountaineers; (b) the highest note of the scale. + +[126] (a) Had passed many ages; (b) had killed many birds. + +[127] Or, great wealth. + +[128] Black. + +[129] Or, Durga. + +[130] Or, mountain. + +[131] (a) Magnanimity; (b) great strength. + +[132] Anabhibhavaniya°. + +[133] (a) Awakening cry; (b) moral law. + +[134] Owls are supposed to be descendants of the sage Viçvamitra. + +[135] As omens. + +[136] Piçitaçna, a demon, or, according to the commentary here, +a tiger. + +[137] Lit., 'creating a doubt of.' + +[138] Cf. Emerson's Essay on Experience: 'Sleep lingers all our +life-time about our eyes, as night hovers all day in the boughs of +the fir-tree.' + +[139] Read, Çrama. + +[140] Lit., 'To have been an extract from.' + +[141] Sacred to Indra, and burnt by Agni with the help of Arjuna +and Krishna. + +[142] Three horizontal lines. + +[143] Truth in thought, word, and deed. + +[144] Read, Nishpatata. + +[145] Nilapandu, mottled blue and white. The Hindu penance is to be +between five fires: four on earth and the sun above. V. Manu, vi. 23. + +[146] The sign of a vow. + +[147] (a) Bark garment; (b) bark of trees. + +[148] (a) Girdle. V. Manu, ii. 42; (b) mountain slope. + +[149] Or, the moon. + +[150] Or, with. + +[151] (a) Kripa = compassion; (b) Kripa was the teacher of Açvatthama, +or Drauni. + +[152] Or, Virgo, Cervus, the Pleiads and Draco. + +[153] (a) Having twilight drunk up; (b) having many faults eradicated. + +[154] Rajas = (a) dust; (b) passion. + +[155] In performance of a vow. V. Manu, vi. 23. + +[156] Or, 'of the demon Naraka,' slain by Krishna. Harivamça, 122. + +[157] Or, had stars tawny at the junction of night and day. + +[158] Lit., (a) Holding all his passions in firm restraint; (b) +having the axle of its wheels firm. + +[159] Lit., (a) He had a body wasted by secret performance of penance; +(b) he brought to nought the enemies' plans of battle by secret +counsel and by his army. + +[160] Or, having caves with whirlpools and the circles of shells +oblique. + +[161] Or, quays. + +[162] (a) Perhaps Pushkara, the place of pilgrimage in Ajmere; +(b) lotus-grove. + +[163] (a) Having entrance into great halls; (b) being absorbed +in Brahma. + +[164] Or, salvation. + +[165] Or, inflicted punishment; or, though intent on the Sama veda, +he was yet a dandi; i.e., an ascetic who despises ritual. + +[166] Having beautiful matted locks. + +[167] (a) Having no left eye; (b) having no crooked glances. + +[168] R. V., x. 190. + +[169] Another kind of bread-tree. + +[170] The Commentary explains it as 'Veda.' + +[171] The tridandaka or three staves of the mendicant Brahman who +has resigned the world. + +[172] Or, impassioned glances. + +[173] (a) Moulting; (b) partisanship. + +[174] Bala = (a) hair; (b) children. + +[175] Rama, woman. + +[176] Çakuni = (a) a bird; (b) Duryodhana's uncle. + +[177] Vayu = (a) wind; (b) breath. + +[178] (a) Teeth; (b) Brahmans. + +[179] Or, dullness. + +[180] Or, seeking prosperity. + +[181] Or, seek enjoyment. + +[182] Or good fortune. + +[183] The Garhapatya, Dakshina, and Ahavaniya fires. + +[184] Proverbial phrase for clearness. + +[185] Vishnu Purana, vi., ch. 3, 'The seven solar rays dilate to +seven suns, and set the three worlds on fire.' + +[186] Lit., 'is leader of.' + +[187] Or, caprice. + +[188] Vishnu Purana, i., 123. + +[189] Semi-divine beings dwelling between the earth and the sun. + +[190] Tara = (a) stars; (b) wife of Brihaspati, carried away by +the moon. + +[191] (a) "Wife of the sage Vaçishtha; (b) the morning star. + +[192] (a) Constellation; (b) staff borne during a vow. + +[193] (a) Constellation; (b) roots for the hermits' food. + +[194] Or, constellation. + +[195] Çiva. + +[196] Caste. + +[197] Friends. + +[198] I.e., king, minister, and energy. + +[199] Or, misfortune. + +[200] An ordeal. + +[201] An ordeal. + +[202] (a) Clearing of the waters after the rainy season; (b) ordeal +of poison. + +[203] (a) Magic; (b) practice of Yoga. + +[204] (a) Lit., 'tearing out of eyes;' (b) slaughter of the demon +Taraka by Kartikeya. + +[205] A star in the Scorpion's tail. + +[206] Seizing of tribute. + +[207] Or, having his body united. V. Dowson, 'Classical Dictionary.' + +[208] Having fortresses subdued. + +[209] These are teachers of the gods and heroes. + +[210] Vishnu. + +[211] Lit., 'firm.' + +[212] (a) The gods; (b) love. + +[213] Four was the number of the oceans and of the arms of Narayana. + +[214] The divine mothers, or personified energies of the chief deities. + +[215] Wife of Çukanasa. + +[216] Summary of pp. 141-155. + +[217] Or, Ananga, name of Kama. + +[218] Since he can only give it the name, not the substance or +meaning. Kumara = (a) name of Kartikeya; (b) prince. + +[219] Kama. + +[220] Summary of pp. 176-189. + +[221] Lit., 'sew him to himself.' + +[222] Summary of pp. 190, 191. + +[223] Summary of p. 193. + +[224] Çarabha, a fabulous animal supposed to have eight legs, and to +dwell in the snowy mountains. + +[225] (a) Many sins; (b) twilight. + +[226] Lit., (a) climbs trees; (b) protects parasites. + +[227] (a) Showing the elevation of many men; (b) rising in stature +to the height of many men. + +[228] Or, arrogance. + +[229] Or, stupidity. + +[230] Or, wealth. + +[231] Or, ill-fortune. + +[232] Balam = (a) strength; (b) army. Laghuma = (a) lightness; +(b) triviality. + +[233] Vigrahavati = (a) having a body; (b) full of strife. + +[234] Purushottama, i.e., Vishnu. + +[235] The rainy season sends away the hamsas. + +[236] Lit., their limbs fail them. + +[237] Which have a strong scent. + +[238] Men having throbbing eyes. + +[239] (a) A noble man; (b) fire. + +[240] Or, drink. + +[241] Or, taxes. + +[242] Like Vishnu. + +[243] Like Çiva. + +[244] Lit., 'inlaid.' + +[245] Or, kesara flowers. + +[246] Recaka, so commentary. + +[247] Both trees of paradise. + +[248] The quarter of Çatakratu or Indra. + +[249] All auspicious signs. Cakra is (a) a quoit; (b) a cakravaka. + +[250] (a) A demon; (b) the heron. + +[251] For the love of snakes for the breeze, V. Raghuvamça, XIII., +12, and Buddhacarita, I., 44. Snakes are sometimes called vayubaksha. + +[252] The following reference to Thomas Bell's 'History of British +Quadrupeds' was given by Mr. S. B. Charlesworth. 'Writing about the +deer of our parks (p. 404) he (Bell) quotes Playford's "Introduction to +Music" as follows: "Travelling some years since, I met on the road near +Royston a herd of about twenty deer following a bagpipe and violin, +which while the music played went forward. When it ceased they all +stood still, and in this manner they were brought out of Yorkshire +to Hampton Court."' V. supra, pp. 40, 79. + +[253] Meghaduta, 38. + +[254] The dvipas are continents separated from each other by +oceans. The Çvetadvipa, or White Continent, is, according to Weber, +suggested by Alexandria. V. 'Indische Studien,' I., 400; II., 397, 398. + +[255] Dvandva, a pair of opposites, as, e.g., pleasure and pain. + +[256] (a) Brilliant; (b) Durga. + +[257] Summary of p. 277. + +[258] The Commentary says: 'A house is whitened to welcome anyone. The +face (or mouth) is the dwelling of Sarasvati.' + +[259] Mandara, one of the trees of Paradise. + +[260] The month June-July. + +[261] Staff. + +[262] (a) A tilaka, or mark of ashes; (b) abundance of tilaka trees +white with blossoms. + +[263] Read Kauçalasya. + +[264] Cf. 'Dulce rudimentum meditantis lilia quondam naturæ, cum +sese opera ad majora pararet.'--Rapin, on the convolvulus. V. Hallam, +'Hist. of Lit.,' Pt. iv., ch. v. + +[265] Vishnu Purana, Wilson, 1865, vol. ii., p. 297. + +[266] Son of Kuvera. + +[267] The coral tree. + +[268] Or, virtue. + +[269] 'In the arya metre,' in the Sanskrit. + +[270] Manasijanma = (a) born in the Manasa lake; (b) born in the mind, +i.e., love. Muktalata = (a) a white creeper; (b) a pearl necklace. + +[271] Scilicet, in the day. + +[272] Turbid with (a) dust; (b) passion. + +[273] The Vishnu Purana, Bk. vi., ch. iii., mentions seven suns. + +[274] The asterism Rohini. + +[275] Utkalika = (a) wave; (b) longing. + +[276] Or, hand. + +[277] Hands. + +[278] Feet. + +[279] Hands. + +[280] Candracandala (lit., 'base-born moon') is intended as an +assonance. + +[281] Purnapatra, a basket of gifts to be scrambled for at a wedding. + +[282] I.e., the row of pearls given by Mahaçveta. + +[283] Omit, priyajanaviçvasavacanani. + +[284] Read, parityakta. + +[285] Read, antare. + +[286] Goçirsha, a kind of fragrant sandal. + +[287] V. Vishnu Purana, Bk. i., ch. iii. (For the description of +Brahma's night.) + +[288] + + Tatah Saindhavako raja kshudras, tata, Jayadrathah, + Varadanena Rudrasya sarvan nah samavarayat. + + +('Then the vile Sindh kinglet, Jayadratha, through the boon conferred +by Rudra, O my son, kept us all back.')--Mahabharata, vii., 2574. + +[289] Harivamça, 4906. + +[290] The cakora, or Greek partridge, was said to have its eyes turned +red in the presence of poison. + +[291] Madira, intoxicating, bewitching; so called because her eyes +were madirah. + +[292] Daksha cursed the moon with consumption at the appeal of his +forty-nine daughters, the moon's wives, who complained of his special +favour to the fiftieth sister. + +[293] Lit., 'without cause.' + +[294] Lit., 'going by machinery.' + +[295] Trees of paradise. + +[296] A pun on pida, grief. + +[297] A pun on pida, a chaplet. + +[298] Read irshyam, vyatham, and rosham, as the Calcutta edition. + +[299] 'All the rasas,' the ten emotions of love, fear, etc., enumerated +by writers on rhetoric. + +[300] Because water was poured out to ratify a gift. + +[301] Bhashita, literally, 'addressed by'; or read, bhavita, 'entering +into the spirit of.' + +[302] Read nirdakshinyaya. + +[303] A bundle of peacock feathers waved by the conjuror to bewilder +the audience. + +[304] The dark blue of the bees was like the blue veil worn by women +going to meet their lovers. + +[305] This passage is condensed. + +[306] Read musho. + +[307] I.e., 'relic,' or 'remaining.' + +[308] Read Mahaçvetam. + +[309] Cf. 'Harsha Carita' (Bombay edition, p. 272), +'Parameçvarottamangapatadurlalitangam'. + +[310] Read Kumudamayya. + +[311] A tree of paradise. + +[312] Tali, a kind of palm; Kandala, a plantain. + +[313] Or, reading avirala, thick coming. + +[314] The Vishnu Purana, Bk. ii., ch. ii., calls Mandara the Mountain +of the East; Gandhamadana, of the South; Vipula, of the West; and +Suparçva, of the North. + +[315] Father of Kuvera. + +[316] Brahma. + +[317] A phrase denoting readiness to obey. V. supra, p. 15. + +[318] Pouring water into the hand was the confirmation of a +gift. V. supra, p. 150. + +[319] Transpose iti. + +[320] Hybiscus mutabilis changes colour thrice a day. + +[321] Or, at a wrong time. + +[322] Remove the stop after asyah and Candrapidah, and place one +after gantum. + +[323] 'It is not allowed by her favour to move.' + +[324] Read suhridapi gantavyam, 'his friend must go.' + +[325] Or, sampanna, 'full-grown, having fruit and flowers,' according +to the commentary. + +[326] Read khinne. + +[327] Read prasadanam. + +[328] Read °janat, etc. + +[329] V. supra, p. 12, where the robes of the chiefs are torn by +their ornaments in their hasty movements. + +[330] Paravaça iva, or, 'with mind enslaved to other thoughts.' + +[331] Read garigasi. + +[332] The Jamuna is a common comparison for blue or green. + +[333] Placing a stop after gaditum instead of after nihçesham. + +[334] An allusion to the idea that the açoka would bud when touched +by the foot of a beautiful woman. + +[335] Anubandha, one of the four necessary conditions in writing. (a) +Subject-matter; (b) purpose; (c) relation between subject treated +and its end; (d) competent person to hear it.-- V. 'Vedanta Sara.,' +p. 2-4; 'Vacaspatya Dictionary.' + +[336] 'Manu,' ix., 90. + +[337] I.e., the down on the body rises from joy (a common idea in +Sanskrit writers), and holds the robe on its points. + +[338] Read, Samdiçanti, and place the stop after svayam instead of +after samdiçanti. + +[339] I.e., awake a sleeping lion. + +[340] Or, 'wine.' + +[341] Bhushanabhatta, after these introductory lines, continues +Patralekha's account of Kadambari's speech, and completes the story. + +[342] I.e., Patralekha. + +[343] Literally, 'that forest of creepers, sc. maidens.' + +[344] So commentary. + +[345] Avanti is the province of which Ujjayini is the capital. For +the Divine Mothers, V. supra, p. 56. + +[346] V. supra, pp. 19, 20, 47. + +[347] A king of the solar race. + +[348] V. supra, p. 6. + +[349] Read ashtanam api Vasunam. + +[350] The commentary says 'mother' is said to a daughter-in-law, +just as tata, 'father,' is said to a son. + +[351] The parrot's own history is now continued from p. 47. + +[352] The commentary explains these as Indra, Yama, Varuna, Soma +and Kuvera. The Calcutta translation apparently translates a reading +mahabhutani. + +[353] As the betrothed of Mahaçveta, who was of the moon-race of +Apsarases. + +[354] For gandharva marriage, v. Manu., iii. 32. + +[355] Cf. M. Arnold: + + + 'Ah, where the spirit its highest life hath led, + All spots, match'd with that spot, are less divine.' + + +[356] Apunarukta, 'without tautology.' + +[357] Çiva. + +[358] Fiends attendant on Çiva. + +[359] Vide p. 98. + +[360] Or, with fishes. + +[361] Or, light. + +[362] Literally (a) whose wealth is crores of rupees; (b) in the case +of the moon, 'whose essence is in its horns.' + +[363] (a) Partizanship; (b) cutting of pinions. When the rest of the +mountains lost their wings, Mainaka escaped. + +[364] Or, padma, 1000 billions. + +[365] Or, emeralds. + +[366] Or, rogues. + +[367] Or, granaries. + +[368] Or, learned. + +[369] Or, though full of energy, they fear their enemies. + +[370] Or, liberal. + +[371] V. Sahitya-Darpana, 641. + +[372] Ibid., 568. + +[373] Or, offering gifts. + +[374] Or, containing pine-trees. + +[375] Or, attentive to women. + +[376] Brother of Rama and Bharata. + +[377] Or, their friends. + +[378] Or, of the Sarvastivadin School (a subdivision of the Vaibhashika +Buddhists). + +[379] Or, matter and spirit. + +[380] Or, lotus-hued. + +[381] In the case of Çiva, 'loud laughter, bright as nectar.' + +[382] It has treasure vaults. + +[383] Or, keeping its covenants firm. + +[384] Or, houses whitened with ivory and cowries. + +[385] Or, having splendid mountains always at hand. + +[386] Or, false. + +[387] Or, gold pieces. + +[388] (a) Demon; (b) golden dice. + +[389] Or, rogues. + +[390] Or, the sporting of King Bala. + +[391] Though the free intercourse with women is allowed, it is of +irreproachable conduct. + +[392] Its castes are loved. + +[393] Vihara (a) without necklaces; (b) having temples. + +[394] Having many citizens. + +[395] Then follows: 'There--demons,' p. 47, l. 18. + +[396] Follows p. 48, l. 17, 'gay.' + +[397] Read °kulaih; (a) Kings; (b) mountains. + +[398] Loss of dependencies; or, loss of wings. + +[399] Or, by the star Budha. + +[400] Or, his body was destroyed. + +[401] Or, Sumitra, wife of Daçaratha. + +[402] Or, by the 'Lord of Battles,' i.e., Kartikeya. + +[403] Or, was honoured for his patience. + +[404] (a) A great family; (b) a great bamboo from which the river is +said to rise. + +[405] V. supra, p. 162. + +[406] Read lavanga. + +[407] A monkey chief. + +[408] The figures refer to the page and line of the Nirnaya-Sagara +edition of Kadambari. + +[409] Passages marked * are condensed, and only occasional phrases +are translated. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Kadambari of Bana, by Bana and Bhushanabhatta + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41128 *** |