Folk-lore of the Telugus/The King and the Giant
XL.
THE KING AND THE GIANT.
Narada, the greatest of Rishis, was once upon a time, while on a visit to Nandikesvara, requested by him to narrate any important news he had of the lokas (worlds), whereupon he informed him of the stories told by the two and thirty images on the throne of Vikramarka.
In Vedanarayanapura Agrahara there lived a Brahman, Vishnusarma by name who had four sons, Yajnanarayana, Yedanarayana, Viranarayana, and Chandrasarma. The first three were thoroughly conversant with Vedic literature and all the sastras, and displayed their learning at the courts of various kings, receiving very valuable presents; while the fourth, as he was not instructed in any of the sciences, acted as their servant. Matters went on thus for some time, till the fourth son became disgusted with his lot and resolving to visit foreign parts for the purpose of becoming educated, left his home at dead of night without telling anyone. The next evening he reached the bank of a river near an agrahara, performed his daily ablutions in it, and came out to perform the japa alone.
A Brahmarakshasa, dwelling in an adjacent pipal-tree, assumed the form of a Brahman, descended from the tree and stood before Chandrasarma, and enquired who he was; whereupon Chandrasarma, thinking him to be a Brahman of the adjacent agrahara, told him his errand and his story. The Brahmarakshasa then said:—"Well then, you are intent upon learning." Chandrasarma, right glad of the turn events had taken, consented to receive instruction from the supposed Brahman, who, thereupon, appeared to him in his true colours and asked him not to be afraid of him. But for all that Sarma shook with fear, and shut his eyes, and so the Brahmarakshasa immediately resumed the form of a Brahman, consoled Chandrasarma, took him up to the top of the pipal-tree, taught him without a moment's stop,—without sleep or food for six months,—and then informed him that he was rid of his curse. He himself would now go on a visit to Benares, but Sarma was at perfect liberty to go home, being completely trained in all the sciences, and ere long would rise to a very prominent position, and he further blessed him with four very intelligent sons. Chandrasarma, thereupon, enquired of his perceptor the circumstances under which he became a Brahmarakshasa, and why he had to go on a visit to Benares. To which the latter replied:—"I was living some time ago at Sarasvatipura, on the banks of the Krishna, and learnt the various sciences. While there, a Brahman pupil visited the place and requested me to instruct him in some of the sciences, which I refused to do, feeling very proud of my learning, and so my would-be pupil became very much infuriated and said:—'Reserve your learning to yourself; you need not teach me at all: I shall learn from some other person,' and cursed me to become a Brahmarakshasa. Quaking with fear, I requested him to inform me how best I could be relieved of the curse. And he replied:—'After some time, Chandrasarma, a Brahman, intent upon learning, will visit foreign parts. You will accidentally meet him on the bank of a river. He will learn the various sciences from you, and if you will then visit Benares and bathe in the sacred waters of the Ganges, you will be relieved of your curse and become a Brahman once more.' I, therefore, became a Brahmarakshasa and took up my abode in yonder pipal-tree, eagerly awaiting your arrival. As I have instructed you in all the sciences, I shall now go on a visit to Benares to rid myself of the curse. Chandrasarma then took a different route, as he had forgotten the way by which he came "to pipal-tree, and while going through the palace street of Ujayani, saw the house of a public woman and mistook it for a Brahman's quarters, and as he was very tired, having had neither sleep nor food for six months past, went in, spread his upper garment on the verandah and quietly went to sleep. Not long after the house-owner's daughter came out, perceived the sleeping person, and thinking that he would be a fit husband for herself went in and informed her mother of the fact with great glee.
The mother, intent upon appropriating the new-comer's money, came out to see if he were a wealthy man, and perceiving him to be a poor Brahman, became enraged at her daughter. But the daughter gave a deaf ear to her mother's words, and insisted on possessing the Brahman. The mother consented, as she was unable to win her daughter over to her arguments. The Brahman did not rise the next morning, nor did he move a muscle. This made the mother inform the king of what had transpired, who immediately sent the palace doctors to the spot. They felt the pulse of the sleeping person, and went and informed the king that as, for some reason or other, he had had neither food nor sleep for six months past, his body should be smeared all over with boiled rice for some time, and if this were repeated for a time, he would enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber and would rise. After six months' tending, according to the doctor's advice, Chandrasarma rose one fine morning just as an ordinary person would, who had enjoyed a very refreshing sleep. Then he began to think:—"Whose house is this? Who is this girl? What brought me here? But what care I for all this?" He was preparing to go his own way, when the girl taking hold of the hem of his garment asked him:—"Are you going to quit me? I have been eagerly waiting for you and tending you for these six months. You are my husband: I am your wife." On hearing this, the Brahman replied:—"I am a Brahman and you a Sudra, this sort of talk is, therefore, unfair of you. What have I to do with you?" So saying, he rose, but the girl accompanied him closely wheresoever he went. The matter was reported by the townsfolk to the king, who summoned the Brahman and the Sudra girl before him, and as he was not able to effect a compromise between them, he invited a certain number of the best Pandits and requested them to judge of the affair, who pacified Chandrasarma by saying that a Brahman is at liberty to marry from among all the four castes.
The king then married Chandrasarma first to his purohit's daughter, then to his own daughter, thirdly to the daughter of the wealthiest merchants of the locality, and lastly to the girl in question. As the king had no male issue, he transferred one-half of his kingdom with the necessary army to Chandrasarma, retained him at his own place and lived happily. Chandrasarma had four lodgings prepared for his four wives, kept each of them in a separate house, performed his daily ablutions in the house of his; Brahman wife, and lived happily, not swerving from the injunctions laid down in the Sastras. Some time after the king died and as he had left no sons, Chandrasarma was installed king of the whole realm by the ministers, purohits, and the people. He had by his Brahman wife a son named Varuruchi ; by the second, Vikramarka ; by the third, Bhatti; and by the fourth, Hari. All the four sons were well educated. Chandrasarma being very much pleased with the noble qualities of Vikramarka, and as he was moreover the collateral grandson of the late monarch, installed him king and made Bhatti his premier. Vikramarka then prayed to the goddess, Kali, who, being greatly pleased with his severe austerities, appeared before him and granted him a boon, that he would rule for one thousand years, that neither gods, spirits, demons nor giants should be able to vanquish him, and that he would meet his death by the hand of a child, born to a girl thirteen months old. Vikramarka then came home and informed Bhatti of what had transpired, when the latter said that he would extend the period of the life of Vikramarka by an additional one thousand years. On his questioning the former how he was able to grant the boon, Bhatti replied:—"The goddess Kali has blessed you that you should rule for one thousand years. Rule over the kingdom for six months and travel over the world for the other six months, so that by the time you have ruled for one thousand years^you will practically live for two thousands years." Vikramarka was greatly pleased with the tactics of Bhatti and did as directed. He became afterwards one of the world's best rulers. Once upon a time a sannyasin came to Vikramarka, blessed him and gave him a fruit. The same thing was repeated day after day arid the king used to give it over to his steward. On a certain day the fruit was given by the king to a monkey standing near, and when the latter bit a portion of it, a large number of diamonds fell out of the fruit. The king was wonderstruck and called upon the steward to produce the fruit entrusted to him. On their being produced and broken open, the king found to his utter amazement an additional number of diamonds. The king, feeling very pleased with the sannyasin, enquired of his errand, when the latter informed him that he was intent upon performing a great tapas, that he needed therefore the king's help and that he would tell him the business, should he (the king) come to his abode on the fifteenth day from that date at dead of night. He would then help him, for his tapas would be fulfilled. The king . consented and dressed himself like a warrior, and, with sword in hand, went to the spot appeared respectfully before the sannyasin and asked him what he wanted him to do. The sannyasin said:—O king! you do not fail to abide by your promise. I am very glad you have come here. Whenever I intend to perform a tapas, one Bethala throws as many obstacles as he can in the way, and never allows it to reach completion. As you are the strongest and bravest of men, if you will bring Bethala here, tied hand and foot, there will be no one to throw obstacles in the way of my tapas. If you talk to Bethala while bringing him here, he will assuredly run away. You should, therefore, not talk to him at all." Vikramarka then enquired the whereabouts of Bethala, went and tied him up and carried him on his back. Bethala said to him that he would put him a question which if he knowingly failed to answer, would break his head into a thousand pieces:—
"O king ! In days long gone by there lived a king named Yasakethu, who held sway over Sobhavatipura according to the dharmas laid own in the Sastras, Close to the town was a temple of the goddess Kali, to whom the townsfolk were in the habit of performing jatras year after year. Once, while the woman of the town were bathing in the temple tank, Dhavala, a washerman of another town, while going to Sobhavatipura on business, passed through the temple and saw the women bathing. He fell in love with one of them, and hid himself in a certain quarter, and not being able to bear the finely-pointed darts of Cupid, followed her to a little distance from her home, promising, meanwhile, to offer the goddess Kali his head a few days after the accomplishment of his cherished object. He was terribly love-sick, and did not go to Sobhavatipura at all, but went home and became more and more emaciated day by day. His parents, who learnt the whole affair, enquired of their son of the whereabouts of the girl, went and negotiated with the girl's parents and effected a marriage between the two. A few days after this the girl's parents sent her to her mother-in-law Some time afterwards, they sent their son to inform the boy's parents and bring his brotherin-law and sister to their house. Dhavala's parents were very glad, and Sent their son and daughter-in-law with the new-comer. They set out, and while resting themselves a little on the way near the temple of the goddess Kali, Dhavala went in and offered his head as a sacrifice to the goddess, as he had promised, and died. The new-comer, who was eagerly awaiting the arrival of his brother-in-law, not seeing him come out, went into the temple, and to his utter disappointment and sorrow saw his brother-in-law lying there dead, and died himself. The girl, amazed at both her husband and her brother not coming out for so long a time, went into the temple, and was wholly immersed in sorrow and was about to slay herself, when the goddess Kali appeared before her and said that she was pleased with her chastity, and that it was unfair of her to venture on suicide, and said further that, if the two heads of the slain be brought and attached to the other parts of the bodies, they would once more come to life. In her haste she brought the head of her husband and attached it to the body of her brother and vice versa, and they both rose up. She was now on the horns of a dilemma, and did not know what to do." Bethala then asked Vikramarka who should be taken to husband by the girl. Vikramarka replied that as the head is the most essential part of the whole body, to whatsoever body the head of her husband was attached, that man should become her husband. Bethala upon this immediately disappeared.
Bethala, however, was once more fetched, and he again began to tell a story. "There remained with Sakatasringa, King of Mallikapura, without a moment's severance, his attendant, Karpataka by name. Once upon a time, the king set out on a hunting excursion with his large army to a wood, mounted a horse, went with Karpataka to an uninhabited place a great distance off, and being very much fatigued, rested under the leafy spreading branches of a huge barh tree, when Karpataka brought and gave him two fruits of the emblic myrobalan (amalaka). The king then went home, and some time after informed Karpataka that he had conceived a passion for the daughter of the King of Simhaladvipa (Ceylon), and wanted him to arrange for a marriage between them. Karpataka set sail in a merchant vessel, which unfortunately was wrecked and all the people perished. Karpataka alone, while swimming with the greatest difficulty, caught hold of a twig which carried him to Nagaloka, where he saw a temple to Durga, at which he rested. He there saw a number of Naga girls visiting the temple, worshipping the goddess, and dancing and singing. He conceived a passion for one among the number, and communicated it to her maid-servants, who in turn informed the lady. The lady seemed to agree to the proposal and wanted Karpataka to bathe in a tank near by. No sooner was that done than he found himself, to his utter amazement, floating in the tank of Mallikapura. He then informed the king of what had transpired. The king, thereupon, wanted Karpataka to show him the woman. The whole route was retraversed and the woman in the temple to Durga was shewn. The girl with whom Karpataka had fallen in love, fell in love with the king, and told him that she would supply him with everything, if he should fulfil her cherished object. The king, thereupon, told her that Karpataka was his son, a fair-looking, intelligent young man, a person who would act up to his promise, cost whatever it might, and that she should marry and live comfortably with him, to which she consented. The king took hold of Karpataka's hand, and saying that the union effected between the latter and the Naga girl was equal to one of the amalakas given him, and that he should do some service for the other fruit, went and immersed himself in the waters of the tank, and reached his capital safe. Karpataka then lived happily with the girl." Bethala then asked Vikramarka:—"Which of them did the greatest good?" To which Vikramarka replied that it is but natural for a servant to do good to his master, but the master repaid him the good, thinking very highly of the servant's services—that must be considered the greatest. Bethala on hearing this, once more disappeared.
Bethala was again brought, and again began to narrate a story. "In days long gone by there lived at Vijayanagara a king named Danduvakesa, who married Satyavrata, and was so wholly immersed in the luxuries of her charms that he was practically dead to the outer world. Tirthadarsi, his minister, was then guiding the helm of the State. It was rumoured abroad, however, that the minister had appropriated the State to himself, and he, not being able to endure the calumny, went away to a foreign place. The king then entrusted his government to another minister of his, and pursued his old habits. After wandering through various countries, Tirthadarsi reached a port, contracted friendship with a merchant there, and remained always with him. One day the merchant informed him that he was about to set sail to an island afar off, and asked him to look after his affairs till he returned. The minister, thereupon, said that he would accompany the merchant, as he could not endure the pangs of separation. They both went on board the vessel, and saw a very beautiful woman on an island. On being questioned by the minister who she was, the merchant replied that he did not know, but that he saw her every time he crossed that way. As soon as their business was finished, both of them reached home safely. Some time afterwards the minister took leave of the merchant, went to his own place, was received very cordially by the king, who enquired of him why he had left him. To which the minister replied:—'You were wholly immersed in female charms, and as I guided the State, numerous scandals were spread abroad that I had misused my authority, and so I went away to a foreign place. I then made friendship with a merchant, and went on board his vessel to a far off island and there saw near the temple of the goddess Kali a large barh tree, underneath whose umbrageous branches was a woman, the very type of perfect womanhood.' On hearing this the king was very much astonished, and wanted to see the girl and having received instructions from the minister, reached the island, saw the girl and thought that the minister was an unusually self-controlled man, for every man who had seen her had conceived a passion for her. Thus he praised the minister, and went and prostrated himself before the goddess Kali, and then approached the girl, who turned her back on him. The king then took hold of the hem of her garment and asked her not to treat him with contempt. The girl, understanding that he was the greatest of kings did according to his wishes. Some time after, the girl went to bathe in the waters of a tank for the observance of a vrata, when she was unfortunately devoured by a rakshasa. The king, on seeing this, immediately drew his sword and slew the rakshasa and drew the girl out of his body. The girl then informed the king why she was devoured by the rakshasa, and lived happily with the king as usual. The king then took her to his capital and remained there more than ever addicted to female allurements. The minister then poisoned himself and died." Vikramarka was then questioned by Bethala:—Why did the minister die? For the king's return? For the king's marrying the girl whom he (the minister) had fallen in love with"? To which Vikramarka replied that the minister poisoned himself because he foolishly communicated to the king the excellence of the girl in question, being fully aware of the king's previous conduct. Bethala once more disappeared.
Thus did Bethala abscond twenty-four times, and thus was he fetched again and again by Vikramarka.