The Katha Sarit Sagara/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII.
Then, having taken a vow of silence, I came into the presence of the sovereign, and there a certain Brahman recited a sloka he had composed, and the king himself addressed him correctly in the Sanskrit language; and the people who were present in court were delighted when they witnessed that. Then the king said deferentially to S'arvavarman—"Tell me thyself after what fashion the god shewed thee favour." Hearing that, S'arvavarman proceeded to relate to the king the whole story of Kartikeya's favourable acceptance of him.
"I went, O king, on that occasion fasting and silent from this place, so when the journey came to an end, being very despondent, and emaciated with my severe austerities, worn out I fell senseless on the ground. Then, I remember, a man with a spear in his hand came and said to me in distinct accents, 'Rise up, my son, everything shall turn out favourably for thee.' By that speech I was, as it were, immediately bedewed with a shower of nectar, and I woke up, and seemed free from hunger and thirst and in good case. Then I approached the neighbourhood of the god's temple, over-powered with the weight of my devotion, and after bathing I entered the inner shrine of the god in a state of agitated suspense. Then that Lord Skanda[1] gave me a sight of himself within, and thereupon Sarasvati in visible shape entered my mouth. So that holy god, manifested before me, recited the sutra beginning ' the traditional doctrine of letters.' On hearing that, I, with the levity which is so natural to mankind, guessed the next sutra and uttered it myself. Then that god said to me, 'if thou hadst not uttered it thyself, this grammatical treatise would have supplanted that of Panini. As it is, on account of its conciseness, it shall be called Katantra, and Kahipaka, from the tail (kalapa) of the peacock on which I ride.' Having said this, that god himself in visible form revealed to me that new and short grammar,</ref>This grammar is extensively in use in the eastern parts of Bengal. The rules are attributed to Sarvavarma, by the inspiration of Kartikeya, as narrated in the text. The vritti or gloss is the work of Durga Singh and that again is commented on by Trilochana Dasa and Kaviraja. Vararuchi is the supposed author of an illustration of the Conjugations and Sripati Varma of a Supplement. Other Commentaries are attributed to Gopi Natha, Kula Chandra and Visvevara. (Note in Wilson's Essays, Vol. I I. p. 183.) </ref> and then added this besides; 'That king of thine in a former birth was himself a holy sage, a pupil of the hermit Bharadvaja, named Krishna, great in austerity: and he, having beheld a hermit's daughter who loved him in return, suddenly felt the smart of the wound which the shaft of the flowery-arrowed god inflicts. So, having been cursed by the hermits, he has now become incarnate here, and that hermit's daughter has become incarnate as his queen.
So this king Sátaváhana, being an incarnation of a holy sage,*[2] when he beholds thee, will attain a knowledge of all the sciences according to thy wish. For the highest matters are easily acquired by great-souled ones, having been learnt in a former birth, the real truth of them being recalled by their powerful memories. †[3] When the god had said this, he disappeared, and I went out, and there grains of rice were presented me by the god's servants. Then I proceeded to return, O king, and wonderful to say, though I consumed those grains on my journey day after day, they remained as numerous as ever." When he had related his adventure, Śarvavarman ceased speaking, and king Sátaváhana in cheerful mood rose up and went to bathe.
Then I, being excluded from business by my vow of silence, took leave, with a low bow only, of that king who was very averse to part with me, and went out of that town, accompanied by only two disciples, and, with my mind bent on the performance of austerities, came to visit the shrine of the dweller in the Vindhya hills, and having been directed by the goddess in a dream to visit thee, I entered for that purpose this terrible Vindhya forest. A hint given by a Pulinda enabled me to find a caravan, and so somehow or other, by the special favour of destiny, I managed to arrive here, and beheld this host of Piśáchas, and by hearing from a distance their conversation with one another, I have contrived to learn this Paíśácha language, which has enabled me to break my vow of silence; I then made use of it to ask after you, and, hearing that you had gone to Ujjayiní, I waited here until your return; on beholding you I welcomed you in the fourth language, (the speech of the Piśáchas), and then I called to mind my origin; this is the story of my adventures in this birth.
When Gunádhya had said this, Kánabhuti said to him,—— "hear, how your arrival was made known to me last night. I have a friend, a Rákshasa of the name of Bhútivarman, who possesses heavenly insight; and I went to a garden in Ujjayiní, where he resides. On my asking him when my own curse would come to an end, he said, we have no power in the day, wait, and I will tell you at night. I consented and when night came on, I asked him earnestly the reason why goblins ‡[4]delighted in disporting themselves then, as they were doing. Then Bhútivarman said to me, ' Listen, I will relate what I heard Śiva say in a conversation with Brahmá. Rákshasas, Yakshas, and Piśáchas have no power in the day, being dazed with the brightness of the sun, therefore they delight in the night. And where the gods are not worshipped, and the Bráhmans, in due form, and where men eat contrary to the holy law, there also they have power. Where there is a man who abstains from flesh, or a virtuous woman, there they do not go. They never attack chaste men, heroes, and men awake.'* [5] When he said this on that occasion Bhútivarman continued, 'Go, for Gunádhya has arrived, the destined means of thy release from the curse.' So hearing this, I have come, and I have seen thee, my lord; now I will relate to thee that tale which Pushpadanta told; but I feel curiosity on one point; tell me why he was called Pushpadanta and thou Mályaván."
Story of Pushpadanta:—Hearing this question from Kánabhúti, Gunádhya said to him. On the bank the Ganges there is a district granted to Bráhmans by royal charter, named Bahusuvarnaka, and there lived there a very learned Bráhman named Govindadatta, and he had a wife Agnidattá who was devoted to her husband. In course of time that Bráhman had five sons by her. And they, being handsome but stupid, grew up insolent fellows. Then a guest came to the house of Govindadatta, a Bráhman Vaiśvánara by name, like a second god of fire. †[6] As Govindadatta was away from home when he arrived, he came and saluted his sons, and they only responded to his salute with a laugh; then that Bráhman in a rage prepared to depart from his house. While he was in this state of wrath Govindadatta came, and asked the cause, and did his best to appease him, but the excellent Bráhman nevertheless spoke as follows —— "Your sons have become outcasts, as being blockheads, and you have lost caste by associating with them, therefore I will not eat in your house; if I did so, I should not be able to purify myself by any expiatory ceremony." Then Govindadatta said to him with an oath, "I will never even touch these wicked sons of mine." His hospitable wife also came and said the same to her guest; then Vaiśvánara was with difficulty induced to accept their hospitality. One of Gurudatta's sons, named Devadatta, when he saw that, was grieved at his father's sternness, and thinking a life of no value which was thus branded by his parents, went in a state of despondency to the hermitage of Badariká to perform penance; there he first ate leaves, and afterwards he fed only on smoke, persevering in a long course of austerities in order to propitiate the husband of Uma. ‡[7] So Śambhu, ‡[8] won over by his severe austerities, mani fested himself to him, and he craved a boon from the god, that he might ever attend upon him. Śambhu thus commanded him —— "Acquire learning, and enjoy pleasures on the earth, and after that thou shalt attain all thy desire." Then he, eager for learning, went to the city of Pátaliputra, and according to custom waited on an instructor named Vedakumbha. When he was there, the wife of his preceptor distracted by passion, which had arisen in her heart, made violent love to him; alas! the fancies of women are ever inconstant! Accordingly Devadatta left that place, as his studies had been thus interfered with by the god of love, and went to Pratishthána with unwearied zeal. There he repaired to an old preceptor named Mantrasvámin, with an old wife, and acquired a perfect knowledge of the sciences. And after he had acquired learning, the daughter of the king Suśarman, Śri by name, cast eyes upon the handsome youth, as the goddess Śri upon Vishnu. He also beheld that maiden at a window, looking like the presiding goddess of the moon, roaming through the air in a magic chariot. Those two were, as it were, fastened together by that look which was the chain of love, and were unable to separate. The king's daughter made him a sign to come near with one finger, looking like Love's command in fleshly form. Then he came near her, and she came out of the women's apartments, and took with her teeth a flower and threw it down to him. He, not understanding this mysterious sign made by the princess, puzzled as to what he ought to do, went home to his preceptor. There he rolled on the ground unable to utter a word, being consumed within with burning pain, like one dumb and distracted; his wise preceptor guessing what was the matter by these love- symptoms, artfully questioned him, and at last he was with difficulty persuaded to tell the whole story. Then the clever preceptor guessed the riddle, and said to him,* [9]"By letting drop a flower with her tooth she made a sign to you, that you were to go to this temple rich in flowers called Pushpadanta, and wait there: so you had better go now." When he heard this and knew the meaning of the sign, the youth forgot his grief. Then he went into that temple and remained there. The princess on her part also went there, giving as an excuse that it was the eighth clay of the month, and then entered the inner shrine in order to present herself alone before the god; then she touched her lover who was behind the panel of the door, and he suddenly springing up threw his arms round her neck. She exclaimed, " this is strange; how did you guess the meaning of that sign of mine?" He replied, "it was my preceptor that found it out, not I." Then the princess flew into a passion and said, "Let me go, you arc a dolt," and immediately rushed out of the temple, fearing that her secret would be discovered. Devadatta on his part went away, and thinking in solitude on his beloved, who was no sooner seen than lost to his eyes, was in such a state that the taper of his life was well nigh melted away in the fire of bereavement. Śiva, who had been before propitiated by him, commanded an attendant of his, of the name of Panchaśikha, to procure for him the desire of his heart. That excellent Gana thereupon came, and consoled him, and caused him to assume the dress of a woman, and he himself wore the semblance of an aged Bráhman. Then that worthy Gana went with him to king Suśarman the father of that bright-eyed one, and said to him; "My son has been sent away somewhere, I go to seek him: accordingly I deposit with thee this daughter-in-law of mine, keep her safely, O king." Hearing that, king Suśarman afraid of a Bráhman's curse, took the young man and placed him in his daughter's guarded seraglio, supposing him to be a woman. Then after the departure of Panchaśikha, the Bráhman dwelt in woman's clothes in the seraglio of his beloved, and became her trusted confidante. Once on a time the princess was full of regretful longing at night, so he discovered himself to her and secretly married her by the Gándharva form of marriage. And when she became pregnant, that excellent Gana came on his thinking of him only, and carried him away at night without its being perceived. Then he quickly rent off from the young man his woman's dress, and in the morning Panchaśikha resumed the semblance of a Bráhman; and going with the young man to the king Suśarman he said; "O king, I have this day found my son: so give me back my daughter-in-law." Then the king, supposing that she had fled somewhere at night, alarmed at the prospect of being cursed by the Bráhman, said this to his ministers. " This is no Bráhman, this is some god come to deceive me, for such things often happen in this world.
Story of king Śivi:--So in former times there was a king named Śivi, self-denying, compassionate, generous, resolute, the protector of all creatures; and in order to beguile him Indra assumed the shape of a hawk, and swiftly pursued Dharma,*[10] who by magic had transformed himself into a dove. The dove in terror went and took refuge in the bosom of Śivi. Then the hawk addressed the king with a human voice; 'O king, this is my natural food, surrender the dove to me, for I am hungry. Know that my death will immediately follow if you refuse my prayer; in that case where will be your righteousness?' Then Śivi said to the god,- 'this creature has fled to me for protection, and I cannot abandon it, therefore I will give you an equal weight of some other kind of flesh.' The hawk said, 'if this be so, then give me your own flesh.' The king, delighted, consented to do so. But as fast as he cut off his flesh and threw it on the scale, the dove seemed to weigh more and more in the balance. Then the king threw his whole body on to the scale, and thereupon a celestial voice was heard, 'Well done! this is equal in weight to the dove.' Then Indra and Dharma abandoned the form of hawk and dove, and being highly pleased restored the body of king Śivi whole as before, and, after bestowing on him many other blessings, they both disappeared. In the same way this Bráhman is some god that has come to prove me."*[11]
Having said this to his ministers, that king Suśarman of his own motion said to that excellent Gana that had assumed the form of a Bráhman, prostrating himself before him in fear, "Spare me; that daughter-in-law of thine was carried off last night. She has been taken somewhere or other by magic arts, though guarded night and day." Then the Gana, who had assumed the Bráhman's semblance, pretending to be with difficulty won over to pity him, said, "If this be so, king, give thy daughter in marriage to my son." When he heard this, the king afraid of being cursed, gave his own daughter to Devadatta: then Panchaśikha departed. Then Devadatta having recovered his beloved, and that in an open manner, flourished in the power and splendour of his father-in-law who had no son but him. And in course of time Suśarman anointed the son of his daughter by Devadatta, Mahídhara by name, as successor in his room, and retired to the forest. Then having seen the prosperity of his son, Devadatta considered that he had attained all his objects, and he too with the princess retired to the forest. There he again propitiated Śiva, and having laid aside his mortal body, by the special favour of the god he attained the position of a Gana. Because he did not understand the sign given by the flower dropped from the tooth of his beloved, therefore he became known by the name of Pushpadanta in the assembly of the Ganas. And his wife became a door-keeper in the house of the goddess, under the name of Jayá: this is how he came to be called Pushpadanta: now hear the origin of my name.
Long ago I was a son of that same Bráhman called Govindadatta the father of Devadatta, and my name was Somadatta. I left my home indignant for the same reason as Devadatta, and I performed austerities on the Himálaya continually striving to propitiate Śiva with offerings of many garlands. The god of the moony crest, being pleased, revealed himself to me in the same way as he did to my brother, and I chose the privilege of attending upon him as a Gana, not being desirous of lower pleasures. The husband of the daughter of the mountain, that mighty god, thus addressed me; " Because I have been worshipped by thee with garlands of flowers growing in trackless forest-regions, brought with thy own hand, therefore thou shalt be one of my Ganas, and shalt bear the name of Mályaván." Then I cast off my mortal frame, and immediately attained the holy state of an attendant on the god. And so my name of Mályaván was bestowed upon me by him who wears the burden of the matted locks,*[12] as a mark of his special favour. And I, that very Mályaván, have once more, O Kánabhúti, been degraded to the state of a mortal, as thou seest, owing to the curse of the daughter of the mountain, therefore do thou now tell me the tale told by Śiva, in order that the state of curse of both of us may cease.
Note to Chapter VII.
"Rakshasas, Yakshas, and Piśáchas have no power in the day, being dazed with the brightness of the sun therefore they delight in the night."
Farmer commenting on Hamlet, Act I, Sc. I, 150, quotes the following lines of Prudentius Ad Gallicinium. Ferunt vagantes dæmonas,Lætos tenebris noctium, Gallo canente exterritos, Sparsim timere et cedere. Hoc esse signum præscii Norunt repromissæ spei, Qua nos soporis liberi Speramus adventum Dei. Douce quotes from another hymn said to have been composed by Saint Ambrose and formerly used in the Salisbury service. Præco diei jam sonat, Noctis profundæ pervigil; Nocturna lux viantibus, A nocte noctem segregans. Hoc excitatus Lucifer Solvit polum caligine; Hoc omnis errorum cohors Viam nocendi deserit. Gallo canente spes redit &c.
- ↑ Skanda is another name of Kartikeya.
- ↑ * Rishis.
- ↑ † sanskára means tendency produced by some past influence, often works in a former birth.
- ↑ ‡ For the idea op. Shakespear, Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 1 (towards the end) and numerous other passages in the same author.
- ↑ * Brockhaus renders it Fromme, Helden und Weise.
- ↑ † Vaiśvánara is an epithet of Agni or Fire.
- ↑ ‡ Śiva.
- ↑ ‡ Śiva.
- ↑ * Cp. the 1st story in the Vetála Panchavinśati, Chapter 75 of this work.
- ↑ * The god of justice.
- ↑ * Benfey considers this story as Buddhistic in its origin. In the " Memoires Surles Contrées Occidentals tradnits du Sanscrit par Hiouen Thsang et du Chinois par Stanislas Julien" we are expressly told that Gautama Buddha gave his flesh; to the hawk as Śivi in a former state of existence. It is told of many other person, see Benfey's Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 388, cp. also Campbell's West Highland Tales, p. 239, Vol. I, Tale XVI.
- ↑ * I.e., Śiva.