Note 12 — Chapter IV

Then the supposed Nanda,12 full of grief, said in secret to Vyáḍi,—“Though a Bráhman by birth I have become a Śúdra, what is the use of my royal fortune to me though it be firmly established?” When he heard that, Vyáḍi comforted him,13 and gave him seasonable advice, “You have been discovered by Śakatála, so you must henceforth be on your guard against him, for he is a great minister, and in a short time he will, when it suits his purpose, destroy you, and will make Chandragupta, the son of the previous Nanda, king. Therefore immediately appoint Vararuchi your minister, in order that your rule may be firmly established by the help of his intellect, which is of god-like acuteness.” When he had said this, Vyáḍi departed to give that fee to his preceptor, and immediately Yogananda sent for me and made me his minister. Then I said to the king, “Though your caste as a Bráhman has been taken from you, I do not consider your throne secure as long as Śakatála remains in office, therefore destroy him by some stratagem.” When I had given him this advice, Yogananda threw Śakatála into a dark dungeon, and his hundred sons with him,14 proclaiming as his crime that he had burnt a Bráhman alive. One porringer of barley-meal and one of water was placed inside the dungeon every day for Śakatála and his sons, and thereupon he said to them;—“My sons, even one man alone would with difficulty subsist on this barley-meal, much less can a number of people do so. Therefore let that one of us, who is able to take vengeance on Yogananda, consume every day the barley-meal and the water.” His sons answered him, “You alone are able to punish him, therefore do you consume them.” For vengeance is dearer to the resolute than life itself. So Śakatála alone subsisted on that meal and water every day. Alas! those whose souls are set on victory are cruel. Śakatála in the dark dungeon, beholding the death agonies of his starving sons, thought to himself, “A man who desires his own welfare should not act in an arbitrary manner towards the powerful, without fathoming their character and acquiring their confidence.” Accordingly his hundred sons perished before his eyes, and he alone remained alive surrounded by their skeletons. Then Yogananda took firm root in his kingdom. And Vyáḍi approached him after giving the present to his teacher, and after coming near to him said, “May thy rule, my friend, last long! I take my leave of thee, I go to perform austerities somewhere.” Hearing that, Yogananda, with his voice choked with tears, said to him, “Stop thou, and enjoy pleasures in my kingdom, do not go and desert me.” Vyáḍi answered—“King! Life comes to an end in a moment. What wise man, I pray you, drowns himself in these hollow and fleeting enjoyments? Prosperity, a desert mirage, does not turn the head of the wise man.” Saying this he went away that moment resolved to mortify his flesh with austerities. Then that Yogananda went to his metropolis Páṭaliputra, for the purpose of enjoyment, accompanied by me, and surrounded with his whole army. So I, having attained prosperity, lived for a long time in that state, waited upon by Upakośá, and bearing the burden of the office of prime-minister to that king, accompanied by my mother and my preceptors. There the Ganges, propitiated by my austerities, gave me every day much wealth, and Sarasvatí present in bodily form told me continually what measures to adopt.