Note 36 — Chapter LXI

Then Yajnasoma went away silent, and told that to his wife, and set out with her, relying upon the help of Heaven only. When they reached the wood, it happened that, as he was going along, he was swallowed by a monstrous serpent. And when his wife saw it, she fell on the ground and lamented. And the serpent said with a human voice to the lady: “Why do you lament, my good woman?” The Bráhman lady answered the snake: “How can I help lamenting, mighty sir, when you have deprived me in this remote spot of my only means of obtaining alms?” When the serpent heard that, he brought out of his mouth a great vessel of gold and gave it her, saying, “Take this as a vessel in which to receive alms.”36 The good Bráhman lady said, “Who will give me alms in this vessel, for I am a woman?” The serpent said: “If any one refuses to give you alms in it, his head shall that moment burst into a hundred pieces. What I say is true.” When the virtuous Bráhman lady heard that, she said to the serpent, “If this is so, then give me my husband in it by way of alms.” The moment the good lady said this, the serpent brought her husband out of his mouth alive and unharmed. As soon as the serpent had done this, he became a man of heavenly appearance, and being pleased, he said to the joyful couple: “I am a king of the Vidyádharas, named Kánchanavega, and by the curse of Gautama I was reduced to the condition of a serpent. And it was appointed that my curse should end when I conversed with a good woman.” When the king of the Vidyádharas had said this, he immediately filled the vessel with jewels, and delighted flew up into the sky. And the couple returned home with abundance of jewels. And there Yajnasoma lived in happiness having obtained inexhaustible wealth.