“Therefore you will gain back your father and uncles by an unparalleled gift.” When Yajnadatta had given him this advice, Putraka did as he recommended; when they heard the tidings of the distribution those Bráhmans arrived: and when they were recognized they had great wealth bestowed on them, and were reunited to their wives. Strange to say, even after they have gone through calamities, wicked men having their minds blinded by want of discernment, are unable to put off their evil nature. After a time they hankered after royal power, and being desirous of murdering Putraka they enticed him under pretext of a pilgrimage to the temple of Durgá: and having stationed assassins in the inner sanctuary of the temple, they said to him, “First go and visit the goddess alone, step inside.” Thereupon he entered boldly, but when he saw those assassins preparing to slay him, he asked them why they wished to kill him. They replied, “We were hired for gold to do it by your father and uncles.” Then the discreet Putraka said to the assassins, whose senses were bewildered by the goddess, “I will give you this priceless jewelled ornament of mine. Spare me, I will not reveal your secret; I will go to a distant land.” The assassins said, “So be it,” and taking the ornament they departed, and falsely informed the father and uncles of Putraka that he was slain. Then those Bráhmans returned and endeavoured to get possession of the throne, but they were put to death by the ministers as traitors. How can the ungrateful prosper?

When we heard from the mouth of Varsha the above strange and extraordinarily marvellous story, our minds, O Káṇabhúti, were for a long time delighted with thrilling wonder.

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · I. e., of learning and material prosperity.Note 2 · Literally the gate of the Ganges: it is now well known under the name of Haridvár (Hurdwar).Note 3 · Dr. Brockhaus renders the passage “wo Śiva die Jahnaví im goldenen Falle von den Gipfeln des Berges Uśínara herabsandte.”Note 4 · Skanda is Kártikeya and his mother is of course Durgá or Párvatí the consort of Śiva.Note 5 · This may be compared with Grimm’s No. 60, “Die zwei Brüder.” Each of the brothers finds every day a gold piece under his pillow. In one of W Note 6 · In this case the austerities which he had performed in a former birth to propitiate Śiva.Note 7 · This story is, according to Dr. Rajendra Lál Mitra, found in a MS. called the Bodhisattva Avadána. (Account of the Buddhist Literature of Ne Note 8 · I. e., bali, a portion of the daily meal offered to creatures of every description, especially the household spirits. Practically the bali g Note 9 · A similar incident is found in Grimm’s Fairy Tales translated by Mrs. Paull, p. 370. The hero of the tale called the Crystal Ball finds two Note 10 · Compare the way in which Zauberer Vergilius carries off the daughter of the Sulṭán of Babylon, and founds the town of Naples, which he makes Note 11 · I. e., infantry, cavalry, elephants, and archers.Note 12 · It came to pass in the course of time, that one day, when the reading of the Vedas was finished, the teacher Varsha, who had performed his d Note 13 · There is a sanctifying place of pilgrimage, named Kanakhala, at the point where the Ganges issues from the hills,2 where the sacred stream w Note 14 · “There lived formerly in Benares a king named Brahmadatta. He saw a pair of swans flying in the air at night. They shone with the lustre of Note 15 · In the meanwhile that king Putraka, faithful to his promise, entered the impassable wilds of the Vindhya, disgusted with his relations: as h Note 16 · Once upon a time the old woman in an affectionate mood said to Putraka—“I am grieved, my son, that you have not a wife meet for you. But her