Volume 2 / Book 18 — Chapter CXX.
C. H. (Charles Henry) Tawney translation
Glory be to that god, half of whose body is the moon-faced Párvatí, who is smeared with ashes white as the rays of the moon, whose eyes gleam with a fire like that of the sun and moon, who wears a half-moon on his head!
May that elephant-faced god protect you, who, with his trunk bent at the end, uplifted in sport, appears to be bestowing successes!
Then Naraváhanadatta, in the hermitage of the hermit Kaśyapa, on that Black Mountain, said to the assembled hermits, “Moreover, when, during my separation from the queen, Vegavatí, who was in love with me, took me and made me over to the protection of a Science, I longed to abandon the body, being separated from my beloved and in a foreign land; but while, in this state of mind, I was roaming about in a remote part of the forest, I beheld the great hermit Kanva.
“That compassionate hermit, seeing me bowing at his feet, and knowing by the insight of profound meditation that I was miserable, took me to his hermitage, and said to me, ‘Why are you distracted, though you are a hero sprung from the race of the Moon? As the ordinance of the god standeth sure, why should you despair of reunion with your wife?
“‘The most unexpected meetings do take place for men in this world; I will tell you, to illustrate this, the story of Vikramáditya; listen.’”
The story of Vikramáditya.
There is in Avanti a famous city, named Ujjayiní, the dwelling-place of Śiva, built by Viśvakarman in the commencement or the Yuga; which, like a virtuous woman, is invincible by strangers; like a lotus-plant is the resort of the goddess of prosperity; like the heart of the good, is rich in virtue; like the earth, is full of many wonderful sights.
When the Gaṇa Mályavat received this command from Śiva, he said “The command of you two divine beings cannot be disobeyed by me: but what enjoyments are there in the life of a man, which involves separations from relations, friends, and servants, very hard to bear, and the pain arising from loss of wealth, old age, disease, and the other ills of humanity?” When the Gaṇa said this to Śiva, the god thus replied, “Go, blameless one! These woes shall not fall to thy lot; by my favour thou shalt be happy throughout the whole of thy sojourn on earth.” When Śiva said this to Mályavat, that virtuous Gaṇa immediately disappeared. And he went and was conceived in Ujjayiní, in the proper season, in the womb of the queen of king Mahendráditya.
When the god had said this, he disappeared; and next morning the king woke up, and joyfully related his dream to his ministers. And they also told the king, one after another, with great delight, that Śiva had made a revelation to each of them in a dream that he was to have a son. And at that moment a handmaid of the harem came and shewed the king a fruit, saying, “Śiva gave this to the queen in a dream.” Then the king rejoiced, saying, again and again, “Truly, Śiva has given me a son,” and his ministers congratulated him.
When some more days had passed, there was born to that king’s minister, named Sumati, a son of the name of Mahámati, and the warder Vajráyudha had a son born to him, named Bhadhráyudha, and the chaplain Mahídhara had a son of the name of Śrídhara. And that prince Vikramáditya grew up with those three minister’s sons, as with spirit, courage, and might. When he was invested with the sacred thread, and put under teachers, they were merely the occasions of his learning the sciences, which revealed themselves to him without effort. And whatever science or accomplishment he was seen to employ, was known by those, who understood it, to be possessed by him to the highest degree of excellence. And when people saw that prince fighting with heavenly weapons, they even began to pay less attention to the stories about the great archer Ráma and other heroes of the kind. And his father brought for him beautiful maidens, given by kings who had submitted after defeat, like so many goddesses of Fortune.
When Anangadeva had been thus questioned by the king, he answered, “It is well with Vikramaśakti and the whole of the army. And Your Majesty has conquered the Dekkan and the western border, and Madhyadeśa and Sauráshṭra and all the eastern region of the Ganges; and the northern region and Kaśmíra have been made tributary, and various forts and islands have been conquered, and the hosts of the Mlechchhas have been slain, and the rest have been reduced to submission, and various kings have entered the camp of Vikramaśakti, and he himself is coming here with those kings, and is now, my lord, two or three marches off.”
The adventures of Anangadeva.
And that messenger, who had come from Sinhala, told to Vikramaśakti in my presence his master’s message as follows, “I have been told by messengers, who have been sent by me to your sovereign and have returned, that your sovereign’s very heart Anangadeva is with you, so send him to me quickly, I will reveal to him a certain auspicious affair, that concerns your king.” Then Vikramaśakti said to me, “Go quickly to the king of Sinhala; and see what he wishes to say to you when he has you before him.”
Then I went through the sea in a ship to the island of Sinhala with that king of Sinhala’s ambassador. And in that island I saw a palace all made of gold, with terraces of various jewels, like the city of the gods. And in it I saw that king of Sinhala, Vírasena, surrounded by obedient ministers, as Indra is by the gods. When I approached him, he received me politely, and asked me about Your Majesty’s health, and then he refreshed me with most sumptuous hospitality.
When the king had said this, he summoned into that hall his daughter whose load of ornaments was adorned by her graceful shape, loveliness, and youth. And he made her sit on his lap, and shewing her, said to me, “I offer this girl to your master, receive her.” And when I saw that princess, I was astonished at her beauty, and I said joyfully, “I accept this maiden on behalf of my sovereign,” and I thought to myself, “Well, the Creator is never tired of producing marvels, since even after creating Tilottamá, he has produced this far superior beauty.”
While we were saying this to one another, king, in the greatest astonishment, a wind suddenly began to blow, tossing up the sea. That wind broke up our ship, which was resting on the surging waves, and the people in it were whelmed in the sea, and the sea-monsters began to devour them. But those two maidens came and supported both of us in their arms, and lifted us up and carried us to the sandbank, so that we escaped the jaws of the sea-monsters. And then that bank began to be covered with waves, at which we were terrified, but those two ladies cheered us, and made us enter what seemed like the interior of a cave. There we began to look at a heavenly wood of various trees, and while we were looking at it, the sea disappeared, and the bank, and the young deer, and the maidens.
We followed her, and eagerly asked her train over and over again, who she was, but none of them gave us any answer. Then, wishing to shew that ambassador of the king of Sinhala your might, I said to her aloud, “Auspicious one, I adjure thee by the touch of king Vikramáditya’s feet, that thou depart not hence without revealing to me who thou art.” When the lady heard this, she made her train retire, and alighted from her chariot, and coming up to me, she said with a gentle voice, “Is my lord the noble king Vikramáditya well? But why do I ask, Anangadeva, since I know all about him? For I exerted magic power, and brought you here for the sake of that king, for I must honour him, as he delivered me from a great danger. So come to my palace; there I will tell you all, who I am, and why I ought to honour that king, and what service he needs to have done him.”
When she had said this, having left her chariot out of courtesy, that fair one went along the path on foot and respectfully conducted me to her castle, which looked like heaven; it was built of various jewels and different kinds of gold; its gates were guarded on every side by brave warriors wearing various forms, and bearing various weapons; and it was full of noble ladies of remarkable beauty, looking as if they were charms that drew down endless heavenly enjoyments. There she honoured us with baths, unguents, splendid dresses and ornaments, and made us rest for a time.