Note 12 — V. SUDHANA AVADĀNA.1

After this fashion, with troubled mind, he at length arrived at the hermitage of the Rishi. And when he had meekly paid reverence to the Rishi, he said, “O thou who art exalted through endurance, thou who art clothed in the bark of trees and the skins of wild beasts, thou who feedest on roots and sprouts, the Vilva tree and the Kapittha tree.12 O Rishi, I pay thee reverence, bowing my head. Hast thou seen my Manoharā? Tell me quickly.” Then the Rishi said to the youth Sudhana, “Welcome!” And after unfolding a carpet and making preparations for a friendly reception, he continued, “I have seen her who is endowed with smooth, interlacing eyebrows, who possesses a comely form, a face resembling the full moon, and eyes like unto blue lotuses. Take your seat upon the carpet, and partake of these different kinds of roots and berries. There is no doubt in my mind that you will obtain happiness in the future. Thus spake she of the beautiful eyebrows: ‘I have learnt that the youth, rendered unhappy by longing, although a dweller in the forest, affected by great sorrow, will come to you.’ Then she gave me this ring and said, ‘As the way which leads to me is full of woe and hard to tread, he can turn back. But if he cannot bring himself to turn back, then you must direct him on his way.’ And she spoke as follows: ‘In the north there are three black mountains. When these are surmounted, there are three more on the other side; and when these three have been surmounted, there are again three more; and when these three also have been surmounted, there remains the king of mountains, Himavant. Here are certain remedies to be obtained. There is the remedy nectar.13 When it has been boiled in melted butter, he who drinks it will feel neither hunger nor thirst, and will increase in memory and strength. There is also a monkey which must be carried away; there are spells which must be learnt; and there are also to be carried away a bow and arrows, a gleaming jewel, a deadly poison and a remedy, three iron wedges, and a lyre. On the north side of Himavant, king of mountains, is Mount Utkīlaka, and beyond are Mounts Jalapatha, Khadiraka, Ekadāraka, Vajraka, Kāmarūpin, Utkīlaka, Airāvata, Adhovāna, and Pramuchaka. These mountains you must climb, but to pass Khadiraka, Ekadāraka, and Utkīlaka you must traverse a cavern, and over Vajraka will the king of the birds convey you. In this way will you cross the mountains. Magic creatures, ram-like and goat-faced, and a man who has the form of the Rākshasa Pingalā, you must overcome. In the cavern is a snake which rolls with the strength of a foaming stream, and this you must overcome by force. Where there is a black snake, and you see half of it in the cavern, you must bend your bow and let fly your arrow and kill it. When you see two rams butting one another, break a horn off each of them and you will find your way. When you see two iron men holding fear-inspiring weapons, strike down one of them and you will find your way. When you see a Rākshasī with iron lips opening and shutting her mouth, fling a wedge at her forehead. Then you must leap across the fount with the wild whirlpool, which measures sixty fathoms. You must bend your bow and slay Yakshas and Rākshasas with lion-yellow hair and eyes, difficult to resist and hard to approach. Many rivers, also, filled with alligators, must you cross. There are the Crocodile, the Butterfly, the Sad, the Gay, the Weeper, the Laugher, a river full of snakes, and a river rich in reeds. In the Crocodile is Rākshasī-anger, in the Butterfly is a demon, in the Sad are many water-monsters, in the Gay is a Vidyādhara, in the Weeper a Kinnarī serving-maid, in the Laugher is a Kinnarī, in the snake-filled river are many snakes, in the river rich in reeds is Śālmali. In the presence of the Crocodile you must stand firm, and you must be bold in the presence of the Butterfly. On reaching the Sad, you must bind the jaws of the water-monsters. With the Gay you will succeed by the help of some Nāgas, with the Weeper by means of courage, with the Laugher by means of silence. You will cross the snake-filled river by means of the charm against snakes, and the river rich in reeds by means of the magic of sharp weapons struck together. When you have crossed the rivers and reached a land rich in bushes, you must oppose and overcome five hundred Yakshas who dwell there. There stands the capital of the Kinnarī king. Go and speak with him.’ ”