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RADLE TALES O F

HINDUISM

ER N IVED ITA

E NOBLE )or !m burgh ? JN D IAN mm

W! TH FRON TISPIECF.

DN GM A N S,G R E E N

,A N D c o.

PATE R N O S T E R R O W, L O N D O N

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CRAD LE TALES O F

HINDUISM

THE SI ST E R N IVED ITA

(MARGARET E . NOBLE )AUTHO R O F

“THE WE B O F IN D IAN L IFE

IVI TH FR ON T/ SPIE CE

Special Indian Ed ition

L O N G M A N S,G R E E N

,A N D C O .

3 9 PAT E R N O S T E R R O W,L O N D O N

NEW YORK,BOMBAY

,AND CALCUTTA

1 90 7

All n ghts reserved

ALL THO SE SO ULS

WHO HAV E GROWN TO GREATNE S S BY

THE IR CH ILD HOOD ’S LOVE O F

THE MAHABHARATA

PR EFACE

IN the fo l lowing stor ies,i t may be worth wh i l e

to po int out, we have a col lect ion of genuineI ndian nursery -tal es . The only d iscret ion wh ich

I have permitted to myse lf has been that some

t imes,i n choosing between two vers ions

,I have

preferred th e story rece ived by word of mouth

to that found i n the books . E ach one,and every

inc ident of each,as here to ld , has one or other

of these forms of au thent ic ity.

To take them one by one,the Cycl e o f Snake

Tales is found in the first vo lume of the Mahab

harata . The storyof Siva i s inserted as a necessary foreword to those of Sat i and Uma . The tal e

of Sat i i s gathered from the Bhagavat Purana,and

that of the Pr incess Uma from the Ramayana , and

from Kal idas ’ poem of Kumar Samblzaba, “The Birthof the War-Lord .

”Savitr i

,the I nd ian Alcest i s

,

comes from that mine of j ewel s , th e Mahabharata ,as does a lso the incomparab le s tory of Nala and

Damayanti . I n th e Krishna Cycl e, th e firs t seven

numbers are from the Puranas—works wh ichcorrespond to our apocrypha l Gospe ls—a rnd th e

V 1 !

vi i i PREFACE

l ast three from the Mahabharata . The ta l es classed

as those of th e Devotees , are, of course,from

various source s,those of D ruwa and Prahlad

being popular vers i ons of stor i es found in th e

Vish nu Purana,whi le Gopala and h is Brother the

Cowherd is,I imagine , l ike the Judgment-Seat

of V ikramad itya, mere ly a vi l lage tal e . Sh ib i

Rana,Bharata

,and the two last stor ies in th e

col lect ion,are from the Mahabharata . Of the

four ta les c l as sed together under the group-name“ Cycle of the Ramayana

,i t s eems unnecessary

to point out that they are intended to form a

brief ep itome of that grea t poem , wh ich has for

hundreds of years been th e most important in

fluence in shaping the characters and persona l i

t i es of H indu women . The Mahabharata may

be regarded as the I nd ian nat ional saga,but th e

Ramayana is rather th e ep ic of I ndian woman

hood . Si ta,to th e I ndian consc iousness

,i s i ts

centra l figure .

These two great works form together the outs tand ing educat io na l agenc ies of I nd ian l i fe . Al l

over the country,i n every province

,especial ly

during the winter s eason,aud iences of H indus

and Mohammedans gather round the Brahmin

story-te l ler at n ight fa l l,and l i sten to h i s render

ing of the anci ent ta l es . The Mohammedans of

Bengal have the i r own version of th e Mahabharata .

And in th e l i fe of every ch i ld amongst the H indu

PREFACE ix

h igher castes,th ere comes a t ime when , even ing

after evening,hour after hour

,h is grandmoth er

pours into his ear s these memories of o ld . There

are simp le forms of vi l lage-drama , also , by whose

means,i n some provinces

,every man grows up

with a fu l l and author itat ive knowledge of th e

Mahabharata .

Many great h istorica l problems , which there

has as yet been no attempt to so lve,ari se in

connect ion with some of these stor ies . None o f

these i s more interest ing than that p resented by

the personal ity of Krishna . I n the cycl e of ten

numbers here given under his name,many readers

wi l l fe e l a h iatus between th e seventh and eighth .

Now about the year 30 0 B .C. th e Greek writer

Megasthenes, report ing on I ndia to Seleukos

N ikator of Syria and Babylon,s tat es that

H erak les i s worsh ipped at Mathura and Cliso

bothra (Krishnaputr‘

a I t would be ch i ld ish to

suppose from th is that the worsh ip of th e Greek

Herakles had been direct ly and mechan ical ly

transmitted to I ndia,and establ ished there i n

two d ifferent ci t ies . We have to remember that

ancie nt countries were l ess defined,and more

un i ted than modern . Centra l and Western Asia

at the period in question were one cu lture-region,

of wh ich Greece was l itt l e more than a front ier

province , a remote ex tremity . The quest ion is

mere ly whether the worsh ip of Herakles in Greece

x PREFACE

and Phoen icia , and of a Herakles (presumably

known as Krishna) in I nd ia, does not poin t to

some d istan t Centra l As ian progenitor,common

to th e two,—a myth ic h al f-man

,h al f-god

,strong

,

r ighteous,and fu l l of hero ic mercy

,who leaves

h is impress even on early concept ions of Siva,

amongst H indu peoples , to be transmitted i n

d ivergent forms,i n long-echo ing memori es

,t o

one and anoth er of the Aryan peoples . I f so,

i s th e Krishn a of th e Return to Mathura , of the

Snake Kal iy a,of th e Mounta in and the Demons

,

th e I ndian vers ion of th is Centra l As ian

H erakles ?

We have thus to dec ide whether the Kr i shna

of the Puran ic stori es here given,and the Kr ishn a

Parth a Sarath i of the Mahabharata,are two , or

one. On the answer to th is depends a great dea l

o f h istory . I f th ey are two,i s Krishna Partha

Sarath i new at the t ime of th e last recen sion of

the Mahabharata,or is he some ancient hero of

the Aryan peop les,with whom Krishna-Herakles

is th en fused,to become the popu lar veh icl e of

Vedic ideas ? I n the hands of h igh ly-tra ined

I nd ian scho lars - competent as no fore igner cou ld

b e to apply the test s of language and of theo

logical evo luti o n— iti s my be l ief th at theseinquir i es migh t receive re l iabl e so lu tions . I doubt

that a l ie n op in ions cou ld ever be much more

than interest ing specu lat ions . But,i n any case

,

PREFACE x i

the poi nt of importance to our present purpose

is that th e story of h is l i fe,as h ere setfor th

,i s

that told to th is day by the peop l e amongst

themselves .

My specia l thanks are due for the help afforded

me in the preparat ion of th is vo lume to the

H indu lady, Jogin-Mother— a kind neighbour,

whose deep and intimate knowledge of the sacred

l iterature i s on ly equal led by her unfa i l ing read i

ness to help a younger student—and to theSwami Saradananda of the Ramakrishna Math ,Belur . The front isp iece

,of “ The Indian Story

te l ler atNightfa l l , and the Thunderbo lt of

Durga on the cover,are the work of the d i s

tinguished I ndian artist,Mr . Abunendro Nath

Tagore .N IVE D ITA

,

O F RAMAKR ISHNA -V IVEKANANDA .

CALCUTTA ,jzme 1 90 7 .

DA L SUKHR AM . TN . V E D

CO NTENTS

THE CYCLE OF SNAKE TALESPAGE

THE WONDROUS TALE OF THE CURSE THAT LAY

UPON THE SNAKE-FOLK ! AN D F I RST OF

THE SERPENT REALM,BELOW THE EARTH

THE STORY OF THE DOOM OF PAR IKSHEET

THE SACR I F I CE OF JANAMEJAYA

THE STO RY O F S IVA ,THE GREAT GO D

THE CYCLE OF IND IAN WIFEHO O D

SAT I,THE PER FECT WI FE .

THE TALE OF UMA H IMAVUTEE

SAV ITR I,THE I ND IAN ALCEST IS

NALA AND DAMAYANT I

THE CYCLE OF THE RAMAYANA

THE CITY O F AYODHYATH E CAPTURE O F S ITATHE CONQUEST O F LANKATHE O R D EAI. OF S ITA

xi i i

THE CYCLE OF KR I SHNAPAGE

THE B I RTH OF KR ISHNA,THE I ND IAN CHR IST

CH I LD

THE DIV I NE CH I LDHO OD

KR ISHNA IN THE FORESTS

THE DILEMMA O F BRAHMA

CONQUEST O F THE SNAKE KAL IYA

THE L I FT I NG O F THE MOUNTAIN

THE RETURN TO MATHURA

KR ISHNA PARTHA SARATH I,CHAR IOTEER O F

ARJUNA 2 0 2

THE LAMENT O F GANDHAR I

THE DOOM OF THE VR ISHN IS

TALES OF TI IE D EVOTE ES

THE LORD KRISHNA AND THE BROKEN POT 2 39

THE LORD KR ISHNA AND THE LAPW ING’S NEST 240

THE STORY O F PRAHLAD 24 1

THE STORY or D RUWA—A MYTH O F THE POLE

STAR

GOPALA AN D THE COWHERD

CONTENTS xv

A CYCLE OF GR EAT K INGSPAGE

THE STORY OF SH IB I RANA ! OR , THE EAGLE

AND THE DOVE .

BHAR ATA

THE JUDGMENT-SEAT OF V IKRAMAD ITYA

PR ITH I R AI,LAST OF THE H I NDU KN IGHTS

THE I ND IAN ROMEO AND JULIET

A CYCLE FROM THE MAHABHARATA

THE STORY OF BH ISHMA AND THE GREAT WAR 3 0 3

THE ASCENT OF YUD ISTH IRA I NTO HEAVEN 330

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DAL SUKHR AM . N . V E D .

eat 3 4 4 s atelie

CRADLE TALES O F HINDUISM

The Wondrous Tale of the Cursethatlayupon the Snake-Folk and firstof theSerpentRealm,

b elow the Earth

IN th e wor ld of E tern ity,be low the earth

,l ie s

,

as i s known to al l men,the realm of Takshaka ,

th e Naga king,and abou t h im dwel l m igh ty

snakes,hoary with age

,and mysterious in power .

And strange and beauti fu l i s that Snake-world to

see,though once alone has th e eye of man been

privi leged to look th ereon,even in the day when

the youth Utanka, having been sen t abroad on

h is teacher’s service , and having eaten and drunk

unwitt ingly of th e nectar of immortal i ty , was

robbed of the tokens he carried by Takshaka,

and fo l lowed h im under th e earth to recoverthem for h is master .

For fear less and stro ng was the youth Utanka,

discip le of mighty sages,and never was he known

to fl inch from danger,or to turn back becaus e

the task was arduous . Passing through great

hardsh ips and many difficu lti es,he had fared

forth to bring to his teacher ’s wi fe two j ewels

4 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM

belonging to a certai n Queen .

“ But mind,said

h is master at star t ing,and mind

,said th e

Queen , when she gave them , th ese ornaments

are greatly desired by Taksh aka,King of Ser

pents . See that he rob you not of th em by

the way .

With h igh reso lve,th en

,d id th e youth set for th

,

to return to hi s preceptor,bear ing th e j ewel s of

the Queen . But as h e went by the road h e saw

a beggar coming towards h im,who

,

‘

as h e came,

constantly appeared and disappeared . Then being

a th irst,and coming to a spr ing

,Utanka placed h is

casket by th e roads ide,and bentto dri nk . At that

very moment,however

,th e strange beggar tu rn ed

into the terr ible Takshaka,and seiz i ng the packet

g l ided swift ly away . But immediate ly Utankaunderstood , and , no way d i smayed

,fo l lowed

after h im . Then Takshaka disappeared through

a ho le in th e earth . Yet even here the morta l

was reso lved to fo l low ! so he seized a stick,and

proceeded to d ig h is way after h im . And i t came

to pass that I ndra,the King of Gods , l ooked on ,

and saw th at though th e youth was h igh -h earted

yet h is t ool was notsuffic ient,and he drove the

strength of h is own thunderbol t i n to th e st ick of

Utanka,ti l l the earth itse l f gave way before the

mortal,and he pressed forward through a winding

tunnel , i n to th e Serpent-wor ld . And when the

passage ended,he found h imseif in a beaut i fu l

THE CURSE UPON THE SNAKE -FOLK 5

region,i nfin i te i n ex tent

,and fi l l ed with palaces

and mansions and gardens . And there were

towers and domes and gateways innumerable,and i n the gardens were lawns and wrest l ing

grounds,and a l l manner o f provis i on for games

and sports .

And i t came to pass as he went onwards,

th at he saw two women weaving at a l oom,

and the i r shut t l e was fine,and thei r threads were

b lack and wh ite . And he went a l it t l e further,

and came to a great whee l,and i t had twelve

spokes,and S ix boys were turn ing i t. And furth er

sti l l h e met a man c lad in black , r id ing on an

immense hors e .

Now when he had seen al l th ese th ings, Utanka

knew that he had come into a world of magic .

Therefore he began to recite powerful spel ls,and

when the man who rode on th e horse h eard h im,

he said , “ Tel l me,what boon dost thou ask of

me ?” And Utanka repl i ed,

“Even th at th e serpen ts

may be brough t under my contro l . Then sa id th e

man , “ Blow into th is horse .” And Utanka blew

into the h orse . And immediately there issued

from it smoke and flame so terr ib le that a l l th e

world of the serpents was about to be consumed .

And Takshaka h imsel f,bei ng te rrified for th e fate

of h is people,appeared sudden ly at the feet of the

youth , and laid there the j ewels h e had sto len .

And when Utanka had l ifted them , th e man said ,


Ride on th i s h orse and he wi l l i n an instant bear

thee t o thy master ’s door And the heart of

Utanka was sat isfied with see ing , and he desirednoth ing so much as to fulfi l h is master ’s errand

,

therefore he l eapt on the horse,and in one

moment found h imsel f in the p resence of h is

teacher, o ffer ing to h im the tokens for which h ehad been sent .

And now understood Utanka what he had seenin th e world of E tern i ty, beneath the world of

men . For the l oom was the loom of Time, and

th e black and wh ite threads were n igh t and day .

And th e whee l with th e twelve spoke s was th e

Year wi th its twe lve month s,and the S ix lads were

th e six seasons . And the man clad in b lack was

Rain,and the horse on wh ich h e rode was Fire !

for on ly when h eat i s con tro l l ed by water is th e

world of th e serpents ever in contentment . “ And

wel l is i t for thee , my chi ld , said h i s master to

Utanka , “ that th ou hadst ea ten and drunk of th e

d ivin e nectar , for without th is spel l of immortal i ty ,know that no mortal ever before emerged a l ivefrom th e rea lms of Takshaka . And th e h eart of

Utanka rej o iced great ly , and also h e des ired muchto find some meansto pu t an end to th e race of

s erpents, so fu l l of myster ious danger to th e sons

of men . And b e resolved to make h is way to th e

King,and preva i l upon h im to undertake a warfare

against th em .

THE CURSE UPON THE SNAKE -FOLK

Now a strange and powerfu l curse l ay upon th e

Snake - fo lk , and great fear dwel t th erefore amongst

them . Long , long ago , in th e very beginn ing of

t ime,i t had happened that th ey increased very

swift ly in numbers , and they were fi erce and fu l l

of po ison , and evermore at war with one another ,

and with the race of men . And the gods in

h igh h eaven t rembled l est the Snake - fo lk should

end forever the young race of Men- fo lk . And at

that t ime i t happened one day that Kadru , the

Mother of Snakes , cal l ed on her ch i ldren to Obey

her in some matter , but th ey , being wi l fu l andmisch ievou s

,at first r efused . Then d id the heart

of the Mother wax strong and ful l of anger , and

th inking She spoke her own wi l l,but real ly b l inded

by the fear that abode in the hearts o f th e gods ,She opened her mouth and cal l ed down a curse

on her own chi ldren .“ Al l ye ,

! she said,

“ sha l l

p eri sh in the fire -Sacrifice t hat Shal l b e made by

janamejaya, the great King ! Poor chi ldren !

Poor Kadru ! Surely never was anyth ing so t er

r ibl e as th is , that the destruction o f a who le race

should be brought about by its own mother .The awfu l prophecy was heard through al l the

worlds , and for a momen t the kind gods were

re l i eved that the race of the snakes was not to

increase forever . But when they saw thei r distress,

and when th ey l ooked also upon the ir beauty,

thei r hearts were fi l l ed wi th p i ty,and they went


al l toge ther to Brahma the Creator,and spoke

before h im of th e fierceness of Kadru’

s anger

agains t these dear ch i ldren,th e Snake -fo lk

,and

begged h im i n some way to soften her fearfu l

spel l . And Brahma gran ted them tha t the crue l

and poisonous serp en ts al one shou ld be consumed,

wh i le th e oth ers,gen tle and playful and affec

tionate, shou ld escape . And then very soft ly , so

that one l i t t l e snake alone was abl e to hear , having

crept up to l i e -near the fee t of th e Creator,he

wh ispered,as ifto h imsel f , a promise of redemp

t ion . I n th e lapse of ages , he said , a maiden

shou ld be born of th e Naga race , who shou ld wed

wi th the hol i es t o f morta l men . And of th i s

marr iage Shou ld be born in du e course a Son ,Astika

,whose love from h is birth sh ou ld be al l

wi th h is mo ther ’s people , and he shou ld defeat

th e doom that lay upon them .

Now when th is promise was publ ished abroad

in th e realms of Takshaka, tha t whol e world was

great ly comfor ted and patient ly , and yet sorrow

fu l ly,waited the Snake-folk , age after age . For

they knew tha t the ir curs e was terrible,yet tha t i t

was prov ided in th e counsel s o f th e C reator that

when th e ir terro r shou ld be at its grea tes t, Astika

th e Redeemer al s o shou ld b e ready , and sh ou ld

ar ise to bid th e i r suffer ings cease .

I O CRADLE TALES OF H INDUISM

cried the King .“ Te l l me quickly wh ich way it

wen t ! H is face was inflamed wi th eagerness,

and h is c loth ing and j ewel s disp layed h is h igh

rank . But though the sain t evident ly heard h is

quest ions , he answered never a word .

Pariksheetcould hard ly bel i eve h i s own senses,

th at one to whom he addressed a quest i on shou ld

refuse to answer . But when he had repeated h is

words many times,al l th e energy of th e roya l

huntsman turned into bit ter anger and contempt ,and see ing a dead snake ly ing on the earth , he

l i fted i t on th e end of an arrow,and co i l i ng i t

round the neck of the hermit , turned S lowly

about,to make h is way homewards . I t i s sa id

by some that ere the King had gone many paces,

he real ised how wrongly he had acted in thu s

insu l ting some unknown ho ly man . But i t was

al ready too lat e . Noth ing cou ld now avert th e

terr ib l e dest iny wh ich h i s own anger was abou t to

bring upon h im,and wh ich was a lready creep ing

nearer and nearer to destroy .

To Shamika th e herm it,meanwh i l e , i n su l t

and pra ise were both a l ike . He knew Parik

sh eet for a great king,true to the common

weal th,and to the duti es O f h i s order , and he

fe l t no anger at the treatment measured outtoh im

,but saton qu iet ly

,absorbed in prayer, th e

dead snake remain ing as i t had been p laced by

th e hunter ’s arrow. And even thus was he st i l l

THE DOOM OF PAR IKSHEET I I

s i tt ing , when h is son Sringi retu rned from distant

wanderings i n the fores t,and was der ided by some

of h is fri ends and compan ions for the insu l t that

the King had o ffered , unh indered , to h is father .

Now Sringi’

s mind was of great power, fu l ly

worthy of Shamika’

s son . Notone moment ofh is t ime

,not the l east par t of h is strength , was

ever wasted in p l easure . H is mind and body,h is

words and deeds and desires , were a l l al ike he ld

t igh t,under h i s own control . Only i n one th ing

was he unworthy,i n that he had notth e same

command as h is father Sham ika over the fee l ing

of anger . For he was apt to spend the fru i ts

o f long years of austerity and concentrat io n,suddenly

,i n a s ingl e impu lse of rage . Yet so

great was h e,even in th is

,that the words which

he spoke cou ld n ever be recal led,and the earth

i tsel f wou ld assis t to make good that wh ich was

uttered by him ini

wrath .

When,now, he heard the s tory of how the

King , wh i le outhunting , had insu l ted h is agedfather

,th e young hermit stood sti l l

,transformed

with gri ef and anger . H is l ove and tenderness

for Shamika , h i s desire to protect h im ,i n h is o ld

age,from every hurt , with h is own strength , and

h is reverence for the vow of s i lence,al l combined

to add fue lto the fire-of rage tha t seemed almos tto consume h im . Sl owly he opened h is l ips tospeak, and the words ground themse lves out

1 2 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM

between h is teeth .

“ Within these seven day s and

nights , the lif e of the man who hath putthis shameupon my f ather, shall betaken f romhim, by Takshaka

himself ,the King of Serpents .

” A ch i l l wind passed

over th e l i s ten ing fores ts as th ey h eard th e curse,

and far away on h is serpent—throne th e terrib leTakshaka fe l t the ca l l o f th e young sage ’s anger

,

and,s lowly uncoi l ing h is huge fo lds

,began to draw

nearer and nearer t o th e world of men .

Shamika’

s vow of s i l ence came to end with h is

son ’s return . But when he was to ld of th e curse

j ust uttered,he was fu l l of sorrow.

“ Ah,my

son,h e cri ed

,

“ our King is a great king,tru e to

th e dut ies of h is order and th e commonweal,and

under h is protect ion i t is th at we of th e forest

ashramas dwel l i n peace , pursu ing after hol i nessand learn ing . I l l doth i t b efith erm its to pronounce th e doom of righteou s sovere igns . More

over,mercy is great

,and forgiveness b eau ti fu l .

Let us,then

,forgive

Th e deep sweetness and seren ity of the o ld

sa in t flowed like a heal ing stream over th e

troub led spir it o f h i s son,and tenderly Sringi

s tooped,t o remove the unclean obj ect from about

h is father ’s neck . But th e wordsthat had j ustbeen Spoken had been too strong to be recal l ed ,so when Shamika understood th is h e despatched

a secret messenger to the King,to warn h im of th e

danger that was hanging over h im .

THE DOOM OF PAR IKSHEET 1 3

Then the King,Pariksheet

,having heard from

the messenger that the rishi whom he had insul ted

had been under a vow of s i l ence , and hear ing

al so that i t was th e sage h imse l f who had sen t

h im th e fr iend ly warn ing , was fi l led with regret

for h is own deed . Yet i nasmuch as no sorrow

could now avai l t o save him,without the utmost

vigi lance on h is own part,he hastened to take

counse l with h is mi n i s ters . And a king’

s dwel l ing

house was made,in to wh ich no l iving th ing could

enter unperceived,and the house was setup on a

S ingle,co lumn -l ike foundation , and Pariksheetshut

h imsel f into i t,determined that, unt i l the seven

days and n ights had passed,he wou ld transact

both business and worsh ip with in i ts she l t er,and

seek no pleasure outs ide .

But now the rumour of approach ing d isastertothe King began to go for th amongst h i s peop le .

And as Takshaka drew near to th e royal refuge,

he overtook a Brahmin hurrying through th e

forest i n th e same direct ion as h imsel f. Recog

n ising th e Brahmin as Kasyapa , th e great physician

for the cure of snake-b ite,and being susp ic i ou s of

h is errand , Taksh aka entered into conversation

with h im . He qu ick ly found that i t was even a s

he had thought . Kasyapa was hastening to the

court,i n order to offer h is services in restori ng

the King, when he should be bitten according tothe doom .

I 4 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM

Takshaka smi led,and l ay ing a wager with

Kasyapa that h e knew nothow powerfu l h is

po ison was,h e selected an immense banyan-tree

,

and rearing h is head,s truck at i t with h i s po i son

fang . Immed iately the great tree,with a l l i t s

roots and branches,was reduced t o ashe s lying

on the ground .

But how much greater is h ea l ing than destruct i o n ! That wise Brahmin

,noti n the l east d is

mayed,

’

s tept forward,and l i fting up hi s hand s

pronounced strange words,fu l l of peace and

bened ict i on . And instant ly th e banyan - tree

began to grow aga in . First came th e tender

sprout,with i ts two seed- leaves

,and then the

stem grew and put forth fresh buds,and next

were seen many branches , t i l! at l as t th e who le

tree stood once more before th em,even as it had

at first been—a l ord of the forest .

Then Takshaka o ffered great weal th and many

treasures to that master of hea l ing,i f on ly h e

wou ld des i s t from h is miss ion and l eave h is King

to die . And the Brahmin seated h imsel f for

awhi l e i n meditat ion,and having l earnt , i n h i s

heart,that the curse on Pariksheetwould rea l ly

be fu lfi l l ed,s ince h i s dest i ny wou ld thereby be

accomp l ish ed,he accepted the treasures of Tak

shaka,and consented to remain behind . And the

great serpent j ourneyed on th rough th e forest

a lone,sm i l ing to h imsel f over the secret bonds

THE DOOM OF PAR IKSHEET 1 5

of Fate , spun , as th ese are, outof a man ’s owndeeds .

Safe in the roya l refuge the King had passed six

days and n ights,and now the seventh had come,

nor as yet h ad any snake been so much as seen .

For i t i s ever thus . Only when men have ceased

to fear do th e gods send their messengers .

Now, as th e day wore on ,th e King’s heart grew

l ight , and towards th e dec l ine of the sun there

came to the door of the mansion a party of

strange fe l lows,who seemed to be fore st-dwe l l ers

,

bearing presents of fru its and flowers for the royal

worsh ip . And Pariksheetbeing grac ious ly disposed

,received the newcomers

,and

,asking not

th ei r names,accepted thei r offer ings .

When they had gone away,however

,th e King ,

and h is fr i ends and h is min isters who were seated

about h im,fe lt an unwonted hunger for the fru it

that had j ust been brought,and with much

laughter and mirth proceeded to eat i t . And i n

that which was taken by Pariksheeth imse l f h e saw,

when h e broke i t Open,a t iny copper-co loured

worm with bright b lack eyes,but so small as to

be almost invis ible . At th is very moment th e sun

was set ti ng, and th e seven n igh ts and days of th e

doom were almost ended . Pariksheetthereforehad lost al l fear

,and b egan to regret having paid

so much attent ion to the hermit ’s message. 8 0 ,

the infatuat ion of dest iny be ing now ful ly upon

1 6 CRADLE TALE S OF HINDUISM

him,he

‘

lifted th e creature outof the fru i t,and

sa id to i t pl ayfu l ly,

“ Unless you, 0 l i t t l e maggot,be th e terrib le Takshaka

,he i s nothere . Show

us,therefore

,what you can do ! E very one

laughed at th e sal ly,and even as the King , a

week before,had placed a d ead snake con

temptuously on th e rzishi’

s neck,so now

,in th e

spir i t of mockery,he l ifted the insign ifican t worm

to the same pos it ion at h is own throat .

I t was th e las t act of Pariksheet. I nstant ly,

chal lenged thus by the sovereign ’s own word,

th e seeming maggot changed its form before the

eyes of th e terr ified min isters , becoming in one

moment vaster and vaster,t i l l i t was revealed as

the mighty serpent,Takshaka himsel f. Then coi l

i ng h imse l f swi ft ly and t igh t ly about the King ’s

neck,and ra i s ing h is huge h ead , Takshaka fe l l

upon h is vi ct im w i th a loud h iss,and bit h im

,

causing instant death .


Now it came to pass,on a day when the young

King janamejaya had grown to manhood! thatthere came to h im one whose n ame was Utanka,crying

,

“ Avenge ! avenge ! th e t ime is come !

Vis it on th e great serpent Takshaka thy fath er’s

death .

” And th e King beganto ask eager quest ionsas to why he was father less

,and how h is father

,

Pariksheet,being the noblest of kings

,had met

h is death . But when they t o ld h im the S tory of

th e hermi t Shamika and h i s son Sringi, and of th e

King’s mans ion bu i l t on a S i ng le co lumn,and the

Copper-co loured insect conceal ed in a fru it,th e

mind of th e young King pu t as ide a l l th e minor

c ircumstances and fixed on the thought of the

great Takshaka as th e enemy of th e roya l house .

And he beganto brood over the duty of avengingth e death of his fath er and protect ing th e wor ld of

men from the enmity and misch ief of th e whol e

serpent race . And behold when the King’s purpose

had grown deep , he ra ised h is head , and sa id to

h i s court of pries ts and counse l l ors,

“ The t ime

is come ! now do I d es ire to avenge the death of

Pariksheet,my father , by cau si ng Takshaka and al l

h i s peopl e to be consumed together in a b laz i ng

fire,even as Takshaka h imse l f burnt up my father

i n the fi re of h is poi son . Tel l me th en,ye wise

men,and te l l me

,ye my min isters

,how may I

proceed to carry outth is vow ? ”And 10 ,

when these words were heard in the

THE SACRIFICE OF JANAMEJAYA 1 9

King ’s court,ashudder ran th rough al l th e wor ld

of th e Snake-fo lk . For th is was th e moment fore

to ld in th e curse that had lain from of old upon

thei r race . Janamejaya was that king for whomth e ages had waited . Now was the hour of th eir

peri l at hand,nay

,even at th e very door . And

the Snake-princess began to watch for th e r igh t

momen t,when she must cal l upon h er son Astika

to arise and save her race . And because for th e

purpose of thi s vow had janamejaya th e K ingbeen born , th erefore al l power and al l knowledge

was found among h is advisers . They quest ioned

th e scho lars and consu l ted a l l th e anci en t books .

And al l was final l y dec ided,as to the manner in

wh ich a roya l sacr ifice must be performed,for the

purpose of burn ing up al l the snakes including even

the great Takshaka h imself . Al l th e preparat ions

began accord ing ly . A piece of land was chosen

and an immense a ltar bu il t,and al l the vesse ls

and ornaments were brought together . A great

army of priests was gathered,the fire was ready

,

and th e r ice and bu tt er that wou ld b e thrown into

the sacrificia l fire were stored up . But when all

th ings were ready , i t began to be wh isp ered thatth e a ltar-bu i lders h ad noted certa in omens which

indicated that a stranger wou ld come and bring

about the defeat of th e sacr ifice . So when the

King heard th is h e gave orders,before s i tt ing

down on h i s throne, that the gates were to be


closed , and no stranger on any accoun t to beadmitted .

And now at l ast the sacrificia l fire was l ighted,

and th e pri ests,chant ing togeth er the proper texts

and verses , beganto pour the l i bat ions o f c larifiedbutter upon the flames . Oh how strange and

terr ib l e was th e s igh t next seen ! 8 0 great was

the power of the minds that were concentrated

upon th e sacrifice , that from everywhere near and

far away th e snakes beganto come,flying through

th e a i r,crawl ing a long th e ground

,and dropp ing

from th e sky,to throw themse lves of th e ir own

accord upon th e fire . On and on th ey came,

hundred s and thousands and even mi l l ions innumber

,wr i th ing

,struggl ing

,and h issing in th ei r

terror ! s tr iving to res is t th e terr ible power that

was drawing th em onwards ! but a l l y ie ld ing

to i t and giving th emse lves to th e fire in the

end . And st i l l th e fires grew hotter and th e

flames brighter,and th e chant ing of th e pr i ests

ros e h igher and h igher ! for th eir power must go

outi nto th e ut termost parts of th e un iverse , andl ay ho ld on th e grea t Takshaka h imsel f ,to drawh im into th e consuming flames . Keenest and

most intense of al l their minds was that of th e

King . H is face was dark and sombre,and h is

eyes never wavered as he sat there on h is throne ,fo l lowing with a l l h is s trength the mighty spel l s

that the pr iests were chant ing , i n order to bring

THE SACRIFICE OF JANAME JAYA 2 1

Takshaka himsel f into thei r power, and drag

h im into the midst of th e fi re ! for th e royal

pass ion of b lood-revenge had awakened in h im,

and he th i rs ted for th e l i fe of h is fath er ’s mur

derer . So th e pr ie st s chanted , and th e King

watched, and far away th e ga te of the sacrificia l

grounds was he ld by a trusted O fficer,whose only

fau l t was that he could never refus eto a Brahminanyth ing he asked .

Hour after hour the sacr ifice wen t on . But now

a strange murmur began to be heard . Takshaka,

i t was sa id,had fled from his own kingdom and

found sanctuary in the throne of I ndra,God of

the Sky , and King of al l the Gods .“ I care not!” cried Janamejaya, springing to

h is feet , with shin ing eyes . For Takshaka th ere

Sha l l be no quarter . Let th e throne of I ndra i tse l f

fa l l into the fire and be burn t to ashes !” The

earth was thr i l l ed to her very core,as

,far up

in the skies,appeared after these terrib le words

,

a faint b lack spot,and al l nature knew that the

throne of the God of Heaven was being drawn into

the sacrifice . Coi l ed tight ly about it,and h idden

by the robes of I ndra,was Takshaka, and as long

as he sheltered h im,noteven the Ki ng of Gods

could res ist the dread sentence thus pronounced

by janamejaya. Down and down , more and more

swift ly through space,came th e d ivin e seat, and

al l eyes turned upwards,and al l h earts seemed to


stand sti l l , as they watched i t drawing nearer toth e roya l flames . Then th ere was a convu l s ive

struggl e , and the thron e O f the Sky-father wasseen to be r i s ing aga in i nto th e heavens

,while

sudden ly the great form of Takshaka h imself

became vis ib l e,fa l l ing s lowly but surely to h is

doom .

At that very moment a strange yet noble

looking Brahmin came forward to the throne of

Janamejaya, saying , “ 0 King, gran t me a boon !”

The King held up . h is hand to S i l ence h im a

moment . H is eyes were fixed on the migh ty

serpent,whirl i ng downwards through th e a ir .

Til l he was sure of victory he would grant no

boons,though th e gods themse lves should be th e

supp l iants . But when Takshaka had drawn so

cl ose that h is end was inevitabl e,he turned to the

stranger,accord ing to th e royal custom , and said,

“ Speak ! for whatsoever thou askest do I grant

unto thee“ Then

,said the Brahmin

,

“ l e t th i s sacrifice

be stayed !

The King started forward in d ismay . But i t

was a lready too l ate . Already had th e snakes

ceased to fal l i nto th e fire . Already was th e body

of th e grea t serpent d isappear ing in the d is tance .

And the priests , finding the ir t exts become sud

denly unavai l ing , had ceased to chant , or to pourth e sacred butter into the fire . For even as th e

THE SACRIFICE OF JANAMEJAYA 23

bui lders had prophes ied,a stranger—no other

than Astika,th e Snake-Brahmin—had entered the

sacrificial grounds during the ceremonies , and

now,by the word of th e King h imself, had

brought to nought the intent ion of the sacr ifice .

And th is entrance of the Brahmin had been the

one matter in wh ich the King’s o fficer at the gate

had had no power to obey h is sovere ign ’s orders .For

,as was known to every one

,th e habit of his

whole l i fe had been,never to re fuse to a Brahmin

anyth ing he asked .

But when janamejaya had heard everything !when Astika had to ld h im of the curse of Kadru

that l ay upon the Snake- fo lk, and the promise

of a redeemer who Should save al l but the fiercest

and most dangerous of h is mother ’s peop le when

he told him , too, of h is own b irth for th i s verypurpose ! of the great fear and sadness that had

fa l len upon the Serpent-world at the commencement of th e royal sacr ifice , and of h is mother ’s

cal l i ng upon h im,Astika

,to save her kindred

,

then did anger and di sappo intment vanish fr om

the heart of th e King. He saw men as they real ly

are,mere ly the spor t and p layth ings of desti ny .

H e understood that even the death of h is father,

Pariksheet,by the poison of Takshaka , had hap

pened,only in order to br ing about the wil l o f th e

gods . And he turned round to bestow on Astikari ch presents and roya l favours . But a lready was

24 CRADLE TALES OE HINDUISM

the miss ion of Astika ended among morta ls,and

he had withdrawn , unnot iced , from th e court of

the King,to sp end th e remainder of h is days i n

the forests, among the kinsmen of h is mother,i n

h is Chi ldhood ’s home .

The Story of Siva, the GreatGod

IN wi ld and lone ly p laces,a t any time , one may

chance on the Great God , for such are H is

most favoured haunts . Once seen , th ere i s no

mistaking H im . Yet H e has no look of being

r ich or powerfu l . H is skin is covered with wh i te

wood-ashes. H is c loth ing is but the re l igious

wanderer ’s ye l l ow cloth . The coi l s'

of matted

hair are p i led h igh on th e top of H is head . I n

one hand He carr i es the begging-bowl,and i n the

other H is tal l s taff, crowned with the tr iden t .

And sometimes H e goes from door to door atmidday

,asking a lms .

H igh amongst the H imalayas tower th e greatsnow -mountains

,and here

,on the sti l l

,co ld

heigh ts,i s Siva throned . Si l en t—nay

,rap t i n

s i lence—does H e sitthere,absorbed and lost in

one e ternal med itat ion . When the new moon

sh ines over the mounta in -tops,s tanding above the

brow of the Grea t God , i t appearsto worsh ippingsou l s as i f th e l ight shone through

,in st ead of a l l

about H im . For He is ful l of radiance,and can

cast no shadow.

Wrapped thus into hushed intens i ty l ie s Kailash,


above Lake Manasorovara,th e mounta in home of

Mahadeva,and there , with mind h idden deep under

fo ld upon fo ld of though t,rests He . With each

breath of H is,outward and in

,worlds

,i t i s said

,

are created and destroyed . Yet H e,the Grea t

God,has noth ing of H is own ! for in a l l these th at

H e has created there i s noth ing—notki ngsh ip , norfatherhood

,nor weal th , nor power—that cou ld

for one moment tempt H im to c la im it . One

desire,and one alone

,has H e

,to destroy the

ignorance of sou ls,and let l igh t come . Once

,it

i s sa id,H is med itat ion grew so deep

,that when

H e awoke H e was stand ing alone , po ised on the

heart ’s centr e of al l th ings,and the Universe had

van ished . Then,knowing that a l l darkness was

d ispel led,that nowhere more

,i n a l l th e worlds

,

was there bl indness or sin, He danced forward

wi th upli fted hands,i n to th e noth ingness of that

uttermost withdrawnness,s ing ing

,i n H i s j oy

,

“ Bom ! Bom ! And th i s dance of th e Great

God is the I ndian Dance of Death , and for i ts

sake is H e worsh ipped with the words “ Bom !‘3 ’Bom ! Hara ! Hara

I t i s,however

,by th e face of th e Great God

that we may know H im once for al l , beyond the

poss ibi l i ty of doubt . One look is enough,outof

that radiance of knowledge,one glance from the

p ity and tenderness in H is benign eyes , and never

more are we ab le'to forget that th is whom we

STORY OF SIVA , THE GREAT GOD 29

saw was Siva H imself. I t i s impossibl e to th ink

of the Great God as being angry . He “ whose

form is l ike unto a s i lver mountain sees on ly two

things,in sight and want of in s ight, amongst men .

Whatever be our s in and error,He longs on ly to

revea l to us its cause,that we may not be le ft to

wander in th e dark . H is is the i nfinite compass ion,

without one shadow or stain upon i t .

I n matters of th e world,He is but s imp le

,asking

almost noth ing in worsh ip,and strangely easy to

misl ead . H is o fferi ngs are on ly bel- l eaves and

water,and far l ess than a handful of rice . And

H e wil l accept th ese in any form . The tears of

the sorrowful,for ins tance

,have often seemed to

H im l ike the pure water o f H is Offeri ng . Once

He was guarding a royal camp at night,when th e

enemy fel l upon H im,and tried to ki l l H im . But

these wicked men were armed with st icks of be l

wood,and as they

“

beat H im again and again

wi th these , He , smi l ing and taking the blows for

worsh ip,put outH is hand

,and b l essed th em on

th e ir h eads

H e keeps for H imsel f on ly those who would

otherwise wander uncla imed and master less . He

has but one s ervant , th e devoted Nandi . He rides,not on horse or el ephant , but on a shabby old bul l .

Because the serpents were rej ected by a l l oth ers,

did H e al low them to twine abou t H is neck . And

amongst human beings,al l the crooked and hunch


backed,and lame and squin t-eyed

,He regards as

H i s very own . For l onel iness and deformity and

poverty are passwords su ffic ient to the heart of

th e Great God,and H e

,who asks noth ing from

any one,Who bestows a l l

,and takes noth ing i n

return,He

,the Lord of th e An imals

,Who refuses

none that come to H im s incere ly,He wi l l g ive

H is very Se l f, with al l i ts sweetness and illuminat ion

,merely on the p lea Of our longing or our

need !

Yet is th is not th e on ly form in wh ich Siva may

come to the sou l of man . Somet imes the th ing that

stands between us and knowledge i s unspeakab lydear . Yet is the Great God ever th e Destroyer of

Ignorance,‘

and for . th i s,when our hour comes

,

He wil l ar ise,as i t were

,sword in hand

,and S l ay

before our eyes ou r bes t beloved . I n the m iddle

of H is brow sh ines forth the great Th ird Eye o f

Spir i tua l vis ion,wi th wh ich He p ierces to th e heart

of a l l hypocri sy and Shams . And with the l ight

that flashes from th is eye,He can burnto ashes at

a glance that wh ich i s untrue . For fool ish as H e

may be in matters of the world,i n sp ir itua l th ings

H e can never be dece ived . I n th is asp ect , there

fore , He is known as Rudra th e Terr ible , and to

H im day after day men pray,say ing

,0 Thou the

Sweetest of the Sweet , th e Most Terrib l e of the

Terr ibl e !

So runs th e tal e . And yet in tru th th is though t

STORY OF SIVA , THE GREAT GOD 3 1

of the Great God is but hal f of th at conception

which is known to the intu it ion O f man as thedivine. Two th ings th ere are wh ich we see as

God . One is knowl edge,in s igh t—jnannm,

as i t i s

cal led in I ndia—and th is,carried to i ts utmost

height,i s Siva or Mahadeva . But some see God

rather in power,energy

,beauty

,the un iverse about

us . I ndeed,without both of these

,e ither becomes

unth inkabl e . Hence Siva has ever a consort in

Maha Sakti,the Pr imal Force . Amongst the

p ictures made, and the tales to ld , of Her , are those

of Sati,and Uma , and the Great Death . She i s

Gouri , the Golden One , th e fa i r, the l igh t of the

sunri se shin ing on the mounta in snows . And she

dwel l s ever in Kailash , as the wife and devoted

worsh ipper of that Mahadeva , or Spiri tual I n s ight ,who goes amongst men by th e name of Siva , th e

Great God .

Sati,the PerfectWife

LONG,l ong ago

,i n the beginn ing of t ime , there

was a god cal l ed Duksha, who counted himse lf

ch ief of divin i t i es and men . And it happened

once that a grea t feast was he ld , and al l the

gods at the banquet d id homage to Duksha,and

acknowledged h im as Over lord . Save one, Siva .

He,th e Great God , was present also , and was

c lad indeed like any beggar,i n ash es and p ink

lo in -c loth , with staff and bowl . Yet H e would

notb ow down and touch the feet of Duk sha .

His mot ive was pure kindness . We al l know that

there i s noth ing mor e un lucky for an in fer io r

th an to see one greater than h imsel f prostratedbefore h im . I t i s even sa id i n I nd ia that i f th is

occurs to you, your head wi l l a t once ro l l off . So

outof Sheer mercy to the Over lord , Siva cou ldnotdo homage , and probab ly afterwards forgota l l about the occurrence . But th e poor god d id

notunderstand H is reason,and thenceforth counted

H im hi s enemy,hat ing H im with al l h is heart .

Now , Duksha had had many daughters,but they

were by th is t ime a l l married , except the youngest ,who was so good that she was known as Sati. (For

35

36 CRADLE TALE S OF HINDUISM

th e word Sati means being , existence, and noth ingreal ly , you know,

exist s but goodness ! )I n secret Sat i ’s whole sou l was given up to

th e worsh ip of th e Great God . She adored the

image of Siva day after day, and offered before

i t water and wh ite ri ce , praying that her whole

l i fe m igh t be passed in loving H im,and H im

alone .

I n th e midst of al l th is,Duksha dec lar ed that i t

was t ime for her to be married , and announced aSway amvam, or feast of th e Bride

’s Choice . Poor

Sat i ! How cou ld She marry any one el se when

h er whol e h eart was given to the Grea t God ?But th e fata l day arrived . I n a vas t court

,on

sp lend id thrones,sat a l l the kings and gods who

had been invited , i n a great c ircl e . Sat i came in,

with her wedding gar land i n h er h and . Al l round

she l ooked . She cou ld te l l wh ich were gods,

because they were l ighted from within,so th ey

neithe r winked nor cast shadows,and wh ich

kings,for they did . Both were th ere , and She

might choose any one of them . He would be

h appy,and her fath er would be glad . They

gl it tered with j ewels and were gay with gorgeous

co loured robes . Agai n and again she searched

the p l ace with her eyes , but H e whom she l ooked

for was notth ere . I t was a terr ib l e moment .Then in h er despair

,Sat i stood st i l l i n the

midst of the ha l l,and threw her flowers up into the

SATI , THE PERFECT W IFE 37

air , saying , “ I f I be indeed Sat i,th en do thou

,

Siva,rece ive my garland !

” And 10 ! there H e was

in th e midst of th em ,wearing it round H is neck !

Her father,Duksha

,was choking with rage

,but

what cou ld he do ? The choice of a pri ncess was

final . 8 0 th e wedding ceremon ies h ad to becompleted . When that was done , however, h e

cal led her to h im . Undut i fu l ch i ld h e cr i ed,

“ you have yourse lf chosen th is beggar for your

husband . Now go and l ive wi th H im,a beggar ’s

wife , but never come back to me or l ook upon

my face again !”

So Siva took her awayto Kailash , and she was

happier th ere than,in a l l th e dreams and prayers

of her gir lhood,she had ever imagined . One day

,

however , th e sage Narada , c lothed in h is p ink

robes and looking big with important news,came

to cal l . He wen t up’

to Siva,s i tt ing on a t iger

skin,deep in meditat ion , and satdown near H im

to have a chat . H’m he sa id

,as soon as h e

thought he had Mahadeva ’s attent ion,your father

in -law,Duksha

,i s arranging for a fine fest iva l .

There 's to be a fire-sacrifice with ful l state-ce re

mon ies,and al l h is fami ly are i nvited .

”

“ That ’s good sa id Siva,rather absent ly .

But h e hasn ’ t asked you said N arada,eyeing

him curious ly.

No ,” sa id Siva “ i sn ’ t that fine

What !” sa id Narada,beginn ing to l ook


puzz led “ don ’ t you mind the i nsul t,th e terr ib le

sacr i l ege,of offer ing royal worsh ip without cal l ing

for the presence of the Great God ?

Oh I” sa id Siva wear i ly , i f on ly people wou ld

l eave me outof everyth ing,perhaps I could get

r id of th is burden of making ' and destroying

worlds , and lose myse lf in one eternal medita

t ion

E vidently i t was imposs ibl e to ge t any fun ou t

o f a gossip here . Mahadeva was too gratefu l toH is father-in - l aw for leaving H im i n peace .

So Narada turned to tel l th e n ews to Sat i . Al l

h er woman ’s cur ios i ty was roused a t once . A

thousand quest i ons had to be answered . She

wanted to know about th e preparat ion s,and the

guests,and exact ly how the sacr ifice and banquet

were to be arranged . Final ly say ing,

“ But I

must go too !” she turn ed to find her Husband,

and Narada,feel ing sure that events were afoot,

hastened away .

Alone,i n Kailash

,Sat i stood before Siva . “ I

want to go and see the feast ! She said .

“ But,said H e , “ you are not asked !”

“ No daughter could need an i nvitat ion to h er

father ’s house ! pleaded Sat i .

Yes,said Siva, “ but you

,My beloved , must

not go . I fear for you the dreadfu l insu l ts of those

who hate Me .

Then,before th e eeys of the Great God , the


very face and person of Sat i began to change .

He had said “ must ” to her, and now she would

Show H im who and what she was , who loved

and worsh ipped H im . 8 0 she assumed some of

her great and terr ib le forms . She appeared to

H im ten-handed , standing on a l ion—Durga,

the Queen and centre of th e Universe . She

showed herse l f as the gentl e foster-mother of

the worlds . She became the b lack and awfu l

Goddess of Death . Til l Mahadeva H imsel f t rembled

in Her presence and worsh ipped H er,i n turn

,as

H is own equal . Then she was the tender and

devoted Sat i once more , pl eading with H im as a

morta l wife with her husband .

“ E ven as you

declare,

”she sa id , “ we are about to go through

terr ible events . But these th ings must be , to show

mankind what a perfect wife Shou ld be . More

over,how could harsh words hur t H er , who bears

a l l th ings and beings-

in Her h eart ? ”

So He yie lded , and she,attended by th e one

o ld servant,Nandi , r idi ng on the ir old bu l l , and

wearing the rags of a beggar ’s wi fe,set off for the

palace of her father , Duksha.

Arrivi ng there at l ast,and entering the Hal l of

Sacrifice,she—the young and beaut ifu l Sat i of a

few shor t years b efore,'

still young and even morebeauti fu l

,butarrayed in such strange guise—was

greeted by peals of l augh ter from the assemb led

guests . They were her si sters,resp lendent in S i lks


and j ewel s,each seated on th e throne of her

husband,on h is l efts ide .

There at th e end of the hal l,amongst pr iests

and nob les,she saw Duksha about to begin the

sacr ifice . Sat i went up and stood reverently

before h er father . When he saw her,however

,

Duk sha became fur ious . Ho , beggar’s wi fe !”

he said .

“ Why come you here ? Did I not

curse you, and dr ive you from my presence ?“ A fath er ’s curses are a good ch i ld ’s b l ess ings

,

repl ied Sat i meekly,stoop ing to th e earth to touch

his feet .“ Good ch i ldren do not choose to marry

beggars ! h e rep l i ed .

“Where is that H usband

of yours ? Th ief,rascal

,evi l d ishonest daughter

s tea ler that H e is !”

He was going on to say more,but even he cou ld

not fin i sh,for Sat i

,blush ing cr imson , had r i sento

her fu l l h eight,and her beau ty and sorrow made

her wonderfu l to l ook upon . One hand was

raised as i f to say, Hush !“ Words such as these

,my father

,She was

saying,

f‘the fa ith fu l wi fe must not even h ear .

These ears that h ave l istened are yours . You

gave them to me , for you gave me l i fe, and al lth i s body . Then take it' b ack . I t i s once more

your own . Not for one moment Sha l l I reta in i t,

at the co st o f such dishonour .!

And She fe l l dead at Duksha’s feet . E very one


At th i s moment,however

,came a woman, weep

ing and worsh ipp ing H is feet . At length th e

sound of her voice penetrated to th e ears of th egrief- intoxicated God .

“ Speak ! Who worship s Me ? He said .

I t is I,th e mother of Sati

Mothe r,what wou ld youhave sa id H e very

gent ly .

“ Only that of your mercy ! youwi l l g ive back

th e l i fe of my husband , Duksha.

Let h im l ive said Mahadeva at once,and H is

servants obed ient ly restored the l ife taken .

But Duksha had no head,and h is own cou ld

not be found .“ Th is wi l l do very wel l

,

” said th e

gener al of the army, po int ing to the head of th e

goat that had been S l a i n for sacr ifice ! and some

one se ized i t and put i t on th e body of Duksha. So

there h e rea l ly was , even as Nand i had sa id, surviv

ing , but with a goat’s head on h is human body.

But Siva , bear ing the body of Sat i , s trode forth

in the gr ief of a God . To and fro over the earth

H e went. H is eyes Shot forth vo lcan ic fires,and

H is footsteps shook the wor lds . Then Vishnu,t o

save mankind,came beh ind Siva

,and hur led H is

d iscus t ime after t ime a t th e corpse of Sat i,t i l l

,

fa l l ing p iece by p iece,with fi fty- two blows it was

at last destroyed,and Siva

,fee l ing th e weigh t

gone,withdrew to Kailash

,and plunged once

more into H is sol i tary meditat ion .


But of how Sat i was born again as Uma in the

house of H imalaya th e king , of how she s trove

once more for the love of the Great God and of

how Siva,with H is whole heart on Sat i

,refused to

be won , and burnt E ros to ashes wi th a g lance ,are not th ese th ings to ld

,by Ka l idas th e poet

,

i n h is great poem of “ The Birth of th e VVar

Lord

The Tale of Uma Himavutee

NOW Sati wa s born again on earth as th e Pr in

cess Uma . I n the d ivine region s,long periods of

our t ime pass l ike a s ingl e day , and the years th at

were spent in becoming a baby and growing up

into a woman seemed to Uma a very l itt l e th ing .

She knew wel l who she was , and remembered that

she had come in to the wor ld on ly that She migh t

win Siva once more for h er own,and be with H im

forever .

Th is t ime She had chosen as her father one

who loved Mahadeva , and wou ld fee l deep ly

honoured by having H im for his son-in - law,

H imalaya,th e Mountain -king . Uma was extra

ord inary from her ear l i es t years for her good

ness . I t was noton ly that every duty wasfaith fu l ly per formed

,and those r ites of purificat ion

that Siva loves carr i ed out to the las t l et ter , but

such long hours were spent in worsh ip and in

fasts of terr ible r igour,that her mother often

implored h er to stop,fear ing thatSh e wou ld

l ose h eal th,or even l i fe i tsel f . But th e Pr incess

pers is ted,for she knew that beauti fu l as sh e was ,

her great difficu l ty in th is l i fe would be to make44

THE TALE OF UMA HIMAVUTEE 45

Siva forget Sat i long enough even to look at her .

She must th erefore devote al l h er energy to th e

train i ng of sou l and wi l l . Notwith stand ing th is,

however,she grew dai ly more and more love ly.

And th i s was not surpr is ing , as youwould say, i f

you cou ld have seen those wonderfu l mountains

that were her home . Ther e th e dark cedars toss

th ei r heads a l l n ight long against the sky, and

wi ld roses and red pomegranate b lossoms fi l l th e

summer with thei r beau ty . There gracefu l trees

and del ic i ous fru its abound,and wi ld flowers

bloom in profusi on . There b irds and beasts

give thanks continual ly th at th ey exis t,and on

th e rugged mountain - tops the snows are as grand

as th e forests be low are beauti ful .

With eyes and ears a lways fi l l ed thus,what

cou ld a maiden do but d rink in lovel iness and

draw c loser to i ts sp i r i t day , b y day ?

But greatest o f all her charms was that pa le

golden t int of Skin that i s so admired by H indu

women . I ndeed, sh e was so renowned for th is,

that to th is day on ly queens in I ndia may wear

anklets and ornaments o f gol d upon the feet .

Subj ects wear si lver , because ye l l ow i s Uma ’s

own colour,and to touch it with the foot is

sacr i lege.

Now when Uma was about e igh teen , al l the

god s became as anxious as hersel f for th e grant

ing of her des ire . Their interest in the matter

46 CRADLE TALES OF H INDUISM

came about in th i s way z—Sometime before,

Brahma,th e Creator, had shown great favour

to one of th e demons,and granted h im an

unusual degree of power . I n th e strength of

th is gi ft th e recipien t had great ly exalted h imse l f,

and was th reatening to usurp th e thrones of al lth e l esser d ivin i t i es . They appea l ed to Brahma

,

and to ld th e i r story . The great fou r-headed

Father l i s ten ed to th e i r woe,and smi l ed indul

gent ly .“ I cannot mysel f avenge your wrongs

,

he said,

“ upon one who has rece ived my fr iend

sh ip . D o you not know th e proverb ,‘E ven a

poisonous t ree shou ld stand un inj ured by h im

who planted it ’ ? But as I look in to th e future,

I see that when Siva marr ies th e Pr incess Uma

and h e can wed no other—he wi l l become thefath er of a son who shal l l ead th e arm ies of heaven

to victory. Do what you can , there fore ,to hastenthe marr iage . You are thereby bringing nearer

th e Birth of th e Divin e War-Lord .

The thunder-l ike vo ice of th e Creator d ied away

i n space,and th e gods consu l ted as to what

cou ld be done . I n th e end, I ndra, ch ief of th e

lesser gods,went to vis it Modon

,the I ndian God

of Love .

He and h is wi fe Rot i had,l iv ing in thei r

home,a fa ith fu l fr i end and sold ier cal led Spring,

and al l three l istened to the request that I ndra

had come to make . He wished Modon to Shoot

THE TALE OF UMA HIMAVUTEE 47

one of h is Invi sibl e arrows into the heart of

Siva .

The tal l and gracefu l young god turned pale

when he understood at last what was wanted .

I t was be l ieved in th e d ivine wor ld that th e

Great God was proof aga inst morta l weakness,

and the impert inence O f attempting to infl i ct on

H im the wound O f human love was a lmost toomuch

,even for these merry-hearted sou ls . They

feared fai lure,and d iscovery , with the anger of

Mahadeva .

Yet th ey had a strong affect ion for I ndra,th e

God of th e Sky . They owed him much . They

were eager to serve h im . At last said Modon,“ I f

Spr ing wil l go before,and help me

,as h e has

always h i therto don e , I am wi l l ing to t ry,” and

th is promise being ex torted, I ndra arose and left

them but he told th em first o f th e grove in which

Siva wou ld be found .

Now when Modon setforth to find Mahadeva,

Spring went before . e Ath is approach and th e wavi ng of h i s wand , al l the trees in the fores t broke

into blossom withou t ever a green l eaf . Then

en tered Modon , with his beautifu l wi fe, Desire,and the world became warm with the fr iendsh ip

of th e creatures . Birds warbl ed to each other,

the wi ld deer drank outof th e forest pools s ideb y s ide ! th e hum of i nsects rose on the breeze !even the flowers seemed to pass under the


gracious influence, and bend buds and bel l s a

l i tt l e n earer .

On came the Archer,Love

,in the footsteps of

h is fr i end,t i l l , near th e heart of th e wood, he

found what h e sought—a magnificen t old cedar,

and spread beneath it s Shade a b lack l eopard-skin

for med i tat ion . The next moment an old man

appeared , and hel d up h is hand , saying, “Hush

I t was Nandi . I nstant ly,per fec t s i l ence fe l l upon

eve ryth ing . The forest s tood as i f painted on

th e ai r. No breeze s t irred a S i ng l e l eaf . The

birds remained on th e boughs, with throats Openedto s ing, but no sound came forth . The insects

hung on th e wing motion l ess, and the bees, draw

ing near to S ip honey from the flowers of Modon ’

s

bow, made a th ick l i ne l ike a black arch above

it, or covered the quiver , made of blossoms, l ike a

ve i l, as st i l l as death .

Then Modon saw a white form sh ine forth

and take shape beneath the cedar . I t was Siva

H imse l f,whom he awaited . Motion less

,under

the tree , sat th e Great God , l ost i n H is reveri e .I n th e midd le of H is forehead was a faint b lack

l i ne,l ike a wrink l e

,but s l igh tly tremulous . And

Modon’

s hear t beat faster,for he real i sed that

th is was th e great Th ird Eye of Mahadeva , capab le

of flash ing forth fire at any time,and he knew not

when it might open . Here was th e opportunity

that h e wanted , but even now he dared notshoot,

5 0 CRADLE TALES OF H INDUISM

But th e grove was fi l l ed wi th th e voice of

lamentat ion . Desire , the beaut i fu l wi fe of Love ,was not to be conso l ed

,that one flash of anger

had not de stroyed her with Modon . And she

cal led on Spri ng, as h er husband’s fri end

,to bui ld

the funera l-fire i n wh ich she might d ie and fo l low

h im . At th is moment,however

,th e vo ice of

I ndra rang through the wood .

“ Sweet lady ! i t

p l eaded,do no th ing rash I t i s tru e that you are

separated from your husband for a wh i l e . But in

a few months the work he began here wi l l b e

completed,and when Mahadeva weds Uma

,He wi l l

o f H is free grace restore th e l i fe of Modon

a l so . Only wai t pat i ent ly. And Spr ing pre

va i led upon Roti to rely on th e promise of I ndra

and wait .

!True enough , cer ta in months afterwards , the

spir it of her husband was given back to her . But

h is body had been destroyed . So, since th en ,walks Love i nvi s ib le amongst men and gods .!And Uma

,l eft a lone in the forest

,rea l is ed that

a l l her beauty had fai l ed to prevai l upon h er

Husband to forget her as Sat i for one moment .

Now,th erefore , sh e mus t make a stronger appeal ,

and of a strange ly d ifferen t kind .

Then she l e f t h er pri nce ly home and wen t away

to a hermitage,far from th e dwel l i ngs of men

,to

l ive . A rough grass girdl e and the covering of

b i rch -bark became a l l her c loth ing. She s l ept on

THE TALE OF UMA HIMAVUTEE 5 1

the bare earth,in th e l i t t l e t ime when She was not

te l l i ng the name of Siva on her beads , and her

right arm grew marked and worn with th e con

stant pressure of her rosary . Her h air was matted ,and for food she seemed to take no thought .

How long th is course of l i fe h ad lasted,she

herse l f knew not,when one day a Brahmin beggar

passed that way,and stopped at her door to beg

for food .

Uma,a lways pi t ifu l as a mother to the needs

of others,though she appeared to have none of

her own,hastened to give h im alms . But when

h e had received her dole,th e beggar seemed

des irou s of l inger ing awh i l e t o chat .

Lady,fo r whose sake can you be practis ing

such a course of penance ? ” he asked .“ You are

young and fa ir . Meth inks th is i s th e l ife o f one

old or d isappointed that you lead . Whose love

draws you to l ive thus“ My hear t

,

” She repl ied,

“ i s a l l for Siva .

“ Siva !” said the beggar,

“ but surely H e i s a

queer fel low ! Why,He seems to be poorer than

poverty,and a dreamer of dreams . I trust indeed ,

Lady , that your heart is notgiven to that MadmanAh ,

” said Uma,s igh ing gently , “ you speak thus

because you do not under stand ! The act ions of

the great are O ften unaccountabl e to the commonmind . The ways of Mahadeva may wel l be beyond

your ken


“ But,h e pers isted , “ bel i eve that I speak

wisdom ! Spend your l i fe no l onger in a vain

effor t to reach One who i s not worthy of your

l ove . Give up th e thought of Siva . E ven i f

H e be what you say , He does not deserve“ Stop !” said Uma , “ I h ave le t you speaktoo

l ong . I cannot l ist en to one word more,

” and

she turned to go .

She was j ust l i ft ing her foot,h ad not yet qu ite

tu rned her eyes away,when a strange change

began to stea l over th e Brahmin ’s features,and

th e Princess Uma,watch ing i t , s tood rooted to

th e spot . She held her breath . Surely ther e

must be some mistake . I ndeed,she cou ld not

bel ieve h er eyes . But a t l as t she had to be l ieve .For fasts and vig i l s had don e what beauty alonecou ld never have accompl ished . The Brahmin

who stood before her was none o ther th an

Mahadeva H imse l f.

Savitri,the Indian A lcesti s

THERE are few of the Greek stories that we loveso much as tha t of Alces tis . E very one remembers

how Admetus , her husband , was under a curse ,and unless one could be found to die for h im

,he

must, on a certain day , give up h is l i fe and betake

himsel f to the dark rea lms of Pluto . And no on e

can forge t that ther e was one to whom death

seemed a l i tt l e th ing to suffer,i f on ly thereby

Admetus migh t be saved . Th is was his wi fe,

Alcest i s . So Sh e , th e brave woman-hear t , l ef t th e

l ight of the sun beh ind her , and j ou rneyed alone

to th e under-wor ld and the kingdoms of the dead .

Then was there sorrow and mourn ing in the

hal l s of Admetus, unt i l even ing, when , as we a l l

know,there came th ither a guest whose strength

was beyond th at of mortals, and whose heart was

open to the sadness of al l . And he,the mighty

H erak l es, t aking p i ty on th e sorrow of Admetus,

went down into Hades , and brought forth th e sou l

of th e faith fu l wife . Thus was the curse removed,

and Death himsel f vanquished by men . And

Alcestis dwel t once more with her husband

Admetus , and after many years, as r ipe corn in to5 3


the garner , so pass ed they away , and were both

together gathered to the ir fa thers .I n th is s tory we learn a great dea l of th e thought

of th e Greeks about women . We learn that they

knew that woman,though usual ly so much weaker

than man,and needing h is protec tion

,could yet ,

in th e streng th of her love for another,become

brave as a l ion,and face dange rs glad ly from

wh ich a man m ight shrink in terror .

I n I nd ia a l so , amongs t h er gentl e wh ite-vei l ed

women,with al l th e ir s i l en t grace

,ther e i s th e

same courage,th e same s trength . There also i t

is known that a timid g ir l—a very daughter of

men , not l ike Sat i or Uma , some divin e personage

ve i l ed i n flesh—though utterly u naccustomed tothe touch of the rough world

,wil l b ecome sudden ly

brave to protec t another . The I ndian peopl e

know that there is no darkn ess that a true wife

wi l l n o t enter at h er husband ’s s ide,no hardsh ip

She wi l l not undertake , no batt le that on h is beha l f

she wi l l not fight . And yet the i r sto ry of the ideal

woman is cur ious ly d ifferent from th is of Alcest is .

Differen t,and at the same time simi lar . Only

l isten,and you sh a l l j udge for yourse lves .

Beau t ifu l and gift ed was the royal ma iden,

Savi tr i . And yet,at the ment ion of her name

,

th e world thought on ly of her ho l in ess . She had

c ome to her parents as the Sp ir i t of Prayer i tse l f .

For the marr iage of her father Aswapati and h is

SAV ITRI , THE INDIAN ALCESTIS 55

queen had for many years been bl essed with no

ch i ldren,which th ing was a great sorrowto th em .

And they were now growing old . But st i l l , dai ly ,th e King l igh ted with h is own hands the sacr ificia l

fi re,and chan ted the nat iona l prayer Savitri, and

begged of the gods that even yet h e might have

a ch i ld . Itwas In th e midst of h is worship one

day,as he sang Savitri, and brooded deep on th e

divine wi l l,that suddenly in th e midst of th e fire

,

he saw th e form of a woman,th at very goddess

who was guardian spir i t of th e I ndian prayer,

and She blessed h im and to ld h im that h is wife

and he wou ld yet have a daughter,whose dest iny

was h igh and whose name was to b e that of th e

prayer i tse l f. Thus,outof th e devotion of two

royal l ive s,was born the Pr incess Savit ri .

Oh how good She was , and at th e same time

how strong ! Ful l of gent leness and pity, th ere

was yet nothing wavering or foo l ish about her .

Trueto every promise, fai th fu l to al l who were inneed , fear less and decided when difficu l t questions

came up,she was a comfort to her parents and to

al l the ir peop le .

At last her father began to fee l that i t wa s time

to th ink of her marriage . She was now seventeen

or eighteen,and as yet no proposa l had been made

for her hand . Nor had her parents any idea towhat pr ince to send the cocoanut on h er behal f

,

as h int th at a princess waited for h is wooing . At


this po int,however

, Savi tr i h ersel f made a sug

gest ion . Before making any attempt to arrange

th e marr iage,leth er go on a long p i lgrimage !

pray

’

atone ho ly shr ine afte r another ! t ake thebless ings and l is ten to the words of many ho ly

men ! enter deep into commun ion with her own

Guard ian Spir it and on her return , i f no direction

had been vouchsafed her,i t would st i l l be t ime

enough to dea l with the quest io n of h er marr iage .

For these th ings are guarded by des t iny,and i t i s

notwell t o meddle hasti ly with h igh matters .E very one thought th is idea admirable . To some

of her father ’s counci l lors i t may have seemed thati n th is way Savi tr i would rece ive an educat ion fi t

for a great queen . She would see the country

and do homage to its ho ly and l earned men .

Others may have thought of the advantages i n

heal th and beauty . Butto her paren ts i t s eemedthat even as She had come to th em

,so a lso she

would enter her husband ’s home,out of the very

heart of prayer .

SO great preparat ion s were made . Grey-headed

old court iers were to ld off to watch over the

Pr incess,and numbers of servants were sen t to

attend on her . She was to drive i n a carr i age ,gilded all over

,and surrounded by curta ins of

scarl et S i lk,through wh ich she cou ld see every

th ing without be ing seen . And a long train of

men and el ephants were to fo l low,bearing tents


t imes they would encamp for a whol e week with i n

reach of a certa i n hermitage . And Savi tr i wou ld

enter her palanqu in every morn ing and have her

sel f carried before the hut of th e ho ly man,to

offer gifts and request h is bl es s i ng . Then she

would S i t on the ground before h im,close ly veiled ,

ready to l i sten i f h e chose to speak,but i f not

,

content on ly to watch,since blessed are the eyes

that look upon a sa int .

And al l the t ime She was drawing nearer andnearer to the great day of h er l ife

,that was to

make her name dear to womanhood throughou t

th e ages .

journey ing one day in the forest she saw ,

th rough the curta in s of her.

l i t t er,a ta l l

,strong

young man . There was someth ing about h im that

made her hold her breath . Across one shoulder

h e carr i ed an axe,and in h is other hand he

held a bundle of faggots . He was ev ident ly a

forester . Yet h is bearing spoke of courage and

gent l eness,and the courtesy wi th wh ich he he lped

some one of her train,and th en stood aside for

them to pass , told of h igh breed ing and great

gent l ehood of hear t . I nquir ies were made as

to the name and parentage of th is young man .

And then the Princess and her train turned home

wards . For Savitr i knew that tod ay her dest iny

was come upon her. Here s tood tha t sou l to

whom through end less b irth s she had been un ited .

SAVITRI, THE INDIAN ALCESTIS 59

He migh t be a forester or he migh t be a king .

I n any case she,with her mind

’

s eye cl eansed by

pi lgr image and prayer,had recognised h im to

whom in a l l her past l ives she had been wife,and

She knew that what had been Should aga in be .

Here was he whom she shou ld wed .

Aswapati was i n h i s hal l of state, when at lasth is daughter entered h is presence . Savitr i wou ld

have l iked to see her fath er a lone , but bes ide h im

satthe ho ly man Narada,clad in h is p ink clo th

,

and the King bade her speak fre e ly before him .

Has my ch i ld determined where sh e wi l l bestow

hersel f ? he asked gent l y,when th e fi rst warm

greet ings were over .

Savitr i flushed cr imson as she rep l ied .

“ Te l l me a l l about th i s youth,

” said Aswapatith e King eagerly .

“ I n a certa in wood land, my fath er , said the

Princess t imidly,

“ we met a young man who i s

l iving the l ife of a forester . H is father is a bl ind

king who has been driven from h is th ron e i n h iso ld age

,and i s l iving i n the forests in great poverty .

Th is youth have I determined to marry. He is

gent l e,and strong

,and courteous

,and h i s name

i s Satyavan .

As soon as Sav i tr i had begun to describe her

choice,Narada had looked start l ed and interested .

Butnow -he held up one hand sudden ly,saying

,

Oh no ! nothe


Aswapati l ooked at h im anxious ly .

“ Why

not? ” he sa id .

“ My daughter has wealth enough

fortwo.

”

“ Oh,i t i s notthat !” said Na rada ! “ but if

Savitr i weds th i s youth she wil l certa in ly become

a widow , for Satyavan i s under a cu rse, and twe lvemonth s from this d ay h e i s doomedto d i e !The Pri ncess had grown very pale . For every

H indu woman pray! to d ie befor e her husband .

But when Aswapati turn ed and said to her, “ Th is

i s sad news , my d aughter ! you must choose

aga in, she said

,No

,my fath er . One gives one

’s

fa i th but once . I cannot name a second as myhusband . I t i s sad to be a w idow , but having

taken Saty avan , I must face whatever comes to

me with th is husband of my choice .

Both th e King and Narada fe l t tha t these

words were true,and messengers were sen t next

day,bear ing a cocoanut from Aswapati to the

young pr ince dwel l ing in the forest . Th is meant

that the King des ired th e youth to marry h isdaughter

,and Satyavan and h is parents glad ly

accepted , with th e one stipulation that Savi tr i

shou ld come and l ive in thei r home,in stead of

taking her husband away from them in thei r

old age .

8 0 the wedding was procla imed . The fire wa s

cal l ed to wi tness th eir un ion . The iron r ing was

bound on Savi tr i ’s l e ft wrist,and Satyavan and

SAVITRI , THE INDIAN ALCESTIS 6 1

She had the ve i l and cloak knotted together , and

hand in hand walked s even t imes around th e

sacred fire,while th e priest at each c i rc l e chanted

the ancient prayers of the i r people that that stage

of l i fe might be bl essed to them both . Then they

went away into the forest to l ive,and Savi tr i put

away a l l th e robes and j ewels of a princess , and

set hersel fto be a fai th fu l and loving daugh ter toher new parents . Only she could never forget th e

terr ib l e doom that had been pronounced upon

her husband,and she never ceased to bear i n

mind the secre t date on which Narada had said

that he would die . For Yama,th e God of Death

,

i s the only be ing in a l l th e wor lds,perhaps

,who

never breaks h is word , and “ as t rue as Death ”

has become such a saying in I nd ia,th at Yama

is h eld to be also the God of Truth and Faith .

Th is was the though t that made poor Savitr i ’sheart beat fast . Sheknew that there was no hope

of th e curse being forgotten . She cou ld see quit e

p lain ly,too

,that no one but h ersel f knew anyth ing

about it . I t remained to be seen whether she

cou ld find a wayto s ave her husband or not .The dreadfu l moment drew nearer and nearer .

At last,when on ly thre e days remained

,th e young

wife took the terrib l e vow that i s known as th e

three v igils . For three n ights she would remain

awake,in prayer

,and during th e interven ing d ays

She would eat n o food . I n th is way Savitr i hoped


to reach a state of th e sou l where she cou ld see

and hear th ings that common ly pass unknown tomorta ls .

The b l ind King and h is aged Queen imp lored

the i r new daughter to re lax th i s effor t,but when

she made the s imple an swer,I . have taken a

vow,they cou ld say no more . I n that case her

reso lu t ion was sacred,and they could on ly hel p

her to carry i t out. At last the four th morn ing

dawned,but st i l l Savi tr i wou ld nottouch food .

No,she sa id

,

“ i t wi l l be t ime enough at n ight

fa l l . Now I ask,as the on ly favour I have yet

begged,that you shou ld a l low me a l so to go out

i nto the j ungle with your son , and spend th e d ay .

”

She was carefu l not to ment ion Satyavan ’

s name

to h is parents,for that wou ld have been forward

and i l l-bred . The old coup le smi led gen tly .

“The

girl i s a good gir l,

” th ey saidto one another , “ andhas yet asked for noth ing We certa i n ly ought

to a l low her to go . Satyavan ,take thou good

care of our daugh ter . At th ese words Savi t r i

touched the i r feet,and went out with her husband .

She had ca lcu lated that the blow would fa l l a t

m idday,and -as th e h our drew near she suggested

that they shou ld stop in a shady spo t and wander

no furth er . Satyavan gath ered grass and madea seat for h er . Then he fi l l ed her lap wi th wi ld

fru i t and turnedto h i s work of hewing wood .

Poor Savitr i sat and waited,l isten ing breath l ess

SAVITRI , THE INDIAN ALCESTIS 63

for the strokes of h is axe upon the trees . Pre

sently they r ang fa inter and feebl er, and at l astSatyavan came tottering up to her, with the words ,Oh , how my head pains ! Then he lay down

with h is head on her lap,and passed into a heavy

swoon .

At th is moment the wi fe became aware of a

grim and terribl e figure advancing towards them

from the j ungle. I t was a s tate ly personage,black

as nigh t,and carrying i n on e hand a piece of rope

,

with a noose at the end . She knew h im at onc e

for Yama,God of Truth and King of th e Dead .

He smi l ed kindly at Savitri. My errand is not

for you, chi ld ! he said to her , s tooping at th esame t ime and fixing h is Ioop of rope around the

sou l of Satyavan , that he migh t thus drag h im

bound beh i nd h im .

Savitr i trembled a l l over as he did th is,but when

the sou l of her husband stood upto fo l low,then She

trembled no l onger . She al so stood up , with h er

eyes sh in ing and her hands c lasped,prepared to go

with Satyavan even in to the rea lms of Death .

“ Farewell,ch i ld

,said Yama , turn ing t o go,

and look ing over h i s shou lder ! “ grieve notovermuch ! Death is the on ly certa in guest .

And away he went,down the forest-glades .

But as he went,he could d ist inctl y h ear beh ind

h im the pat ter of feet. He grew uneasy . I t was

h i s du tyto takethe sou l of Satyavan , bu t notthat


of Sav i tr i . What was sh e do ing now ? Cou ld

she be fo l lowing h im ? Why,i n any case , had

she been ab le to see h im ? What power had

sharpened her hear ing and cl eared her s ight ?

To most . mortal s , Death was i nvi s ib le . Patter !

pat ter ! Yes , that certain ly was a footfa l l beh ind

h im . Fool ish gir l ! Was she str iving to fo l l ow

her husband ? She must go home sooner or

l ater . St i l l h e would try to soothe her grief by

gifts . “ Savitr i,

” said Yama,sudden ly turn ing

round on her,

“ ask anyth ing you l ike,except th e

l i fe of your husband,and it sha l l be yours . Then

go home .

Savitr i ben t l ow .“ Grant h is s igh t once more

to my father-in-law ! Sh e sa id .

“ E as i ly granted ! sa id th e Monarch of Death .

Now,good-bye ! Th is is not the p lac e for you .

”

But st i l l the footsteps fo l l owed Yama . The

forest grew denser and more gloomy,yet wherever

he could go , Savi tr i s eemed to be able to fo l low .

“ Another wish,ch i ld

,shal l be yours !” sa id

Yama. But you mustgoSav i t r i s tood undismayed . She was beginn ing

to feel herse l f on good terms wi th Death , andbel ieved that he might give way to her yet . “ I

ask for th e retur n of my fath er-in-l aw’s wealth

and kingdom,

”she answered now .

I t i s yours ,” said Yama , turn ing h is back .

But go


“ Peerl ess amongst women , he said , “ i s that

brave heart that fo l lows the husband even into the

grave,and recovers h is l i fe from Yama himsel f.

Thu s do th e gods love to win defeat at th e hands

of mortals.”

An hour late r , under th e same tree where he

had swooned,Prin ce Satyavan awoke , with h is

head on Savitr i’ s knee . “ I have h ad a s trange

dream,

” he murmured feeb ly,

“ and I th ought that

I was dead .

”

“ My beloved,answered Savitr i

,

“ i t was no

dream. But the n ight fal l s . Let u s hasten home

wards .

AS th ey turned to go, th e j ungle rang with the

cr ies of a roya l escor t , who had come outto seekthem . For that very day, Satyavan ’

s father had

rece ived word of th e restorat ion of h i s kingdom,

and th e l i fe of hardsh ip and poverty was beh ind

them al l foreve r .

Nala and Damayanti

ONCE upon a t ime there was a king named Nala,

who ru led over a peop le known as the N ishadas .

Now th is Nala was the fi rst o f kings . I n person

he was strong and handsome,fu l l of kingly honour

,

and graci ous in h is beari ng . He loved archery

and hunting , and al l the sports of monarch s . And

one specia l gift was h is , i n an extraordinary degree ,the knowledge

,namely

,of th e management of

horses . Thus in beauty,in characte r

,i n fortune

,

and in power , there was scarcely i n the whol e

world anoth er king l i ke Nala .

I f there were one,i t cou ld on ly be Bh ima

,King

of the Vidarb has, a sovere ign of hero ic nature

and great courage,deep ly loved by al l h is subj ects .

Now Bh ima had three sons and one daughter .

the Pr incess Damayant i . And the fame of Dama

yanti, fo r her mingl ing of beauty and sweetness,

and royal grace and dign ity,had gone th roughout

th e world . Never had one so l ove ly been seen

before . She was sa id to sh ine,even in th e midst

of the beauty of h er handmaidens,l ike th e

bright l ightn ing amidst th e dark clouds . And

the hearts of th e very gods were fi l l ed with67


gladness whenever they l ooked upon th i s exquis ite

maiden .

I t h appened th at constan t ly before Damayanti,

th e min stre ls and h eralds ch anted the praises ofNala

,and before Nala those of Damayant i

,t i l l

th e two began to dream of each other,with an

attachment that was not born of sigh t . And

Nala,consc ious of th e love that was awaken ing

wi th in h im , began to pass much of h is t im e in

th e gardens of his pa lace , a lone . And i t came

to pass th at one day h e saw there a flock of

wild swans with golden wings,and from amongst

them he caught with h is hands one . And the

bird was much afra id,and sa id

,

“ 0 King,slay

me not ! Release me , and I wi l l go to Dama

yanti and so speak to h er of th ee , that she wi l l

desire to wed thee , and no other i n the wor ld !

Musing,and stroking th e wings of th e swan , Nala

heard h is words , and saying, Ah , th en do thou

i ndeed even so opened h is h ands,and let h im

go free .

Then th e swans flew up and away to th e c ityof th e Vidarb has, and al ighted in the pa lace

gardens before Damayanti and her maidens . And

al l the beaut ifu l girl s scattered immediately,to

run afterthe flee i ng birds , t ry ing each to catch

one.But that after wh ich Damayant i ran , l ed

her awayto a lonely p lace , and addressed her inhuman speech . Peer less amongst men

,0 Dama

NALA AND DAMAYANTI 69

yanti !” i t said , “ i s Nala , King of the N ishadas .

Accept thou h im ! Wed'

thou with h im !

E ver happy and blessed i s the un ion of the

best with the best !” The Pr incess stood wi th

head bowed and fo lded hands,as soon as she

understood what the swan would say ! but wh en

he ended , she looked up wi th a smi le and a sigh .

“ Dear bird She sa id , “ speak thou even thus

unto h im a lso !And the handmaidens of Damayanti

,from th i s

t ime on,began to notice th at She grew ab

stracted . She wandered much a lone . She s ighed

and became pale , and in the midst of merr iment ,her thoughts would be far away . Then

,del i

cately and indirectly, they represented the matterto Bh ima , and he , reflect ing that h is daughter

was now grown up , rea l ised that her marriage

ought to be arranged,and sen t outmessages

al l over the country,that on a certain day her

sway amvara would be he ld .

From every part,a t th is news

,came the kings

,

attended by the i r bodyguards,and trave l l ing in

th e utmost sp lendour, with horses and e lephantsand chariots . And al l were received in due state

by Bh ima,and assigned royal quarters

,pend ing

th e day of Damayant i ’s sway amvam. And even

amongst th e gods d id the n ews go forth,and

I ndra,and Agni and Varuna , and Yama himself,

th e King of Death , setoutfrom high Heaven


for the c ity of the Vidarb has , each eager to win

the hand of the Princess .

But as the proud gods went, th ey overtook a

morta l wending his way on foot, and h is beauty

and greatness, of mind as wel l as body , were such

that they immediately de termined to leave thei rchariots in th e skies

,and tread the earth in th e

company of th i s man . Then,sudden ly a l ight ing

before h im—for the gods know al l—they said,

Nala thou art a man to be trusted Wi lt thou

promise to carry a message for us

Nala , seeing four luminous beings appear before

h im,and hear ing th em ask h imto be thei r messen

ger,answered immediate ly

,

“ Yea ! That wil l I !”

and then,drawing nearer, he added , But te l l me

first who are ye who address me and what i s the

message, further , that I shou ld carry for you ?

Said I ndra,

“We are the Immorta l s,come h i ther

for the sake of Damayanti . I ndra am I . Here at

my s ide i s Agni , God of Fire . There i s Varuna,

Lord of Waters . And next to him stands Yama,

destroyer of th e bodies of men . Do thou,on

our behal f, appear before Damayant i, say ing,‘The Guard ian s of th e Worl d are coming to thy

sway amvara . Choose thou,I pray thee

,one of

the gods for thy lord ! ’

“ But, said Nal a,“ I myse l f am come h ither

with the sel f-same obj ect . How can a man plead

with the woman whom he l oves on beha lf of

NALA AND DAMAYANTI 7 1

others ? Spare me,ye Gods ! Send me not

upon this errand !“ Then why

,0 King !” answered the gods

grave ly,d ids t thou first p romise ? Why

,having

promised, dost thou now seek to break thy word ?

Hear ing th i s,Nala Spoke aga in

,saying , “ But

even i f I went , how could I h O pe t o enter th e

apartments of Damayant i ? I s not th e palace of

Bhima wel l guarded

But I ndra rep l ied,

“ Leave that to us ! I f thou

wil t go,thou shal t have th e power to enter !

and saying “ Then , 0 Gods, I obey your wil l !

Nala found h imsel f, on th e moment , i n th e

presence of Damayant i,with in th e private apart

ments o f th e palace of Bhima .

Damayant i sat amongst her lad ies . The next

day was to be h er sway amvara, and feel i ng surethat Nala would att end i t, the smi les had come

back to her l ips , and the co lour to her cheeks .Her eyes were fu l l ‘ of l igh t

,and the words sh e

spoke were both wit ty and tender . See ing h is

beloved thus for the first t ime , Nala fe l t how

deep and overflowing was h is l ove for her .

Truly,her beauty was so great, th at th e - very

moon was put to shame by it . He had not

thought,he had not heard , he could not even

have imagined,anyth i ng so perfect . But h i s

word was g iven , and given to th e gods , and hecon trol led h is own fee l ing .


This determinat ion did not take even so much

as that instant wh ich i t requ ired for h im to

become vis ib le to the assembled maidens . As

h e did so,th ey sprang to the i r feet in amaze

ment , feel ing no fear, but struck with wonder

at th e beauty of the sp i rit who appeared thus

before them,and fu l l of th e quest ion , “ Who

can i t be ? ” Yet were th ey too Shy to venture

to speak to h im . On ly Damayant i came forward

gent ly,and smi l ingly addressed the hero ic vis ion

,

saying,

“Who art thou ? And how hast th ou

contr ived to enter unperceived ? Are notmyapartments wel l guarded , and the King

’s orders

severe ? ”

Hear ing these words , the King answered , “ My

name,0 Pr incess

,i s Nala . I have entered here

undiscovered , by th e power of th e gods . I come

as thei r messenger . I ndra,Agni , Varuna, and

Yama , al l a l ike desire , O beau teous one ! at the

morrow ’s sway amvam to be chosen by th ee . AS

their messenger , I say,‘Choose thou one of

them for thy

Damayant i bowed as she heard th e names of

the gods . Then,with a smile

,She tu rned h erse l f

to Nala .“ Nay , O Hero !

” She answered,

“ i t i s

notthe gods , but th ee thysel f whom I shal l

ch oose . Thy message reached me,borne h ith er

by th e swans . Thee have I accep ted i n my

heart . For thee has the sway amvam been


Come thou to the sway amvam with th e gods .

Then,i n their presence

,shal l I choose th ee . And

the cho ice wil l be mine alone . Thou sha l t be

without sin .

”

Nala real ised noth ing,save the promise that

Damayanti on the morrow wou ld give hersel f

to h im . With throbbing pu l ses , but quiet manner ,he bowed h is h ead in farewe l l , and , immediately

becoming once more invi sible , returned to the

presence of the gods and to ld them al l th at had

happened .

“ The maiden sa id to me,

‘Let th e

gods , 0 Hero , come with thee to my sway amvam.

I shal l,i n their presence

,choose thee . Yet shal t

thou be without And the gods accepted

the repor t of th eir messenger, for he had been

fa ithfu l to h i s trust .

The morn ing of the sway amvara dawned

bright ly,and the k ings entered the lofty porta l s

o f th e amph itheatre,even as l ions might enter

in to th e mountain wi lds . The scen e was a l l

magnificence . Amongst the great p i l l ars sateachroyal gues t on a sh in ing throne . E ach bore h i s

Sceptre and turban of s tate . E ach was surrounded

by h is own hera lds and minstre l s, and amongst

the b laze of s i lks and banners and j ewel s shone

the flowers and fo l iage that decorated the ha l l .

At the appointed hour,preceded by her trum

peters , and surrounded by her escort , th e Pr incess


Damayant i entered . And her lovel i ness was

such that,to the a ssembled monarchs

,she seemed

to be surrounded with dazzl ing l igh t . Al l drew

in the ir breath,and remained almost without

s t i rr ing , at the s ight O f such match less beau ty .

One by one th e n ames and ach ievements of each

monarch were proc la imed . The herald s of th e

Princess wou ld chal l enge,and those of each king

in turn wou ld rep ly,and Damayant i s tood l is

ten ing,ready to g ive the s ignal

,when her choice

shou ld be made .

But when the name of Nala was cal led,and

she raised her head and looked up,before

stepp ing to his s ide,what was not the terror of

Damayan t i to find that there,seated s ide by

s ide on different thrones , a l l equa l ly splend id, a l l

equa l ly noble,were no less than five Nalas

,and

she had no means of di st ingu i sh ing h im whom

she would choose ?

The Princess looked and tr i ed to choose . Then

she hesi tated,and stepped back . Then she tr i ed

again,but al l to no purpose . She knew of course

that th is was a tr ick of the gods . Four of these

five were I ndra, Agni , Varuna, and Yama . One

was Nala . But wh ich one ? She tr ied to re

member th e marks of th e ce lest ia l beings,as they

had been to ld to her in her ch i ldhood by old

people . But none of these marks d id she see on

the persons before her,so exact ly had they a l l


reproduced the form of Nala . What must she

do ? At th is supreme moment of her l i fe she

dared not make a mistake .

Pondering deep ly in her own mind,i t sudd enly

occurred to Damayant i that she shou ld appea l

for protect ion to the gods themselves ! I mme

d iately, bowing down unto th em in mind and

speech,and fold ing her hands reverent ly

,she

t remblingly addressedthem“ From that moment

,0 ye Gods

,when I gave

ear to the words of th e wi ld swan,d id I choose

Nala , th e King of the N ishadas , to be my lord .

That I may be true to thi s,l e t th e gods now revea l

h im to me ! I nasmuch as nei th er in thought nor

word have I ever yet wavered in that r eso l ve , oh ,that I may hereafter be true to i t

,l e t the gods n ow

reveal h im to me ! And s ince,ver i ly , i t was the

gods th emse lves who dest i ned the King of th e

N ishadas to be my lord,l et th em now

,that th em

selves may be true to themse lves,revea l h im to

me ! To Nala a lone did I vow to give mysel f.

That I may be true to th i s vow,l et them now

reveal h im to me ! I take refuge in th e mercy o f

the exa l ted Guardians of the Wor lds ! Let them

now resume thei r proper forms,that I may know

my rightfu l l ord

Touched by these p it i fu l words O f Damayant i,

and awed by her fixed reso lve and her pure and

woman ly love , the gods immed iate ly d id what


they could , i n that publ ic place, to gran t h er

prayer, by taking back, without change of form,

their d ivine marks . And straigh tway she saw tha t

they were notso i l ed by dust or sweat . Thei r

gar lands were unfading , their eyes unwinking .

They cast no shadows . Nor did thei r fee t touch

the earth . And Nala stood revea led by h is

shadow and h is fad ing garlands ! th e s tains of

dust and sweat ! his stand ing on th e ground , and

h is human eyes . And no sooner d id Damayanti

thus perceive the di fference between h im and th e

gods,th an she s tepped forward eager ly to fu lfi l

h er tro th . Stooping shy ly , she caught in her left

hand the hem Of Nala ’s garment,and then rais ing

herse l f proudly,

she th rew round h is neck a

wreath of beauti ful flowers. And al l present,

see ing h er thus choose the one human Nala for

her husband,broke out in to sudden exc lamations

,

and the gods themse lves cried,

“ Well done !

Wel l done

And Nala stepped down from his h igh p lace,

and said,

“ Since thou,O blessed one

,has t chosen

me , a morta l , from the midst of th e Immorta ls,know me for a spouse to whom shal l thy every

wish be sacred . Truly do I promise thee,that

as l ong as l i fe las ts I sha l l remain th ine and

th ine a lone !” And so with mutual vows and

homage , they both sought and rece ived the protection of the gods . Then did a l l guests

,roya l


and d ivine , depart ! and the marr iage of Nala

and Damayanti was performed ! and they went ,in great happ iness

,to the city of the N ishadas .

Now as the gods were return ing to th eir ownregions

,they met Ko l i

,the King of Darkness

,and

Dwapara, Sp ir i t of Twi l igh t , coming to the ear th .

And when they asked where they were going,

Ko l i rep l i ed,

“ To Damayant i’s sway amvam. My

heart i s fixed on wedd ing wi th that damse l .

Hearing th is,I ndra smi led

,and answered

,

“ But

her sway amvam i s a l ready ended . I n our s igh t

sh e hath chosen Nala for her husband . To th i s

said Kol i,that vi les t of the cel est ia l s

,i n great

wrath,

“ I f , spurn ing the Immorta ls , Damayan t i

in thei r presence hath wedded with a morta l

then is it meet she should suffer a heavy doom !

But the gods answered , “ Nay , with our sanct ion

was i t that Damayanti chose Nala . And what

damsel i s there who wou ld not have done th e

same ? Great and manly and learned,that t iger

amongst men , that mortal who resembles one of

the Divine Protectors,has t ruthfu lness and for

bearance and knowledge,and puri ty and sel f

control , and perfect t ranqu i l l i ty of sou l . Who

ever , 0 Kol i , wisheth to curse th is Nala, wil l endi n cursing and destroying h imsel f by h is own

act !”

Having spoken thus solemn ly,th e gods

turned , l eaving Kol i and Dwapara, and went to


heaven . But when they had gone , Kol i wh ispered

to Dwapara,“ I must be revenged ! I must be

revenged ! I sha l l possess Nala , and deprive h im

of wife and kingdom . And thou , entering into

the d ice,sha l t h el p me to do th is ! ”

Yet was i t twe lve long years ere Kol i,watching

Nala,cou ld find in his conduct any s lightest flaw

by which he might be ab le to enter in and possess

h im . At last , however , there came an evening

when he performed h is worsh ip without havi ng

completed al l h is ab lut ions . Then,th rough th is

error,Kol i took possess ion of Nala . Also he

appeared before h is brother,Pushkara, tempting

him to cha l lenge Nala to a game of dice . And

Dwapara also , at the same t ime , p laced h imself in

the h ands of Pushkara as the pri ncipa l d i e . Such

was the beginn ing of that terr ibl e gambl i ng that

l asted month after month,and ended by depr iving

Nal a of al l that he had .

Many t imes,i n the course of that p lay

,came

Damayant i and th e c it izens and subj ects of Nala,

and begged h im to desist . But he,maddened by

the indwel l ing Kol i , turned a deaf ear to h isqueen

,and grew only the more i nten t upon th e

dice . Til l sh e,seeing that evi l was about to

come upon them,sen t for th e royal charioteer .

“ O charioteer,

”she said

,

! “ I s eek thy protect ion .

My mind misgiveth me . The King may come to


grie f . Take thou therefore these my ch i ldren ,my son Indrasen and my daughter Indrasena,

and carry th em to my fath er ’s house . And when

thou hast g iven them i nto th e care of my kindred ,do thou even as thou wi lt . And when the royal

counci l lo rs had been con sult ed , th ey found the

bidding of the Queen to be good , and th e ch i ldren

were sent to th e care of Bh ima .

And when th e charioteer had gone,Pushkara

won from Nala h is kingdom and al l e lse that was

l eft to h im . And laugh ing he sa id,

“ 0 King,

what stake hast thou now ? Damayant i a l one

remaineth . Let u s p lay for her !” And Nala

gazed at Pushkara i n anguish,but Spake never

a word .

Then , taking O ff al l h is ornaments , and covered

only with a s ingle garment,l eaving beh ind h im

al l h is wea lth , th e King set outto l eave the city .

But Damayant i , c loth ing hersel f a lso i n one l ong

scarf,fo l lowed after h im through the gates . And

for th ree days and n ights th ey wandered together,

without food and without r est . For Pushkara

had made proclamat ion that any who gave hel p

to Nala should be condemned to death ! so that,part ly for fear of th e sentence

,and part ly l est

they shou ld bring further harm on th e ir king

h imself, none of h is subj ects dared to o ffer them

anyth ing .

At last , on the fourth day , wandering in the


thou shal t find me near th ee, t o soothe thy wear i

ness ! Remember what the phys ic ians say ,‘I n

sorrow is there no physic equal to the wi fe ’

! I s

i t not true,0 Nala

,that wh ich I say unto th ee ?

”

“ O my gent le Damayanti , answered Nala , “ i t

i s even as thou sayes t . Tru ly there is n o friend,

no medicine,equal unto th e wi fe . But I am

notseeking to renounce thee . Why dost thou

tremble so ? I cou ld forsake myse lf,beloved

,but

thee I cou ld not forsake . Wherefore,my t imid

one, shou ldst thou dread th is ?”

But on Damayant i lay th e previs ion of th e

wi fe,and she answered

,

“ I know,0 King , that

thou wouldst not wi l l ingly desert me . Yet

maddened and distracted,many th ings are pos

s ib le . Why dost thou repeated ly poin t ou t to

me the way to my father ’s home ? Or if thou

rea l ly desirest to p lace me with my kindred,

then let us wend together to the country of the

V idarb has . Thou shal t there be rece ived with

honour by the King,and

,respected by al l

,shal t

dwel l happ i ly in our home .” “ Sure ly,

” answered

Nala, “ thy father ’s kingdom is to me even as myown . Yet could I not by any means go th ere at

such a cris is . Once did I appear there in fortune,

bringing glory upon thee . How could I go in

thi s misery , causing thee shame ?

Talking together i n th is fash ion,Damayant i had

contrived to share her own cloth ing with her


husband,and thus wandering s lowly on together,

th ey came to a shed reserved for travel lers . Here

they satdown on the bare earthto rest, and then,worn out with hunger and wear iness and sorrow

,

both,unawares

,fe l l fast a s leep .

But Nala,whose mind was d istraught by Kol i

,

could not rest . As soon as Damayant i s lept, he

woke,and beganto turn over in hi smind al l th e

d isaster h e had brought upon her . Reflect ing on

her devotion,he began to th ink that if on ly he

were not with her,she wou ld sure ly find her way

to her fath er ’s kingdom . And outof th e veryhonour in wh ich he he ld her

,i t was unimaginable

to h im that she shou ld be in danger on th e way .

Thinking thus,th e question occurred to h im

,how

cou ld he cut their common garment without h er

be ing awakened by h is act and with th i s quest ion

in h i s mind,under the influence of Ko l i

,he strode

up and down the shed . At that very moment,he

caught sigh t of a sword lying a s tep or two away,

unsheathed . Se iz ing th is,he cut the vei l i n hal f

,

and then,throwing th e sword away

,he turned and

left Damayanti , i n her s l eep, alone .

Yet aga in and again,h is hear t fa i l ing h im

,did

the King of the N ishadas return to th e hutto lookonce more

,and yet once more, at h is s l eeping wife .

“ Dragged away ,” says th e chron i cler

,“ by Ko l i

,

but drawn back by love,i t seemed as i f th e mind

of th e wretched King were rent in twain,and one


half fought aga in st th e oth er . “ Alas ! a las !” he

lamented ,“ th ere S l eepeth my beloved on th e bare

earth , l ike one for lorn ! Wh at wi l l she do when

she awaketh H ow wil l she wander a lone th rough

th e per i l s of these woods ? May the Sun h imsel f—thou blessed One —and th e Guardian Spir it s ,and the Stars and the Winds

,b e thy protectors ,

thy womanly honour being i ts own best guard 1

And address ing thus h is dear wi fe,peerl ess in

beau ty,Nala s trove to go

,being re ft o f h i s reason

by Ko l i . Til l at las t,stupefied and bereft of h is

senses,Nala forsook h i s s l eep ing wife . I n sorrow

departed he , maddened and d is traught , l eaving

her a lone in that so l i tary forest .

Three years had gone by , and once more Dama

yanti was dwell ing , —but now wi th her ch i ldren byher s ide

,—in her fa th er ’s house . For Bh ima had

sent out messengers in a l l d irect i on s to seek for

her,and by them had she been found and brough t

back to her own peop le . But a lways she wore but

half a vei l,never wou ld sh e use ornaments

,and

ever she waited sorrowful ly for the coming agai n

of h er husband,Nala . For in a l l th i s t ime h e had

never been heard of .

Now it had happened to Nala that on final ly

leaving Damayanti h e saw a migh ty forest-fire,

1 L it. —Adi tyas , Vasus , Ashwins, and Maruts .


ski l led in gambl ing . Offer h im thy services as a

charioteer . Give to h im thy ski l l wi th horses,in

exchange for h is knowledge of dice . When thou

dost unders tand th e dice,thy wife and ch i ldren

wi l l be th ine once more . And final ly , 0 King ,when thou desirest to regai n thy proper form ,

th ink of me and wear th ese garments .”

And

saying these words that lord of Nagas gave unto

Nala two pieces of enchanted cloth ing,and imme

d iately became invi sib le .And Nala made h is way to Ayodhya , and entered

the service of R ituparna the King , receiving grea thonour as the Master of the H orse . And al l thestab les and their attendants were p laced under

h im ! for R ituparna des i red noth ing so much as

that h is s teeds shou ld be fleet .

But n ight after n ight th e fe l low o fficers of

the char i ot eer—who was known in the palaceof Ayodhya as Yab uka—would hear h im alone

,

groan ing and weeping,and l is tening they dis t inctly

heard the words ! “ Alas ! where layeth she now

her head , a-hungered and a-th i rs t,help l ess and

worn with toi l,th inking ever of h im who was

unworthy ? Where dwe l l eth she now ? On whose

bidding doth She wait ? And once,when they

begged h im to te l l them who it was that h e thusl amented

,h e to ld them i n ve i l ed words h i s whol e

s tory .“A certa in person , he said , had a beautifu l

wife , but l itt le sense . The wretch was fa l se . H e


kept not h is promises . Fate came upon h im , and

th ey were separated . Without her,he wandered

ever to and fro oppressed with woe, and now ,

burning with grief,he resteth not by day nor n igh t .

At last h e has found a refuge,but e ach hour that

passes only reminds himof her . When ca lamity

had overtaken th i s man,h is wi fe fo l lowed h im into

the wild woods . He repaid her by deser ting h er

there ! Abandoned by h im,l ost in th e forest

,

fainting with hunger and th irst,ever exposed to

the peri ls of the wilderness , her very l i fe was put

by h im in danger . Yea , my friends , i t was by h im—b y h im that sh e was thus deserted , by h im ,

that

very man,so foo l i sh and i l l- fated , that she was

l eft thus a lone in the great and terribl e forest,

surrounded on every sid e by beas ts of prey,by

h im,by him

With h is mind dwel l ing thus on Damayant i ,did Vahuka th e char ioteer l ive i n the pa lace of

R ituparna. And Damayanti , sh e l te red once more

in her fath er ’s house,had one thought

,and

one only,and that was th e possib i l i ty of recover

ing Nala . Now i t was the custom amongst

the V idarb has to send out Brahmins per iodi ca l ly,

who,bear ing the King ’s orders

,wandered from

townto town and from country to country,te l l ing

stor ie s to the people from the ho ly books,and

giving re l igious i nstruction wherever itwas needed .

I t had indeed been by th e aid of these strol l ing

teachers that Damayant i h erse l f had been dis

covered,when she was acting as l ady-in -waiting

to a foreign princess . Now ,th erefore

,i t was de

cided that she shou ld give th em their d irect ions,

and try by th eir means to trace outher l ong- l osthusband . They came to her th erefore for in

structions, and she gave th em a song wh ich th ey

were to sing in a l l th e assembl i e s that th ey shou ld

cometo in every rea lm .

Wh i ther,bel oved Gambler

,wh i ther artthougone

,

Cut t ing off one hal f my veil,

Abandon ingme,thy devoted wife

,

As leep inthe fores t ?

Ever do I awa i t thee,As thouwouldst des i reme,Wearing butha l f a vei l

,

Enwrapt in sorrow .

Relen t,0 King ! 0 Hero !

Relent and return thee,

To her who weepeth inces san t lyFor thy departure

Cry ing thus , add to the part your own words ,she sa id to the Brahmins

,“ that h is pity be

awakened . Fanned by the wind,th e fire

'

con

sumeth th e forest !”Again

Surely a wife should b e protectedAnd ma in ta ined by her husband .

S trange that, noble as thouart,Thouneglectestboth these dut ies

90 CRADLE TALE S OF H INDUISM

to her , “ 0 Damayant i , seeking Nala, the '

King

of the N ishadas,I came to the c ity of Ayodhya

,

and appeared before R ituparna. But though I

repeatedly sang thy songs,nei ther that King nor

any of h is court ier s answered anyth ing . Then ,when I had been d ismissed by th e monarch , I was

accosted by one of h is servants , Vahuka the

chariote er . And Yab uka is of uncomely looks

and figure,and possessed of very short arms .

But he i s ski l fu l in the management of horses,

and is al so acquainted with the art o f cookery .

“ And th is Yab uka,with many s igh s and some

tears,came up to me and asked about my welfare .

And then he said,She Shou ld not be angry with

one whose garment was carr ied off by birds,when

he was trying to procur e food for both ! The

honour of a woman is its own best guard . Let her

notbe an -angered , against one who is consumed

with grief . Nobl e women are ever fai th fu l,ever

true to the i r own lords , and whether treat ed wel l

or i l l,they wi l l forgive one who has l ost a l l

he loved !’ Hearing th i s

,0 Princess, I h astened

back to te l l thee . D o now what seemeth best

unto thyse l f .

Words cannot describe the joy of Damayant i as

she heard th is news . She knew now where Nala

was, and the task with wh ich h e was en trusted .

I t lay only with her woman ’s wi t to find some

means of bringing him to her father ’s house .

NALA AND DAMAYANTI 9 1

Having pondered long and carefu l ly over th e

matter,sh e went to her mother

,and in her

presence sent for th e same confident ial servant—a kind of chap lain to the roya l househo ldwho had found herse lf and brought her back from

ex i l e to th e c i ty of th e V idarb has . Having h er

moth er’s ful l sanct ion,but keep ing the matter

secret from Bhima,Damayant i turned to th is

Brahmin , Sudeva, and said , “ Go stra ight as a

bird,Sudeva

,t o th e city of Ayodhya and te l l Ri tu

parna the King tha t Bh ima ’s daughter,Damayant i

,

wil l once more ho ld a sway amvam. Kings and

princes from al l parts are coming to i t . Knowing

not whether the hero ic Nal a l ives or not,i t is

decided that she i s again to choose a husband .

To-morrow at sunr ise , say thou , when thou seest

h im,th e ceremony wil l take p lace .” And Sudeva

,

bowing before the Queen -mother and her daughter,

l eft th e royal presence,and proceededto Ayodhya .

When Rituparna heard th e news , he sent immediate ly for Yabuka , th e char ioteer . I f h e de

s i red in one day to reach the ci ty of the Vidarb has,

there was on ly one driver in th e wor ld who

cou ld enable h im to do so.

“ Exert thysel f,O

Vahuka !” he exclaimed . Damayant i

,daughter

of Bhima,holds to -morrow a second sway amvara,

and I desire to reach the c ity th i s very day

Hearing these words Nala fel t as i f h is heart

would break . “ What !” he thought to h imse l f,


“ i s th i s the madness of sorrow ? Or i s i t perhaps

a pun ishment for me ? Ah,cruel is th i s deed

that she wou ld do I t may be th at , urged by my

own fol ly,th e stai n l ess Pr incess cares for me no

longer . Yet I cannot be l ieve that She , my wife ,and the mother of my chi ldren , cou ld poss ib ly

dream of wedding any other . In any case , how

ever,there i s but one thing to be done . By going

there I sha l l do th e wil l of R ituparna , and alsosat is fy myse lf . Having thus reflected

,Yabuka

answered th e King, saying , O monarch , I bowtothy behes t . Thou sha lt reach th e ci ty of th e

Vidarb has i n a s ing le day .

”

Wonderfu l and event fu l was the dr iving of

Yab uka th e char io teer th at day . Never had Ritu

parna , or the servant who attended h im,seen

such ski l l . The servant indeed remembered,as

he watched it,th e fame of Nala . But h e turned

h is eyes upon the driver,and seeing h is want o f

beauty,decided that th is could hardly be he

,even

though he shou ld be disguised and l iving as a

servant,in consequence of misfortune . Every

now and then the chario t would r ise into the sky,and course a long with the fleetness of th e wind .

Like a bird wou ld i t cross r ivers and mounta ins,

woods and lakes . I n a few seconds i t wou ld

speed over as many mi les . And R ituparna knewnothow to express his del igh t i n th e ski l l of h ischar io teer . Words cou ld not speak h is anxiety


strength,the char ioteer mounted once more on

th e chariot,and taking the re ins in h is hands ,

drove swift ly to th e city of the Vidarb has .

As R ituparna, towards even ing , entered th ec ity

,the sound of th e driving of h i s chariot fe l l

on the ears of Damayant i in the palace, and she

remembered , with a thr i l l , th e touch of Nala on a

horse ’s re ins . But , mount ing to one of th e ter

races,she looked out

,and cou ld see on ly one who

drove l ike Nala,but none who had h is face and

form .

“ Ah !” she s ighed,

“ i f h e does not come

to me to-day,t o-morrow I enter the funera l fire |

I can bear n o longer th i s l i fe of sor row !”

The King of Ayodhya meanwh i le,hasten ing to

cal l on Bhima,began to th ink th ere must have

been some mistake . He saw no oth er kings and

princes wi th their chariots . He h eard no word of

any sway amvam. He therefore said that he had

come merely to pay h is respects . This,thought

th e King of th e Vidarb has , was a l itt l e s trange .

A man would not u sual ly come so far a nd in such

hot h aste , in a s ingl e day, merely for a pass ing Vi sit

of courtesy . However, feel ing sure th at the reason

would reveal i tsel f l ater,he proceeded to offer

R ituparna the at tent ions due to h is rank andimportance .

Nala, however, h ad no eyes for anyth ing about

him . Buried in th ought , he gave orders for th e

disposal of the horses,and having seen them du ly


carr ied out,satdown with arms fo lded and head

bent . At the sound of a woman’s voice he l ooked

up . A maid sent from with in the palace was ask

ing h im,i n th e name of Damayant i , why and

for what purpose had he and R ituparna come .“ We came

,

” answered the charioteer bitter ly,

“ because th e King heard that the Princess of

the Vidarb has would for a second t ime ho ld a

sway amvam! “ And who ar t thou ? again

asked the ma iden .

“ Who art thou ? And who

yon servant yonder ? Might e ither of ye by

chance have h eard aught of Nala I t may even be

that thou knowest wh ither King Nala is gone

Nay,nay answered Yab uka . “ That King

i n h is calamity wanders abou t the world,disgu ised

,

and despoi l ed even of h is beauty. Nala ’s self on ly

knoweth Nala,and sh e a lso that i s h is second sel f .

Nala never discovere th h i s secret to any !“ And yet

,

” rep l i ed the maid,

“ we sent a

Brahmin to Ayodhya,and when he sang

‘Ah , bel oved Gambler, wh i ther artthougone,Tak ing wi th thee hal f my vei l ,And leav ingme

,who loved thee,

S leeping inthe woods ?Speak thou, great King,the words I l ong to hear ,For I who amwi thout s tain pan t to hear them

When he sang thus,thou d idst make some rep ly .

Repeat thy words n ow , I beseech thee . My

mi stres s longeth again to hear those words !


At th is Na la ans ivered i n a vo ice half choked“ She ought not to be angry with one whose

garment was carri ed off by birds , when he was

try ing to procure food for both ! The honour

of a woman is i ts own best guard . Let h er not

be angered aga ins t one who i s consumed with

grief. Noble women are ever fai th ful , ever true

to their own lo rds,and

,whether treated wel l o r

i l l,th ey wil l fo rgive one who

'

i s depr ived of every

j oy ! As he ended,th e King cou ld no longer

restra in h imse l f,but burying his head i n h is arms ,

gave way to h is sorrow and the girl,see ing th is ,

sto l e away siiently to te l l a l l t o the Pr incess .News was brought a l so to Damayan t i of the

greatness and power of R ituparna’

s char iot eer .

I t was toldi

her how on coming t o a low doorwayh e wou ld not stoop down

,bu t th e passage i tse l f

wou ld grow higher in h is p resence,that h e might

eas ily enter i t . Vessel s at h is wi l l fi l l ed themselves

with water . He needed not to str ike to obtainfire , for on holding a handfu l o f grass in th e sun ,i t wou ld of i t s own accord burst i nto flame in h is

hand . Hearing these and oth er th ings , Dama

yahti became sure that th e char ioteer Yab uka wasno other than Nala

,her husband . Yet

,that sh e

might put h im to one more test, she sent her

maid , with her two ch i ldren, to wander nearh im . On seeing them

,Nala took th em into h is

arms and embraced them ,with tears . Then

,


left me,and for that on ly, have I come h i th er !

But,Damayant i

,was there ever a true woman

who,l ike th ee

,cou ld choose a second husband ?

At th is moment have th e messengers of thy father

gone outover the who le wor ld , crying , Bhima ’sdaughter wi l l choose again a husband who shal l

be worthy of her .’ For th is i t is that R ituparnai s come h i ther ! ”

Then Damayant i , t rembl ing and affr igh ted,

’

fo lded her hands before Nala , and said , “ O dear

and blessed lord , suspect me notof evi l ! Th iswas but my sch eme to bring thee h ith er . Except

i ng thee,there was non e in th e whol e world who

cou ld drive here quick ly enough . Let the gods

befor e whom I chose th ee , l e t th e sun and the

moon and th e air , t e l l th ee tru ly that every

though t of mine has been for thee ! And a t

th e words , flowers fe l l from the sky , and a vo ice

sa id,

“ Ver i ly Damayan t i i s fu l l o f fa ith and

honour ! Damayanti is without sta i n !

Then was the h eart of Nala at peace wi th in

h im . And he remembered h is change of form,

and drawing forth th e enchanted garments,he

put them on , keep ing h is mind fixed on th e

great Naga . And when Damayant i saw Nala

again i n h is own form , she made salutat ion to

h im as her husband , and began to weep . Then

were th ei r ch i ld ren brough t to them,and th e

Queen-mother gave her bl ess ing, and hour after


hour passed in recount ing the sorrows of th e ir

separat i on .

The next day were Nala and Damayant i

rece ived together in roya l audience by Bh ima .

And in due t ime , Ko l i being now gone out from

h im, Nala made h is way to h i s own kingdom of

the N ishadas and recovered h i s throne,and then

,

retur n ing for h is queen,Damayant i

,and the ir

ch i ld ren , he took them al l back to th eir own

home,and th ey l ived th ere happ i ly togeth er ever

after .

AS Mary the Madonna t o the women of Chri s tendom , so i sS i ta

, Queen of Ayodhya , t o them of H indui sm . Hers i sindeed a rea lm beyond the aspi rat i on of merely earth lysoverei gns . For she i s the i dea l of womanhood i t sel f, and she

wields undi sputed sway, in mi ll i on s of heart s, over the k ingdoms of love and sorrow

,and s ta in les s woman ly honour and

pride. Though beaut i ful and a !ueen, she never Chose ease.

To herthe s imple l ives of sain t s and scholars were morejoyousthan allthe luxuries of courts . She knew every mood ofthefores ts

, join ing in thei r p ra i se inthe early morn ing, when bi rdswake and blossoms open andthe dew i s fresh ! and bowing hersoul wi th thei rs inthe even ing adorat i on. She shared a th rone,yetnever forgot that fo r thei r peop le’s good , and notfor thei rown pleasure, do soverei gns reign . She knew the h ighes thuman happines s

, and was notbl inded by happiness . She

knewthe deepest and bi t teres t sorrow,and l ived serene amids t

her sorrow. Such was S i ta, Queen of Ayodhya, crowned of

love, vei led in sorrow, and peerles s amongst women.

The City of Ayodhya

TO th e north of Benares,between the H imalayas

and th e Ganges,stretches the country now known

as Oudh , whose name long ago was Kosala . I n

th e who le wor ld,perhaps , can be few other lands ,

so beaut ifu l as was th is , for itabounded in cornand in catt l e and in forests

,and al l i t s peopl e

were prosperous and in peace . Kosala had great

r ivers,and fair p laces of p ilgr image

,and noble

cit i es,many and great . And she was surrounded

on every hand by strong k ings and powerfu l

kingdoms . Yet was she th e j ewe l amongs t those

kingdoms,and th e centre of th e c i rc le . And

,

l ike a queen amongst c it i es,wal led and moated

h

adorned wi th towers and state ly bu i ld ings, and

with numberl ess banners and flags and standards,

stood Ayodhya,the capi ta l of Kosala..And she

was wonderfu l to behold . Thronged by the k ings

of ne ighbouring kingdoms was she, coming to her

to pay their t ribute ! frequented by the merch ants

and craftsmen of many lands fu l l of palaces and

parks , and gafdens and orchards . And Ayodhya

was famous,both for her wealth and for her

l earn ing . She abounded in r ice and in j ewel s,

1 0 3

1 0 4 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM

and th e waters of her we l l s and streams were

sweet as the j u ice of sugar-cane . And her streets

were thronged with heroes,and her C l o i sters with

scho lars and with saints . Her roads , moreover ,were broad

,and kep t constant ly watered , and

strewn with flowers . Veri ly , l ike unto the sove

reign city of I ndra ’s heaven,was the c ity of

Ayodhya,i n th e l and of Kosala.

Beaut i fu l and beloved as sh e was, however, of

her c i t izen s and ch i ldren,Ayodhya had yetone

th ingswh ich they prized above a l l o thers . Th is

was the memory of how once upon a time’she

had been ru led by a divine king . For th e story

went that’long ages ago,there had saton her

throne one Rama,who was the Lord H imse l f. I t

was said that!Vishnu

,being des irous of showing

unto men’whatan ideal king should be

,bodi ed

H imsel f i n th is form,and Lakshmi

,th e d ivine

spouse , dwel l ing from a l l etern i ty in the heart

of God,took shape as Si ta , th e consort of Rama ,

and for one short generat ion of mortal s,perfect

manhood and womanhood were seen on earth,

i n th ese two royal l ives .

The ways of fate are mysteri ous,and the l ives

of men and gods how strangely d ifferent ! Sure ly

for th i s i t was that these sovere ign careers were

Wetnever for one momen t didSi ta or Rama fai l to remember that

,th e wel l -being

of th e ir peopl e is th e h ighes t good of monarchs .

so fu l l o f sorrow .

1 0 6 CRADLE TALES OF H INDUISM

prowess,became the j oy of the whole peopl e .

Making the ir p l easure and wel fare h is sol e obj ect ,he admin istered th e affairs o f the c i ty heedfu l ly .

And bend ing h is wise mindto h i s young wife,Si ta

,

and d ed icat ing to her h is whole heart al so,Rama

passed long hours of de l igh t in h er sweet company. She charmed h im,

say th e old records ,as much by her loveliness

,as by her d ign i ty and

nobleness,and st i l l more by h er goodness th an

by her lovel iness . And She in her turn,by her

perfect sympathy and grac iousness,was able to

enter into every though t and feel i ng of Rama,so

that th e bond of h er wifehood was one of j oy as

wel l as duty . And those who saw Si ta and Rama

togeth er,fe l t them to be in t ruth one Soul , and

i nseparabl e,even as Vishnu

,th e Divine Lord

,can

not be separated ih the thoughts of men from

Sree , the d ivine grace .

Now seeing h i s son Rama so fu l l of vir tu es and

accomplishments,ther e arose a desi re in th e heart

of the old King D asarathayto h ave h im made king

before he h imsel f should d ie . And being much

troubled by certain inausp ic ious omens,ob served

by the roya l astro logers—omens wh ich were apt toportend trouble

,and even to bring about the dea ths

of k ings—he fel t that the . coronation would bewel l made with out de l y . Therefore he ca l led to

h is presence a royal counci l,and when th e nob l es

and min isters were al l as sembled,he to ld them

THE CITY OF AYODHYA 1 0 7

h i s who le mind,and asked advice . “ I t may be ,

said he gently,ending his statement and appeal ,

“ that my longing desi re,and also my wear iness,

obscure my j udgment . Wel l do I knowthat,from

the vo ice s of many in conference is t ruth broughtfo rth .

”As th e King Ceased speak ing, there arose

the sound of a restrai ned resonance , as of many

talking softly together . The nobles and the

Brahmins,th e min isters and great cit izens , d is

cussed quiet ly amongst themse lves the new pro

posa l . At last,having come to a common

deci s ion,th ey appointed the i r own spokesman

,

and announced to D asaratha,the ir sympathy and

agreemen t wi th al l h is wishes ! And when the

whole assembly , at th e end of th is address,

raised their c lasped hands to thei r heads l ike so

many lotuses,i n token of the ir acquiescence

,th e

King fe l t an inexpress ibl e rel ief and joy . He

sent messengers for Rama,summoning h im to

appear before the council,and these

,rece iving

homage from him,acquain ted h im with h is in

tent io n of insta l l i ng h im on th e morrow,as

h is immediate successor . Then,having aga in

rece ived th e homage of'

h i s son,D asaratha

dism issed the assembly,and began to make pre

parations for th e forth coming ceremony .

Scarce ly had th e counsel l ors and officer s of

the household disperse'

d , when the King , ret iring

to h is own apartments,sent once more for h i s

1 0 8 CRADLE TALES OF H INDUISM

son,and talked with h im long and quiet ly re

garding h is own wishes,th e ceremony of th e

morrow,and the poss ib i l i t ies of h is future po l icy .

Reminding h im,at last

,of the necess i ty that both

Si ta and h imsel f should pass the n ight in prayers

and auster ity,D asaratha dism i ssed h im

,and Rama

sough t the presence and bl ess ings of h i s mother,

Kausalya, before return ing final ly to h is own

palace . There he was fo l l owed a lmost imme

d iately by the priest of th e roya l fami ly , withminute instructi ons for th e evening Observances

,

and the hours that remained were spen t accordingly .

Now the news of th e in sta l lat io n had gone

out through al l Ayodhya . The stree ts and

thorough fares were th ronged with excited peop le .

E very house was decorated with raised flagstaffsand flying pennons . The terraces and verandahs

o f the c ity were fi l l ed with groups of watchers .

Garlands and incense and great branch ing lamp

stands had been brought ou t for th e adorn ing

of the roadways . E ven fro l ic some lads,playing

about the ci ty , kn ew on ly one th eme , and stopped

thei r games to ta lk eager ly together of the anoint

ing of th e pr ince that wou ld take p lace on the

morrow.

Yet amidst al l th is j oy,th e heart of D asaratha

the King was fi l l ed with a s trange unrest . He

could notforge t that h is dreams of the n igh tbefore had been i l l -starred . And h e had a

I I o CRADLE TALES OF H INDUISM

On first h ear ing i t,the young Queen was fi l led

with del igh t,and tossed a cost ly and beaut i fu l

j ewel to her handmaid,i n token of her p l easure .

But th e woman knew how to poi son th e mind

of her mistress,and an hour or two later , when

D asaratha came to cal l on Kekai, i n ord er toacquain t h is youngest wi fe in person with h is

p lans regarding Rama,th e servants to ld h im

,

to h is cons ternat ion,that i f h e wou ld find her

,

he must fo l l ow her to th e anger-chamber .

There,i n truth

,lay the King’s w ife—even

,i f

th e truth were known,h is favour ite wife—on

the bare floor,l ike a fal l en ange l

,having cas t

away her gar lands and ornamen ts . C l ad i n

garments th at were not fresh,her countenance

clouded wi th the gloom of wrath,she l ooked l ike

a sky enveloped in darkness, with th e stars h idden .

Like unto th e moon ris i ng in a sky covered

with fleecy white cl ouds , so d id D asaratha enterinto th e mans ion of Kekai. Like a great elephant

i n th e midst of a forest,d id he seek her out

,i n

the anger-chamber,and

,gent ly carressing her brow

and hair,ask what h e could do to comfort her .

Again and again d id h e promise that noth ing sh e

could ask would be i n va i n .

At th is Kekai rose,and ca l led upon sun and

moon , n ight and day , th e sky, th e p lanets, and

the earth , to witn ess to the King ’ s words . And

having done so, she reminded h im of how she


had once nursed h im back to l i fe,i n h is camp,

in time of war,and how he had then promised

her two boons , which i t wou ld l i e with her toname . To -day

,at l ast , she would c la im these

boons . She desired that her husband shou ld

banish Rama to the forests,sentencing h im to

l ive for fourteen years the l ife of a h ermit . And

she des ired furth er that her own son Bharata

Shou ld be insta l led and crowned in h is stead as

he ir-apparen t .

At first th e King i ndignant ly refused Kekai’s

absurd requests . Then,compar ing her habi tua l

sweetness and nobi l i ty with her present extra

ordinary conduct , he wondered if she had sudden ly

become in sane . Fina l ly,he pleaded and remon

strafed,s tr iving to make her withdraw her re

quest . The affect ion he had h i therto fe l t for

th i s youngest and most charming of h is three

queens began now to seem to h im l ike a d is loyal ty

to Rama ’s mother . He wondered if h e had

caused her pain and lonel iness . He saw h is

who le l i fe as an error,and he prayed for

mercy .

But Kekai, i n her present strange and crue l

mood , was i nflexible . She spoke on ly to remind

th e King of the he inousness of a broken promise .Again and agai n she ins isted that th e word had

been given,and it must be kept . And in the

morn ing i t was she who sent messengers to

1 1 2 CRADLE!

TALES OE HINDUISM

summon Rama to an ear ly aud ience of h i s father,

to be given in her presence . I t was she al so,

stand ing beh ind th e seat of the affl icted monarch,

who fixed p ierc ing eyes on th e kneel ing prince,

and asked wheth er h e had strength to fu lfi l a

vow taken by h is fath er .

Rama answered in surpr ise, that for D asaratha,

h is father and h is king, h e wou ld leap into th e

fi re,or swal low dead ly poi son . And when h i s

mind was thus p repared , amidst th e groans and

s igh s of h er husband,She commanded th e prince

that d ay to l eave th e k ingdom , and withdraw to

the fores t for fourteen years,th ere to l ive the

l i fe of the most pronounced ascet ic,wh i le her

own son Bharata would ascend th e th rone and

reign in h is stead .

Nota shadow passed over th e face of Rama

as he l i stened to th i s demand . Nor did th ose

outs ide the palace,who saw h im a few minutes

later , p'

erce ive in h im the s l ightest S ign of menta l

trouble . Fu lly agreeing wi th Kekai that the King ’sword must at a l l costs be kept

,touch ing h is

father ’s feet with h i s h ead,and seeking i n vain

t o offer h im consolat ion,he cheerfu l ly gave the

pledge h is stepmother requ ired,and turned away

,

as happi ly as h e had come,to make prep arat ions

for th e day’

s departure .

He had recogn ised i n h is own m ind,th e

moment he heard the words of th e young Queen ,


But Rama,whose mind d id not waver “ for a

moment,soothed and calmed a l l Opposi t ion , and

made it understood that h is decis ion was fina l .

The King ’s word must be made good .

Sita,i n the inner apartments of her own pa lace ,

had spent many hours in the morn ing worsh ip ,and stood now

,wait ing fo r the return of her

husband . She hal f-expected h im to re tu rn to her,duly insta l l ed and ano inted

,covered with the

whi te umbrel la of state,and surrounded by in

numerab le attendants . I nstead of th is, he entered

her presence with a look of hes it at ion,showing

signs,with regard to her , of uncontro l l abl e emotion .

Reluctantly h e told her th at th i s meet i ng was thei r

farewel l . He must wend h is way to th e fores t ,and l ive for fourteen years in ban ishment .

Tears had sprung to th e eye s of the pr incess at

the thought that they must be parted , but when

she heard th e reason , She recovered al l her gaiety.

Life iii th e forest h ad no terrors for h er the l oss

of a throne occas ioned her no regret i f o n ly she

might fo l low her husband,and share h i s l i fe and

i ts h ardsh ips with h im . And so at l ast i t was

arranged . Rama , Si t a , Lakshmana, presentedthemselves before D asaratha i n fu l l court

,and

there do ing homage and s aying farewel l,th ey

received from the h ands of Kek ai the dress of

ascet ics , and setout immediate ly for th e l i fe of

exi l e in the forest,


And it came to p ass th at some days later , when

Bharata,th e son of Kekai, returned to Ayodhya ,

he found th at h is father,D asaratha, had d ied of

grief. And when he discovered why and by whom

th is h ad been caused,he fel l upon the hump

backed serving-woman,and in h i s wrath

,al though

she was a woman,h ad almost S la in her

,t i l l she

,

i n her desp air,took refuge in the name of Rama ,

and was sp ared . And when they to ld th e young

prin ce th at the k ingdom was h is,he could hardly

speak for wrath and shame . For in th e eyes o f

Bharata ther e was none so beloved as h i s e lder

brother Rama . Likewise to h im was h is a l legiance

sacred,for h e regarded Rama as h i s King .

Bharata,therefore

,withdrew fiom Ayodhya

l eaving th e sandals of Rama on the throne o f th e

King,under the shadow of th e royal umbrel la

and stat ioned h imself at Nandigrama, to ru l e th ekingdom in h is brother ’s name . Thus Kekai had

not even th e s atis fact ion of acting as th e mother

of the sovereign,for by Bharata ’s own ord ers a l l

men continued to regard Rama as th e monarch,

and Kausalya h is mother as the Queen -mother .

The Capture of Sita

HOW de l igh tfu l to Si ta,Rama

,and Lakshmana

were th e years of the ir fores t-exi le ! Wherever

they went they were welcomed by companies of

hermits,and admi tted to th e forest ways of l i fe .

Thus they were quickly establ ished i n huts made

of l eaves,and carpeted with the sacred grass

,l ike

other ascet ics . Qu ick ly , too , had they arranged

the ir accessor ies of worsh ip,and gath er ed togeth er

their smal l s tor es of necessa r ies . And without

loss of t ime Si ta fe l l into the habit of cooking for

h er h usband and brother , l ike any peasant-woman ,and serving them with h er own fai r hands . Now

and then it wou ld h appen,during th eir first years

i n the forest,that they came upon some great

saint,who wou ld recogn i se Rama at the fi rst

glance as the Lord H imsel f . But more often

they met with ascet ics of a commoner mou ld,

who understood th e persona l prowess of th e royal

brothers,and begged them

,with fo lded hands

,to

r id the forests of th e demons and br igands who

were apt to make the l i fe of th e ashramas one ofdanger .

So Rama and Lakshmana, armed with royal


morn ing,fa l l en upon Si ta , for She, who was

usual ly so merci fu l to al l l iving th ings—pl eadingfor the ir l ives with her husband and h is brother

was now al l eagerness that th is d eer sh ould

be caught . She foresaw long years in Ayodhya ,when she would keep i t as a pa lace pet . And

when at l ast i t should d ie,i ts Skin sh ou ld be used

,

by Rama or herse l f,as the seat of worsh ip .

Shamefaced ly,and i n a wh i sper

,she cal l ed her

husband and broth er-in - l aw to see th e l i tt l e crea

ture and hear her wishes . Lakshmana was by no

means taken by the an imal . He suspected some

magic spel l,and warned both Si ta and Rama

to be on the i r guard . But these susp ic ion s

seemed groundl ess Si ta ’s longing to posses s the

deer cont inued ! and Rama was so des i rous o f

giving her pl easure that,withou t lo ss of t ime

,he

att ired h imse l f fo r th e chase,and seiz ing h is

weapon s,and commending h is wi fe to h i s bro ther ’s

care,sa l l ied forth .

The deer had a cur ious way of l eading h im near

enough to take aim,and th en vanish ing , on ly to

reappear i n some unexpected direc tion . This it

d id t ime after t ime,an d Rama was l ed far afie ld

i n pursui t . The sun had a lready passed noon,

and the Shadows were beginn ing to grow long ,when

,at last

,the hunter succeeded

,and an arrow

was lodged in the heart of the quarry . Then th e

form of th e deer d ropped away , and outof i t rose

THE CAPTURE OF SITA 1 1 9

the fiend-wizard Maricha , who excla imed loudlythree t imes in Rama ’s own voice,

“ 0 Si ta ! O

Lakshmana and van ished .

Far away in thei r d is tan t cottage Si ta heard

these cries of Rama,and sh ivered with terror

,for

she knew not what migh t have happened to her

lord . She turned , therefore, and entreated Laksh

mana to leave her and go and seek for Rama . Al l

through the hours of that terr ib le day,she h ad

dimly fe l t th at evi l was drawing nearer and nearer

to them al l,yet no t so d ist i nc t ly cou ld She foresee

i ts nature as to be ab l e to ward i t off . Now,

however,al l these fears and vague present iments

were concentrated i n her anxiety about h er h us

band ’s fate . Lakshmana,too, had not been with

out forebodings,but these made h im extremely

averse to l e aving Si ta a lone . He could not

imagine Rama at a l oss and requ iring h is ass ist

ance,but he fe l t grave ly respons ib l e for the s afety

of th e young wife . So keen,however

,grew the

trouble of Si ta , and so ins istent was her urging,

that at last there was noth ing for i t bu t to go . So,

warn ing h er nott o l e ave the she lte r of th e cottageduring h i s absence

,Lakshmana went forth to seek

for Rama .

Scarce ly had b e gone , when a holy man ap

peared at the door , asking a lms . Dreading to

be uncharitab l e,Si ta turned to speak with h im

and offer h im th e usual hosp ita l ity . She fe l t i l l


at ease,however . She cou ld not forget that

sh e was a lone . And above a l l,she l i t t le l iked

the looks that th e mendican t cast at h er from

time to t ime . Trying to concea l her agitation ,

‘

she

l ooked out in th e d irection whence she migh t

expect to see Rama return from h i s hunting , to

gether with Lakshmana . But on al l s ides she

beh e ld on ly the ye l low fores t- l ands . Neither

Rama nor Lakshmana was i n s igh t .Soon she discovered that th e Brahmin who

stood before her was no t what h e seemed . The

rags and matted locks of a holy man were only

a d isgu ise adopted by Ravana,th e ten -headed

Demon-King,who had come

,i n the hope of

carrying her away . Horrified at the di lemma

in wh ich she had so r ash ly p laced herse l f,th e

courage of Sita, and her confidence in her hus

band,never wavered for an instant . She warned

the Demon-King that h e migh t more safe ly o ffer

vi olence to th e wife of I ndra h imsel f,th e Wie lder

of the Thunderbol t,th an to h er

,th e wi fe of

Rama . For an insu l t done to her,none

,sh e

said,sh ou ld escape death

,notthough he drank

th e nectar of immorta l i ty .

At these words,Ravana sudden ly assumed h is

proper form,vast

,and having ten h eads and

twenty arms . Having done th i s,b e se ized Sit a

by force,and rose

,carrying her

,i nto the sky.

Weeping as She went,Si ta cr i ed aloud

,charg ing


But the daughter of janneka, being borne through

th e a ir by Ravana , l ooked l ike l igh tning, shin ing

against dark c louds . Like stars dropping from th e

sky, because thei r meri t is exhausted , so did h er

go lden ornaments begin to fal l to the earth . And

the anklets flash ed as they dropped,l ike th e circl ing

l ightn ing . And her chains shone , even as th e

Ganges throwing her se l f from heaven . And

showers of b lo ssoms fe l l from her head to th e

earth,and were drawn up again by th e wh ir lwind

of Ravana ’s swift passage,so that th ey studded

the Space about h im as he went,in a r ing

,and

looked l ike rows of burn ing stars,sh in ing about

a sombre mountain .

And the trees,waving their branches in the

ag itat ion of th i s fl ight,strove to wh isp er

,

“ Fear

not Fear not ! And the mountains with th ei r

waterfal l s and the ir summits towering upwards

l ike upl i fted arms,seemed to lament for Si ta .

And the lotuses faded i n the poo l s,and the fi sh

became troubled , and al l the creatures of the fores t

trembled,for wrath and fear . And the wind

wai l ed,and the darkness deepened

,and th e wor ld

wept,wh i l e Si ta was borne away by Ravana to

h is is land-kingdom of Lanka in th e south .

But she,as she went

,see ing five great monkeys

seated on th e top of a h i l l,conce ived a sudden

hope that by their means she migh t send news to

Rama , and flung down amongst them,unseen by

THE CAPTURE OF SITA 1 23

Ravana,certa in ornaments , and also h er yel l ow

vei l .

And Rama,wending h is way homeward through

the distan t forest,after th e slay ing of th e deer,

noti ced that the j ackal s were howl ing beh ind h im,

and had not a doubt that some i l l had befal len

h im . A moment later h e met Lakshmana, andknew Si ta to be a lone .

But when the two heroes,shaken with anx i ety,

reached their cottage,and found that She had

van ished , the anguish of Rama was imposs ibl e to

descr ibe . At first,hoping against hope , he re

fused to bel ieve that she was lost . But when

at last th ere was no conce ivab le h id ing-p lace

that had not been searched and found empty,

when the si l ent forest had fai l ed to answer h is

despairing questions,when every cal l had been

echoed back from the deso l ate wi lderness, th en

Rama came to th e conclusion tha t Si ta had been

devoured by demons, and with the bi tterest sel f

reproaches , he fel l i n to a stupor of gri ef .

The Con! uestof Lanka

NOW when the morn ing had come , and Rama

and Lak shmana, ranging the forests, had foundsome of th e flowers and j ewel s of Sita , i t appeared

as if Rama,cal l ing up h is d ivine energy, would

annih i late th e world . Fi l l ed with rage,gird ing

himself t ight with bark and deerskin , h is eyes

red with anger and h is matted hair pu l led up

short,he s tood i n th e forest

,shorten ing h is bow

and taking ou t flaming arrows wi th wh ich to

shoot,even as Siva

,th e Destroyer

,i n the act to

destroy . But Lakshmana,overcome with p ity

for a sorrow that cou ld so move h is broth er to

a wrath never shown befo re,sooth ed h im

,and

spoke to h im words of pat ience and encourage

ment . Let h im firs t try caut ion and energy . Let

h im strive for th e recovery of Si ta . On l y i f h e

should fa i l i n th is,would th ere be need

,with h is

arrows of ce lest ial go ld,flaming l ike the thunder

bol t of I ndra , to seth imsel f to uproot the worldfrom its foundat ions , scat teri ng its fragments

amongst dead stars .

Being thus ca lmed,and fo l lowing the marks

of conflict,—drops of gore

,j ewel l ed arrows

,and


king and h is guests,and al l satdown and entered

together i nto consu ltat ion . But first th e grea t

monkey,Hanuman

,son of th e Wind God

, pro

duced a fire by means of two p ieces of wood .

Then,worsh ipp ing th e flame with flowers

,h e

p laced it carefu l ly between Rama and Sugriva,

and they went round i t together,and so were

fastened in fr iendsh ip . And it i s said that at

that moment,i n her di stant prison

,th e l eft eye

o f Si ta th robbed for j oy at that al l iance between

her lord and the monkey-ch ief.

I t was agreed between th e two sovere igns

Sugriva and Rama—that th e King of Kosala

should firs t s lay Val i, th e enemy of the monkeys ,and restore h is own wi fe to Sugriva . This

having bee n done,Sugriva, on hi s s ide , would

undertake to d iscover the h id ing—p lace of Si ta,

and to furn ish troops fo r th e conquest of Ravana

and the des truct ion of h is s trongho lds . Th is

expedi t ion cou ld not,itwas determ ined

,be

undertaken in the rainy season,butimmediate ly

on th e se tt ing in of au tumn,i t shou ld be carr ied

out without fa i l .

Scrupulous ly d id th e two human al l ies fulfi l

their share of th i s trea ty . With in a few days

Sugriva’

s enemy was s l ain,and h is wife restored

to h im . But alas,for th e i nstab i l i ty of the

monkey -nature ! He became straightway immersed i n wood land fro l ics

,and Rama saw th e

THE CONQUEST OF LANKA 1 27

precious days and weeks s l ipping away from h im ,

whi le,as far as h e cou ld see

,no preparat ions

whatever were being made . Th is,i t must be

said,was not l i tera l ly true ! for Hanuman , th e

monkey general and counc il lor , had already

remonstrated with h is sovereign regarding th is

unseemly delay,

and had been despatched by

Sugriva to co l l ect an army . So when Lakshmanaat last went

,with manly d irectness

,to prot es t

against perfidy and want of faith , the ir a l ly was

ab le to point to th e gather ings of hundreds of

thousands whom he cou ld see about h im ,and

to assure h im that in many other parts of th e

forests formidable monkeys and bears would be

found stat ioned,each with another army in h is

keeping,waiting to rece ive their marching orders .

5 The first po in t was to find out the whereabouts

of Si ta , and for th is purpose Sugriva d ivided th e

hosts of monkeys,order ing some to search in the

north -eas t, others in the north-west , and sti l l o th ers

again i n the distant south . H is own rel iance,

however , was p laced main ly on the prowess and

energy of the great Hanuman,who was going

with th e south ern army ! and when h e sa id so

to Rama , the King gave th is emissary a r ing

engraved with h i s own name,to be a token to

Si ta,shou ld h e find her

,of whence h e came .

But many weeks of unavai l ing search went

by before Hanuman , Son of the Winds , swel l ing


himself to a vast s ize,and concentrating a l l the

energy of h is m ind , l eapt at one bound across

the sea , and landed i n Lanka , th e i s land-kingdom

of Ravana . Having done so,the powerfu l

monkey paused . H igh on a mountai n -tO p beforeh im

,gleaming i n inconceivable love l iness of l evel

t erraces and soar ing spi re s,he saw the famous

city of Lanka ! and he took counse l with h imsel f

as to the means b v which he migh t enter h er .

Final ly h e determ ined to wai t for sunset , andwhen that hour came

,he reduced h imse l f to the

s ize of a cat,and so entered th e c ity .

Itwas,i n t ru th , l ike some dwelling~

place of

the gods . I ts many- stori ed bu i ld ings and fret ted

screens were studded with crysta l . Grea t arch

ways and Spl end id gates l en t i t th e ir grandeur

i n a l l d irect ions . I t s streets and roadways were

broad and wel l-cared for . Magnificent were i ts

towers of victory . Beaut ifu l were its lantern

p i l l ars . I t s houses were l ike palaces,and i ts

tombs l ike dain ty marble canop ie s . Wonderful,

veri ly,was th is Lanka

,famous throughout th e

world,ru led over by the might of Ravana

,and

vigi l ant ly guarded by n igh t- rangers of terr ibl e

strength . Oppressed by th e though t of th is

glory,th e sp ir i t o f Hanuman became sunk in

g loom ! when suddenly, as if on purpose to

comfort h im,th e ful l moon arose in a l l h er

sp l endour with the stars . And the great monkey

I 30 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM

were more bearab le than the c lose wal ls of the

palace,with it s luxuries , had been . She was too

deep ly wrapped in sorrow to not ice the faces or

the treatment of her women guards . She had

not even tasted food wh i l e in capt ivity For

on the firs t n igh t of h er impr isonment the God

I ndra,cast ing the peop le of L anka into an en

chan ted s l eep,had appeared before h er

,bringing

ih h is hands th e food and drink of Heaven, which

take away from mortals a l l hunger and th irst .

And when th e Queen was afraid to touch h is gifts ,l est he shou ld prove in truth to be some other ,wear ing th e guise of th e King o f H eaven

,he

shone forth before h er for a moment with h is

d ivine at tr ibutes,and then she ate and drank

fearl ess ly from h is hands of the food of th e

Immorta ls . Thus had sh e l ived in her garden

prison dur ing th e weary weeks and months of

her separat ion from Rama , and h ere , as th e dawn

approached , did Hanuman find her,feel i ng sure

that h is ques t was ended .

Seated beneath a tree beside the r iver was a

woman weeping . Pal e and worn she was,and

c lad In threadbare si lken garments of worsh ip .

But th e bent head had about i t someth ing queen ly,

and the vei l was worn with a grace unknown toth e demon-women of Lanka . The monkey could

see, moreover, that th is woman before h im was

fa ir of t int, and very beaut i fu l . H er air,with al l

THE CONQUEST OF LANKA I 3 1

i ts grandeur,had also in i t someth ing that was

dain ty and gent l e . He held h is breath,for he

cou ld hard ly doubt that th i s was that Si ta whom

he sought , th e captive wife of Rama . As h e

waited and watched,however , qu iver ing with the

exc i tement of h is d i scovery,whom shou ld he see

ente r the garden but the great ten-headed Ravana

h imse lf ! Bowing low before the pr i soner, the

Demon -King took a seat at s ome distance from

her,on th e grassy bank

,turn ing h imse l f to face

her,and the monkey bent h i s ear to a leve l with

the branch on wh ich he sat,th e better to hear

each syl l ab le th at might pass .

At the approach of Ravana the pal e Queen had

grown st i l l more pal e,and Hanuman could see

that she was trembl ing with fear,l ike a green

pl ant in the wind . But when her vis i tant began

to Speak,a red spot burn t on her ch eeks and a

l ight in her eyes,and she ra i sed her head haughti ly

,

as i f i t cou ld hardly be to her that h e presumed to

address h imsel f. To most of what h e said,she

l istened as i f she scarcely heard . Once,i ndeed

,

her captor waited , as i f expect ing some rep ly .

But she answered on ly,

“ I have warned you

already, 0 Demon-King ! th at the deeds you

have done , and th e words you now Speak,wil l

be punished with death . On ly one who des ired

to mock th e gods,and bring ruin upon him

se lf,cou ld act as you have the dar ing to do .

”


Then aga in she sat , l ook ing before h er into space ,as if she ne ither saw nor heard .

When Ravana at las t l eft th e garden,in rage

and disgust,he sent back i nto i t th e demon -guards

,

and th ey encirc l ed the beau tifu l Sita,tormenting

her And she,finding h erse lf in th e midst o f

them,l ike a fawn enci rc led by wolves

,burs t i nto

tears,and sobbed to herse l f

,with broken words

of sorrow and endearment,for th e loss of Rama .

At this th e demon-women drew back somewhat,

finding l it tl e amusement in thei r sorrowfu l p risoner.

But though th is was th e very opportu ni ty that

Hanuman had waited for, yet he was afra id to

address th e Queen sudden ly , l est she shou ld be

star t l ed and cal l her guards . To avoid th is,

th erefore,he began to run abou t

,talk ing to h im

self about Rama , i n order to attract h er atten t ion .

At l ast h is mistress looked up .“ Oh

,dear

Brother of th e Woods,she s a id

,

“ do you a l so

know the be loved name“ Madam

,answered the monkey very quiet ly

,

I th i nk that you are she whom I was sent to

find . I f so , te l l me what i s your state h ere .”

“ I am Si ta,answered th e capt ive , i n a low,

subdued voi ce,

“ daugh t er of Janneka of Mithila,and wi fe of th e son of D asaratha. And I am

imprisoned here,under sentence of execut ion .

Two moons hence,I am condemned to d ie .”

Then Hanuman hastened to te l l her a l l h e


the twofold token of th e ta l isman and the memory ,She knew that h er p lace of impr isonment wou ld

stand accredited .

“ Lady,said the monkey

,as he put h i s co ld

nose down on the earth to salute her,before

leaving the garden,

“ how eas i ly cou ld I carry

you home to Rama on my back ! I am larger

and stro nger than you th ink . The matte r to me

wou ld be a smal l one !”

The Queen had drawn herse l f back as he spoke ,and a change had come over her face

,as though

she remembered that other wi ld fl igh t th rough

the evening shadows,when Ravana

,l ike some

gigantic bi rd of prey , had carr ied her through

the skies to Lanka .

“ Oh no !” she said, half

hesitat ing,lest she shou ld hurt her servant

,yet

whol ly firm,

“ I cou ld not l et any one take me

home except my husband h imse lf !”

“ And that is wel l sa id Hanuman,feel ing deep

sat isfac t ion wi th in h imse lf a t h er reply .

“ For I

th ink th at my master a lso wou ld desi re for h im

se l f th e honour of l iberat ing you . I t wi l l n ot be

l ong t i l l h e reaches you,and th en you wi l l be

royal ly avenged . But now I fee l my wi ld monkey

nature hot wi th in me,and I have i t in mind to do

Ravana some misch i ef ere I l eave th is p lace .”

A whisk of h is ta i l,and another sa lutat ion

,and

he was gone , l eaving th e capt ive l one ly indeed ,but fu l l of hope . Next day she remembered h is

THE CONQUEST OF LANKA 1 35

parting words wi th secret smi les—fo r news wasbrought to her that in the orchards of th e demons

al l th e young fru i t had been destroyed in a s ingl e

n igh t , by a terr ib le monkey , who had s la in numb erless guards

,and had been seen a t one bound

to leap across th e sea .

Rama,meanwh il e

,h ad ranged h is army in

O rder , and tested h is command . When Hanu

man,therefore

,returned with h is welcome news

,

h e was ready to order the march upon the sea

shore . The nex t prob lem was that of taking the

troops across the s tra i ts . At the fiercely- impat ient

prayer o f Rama,Ocean h imsel f now appeared to

h im,and reft h is own bed upwards to form the

basis of a bridge from the main land to Lanka .

Then al l th e hosts of monkeys came forward with

branches and logs and trunks of trees,and bu i l t

th e whole into a firm and lofty structure , steady

enough to wi thstand the t ides of th e sa l t sea. And

the people te l l how even th e l i t t l e squirre l s helped

in the bui ld ing of the bridge to Lanka , br inging

stones and shel ls and broken nu ts to make it

smooth . And for th is,when the work was ended

,

the Lord took one of these smal lest workmen in

h is hand , and stroked h im ,blessing h im

,from head

to tai l . And because of th is b less ing of Rama it

is that the I nd ian squ irre l wears th ree wh i te

str ipes on h is dark fur—they are the finger-marksof the blessing of th e Lord of the Un iverse .

1 36 CRADLE TALE S OF H INDUISM

Thus was bui l t the bridge that spans to th i s

d ay,the strai t s bes ide th e grea t pear l-fi sheries of

Manaar . And when i t was fin ished , th e troops

were brought safe ly across i t and al l kn ew th at

the very next step would be the seiz i ng of Lanka ,the destruct io n of Ravana , and th e re l e ase of

Si ta .

Al l th is t ime Mandodari, th e wife of Ravana ,had been implor i ng her husband to set h is pr i soner

free . But he had answered only with express ions

of contempt for Rama,and boasts of h is own

power . When the forces of the enemy had been

brough t across the sea,however

,everyth ing was

changed . Ravana h imsel f,i t was said

,had l eapt to

h i s feet i n consternation when th e news was heard .

The hosti l e army was now at th e ir very ga tes ! and

the prospects that on ly the day before were st i l l

unclouded,l o oked very grave . For in Lanka

,by

th i s t ime,they j udged of the power of each one

of Rama’

s so ld iery by that of Hanuman,who in

a few hours had destroyed,una ided

,al l th ei r

orchards .

Mandodari now, therefore , was j o i ned i n her

p leadings by her husband ’s own brother . “ Setthe str anger free ,

” th ey entreated,

“ whi le ye t there

is t ime to save the c ity ! Rama is in the r igh t,

and fate i tsel f must figh t upon h is s ide !”

To h is broth er,Ravana gave some curt rep ly

,

that drove h im in anger out of h is p resence . But

1 38 CRADLE TALE S OF H INDUISM

guest,and ran forward to rece ive th e arrow

,says

the te l ler of the ta le , as a man migh t run to em

brace his beloved . Thus was th e l i fe of V ib h ishana

saved,though that of Lakshmana h imsel f was

wel l -nigh lost . The siege lasted many days,but

the town fina l ly fe l l,and only the fortress re

mained to be attempted .

And now,at last

,d id Rama ach ieve h is heart ’s

desire,for h e engaged in s ingl e combat with

Ravana,and s lew him with h is own hand . Then

the great doors of th e cast le were flung Open,and

the moment h ad come for the return of Si ta .

The O rdeal of Sita

RAMA'

S whole heart was fi l l ed wi th the l onging

to see Si ta , and renew once more the l i fe -sweetness

wh ich had been broken that morn ing when he

left h er to catch th e go lden deer . Yet he was

no mere mortal,fu l l of bl ind impulse

,a prey to

the chance-born desi res of the passing moment .

He foresaw that i f their reunion was to be secure,

i t must take p lace i n publ ic, and must be accom

pan ied by some proof of h i s wi fe’s honour and

devotion wh ich could never be shaken in th e

popular mind . There could be no happiness

for Si ta i f her subj ects d id not love her and

trust her impl icit l y. There could be none for

h im if h er name were not l ift ed h igh above the

s tain of susp icion or reproach .

But th e first duty that awaited h im had noth ing

to do wi th these quest ions . He was at th is

moment at the head of a conquering army . His

first respons ib i l i ty l ay in protect i ng the c ity,

with ’

its women , i ts ch i ldren , and it s treasures ,from hi s own forces . He hastened

,therefore

,

to crown and procl a im V ib hishana King of Lanka .

This done , h e cal l ed H anuman secret ly, and ,I 39


bidding h im obtain the permiss io n of th e new

King to en ter the city,! sen t h im to Si ta to

acquaint h er pr ivate ly with h is victory .

Publ ic ly h e proffered a formal request to Yib

h ishana that h e would personal ly escort th e

Queen of Kosala to h i s presence . She was tocome

,moreover

,wearing the robes and j ewel s

proper to occas ions of sta te . The l oving heart

o f th e woman wou ld have prompted her to fly

to th e sh e lter of her husband j us t as she was,

in the mourn ing garmen ts of h er capt ivi ty . But

V ib hishana reminded h er gent ly of the sacred

ness of a husband’

s expressed wish,and she

submit ted immediate ly to the t i ring wh ich th is

imposed . Hard,ver i ly

,are th e roads that pr inces

walk ! Treading at each step on her own heart,

must Si ta make her way t o h er husband ’s s ide .

At last th e Queen was ready and entered th e

closed palanquin,with i ts h angings of scar l et

and go ld , i n wh ich she wou ld be born e i nto th e

presence of Rama, Vib h ishana h imsel f r id ing

before he r to announce her coming. At th e

c i ty gates,however

,came the reques t that She

shou ld al igh t and proceed th rough th e open

camp on foot . Scarce ly understanding,and so

absorbed i n the thought of see ing the King that

She had l it tl e care for any minor detai l,Si ta

rose from her seat in th e covered l i tt er and

s tepped outon th e broad road . Round her,t o


awe and reverence,at th e revelat ion seen in her

of what great womanhood shou ld be .

At,a S ign from her husband , and a few paces

away,the Queen stood sti l l , and Rama looked

up and addressed her in th ick, constrain ed tones .“ Ravana has been duly defeated and s la in, he

said .

“ Thus has the honour of Ayodhya been

vindicated to the utmost . I t i s for th e Queen ,whom he separated from her husband

,to say in

what guardiansh ip,and with what es tab l ishment

,

sh e wi l l now choose to l ive . Thy wish es,O

gent l e on e ! ” h e added , addressing her for a

moment direct ly and swep t away by h i s own

tenderness,

“ sha l l b e carr ied out i n fu l l . But

i t i s not seemly or poss ibl e to restore to her old

place one whose fai r fame has been su l l ied by

res idence in the pal ace of Ravana .”

At these words th e Queen stood , i n h er Sudden

aston i shmen t and pain,l ike one who had been

stabbed . Then she r aised h er proud head to its

proudest he igh t,and

,th ough her l ips qu ivered

and the tears fe l l,without h er wil l

,her wonderful

voice rang out untremulous . “ My character,

”

she said , “ must indeed be misconceived. E ven

Rama , i t seems, can mi stake my greatness , andtruly then am I undone ! Yet i f my lord had

but to ld me,whi le yet I was imprisoned i n Lanka

,

that i t was for th e honour of Ayodhya' he wou ld

recover me,I would indeed have Spared h im al l

THE ORDEAL OF SITA 1 43

h is labours. How easy had i t been to me to

die there,on ly I supposed that other motives

moved h im ! Go , Lakshmana, and make for mehere a funera l pyre ! Meth inks that i s th e on ly

remedy for th e disast er that has come upon me .

This,then

,was Si ta’s des ire for guardians and

establ ishment ! Lakshmana looked towards h isbrother in anger and surprise

,but

,rece iving on ly

a quiet. gesture,hastened t o have the funera l pyre

prepared . The face of Rama was l ike that of

Death himsel f in th e hour of th e final destruct ion of a l l th ings , and none presen t dared to

speak to h im . As for Sita , her tears were now

ra ining down ! but st i l l she s tood there , wai t ing

pat ient ly .

When the wood had been p i led and the fi re setblaz ing

,Si ta walked three t imes round her husband

,

standing in h is p lace , with head bowed , and i t

was evident to al l th at h er heart was fu l l of sweet

n ess . Then,coming forward to th e fire

,and

stand ing before i t with her hands fo lded as for

prayer, she sa id

,

“ Do thou , 0 Fire, th e witn ess

of the worlds ! protect me,whose h eart h as been

ever true ! Take me to yourse lves , O ye pureflames ! for unto th e Lord of Purity the pure

fleeth .

”

Saying th is,and walking th ree t imes round the

pyre,th e Queen, having bidden farewel l to the

world with undaunted heart,entered into i t . Like


gold be ing set upon a golden al tar was th e stepp ing

of Si t a i nto th at flaming fire . And l amentat i ons

arose on al l s ides from amongst th e l ookers-on .

But 10,as her foot touched th e pyre

,voices of

angel ic sweetness were heard from heaven chan t

ing the glory of Rama , and th e mystery of the

ineffabl e un ion of th e Divine Be ing with H is own

divi ne grace . And there advanced from the

heart of th e fire to meet Si t a,Agni , the God of

Fire,H imsel f. Support ing her with h is r ight arm

,

and stepp ing outfrom amongst th e flames,th e

divin i ty bore her forward to Rama,whose face

had sudden ly become r adiant with j oy,and gave

h er to h im,j o in ing them together .

“ She i s th ine own , 0 Rama !” he said ! “ sh e

is th ine own—ever fai th fu l and true to thee,i n

thought,word

,and deed . Lo

,at my command

is i t that thou takes t her back unto thee . For I

h ave spoken,and she i s th ine own !

And Rama sa id , rece iving her,“ Veri ly

,my

beloved,no doubt was in my mind concern ing

thee . Yet was thy vindicat ion needful,i n th e

presence of a l l our peop le . Tru ly art thou mine .

Th ink notthou canst be d ivided from me . Thou

art mine , and I cou ld not renounce th ee , even

as the sun cannot be separated from h is own

rays .

And as they stood thu s , wedded once more

as in their youth by man,so now by the God of


How h appy wou ld have been the s tory i f i t

had ended thus ! So d id the great poet Valmiki

intend i t . And so fo r hundreds of years must

men have known it. But in some later age,by

an unknown hand,a sequel was wri tten

,and th is

seque l i s strange ly sad . I t t e l ls how th e terr ib l e

ordea l of Si t a h ad not after al l been enough , or

perhaps had taken p lace too far away,to sat i sfy

her people . The murmuring and susp icion that

Rama had foreseen,did

,afte r a l l

,break out

,and

when he heard th is th e King knew that i t was

use l ess to figh t against the inevi tab le,Si ta and

he must h enceforth dwel l apart . For th e good

of h is subj ects a king must be wi l l ing to make anysacr ifices

,and i t could never , he fel t , be for th ei r

wel l-being that th eir sovereign ’s conduct shou ld

be misunderstood . But though h i s wi l l was thus

hero ic , Rama cou ld not trus t h imsel f to see Si ta

and say h i s last good-bye to her,face to face .

He sen t h er, therefore , i n th e care of Lakshmana,t o make a long-des ir ed p ilgr image to th e h ermit

age of Valmiki,on th e far s ide of th e Ganges .

There Lakshmana was to give h is part ing messages

,and take farewel l o f her .

Oh how terribl e was th e desol at ion of Sita

on th is occasion ! There was, indeed , th e con

so lat ion that she unders tood her husband,and

he her . The last words of each for the other

made th is separat ion of th eirs l ike the pl ight ing

THE ORDEAL OF SITA 1 47

of a sol emn troth . Yet she knew that the ir parting

was to be for ever . She would be a lways with

h im in sp ir it,but . ne i ther might hope to l ook

upon th e other ’s face again .

Twenty years passed in th i s ret irement,under

th e guardiansh ip of th e wise and father ly Valmiki ,whom the twin sons of Si ta regarded as a kind

and be loved grandfather . But when twenty

years had gone by there came to Valmik i ’s her

mitage th e n ews of a royal sacrifice at Ayodhya .

Now the sain t had already composed Ramay ana,and taught i t t o Lava and Kusa , the sons of

Rama . He determ ined,therefore, to take the

boys to Ayodhya and let them sing the poem

befo re their father,on the occas ion of th e

sacr ifice .

Long before i t was fin ished,Rama had real ised

that th e lads before h im must be h is own . I t

took many days to chant th e poem,but the King

and h is counse l lors l is tened greed i ly t o the end .

Then , with a sigh , Rama turned to the great

Valmiki and said,

“ Ah,i f on ly Si ta were here !

But she cou ld never consent to a second tr ia l of

her honour“ Let me ask her ! answered Valmiki , who

longed above al l th ings to bring th is husband

and wife togeth e r once more,for the happiness

of both .

To the surpr ise of Rama,word was brought


that Si ta would consent n ext dayto go througha second publ ic tr i al

,th i s t ime by oath i nstead

of by the fiery ordea l .

The morn ing came . The King and a l l h i s

mini sters and attendants were seated in state,

and vast crowds,of al l ranks and from al l parts

of th e country,were admitted to see the tr ia l of

Si ta . I n came th e Queen , fo l l owing after Valmiki .

C lo se ly ve i led , with head ben t,hands fo lded ,

and tears in her eyes,sh e wa lked ! and i t was

easy to see that a l l h er mind was med itat ing

upon Rama . A murmur of pra ise and del igh t

broke from al l th e spectator s . Litt l e d id any

on e there dream of what they wou ld shortly see

happen !

As Valmiki presented the Queen to Rama

and to the assembly,and as Rama turned to cal l

upon h er to swear to her own faith fu lness and

s i ncer ity,before al l th ei r peop le

,every one not iced

that a coo l and fragrant breeze began to blow,

as i f betokening the nearness of th e gods . No

one,however , was prepared for th e effect of

Rama ’s words on Si ta .

That proud though gent l e sou l had borne al l

that was possib le to h er . Perfec t i n sweetn ess

and perfect in submiss ion,She had endured twenty

years of lonel in ess withou t murmuring . But al l

now had come to an end . O divin e Mother !

sh e cr ied,

“ thou great E arth—Goddess,i f i t be


to the wor ld,and going out of Ayodhya to the

r iver-s id e,th ey entered into the ir d ivin e bodies

,

and were seen no more in the world of men .

And ages passed by,and th e story of the ir

days b ecame a memory, for there were none

left 0 11 th e earth,of a l l those who had l ived

bene ath their sway .


and driving back to Mathura,whence they had

come,cast Devaki and Vasudeva in to th e dungeons

u nderneath h is palace,there to endure imprison

ment for l i fe,that h e migh t the more eas i ly s lay

each ch i ld of theirs a t b irth . And now th is had

happened seven t imes,that a ch i ld had been born

,

and Kansa had destroyed it—save indeed once .For one ch i ld , th e boy Bolarama, had been carr iedaway secret ly

,and the King had been told that h e

was a lready dead . Now,however

,had the t ime

come for the fu lfi lment of the prophecy . And

Devaki and her husband waited in thei r pr ison

for the coming of that ch i ld who should be the

del iverer of H is peop l e .

Outsid e,th e wind wai l ed

,and the rai n fe l l

,and

the waters of th e jumna rose, as if i n flood . The

n igh t was wild,whereon

’

would come to earthKrishna , th e H oly Ch ild . With in

,in th e dungeons

of Mathura , Devaki and her husband Vasudeva

waited,t rembl ing ! for th ey knew that to-n igh t ,

of a truth,wou ld be born as their son that soul of

whom it had been foretold th at h e,and no oth e r,

was the des tined s layer of Kansa . Was i t not for

that very reason that th ey at th is moment were in

p ri son ? And their h earts were so re wi th in them ,

for what welcome could they offer to the coming

chi ld ? Knew they not , only too wel l, that withthe morning Kansa h imsel f would vis i t th em

,to

ki l l th e babe with h is own hands ? Terrib le was

THE BIRTH OF KRISHNA 1 55

th e t ime of watch ing,whi le the storm howled

without,round them rose the bare forbidding wal l s

of the prison,and in the hear t of poor Devaki the

hope and love of a mother struggled with sadness

and fear .

Sl owly,S lowly the hours went by

,t i l l midnight .

And then,j us t as the bel l of the great water-clock

outside the palace began to boom out the hour,

th e hearts of the mother and father were fi l l ed

with j oy,for a t that very moment

,th eir Babe had

come to them . I n tha t one br ief in stant,as she

held H im in her arms,Devaki forgo t the ordea l of

th e morrow,forgot the cruel death that awaited

her Ch i ld,and knew on ly the bl iss of the moth er

,

who welcomes the newly-born ,

At the moment of H is birth , th e pr ison was

fi l l ed with a soft l ight , streaming outfrom th eBabe H imsel f

,and as H e lay back in H is mother ’ s

lap,th ey saw sh in ing outfrom beh ind H im four

arms . One hand he ld the shank or bat tl e-trumpet

another the d iscus a th ird th e mace and in th e

four th was a lotus on i ts stem . Then Devaki and

Vasudeva knew these for the s igns of Vishnu,and

they worsh ipped the Ch i ld , saying the salutat ions ,as Narayan

,Saviour of the Wor ld . But a s the

sa lutations ended , the vei l of Maya descended

upon them once more, and th e Ch i ld appearedtothem as the ir own bahe . Al l about them now

,

however,they heard voices . At first th ey did not


trust to th eir own ears , th inking the sounds were

of th e wind and ra in . But presen t ly,l i s tening

,

they heard dist inctly the words,

“ Arise ! Take

the young Ch ild , and l eave H im in th e house of

Nanda,Ch ief of the Cowherds

,i n th e vi l lage of

Gokool, and bring h i ther th e gir l -ch i ld who has

jus t been born there .”

What cou ld be meant by te l l i ng a pr i soner,

unable to leave h is pr ison , to r ise and carry a

baby to a vi l lage on the far s ide of th e jumna ?

How could Vasudeva Open the dungeon doors ?How could he pass th e guards ? How , i f he d id

al l th is,would he be able to cross th e jumna

itsel f on com ing to i t a t th i s late h our ? Yet

the fee l ing of some incomprehensib le power was

s trong upon them,and th ey were fu l l of terror

for th e fate of th e Ch i ld on the morrow . So

Vasudeva y ie lded h imsel f to th e bidding of th e

unknown . He arose , l i fted the Babe , covered

H im with h is own garment , and , sta ff i n hand ,went forward to the prison-entrance . To h is

amazement the bolts s l id back,th e l ocks turned ,

the chains fel l soft ly,and th e heavy doors swung

outwards of th ei r own accord before h im . O uts ide , th e guards and sold iers S l umbered heavi ly,and no one woke , as Vasudeva, with th e Babe

Kr ishna h idden beneath h is rob e,passed into the

Open road .

Here the s torm was even worse than it had


forth from the pr ison,he entered

,and saw a l ight

burn ing in the first room with in th e doorway.

The lamp stood by the beds ide of a sleeping

mother and a new-born chi ld . Quietly , quiet ly

Vasudeva bent down and exchanged the ch i ldren .

To the farmer-chiefta in ’s wife he gave the Babe

he carr ied,and from h er s ide h e took the l i tt l e

daughter who sl ep t there . Then , without a word ,he turned and went back by th e way he had come

,

to the dungeons of Kansa,i n the city of Mathura

,

and gave the gir l -ch i ld of Nanda to h is own wife,

D evaki .

Great was the rej o ic ing amongst th e cowherds

when th ey al l woke up in the morn ing and

found that the ch i ld whom they remembered as

a gir l was rea l ly a boy . For th is was the on ly

explanation of th e mystery that occurred to th em .

I t i s sa id indeed that that morn ing there was no

food to eat in th e house of Nanda,for a l l the pots

of milk and curd fe l l from the hands o f the women

when they heard th e news,i n their aston ishment

and de l igh t . Then thousands of peop le came,and

every one was fed , and wealth was distributed and

there was great rej o ic ing . So th is i s a lways kept

in I ndia as Nanda’

s Feast , and on the day before ,as th e peop le be l ieve

,there is a lways ra in .

But in the stronghold of Kansa,i t was told that

morning that a ch i ld h ad been born in th e n ight

to D evak i and Vasudeva . Then was the heart of

THE BIRTH OF KRISHNA 1 59

the tyrant hot with in h im,and he came down into

the dungeons in person,attended by al l h is guards,

that he might with h is own hands slay th is ch i ld,

who , itwas sa id had been born to be his destroyer .To th e King s amazement , however, he found

that the ch i ld was not a boy at a l l, but a gir l .

Had Kansa been less wicked and tyrannica l he

would have rested h ere . A gir l cou ld hard ly,at

the age of twelve,be th e s laye r of a man . And

the prophecy had pointed d ist i nct ly to a boy .

But evi l men are bl inded by their own wickedness .

The very unexpectedness of the even t enraged h im,

and he pu t out h is hand to seize the babe by the

foot,and dash it to pieces against th e prison wal l s .

AS he touched i t , however , to the as tonishment of

al l presen t, th e seeming ch i ld s l ipped from h is

grasp,and h igh above their heads rose th e sh in ing

form of a goddess . “ He who shal l s lay thee,

0 King,i s even now growing to manhood

,she

said, mockingly , i n the vi l lage of Gokool on the

far s ide of the jur'

n na,

” and th en,as th ey looked

,

the rad ian t be ing faded away,and none cou ld tel l

even the d irect ion in wh ich sh e had d isappeared .

But wrath and mortification filled th e heart of

Kansa the Tyrant,and for many a long year there

after he knew no rest,i n h is burn ing zea l to out

wit the gods,and end th e

.

l i fe of the Ch i ld Krishna,

ere yet H e should be o ld enough to become h isslayer .

The D ivine Ch ildhood

BY th e advice of h is counse l lors, th e Tyran t Kansa ,knowing that h i s fu ture S layer had been born

,and

was l iving somewhere with i n th e domin ions of

Mathura,determined now to send out h i s emi s

saries for the ki l l i ng of al l new-born ch i ldren,

everywh ere . And he had under h is command

powerfu l beings of h is own kindred,known as

demons,or Asuras , who were ab le t o assume any

shape at wi l l,and could fly through th e sky.

Some of these therefore h e sent forth secret ly

for the s l aughter of in nocent babes,throughou t

h is domin ion . And i t came to pass that one

even ing,as th e shadows grew long

,th e Vampire

nurse Putana,who was one of th em , having

wandered through cit i es,vi l lages

,and forests

,de

stroying in fants,arr ived at Gokool. And the form

which she assumed to ent er th e p lace Was tha t

of a woman so“

resp lendent in beauty,that the

peop le supposed her to be some goddess,come

to offer worsh ip and bened ict ion at the crad le of

th ei r ch iefta i n ’ s son . Going h i ther and th ith er as

sh e wou ld,secret ly observing the youngest o f th e

ch i ldren , Putana came final ly to the great h ouse


and he de termined t o l eave no stone unturned tocompass H is death .

Never was morta l woman happ ier than Yasoda,

wife and queen of Nanda,and foster-mother o f

Kr ishna . Day after d ay , as th e months went by ,she he ld H im in her l ap , and fed and p layed with

H im, or soothed H im gentlyto s l eep . For wh at

was H e,after a l l

,but a baby ? Not even by her

,

as yet , was it suspected what was H is greatstrength

,or Who H e was . One day she was

cal led away for someth ing , and before go i ng , sheturn ed and l a id the Ch i l d down on th e ground

,

i n the sh adow of a disused bul lock-c ar t . I t hadl ong stood id le

,and had come to be u sed as a

sort of da iry-t ab le,for i t was covered now with

great j ars contain ing milk for butter and curds .

These in th e ir turn were protected from dust wi th

grass and l e aves , and over the whole were th ebamboo mats th at acted as the waggon hood .

Here,th en

,i n th e Shadow l ay the Babe

,and

abou t H im , i n the farmyard,p l ayed other

ch i ldren . And now did the Demon ShakatenterInto the cart

,th ink ing i t would be easy to fa l l

and crush the I n fant , by a seeming accident . But

the l i t tl e one who lay there was the Lord H im

sel f ! Noth ing cou ld dece ive or baffle H im . At

the very i nstant when th e waggon began to break,

He gave a kick wi th H is t i ny foot,and lo ! th e

cart , with a l l that stood on i t,was thrown tothe

THE DIVINE CHILDHOOD 1 63Go

oth er s ide of the farmyard , and Shakat-Asur , th edemon , was ki l l ed . Hear ing the noise

,people

came in aston ishment from every part of th e farm,

and great was their happ iness to find the Babe

st i l l l iving . But when th ey heard from th e rest

h ow it had happened,what were they t o be li eve ?

He was as yet too young even to creep about .

Only Yasoda,clasping her H eart ’s-joy t ight b e

tween tears and laughter , fe l t that there was

someth ing h ere beneath th e surface,that th ey

none of them understood . Strange dangers

threatened the l i fe of her l i tt l e one. Wondrous

wisdom and strength were h idden with in H im .

These th ings to her , H is mother, i t was easy toaccept .

One day,as she nursed H im with al l h er ten

derness,she sudden ly fe l t H im grow as heavy as

a mountain , and was obl iged to lay H im on th e

ground . At that very -moment,a grea t b lack cloud

enwrapped them both for an instant , and when i t

passed on ,sh e saw the Babe Krishna r is ing h igher

and h igher above her,cl inging

,as i t seemed , to

the very throat of a whir lwind . I n agony watched

the mother,whi le al l about Gokool the air grew

black with storm and dust . On swept th e hur

ricane,yet with course impeded, as i t seemed , by

th e weigh t of th e Being i t struggled to carry .

Moments passed of t err ible suspense , in wh ich th e

distracted mother and weeping women of the


vil lage ran h ither and thi th er,as if to fi nd or

catch the Boy Then there came a lu l l,and

down , down , down , into the midst of Gokool, fe l l

th e Demon of the Hurr icane,with h is Baby

Dest royer st i l l holdi ng h im by th e throat !Yasoda

, i'

ndeed , had many curious experiences,and found muchto ponder over . When her l it t l e

Son was old enough to crawl about on al l - fours,

H e became very difficu l t to keep in order . He

would constant ly besmear H imse l f with mud,and

even put ear th to H is l ips and eat i t . 8 0 H is

gentl e foster-mother was compel l ed to be angry

and puni sh H im . Then the Ch i ld cr ied , but a s H e

opened H is mouth,she, watch ing H im ,

seemed tobe smi tten in to a trance

,for she saw there re

veal ed , -as if with i n H im,a l l th e worlds

,i n a l l their

manifo ld gradat ions of existence . The whol e in

fin ite Un iverse with i n that one Babe Krishna !

And the mortal,unable to bear the reve lat ion

,

c losed her eyes,t r embl ing

,t i l l th e kind gods drew

over h er s ight once more the vei l of i l lusion,and

sh e was ableto look upon the Div in ity before heras i f H e were nothing bu t her Son .

The l i tt l e hands were busy with everyth ing .

There was no keep ing th i s rogue outof misch ief.So one day, when Yasoda was at work about th e

h ouse , sh e t i ed about th e Chi ld a long rope, which

was attached,at i t s o ther e nd

,to an old and

broken axl e of a car t-whee l , 1 and thus protected ,


toddle, a woman came to th e farmstead with

fru i t to sel l,and Krishna

,des ir i ng to have some

,

ran in to the house,afi d returned to her

,carrying

the necessary handfu l of r ice,but lett ing it stream

outi n al l d irect ions between H is open fingers .

The frui t-se l ler was so pleased with th e look of

the Chi ld,and so touched with H is feeb le effort

to pay her j ust ly,th at she i ns i st ed on giv ing H im

al l the fru it H e wanted , and cou ld hard ly be per

suaded to take anyth ing in return . Her scrup les ,however

,were overcome

,and she consented to

accept the l i tt l e on e ’s offering,when beho ld

,as

He poured the remain ing rice i nto the knotted

corner of her vei l— t ied l ike a bag for th e carryi ng of it—each gra in , touching the c loth , becam ea j ewel !

Another of the l i tt l e fe l l ow’s tr icks was to make

H is way i nto the da ir ies of H is v i l lage fr iends and

help H imself,on beha lf of H i s fr iends the monkeys

and birds,to cream and butter and other good

th ings . E very one l iked H im to do th i s,yet they

fe l t that it would never do to l et Kri shna grow upa th ief ! So th e da iry-wives came in a body , and

compla i ned to Yasoda. Then Yasoda sco lded

H im,and at las t took her churn ing-rope to t i e

the l itt l e hands together. But her whol e churn ing

rope was two finger-l engths too short to make akno t about the wrists of her Boy ! Then she

found anoth er , and tyi ng th em together,t r ied

THE DIVINE CHILDHOOD 1 97

again,th en another

,and another

,and ano ther .

But i t was al l to no purpose . Al l the ropes of

the farmhouse,added to one another

,were not

long enough to t ie the hands of the Lord of

the Universe . Then a great awe fe l l upon

Yasoda, and she began to fee l the vis ion of the

Un iverse stea l ing over her again . But the Ch i ld,

seeing that H is mother was t ired, hunting here

and there for ropes,and try ing to t ie H i s hands ,

submitted H imsel f,and became good

,and im

mediate ly one rope was found enough with which

to fasten the l i tt l e wrists .And so the t ime passed, t i l l H e was seven Or

e igh t years of age . Then th e cowherds moved

away from Gokool to the forests of Brindaba n .

And Krishna,being now j oined by H is elder

brother Bolarama, was al lowed to go dai ly to thepastures wi th the other lads tend ing their father

’

s

herds .

Kri shna in the Forests

HOW happy wer e the years that Kri shna and

H is broth er spen t in the forests,for th e h erd

boys and herd -girl s of Gokool and Brindaban !

To the herd -girl s especia l ly,—the Gop is

,as th ey

were ca l led ,—He was at once p lay- fe l l ow and

pet ! and I ndian poetry i s fu l l , to th i s day , ofth e memory of H is past imes with them

,i n those

beautifu l woods and meadows . There,when the

trees were covered with b lossoms, and the south

wind blew,th ey would put up swings and pl ay at

swinging a l l day long . Or there wou ld be a

game at h ide -and - seek amongst th e cows and

buffaloes feeding qu iet ly ! and those who were to

be caught wou ld draw attent i on to th e ir h idingp laces , by imitat ing th e cri es of peacocks or th e

quacking of ducks . Sometimes the lads wou ld

l eap streams wi th the motions of a frog , or play

the game of l e ap-frog on dry l and . Or they

wou ld al l make a r ing about some great tree,

and try to c apture Kri shn a,as H e darted in and

outunder the ir arched arms . E ven th e grazing

animal s h ad a sp ec i a l l ove for th e Lord,and

lowed happi ly , whenever H e caressed them,or

1 68

1 70 CRADLE TALES or HINDUISM

mango-blossoms fi l l ed the a i r , and red flowers

covered th e asoka-tree,and the long del icate buds

of the l eaf-a lmond were aboutto burs t i nto tendergreen

,on th i s very day

,a large ram tha t had

seemed to be feed ing qu iet ly in the meadow,saw

Krishna coming,and

,lowering i ts head , ran

forward to butt H im with its horns . 8 0 l arge

was th e an imal,and so vic i ous and determined

h is onset,that the Lord must have been ki l led on

th e spot , had H e succeeded in touch ing H im .

But that Divine I n te l l igence was never ba ffled .

Even in the heigh t of a fro l i c,He could notbe

found off guard . The young Cowherd wa ited t i l l

th e great sh eep had a lmost reached H im . Then,

se izing h im easi ly by the neck,He swung h im

round and round,and final ly dashed h im agai ns t

a tree . Poss ib ly the garments of those standing

near were st a ined with th e blood of th e demon , or

i t may be that the fury of th e hunter c ame uponthem

,and they “ blooded one anoth er . How

ever thi s was,th e n igh t is year ly ce lebr at ed ,

by burning a rude image of th e demon,put

together with s t icks and knots of grass . And

water co loured with red powder i s taken to

represent the b lood of Metrasur, and al l th emembers of th e fami ly rece ive th is

,i n b less ing

,

on th e ir h eads ! and next day i n th e streets, i t i s

th rown by the boys on the garments of passers

by . Thus is commemorated the rej o icing of the

KRISHNA IN THE FORESTS 1 7 1

Gop is over the escape of Krishna from the Demon

Sheep .

Many wonderfu l t a les are to ld of th is t ime in

the l ife of the youth Kri shna . One of th ese i s

H is Victory over th e Snake Kal iya . Another is

the s tory of th e Lift ing of th e Mountain . But

most wonderfu l of al l was th e love that the Gopis

h ad for H im , as they romped and fro l icked and

tended the h erds in th e b eaut ifu l forests of

Brindaban . I t was a love without any selfish

ness . When Krishna was near , they fe l t th em

se lves l i fted into a golden atmosphere,where

al l was gaie ty and l ightness of heart ! noth ing

s eemed ser ious or troublesome ! and thei r

happiness bubbled over i n th e form of g en tle

ness and play . I f one were eat i ng some

del ic i ous fru it,and sudden ly saw the l uminous

form of Krishna,she would unconsc ious ly offer

it,for the next b ite

,to H is l ip s

,i n stead of to

h er own .

Yet e ach was on ly kinder and more faith fu l toal l others

,by reason of th is wonderfu l p lay . For

i t is wr itten that the homes of th e Gop is n ever

suffered,thei r husbands and their ch i ldren never

cried on them in vain , they never fled from any

duty,i n order to indulge in the company of

Krishna . And not those of the Gopis on ly,but

a lso a l l the humble h omes . about Brindaban,were

made happy by H is presence . I n truth,Krishn a


the Cowherd,—or Hari

,as H e was ca l led

,-was

the Lord H imself, and th is love of peasant-fo lk

for H im was neither more nor l ess th an the love

of human sou l s for th e Divin e . None who had

ever sported with H im,or l istened to H is playing

of th e flute ben eath th e trees,cou ld hear th ere

after to l eave that Presence . The”

sou ls of al l

such were bathed in ho ly peacefu lness and j oy .

But their hands were rendered on ly the more

he lpfu l,the ir hearts more t ender , th e ir feet

“more

eager to run on swift errands of mercy to o thers,

for the fact tha t in mind and spi r i t they knew

themselves to be p lay ing always with the Divine ,i n the beaut ifu l form of th e Cowherd of Brin

daban .

Leader of a l l th e Gop is was Radha , and to her

specia l ly was it g iven to real ise th is intens ity of

sweetness . Hers was the fr ank and in stant

recogni tion,th e deep understand ing , and th e

cons tant vis ion of H is glory . And she i t was

who reached the unut terabl e depth s of sorrow,

when the s imple j oys of that peasan t-world cou ld

hold H im no longer, and H e left Brindaban for

ever,to return to the l i fe and respons ibi l i ty of

kings,free ing H is people from the Tyran t of

Mathura . Wherefore,because of th is wondrous

un ion between th e human sou l of Radh a and

the Divine i n Kr ishna,al l l ove has come to be

summed up in Their love . And when the I nfin ite

The D ilemma of Brahma

A CUR IOUS miracle was performed by the LordKrishna . Having goneto th e forest one morn ingwith H is compan ion s and th eir h erds

,He and they

wandered from one beauti fu l part to anoth er . The

sun had not long r isen,and the young cowherds

were fu l l o f h appiness . Some p layed with th e

dancing shadows , others with th e echoes . Some

c l imbed with th e monkeys,other s stood st i l l l ike

st orks or h erons , dece iving th e very birds them

selves,by th e perfect ion of their gestu res . Above

al l , wherever Kri shna announced H is intent i on of

going, a hundred voices rose in emulat ion , shout

ing , “Let me be fi rst Let me be firs t Suddenly,th e cows began to d isappear into th e mouth of

a great open cave,and the boys

,as was th e ir

duty , when they came up to i t, fo l l owed them .

Kri shna was the last to reach th e p lace,but no

sooner had H e done so, than He saw that what

had seemed l ike a cave rn was noth ing of th e

sort,being in rea l i ty the mouth of a great serpent

demon,by whom H is fr iends and th e ir catt l e h ad

al l been swa l lowed . He furth er under stood that

th e great j aws remained st i l l motion less and Open ,1 74

THE DILEMMA OF BRAHMA 1 75

because th e rea l obj ect of th e demon was todevour H imsel f

,and thereby avenge the deaths

of those whom H e had already defeated . The lad

stood a moment,wondering what to do. H is

compan ions and the herds must be del ivered .

But how ? I t was on ly a moment,and H e

stepped bold ly inside the mouth of the monster,and stood there

,i n front of i ts throat . The great

teeth made to snap down upon H im , and th e

muscles hastened as th ough they would contract .But thi s was notso easy . By dint of H is

myster ious power,the Lord of the Universe

,cal l

i ng al l H is c oncentrat ion to H is aid,began to

expand and expand with in the serpent ’s mouth .

Tal ler and ta l l er,larger and larger H e grew

,and

with each accre t ion of s ize, the demon became

fainter and fa inter,and th e hopes of H is comrade s

entangled with in waxed h igher . There H e stood

in the very mouth o f the dragon,and fough t for

H is fr iends with invis ib l e weapons . The crown

ing moment came at last . H is power reached

its zen ith . The demon was sudden ly d isrupted

and without strength,and the cowherds with th eir

cows wa lked back outof th e j aws of th is l ivingdeath . And then

,before al l their eyes

,the sou l

of that evi l being arose,and d id obe isance to the

feet of Krishna,before i t passed away

,a purified

sp ir i t, to th e far-off regions of blessedness . For

the touch of the Lord ever brought salvat ion,


even though to th e body He might mete outdeath.

Some hours had passed away in th i s struggle

and th e consequent rej o icing of the cowherd s .

Hence , finding a p lace fu l l of c lear sands, near

runn ing water,where th e black bees hovered ove r

the lotuses,and beauti fu l birds flew about amongst

the branches,and the air was fi lled with drowsy

humming, some one suggested that here theyshould take their morning meal . The proposa l

met with acceptance from a l l,and they satdown

on the sands to eat . But,s in ce none cou ld

bear to take h is eyes off Krishna,the assembly

,

when i t was ranged for eat ing , l ooked l ike a

s ingle great lotus , with‘H im as its centre ! and

so s eated ! using flowers and leaves and pieces

of fru i t and bark as p lates , they al l , with muchmerriment, began to feast .

Al l u nknown to them , th ey were being watched

by the God Brahma, who had seen th e miracl e

of the morning,and swas minded to p lay them

a tr ick . H e wanted to find outwhether theBoy Krishna

,who cou ld do such extraordinary

things , was in ! real i ty human or d ivine . He

suspected H im of being an I ncarnat ion of th e

God Vishnu,and intended to put the matter to

proof

When the boys,th erefore

,satdown to eat

,

the God Brahma qu iet ly drew away their herds


love of th ei r own ch i ldren and the ir own cows,i t s eemed almost as i f th ey wou ld fo rget the Lord

H imsel f . I n fact,Krishna had made al l th ese

outof H imsel f . Al l al ike were H is specia l

man i festat ion . And He,th e Lord

,was now

present i n H is own form , i n every househo ld

and cattl e-pen . So matters cont i nued for a

whol e year .

Now a day of th e gods is a year of men , and

Brahma,coming at the end of th e day, to see

what Krishna had done to meet H is tr ick , found,to H is amazement

,that there were now in the

forest as many herds-fo lk and animals as before .

But drawing nearer st i l l,i t appeared to H im as

if each of these were c lothed i n the yel low garb ,and carr ied the flute

,and wore th e circ le t with

the peacock ’s feath er,j ust l ike Kr i shna . Behind

each,moreover , t o H is p ierc ing sigh t , shone forth

the four arms,with th e hands h o lding discus and

mace and conch and lotu s . Then was H e satisfied

that the young Cowherd was i ndeed the God

Vishnu H imse l f,and wh en H e had worsh ipped

H im, and Krishna had resumed into H imsel f a l l

these H is man ife stat i ons, H e re leased from the cave ,where He had h idden them , the s l eep ing herds

men and women and their catt l e . And they

awoke , knowing not that even a moment had

passed . They found th emselves seated at thei r

forest-meal , as they had been when they d is

THE DILEMMA OF BRAHMA 1 79

appeared . And each remembered on ly the

words that had been on h is l ips,or th e food

that had been in h i s hands , at the moment

of the vanish ing of th e cows a whol e year

before .

Con! uestof the Snake Kal iya

IT happened one morn ing that Bolarama wasunwel l

,and cou ld not go to th e fores t with the

cows . Now Yasoda in th e night had had a dream

tha t Krishna was drown ed in th e lake Kal iya .

She begged H im therefore for that day to stay

at home . But H is compan ions were so loth to

go without H im , and H e p leaded so hard to

be a l lowed to accompany th em,th at at last

her reso lution gave way,and she a l lowed H im

to go .

The day w as hot,and the cows wandered

further afie ld than usual,and must be fo l lowed

by th e cowherd s . Beh ind a l l came Kr ish na,Who

had been rest ing with H is fr i ends u nder a sh ady

banyan tre e . I n th is way they arr ived at the

shores of a certa in great lake,and being th i rsty ,

al l a l ike,save Krishna

,Who had not yet reached

th em,bent down and drank it s wate r. Now th e

lake was the Lake Kal iya , made venomous by the

poison of the hundred—headed sn ake Kal iya , whodwel t in i t , and when Kr ish na l eft th e banyan

’ s

shade and came up to H is comrades,they a l l l ay

apparent ly dead on i ts shores . A few minute s1 80

1 82 CRADLE TALES OF HINDU ISM

pool s,i n order to attract the attent ion of the

snake . I t was not long before H e succeeded,

and Ka l iya,great ly enraged at th is agi tati on of

th e waters,raised h is terr ib le cluster of heads to

see who i t was that troub led h is peace . No

sooner d id he see H im , than with coi l after coi l

of h is huge body he wrapped the youth ful

swimmer round,and drew H im down to the

bottom of th e lake , th er e to s t i ng H im to deathat leisure . Holding H im thus in h is embrace , and

darting h is heads here and there at th e body of

Kri shna,he gave b i te after b ite . But a strange

th ing happened . I nstead of enter ing the flesh of

th e Cowherd,whatever poison-tooth touched H is

skin would immediate ly break !The minutes as they went by seemed to those

on the shore l ike hours,and st i l l th e combatants

remained under water,and the Lord had not once

appeared to H is fr i ends . At th e same time ter

r ib le omens began to be seen in Brindaban . The

rol li ng of thunder was heard from a clear sky .

Meteors were seen , though it was dayl igh t, toshoot across the sky

,and peop l e found them

se lves to be tremb l i ng with out any cause , asthough wi th fear . E ven i n th e distan t pastures

,

Nanda and the o lder cowherds noti ced th ese

th ings , and , fear ing that some evil had befal len

Krishna,began to drive the cows homeward to

th e vi l lage . Then,tak ing Yasoda and Bolarama,

CONQUEST OF THE SNAKE KALIYA 1 83

and fol lowing the lads,by means of the foot

prints of Krishna,th ey came al l together to the

shores of the Lake Kal iya .

St i l l Kr i shna was under water,and H is fr i ends

and comrades were about to aba ndon a ll h O pe.

Finding th ings at th is pass,Yasoda was eager a t

l east to fo l low H im,and was about to throw

herse l f headlong into the fatal l ake . But Bola

rama,who had not been in the least discouraged

,

implored h er to wait,whi l e he asked Krish na to

give them some sign . He was sure that h is

Brother would defeat the serpent,and at any rate

,

when they shou ld know tha t i t was h opel ess, i t

wou ld be t ime enough to take desperate measures .

She consented,and he

,cl imbing the hodumbha tree

,

and standing on i ts out-s tretch ing branch , even as

Krishna had done,put h i s horn to h is l ips and

sounded a cal l which wou ld mean to Krishna,

“ For th e sake of your mother make some sign

that you s t i l l l ive !” Krishna, standing eas i ly in

the coi l s of the serpent,and al l owing h im to

exhaust h imse l f in bl ind and use l ess anger, heard

th e cal l of th e horn,and

,as a token that H e st i l l

l ived,threw H is flute outof th e laketo the shore .

Alas,the s ignal had an effect the very oppos ite

of that intended ! Al l were qui te sure that Krishna

would never,wh il e H e yet l ived , part from H is

flute . Despair,therefore, reigned supreme . But

Bolarama again bl ew upon h is horn .“ Show us


that you l ive ! was h is message th is t ime , and

immediate ly on th e surface of the lake they could

see the peacock’s feath er O II Krishna ’s crown .

Again and again they saw i t . For He was

stand ing now 0 11 th e serpent ’s h ead . Then H e

danced l ight ly on h is n eck t i l l a l l th e h eads,save

one,hung broken and power l ess, and th e great

snake Kal iya was to be feared no more .

At th i s po int the wives and ch i ldren of the

serpent lord intervened and ranged themselves

before Krishna , begging H im to spare th e l ife of

H is enemy . They imp lored H im and worsh ipped

H im,and p leaded so wel l

,that at last H e sa id

,

“ Let i t th en be even so ! Do thou,O Kal iya ,

with thy one head,depart wi th a l l th ese thy kin

dred and thy subjects u nto the ocean ! Thou artban ished for ever from th i s lake

,whose sweet waters

thou sha l t defi l e no longer . Yet,outof My pity,

do I grant thy l ife !

Then Kal iya , bru i sed and t rembl ing , answered ,Alas, O Lord , as I depart unto the ocean , that

bird of Th ine wi l l s ee me . And what Thou hast

spared h e wi l l assured ly destroy !

Then answered Kr ishna gent ly,

“ Nay,My

friend ! When th e E ag le sees My foo tprint on

thy head he wi l l b i d thee go in peace !

And so th e Lord,having conquered the

hundred -headed , retu rned to the shore, and everafter were th e waters of that lake sweet as nectar .

The L ifting of the Mountain

NOW i t came to pass,year a fter year

,at th e end

of the hot weather,

1 that the cowherds of Br indaban

wou ld o ffer a great sacrifice to I ndra,God of th e

Sky and King o f Dei t ies . And th is sacrifice,i t

was bel ieved , avai l edto make H im send th e year lyra ins

,and was efficacious a lso to make H im

restrain them,that th ey sh ou ld not be suffic ien t

to wash away the fores ts and make th e jumnaoverflow her banks . But on a certa in year i t hap

pened that th e Lad Kri shna noticed th e prepara

t ions that were be ing made for th i s sacr ifice . And

H is h eart was hotwith in H im , for H e was born

to put a n end to the worsh ip of I ndra and th eweather-deit ies , and to estab l ish in i ts p lace, fa ith

in Narayan,God H imself, Lord of the sou ls , not

of th e fortunes of men . The Youth K rish na there

fore reasoned with Nanda , H is fost er-father, and

with the oth er cowherds , urging them to rea l is ethat good harvest s or bad came to them outofthe i r own dest iny , the fru i t of cau ses long past ,

1 The hot wea ther in northern India means the months of May

and June. In July b eg in the heavy trop ica l ra ins , wh ich last un t i lthe b eginn ing of Oc tob er .

1 86

THE LIFTING OF THE MOUNTAIN 1 87

and could notbe given or wi thho lden by I ndraor any other of the ancien t gods . Sure ly

,i f ye

must worsh ip,He cried

,i n H is earnestness

,“ i t

were better to worsh ip th is mountain under whoseshel ter we dwel l . Let us celebrate a feast in

honour of th e fores t and th e priesthood and th e

cows . To do th i s were indeed wel l,but to

worsh ip I ndra for the sake of harvests i s bu t

ch i ld ish nonsense and old wives ’ ta les ! ” Carried

away by H is plead ings , th e cowherds placed them

se lves ent i rely ath is wi l l,and tha t year ’s merry

making was dedicated to the mountain , to which

they owed home and food and a l l that they en

j oyed .

But notwithout a struggl e would th e God I ndrares ign H is accustomed offerings . None of th e

dar ing words of Krishna were h idden from H im .

He was presen t a t every conference . He heard

th e fiery argdments, a nd He saw the impress ion

moreover that was made on th e minds of the

s imple country-folk . I ndra knew that i f H e d id

not now defeat th e p lans of th e Lord Krishna,

th en were the h earts of the peop le lost for ever

to H im ,and a l l the sh in ing de it ies of th e sky .

Therefore,to pun ish the presumption of th e cow

herds—who had dared , at the bidd ing of Krishna ,to enter on the ra iny season wi thout fi rst making

sacrificesto H im—the God I ndra sent down suchra in as had never been seen in Brindaban with in


the memory of man . Down,down

,down i t

poured, hour after hour , day after day , w i thou t

one moment of interm ission ! and the r iver began

to overflow , and the trees to be washed away !and i t l ooked as i f the people , and th eir herds ,and their vi l l ages would '

all be lost , nay , as i f th e

very world itse lf wou ld be drowned in one, great

flood . But to Kri shna a l l th e anger of I ndra was

a very l i t t l e th ing . When H e saw the danger of

H is people , He simply cal led th em togeth er , and ,te l l ing them to bring with them their catt le and

th ei r too ls,and al l the ir world ly possess ions

,He

l ifted up th e moun ta in i ts e l f , and , ho lding i t up

with a s i ngl e finger , H e made th em all take shel ter

b eneath it ! And so He stood,protecting them ,

s even days and,n ights

,t i l l even th e migh ty I n‘dra

was exhausted and repentant,and ready to offer

worsh ip to H im Who was gr eater than a l l the

ancrent gods togeth er . Then a l l th e h erdsmen and

women came forth once more from th e ir refuge ,and the sun shone bright ly upon them , and the

mounta in was restored to its own place,and even

th e sp ir i t of th e Jumna was appeased , and her

flow became gent le and unt roubled as before .

But one by one came th e old men and prostrated

th emselves before Kri sh na,say ing , “ Ch ild ! I n

sooth we know not Who You are—but whoeverand whatever You be , to You be our salu tat ion !

To You be our worsh ip


decided that a great sacr ifice sh ou ld be made in

Mathura,with many days ’ ce l ebrat ion of games

and feast ing,and that to th is the cowherds shou ld

be h idden,with Nanda , as the King ’s vassa l s, and

Krishna and H is brother Bolarama as h is k i nsmen .

The darkness had fa l l en , and al l the evening

tasks were go ing forward , when th e messenger ofthe King arr ived at Brindaban

,carry ing the invi ta

t ion of Kansa to th e Ch iefta in Nanda . The cow

herds were wanderers by h ab i t , and to them it

was no great undert ak ing to move from pl ace topl ace

,milking th e i r cows and making butter and

curds d ai ly on the march. Many t imes al re ady

had they gone to Mathura to offer the annua l

tr ibute,and they were fam il iar with the l arge green

reserves outs ide the c i ty , which wer e known as the

king’s p arks,wher e they and th ei r herds would

find abundance of room . Long before d awn,

th erefore,th ey h ad setto work to prep are the gifts

wh ich wou ld be sentouti n c arts for offer ing tothe King

,and to make themselves and their camp

ready for the removal . But firs t th ey satformany hours about th e newly arr ived guest

,t alk

i ng,l ate i nto the n ight , of th e ch i ldhood and

youth of Krishn a and Bolarama, and of the

dreams and thoughts th at the face of th e Lord

was potent to st i r in th e he arts of H is devotees .

For the messenger of Kansa was an uncl e of th e

two lads , and he knew and worsh ipped the divine

THE RETURN TO MATHURA 1 9 1

ch ar acter of h is n ephew. And many felt,as the

embers of th e even ing cooking-fires d ied down ,and even the logs th at had been setal ight afterwards turned to ashes , and th e bl ackness of theforest bec ame fi l l ed with the whispers of n ight

many fel t i n thei r h earts th at the h appiness of

those e ar ly ye ars was over for them . The gre at

world w i thout had need of the Lord , and thehi l l s ides of Brindaban wou ld know H im no more .

Krishn a and Bolarama were driven to the c ityin st ate in th e ch ar io t of th e roy al messenger .

But on reach ing the gates of Mathura they insisted

on a l ight ing . They wou ld l ike,they s aid

,to

enj oy th e s igh ts of th e c ity in freedom for the

rest of th e day,and to spend the night wi th thei r

friends from the forests . They wou ld notfai l onthe morrow to presen t themse lves at the tournament . Already they were att ired in accordance

wi th the ir true r ank,as young nobl es aboutto be

rece ived for th e first t ime at court . And as th ey

wen t about the streets of Mathura,th ey were

everywhere tr eated with the respect due tothem . Thus they made th e ir way to the pl acewh ich had been prep ared for th e next d ay ’s

spectacle .

Al l round were r anged the se ats and gal l eries

for differen t sections of th e spect ators . One

divis ion had been prepared for the cowherds,

anoth er for th e royal cl an of th e Vrishn is , a


third for the c it izens and townsfo lk of Mathura,

and so on . H igh at one end of the l is ts towered

the royal seat of Kans a, draped and gar l anded

and decked with banners and auspic ious orn a

ments . Opposi te wer e the arr angements beingmade for th e pub l ic sacrifice . And near t o theth ron e

,i n a kind of shr i ne , wel l guarded , was

d isp l ayed a sacred obj ect,no other than a great

bow,s aid to be d ivi n e

,which was regarded as the

amul et and ta l i sman of th e house of Kansa .

Whenever and wherever the King appeared in

st ate,th is how was exh ib ited beside h im ,

as a

perpetua l ch al lenge and reminderto al l th e wor ld,

th at i f any wou ld d ispossess h im of h i s crown,

they must firs t bend and break this weapon of

th e gods . ~ Now the bow was of such strength

th at no l iv ing man could bend i t . And none

had ever been known even to li ft i t a l one .

None of the guards not iced anyth ing unusua l

about the two youths who had entered and were

stro l l ing about the l i s ts . Crowds were constant ly

coming and going,i n spect ing th e arrangements for

the next day ’s fest ivit ies , and not yet had the Lord

S ignal ised H imself by putt ing forth H is d ivine

power . Sudden ly,however, before any one cou ld

prevent H im,Krish na leapt feat ly to the royal dais

,

and went forward to se ize th e great bow . The

guards threw themse lves on H im,to snatch i t

back,but H e l ifted it l ight ly above them ,

with H is


soul,however

,he knew i t for th e sound of coming

doom . H e knew th at th e prophec ies of h i s an

cestors were true, and th at with the appearance ofone who could bend it , th e power wou ld dep art

from h im and from his l in e .

As morn ing dawned,i t appeared to Kansa as if

h e could h ard ly wai t for the beginn ing of th e

tourn ament th at was to dec ide al l . H ast i ly, he

gave orders for th e compl etio n of the preparat ions .

The l ast deco ration s were added ! drums and t abors

sounded ! th e pe op le began to fi l l th ei r gal l er ies !th e royal guests took the ir p l aces ! then Kansa ,surrounded by h is counsel lors

,ascended the roy a l

da i s , and took h is seat in th e very midst of the

circ l e of kings . H is appearance was fu l l of

splendour,but with in , h is heart was sh aken with

anxiety . Then th e trumpet sounded the ch al l enge ,and th e King ’s wrestler s entered the arena in order ,and stood i n thei r p l aces

,wai t ing to see what

combat ants wou ld o ffer themselves . Final ly,the

cowherds en tered i n process ion , he aded by N anda

and other Ch ieft a ins,and

,offer i ng the tr ibute th ey

had brought,at th e royal feet

,pa id pub l i c homage

,

and passed on to the seats arranged for them . And

now,at l ast

,a l l wai ted together for th e appearance

of those who might des ireto try th ei r ski l l wi th theKing ’s figh ters . But none knew th at a t the door

by wh ich any such must come in,Kansa h ad

secret ly s t ationed an el eph an t, who h ad been

THE RETURN TO MATHURA 1 95

goaded into fury t i l l h e wou ld rush on those who

might seek ! to en ter,and tr amp l e them to dea th .

With d awn th at morn ing Kri shna and H is

brother Bolarama h ad risen,bath ed , and offered

worsh ip , and now,hear ing th e cal l of th e drums

and trumpets,th ey came to the h al l of s acr ifice to

be present at th e tournament . As they en tered

the port al s,however , th ey saw an immense e lephan t

rush ing furious ly down upon th em,goaded by h is

keeper . Quick as l ightn ing Kr ishn a girded H is

garments tight ly about H im,and stood wai t ing for

the onse t . The eleph ant caugh t H im with its trunk !but H e struck i t in the foot and re l eased H imself .

For a moment th e angry beast lost s ight of H im,

th en i t caught H im again,and the same manoeuvre

was repeated . At th i s moment , as i f th e th ing were

a mere j oke,Kri shn a caught the migh ty creature

by the tai l,and dragged i t backwards

,as some gre at

bird migh t drag a snake . Again he dar ted b ack

wards and forward s , to right and l eft, fo l lowing the

turns of the i n fur i ated e leph an t,even as the cow

herds of Brindab an wou ld fo l low themovementsof a turn ing and wheel ing ca l f. Now He faced i t

and struck i t wi th H is h ands,and , again run n ing

h ither and th ither . He thr ew i t to the earth with a

kick from H is foot . The elephan t recovered i ts

footing,however

,and

,again goaded by i ts keeper

,

made stra ight for Krishna . He,see ing now for

the first t ime how over flowing must be the cup of


Kansa’s in iqu i ty ,to have given such orders for H isundoing , muttered , between closed teeth ,

Tyran t !

th ine end must indeed be n ear a t hand !” and gave

H imse l f final ly to the k i l l ing of th e beas t and its

keeper .

The great trunk would have o nd itse l f aboutH im

,but H e vau lted l igh t ly by i ts means to the

crea ture ’s head,and th en

,p lacing one foot there

,

and one on th e lower j aw,H e forced th e mouth

open,and

,bending down

,drew forth its immense

tusks,and with these s l ew both e l ephan t and man .

A few minutes l ater,girded as H e had been for

th e struggl e,and bearing the tusks of the creature

in H is hands,Krishna entered the arena

,fo l l owed

by Bolarama, H is broth er .How different were the fee l ings o f tho se who

l ooked upon H im in th at momen t ! The sold ierss aw in H im

,i t i s s aid, a migh ty gener a l . Women

saw a beauti fu l you th . The peop l e s aw simp ly

a great man . Nanda and h is subj ects s aw th e

beloved Cowherd of Brindaban . Devak i and

Vasudeva , from their p l ace near th e King’ s person

,

s aw the ir Babe of one stormy night twe lve years

before . Saints saw th e Lord H imse l f appear

on earth in human f orm . And Kansa , on h i s

high se at trembled,for i n th e be aut i fu l Lad before

him,without armour

,weapons

, or fo l l owers , b e,seated on h is throne and surrounded by h is

armies, saw only

'

h is own dest ined D estroyer .


some unexpected moment,and ki l l them both

,as

i f by acc ident . I nstead of giving th e counter

chal lenge direct,therefore , H e answered , i n th e

same comp l imentary styl e that th e wrest ler had

used , that i f th e King real ly wish ed to see the

wrest l ing of the cowherds , He wou ld prove th e

fact by giving H imse l f and H is brother,as the i r

antagon ists , boys of th e ir own age .

At th is Chanura lost a l l pat i ence . “ You say

th is ? ” he cr ied You,whose hands but now

were wet wi th the blood of an in fur iated e lephant,

whose strength was as that of a thousand ! Your

strength i s not that of mere lads . You are amongst

the most powerfu l be ings in the wor ld !”

Al l present understood th is as a ca l l to morta l

combat , and a thri l l of horror wen t round the

as sembly a s th ey saw th e two young men , l it t l e

used as they must be to the methods of c i ties,

confronted by the sk i l l,s trength

,and exper ience

of a whole bevy of famous wrest l ers of the court .

Devaki and Vasudeva , from the ir p l aces above,

made no secret of th e terror which the fight

i n spired in them . On ly in the gal l ery of th e

cowherds were there seen brigh t smi l es and un

t roub led countenances . For th ere a lon e were

some who cou ld guess th e powers of the Divin e

Wrest lers to fo i l th e ir combatants .

Chanura and 'Musthika then addressed themse lves to the fight with Kr i shna and Bolarama .

THE RETURN TO MATHURA 1 99

Each coup le fough t by a l l known modes of combat .t. . E ach found in h is foe a worthy antagon ist . At

las t Chanura drew back,and then

,with arms ou t

and,

fists c l enched, came down with a l l h is strength

on Krishna,even as a hawk migh t swoop down on

its prey .

’

But Kri shna wa ited ca lmly for h is b low,

and seemed to feel itno more than an e lephantwhen struck by .a gar land of flowers . Then

,at

last,He seized Ch anura by th e arms

,and threw

him to the ground dead . And the fal l of the

great wrest ler was as th e l oss of the thunderbo l t

from the hand of I ndra H imsel f. As for Musthika ,Bolarama s l ew h im careles s ly, with a blow of his

l eft hand . Another pair of gladiators came for

ward and offered batt l e , and aga in a th ird , but

on ly to be s l ain , each i n h is turn , by h is chosenfoe . As the th ird combat ended

,however

,al l the

rest of the wrest lers -fled,and the cowherds cou ld

no longer be restrained . They rose from their

p laces in a body,and

,crowding round Kr ishna

and Bolarama, embraced them , amidst mingl ing

of l aughter and shouts o f tr iumph , and then

al l together,with tinkl ing of th eir ornaments

,

began,to th e great amusement of th e assembly

,to

dance one of the forest dances !

But the eyes of Kansa had been growing larger

and larger wi th terror,as one by one he had seen

his wrest lers S la in . At the end of the th ird combat

h e had marked th e sudd en fl igh t of the whol e

20 0 CRADLE TALES OE HINDUISM

remai n ing staff of gladiators . And now the fight,

tha tto h im was so ser iou s,was degenerat ing in to

a harmless and unseemly reve l,with the sympathy

of al l those around h im,whose h earts ought

,as

h e fe l t,to have been with h im

The King rose to h is feet , and , at fi rst choking

with rage,but afterwards in cl ear

,l oud tones

,

s i l enced the trumpets and cal l ed t o h is guards

Drive out these youths,and arres t and bind th e

Chiefta in Nanda,with a l l h i s fo l lowers ! Let

Vasudeva here be s lain Sl ay Ugrasena my fath er

and h i s attendants,and al l wi th them who are

th e friends of Krishna ! Slay Sl ay

Before the King’s order s had been comprehended

by any other,almost b efore he had resumed h is

s eat,Krish na had leapt to th e roya l dais—t ruly

,

i t h ad been foo lh ardy,by thus attack i ng al l who

were de ar to H im , so to provoke th e Protector

of the Universe ! See ing Kr ish n a so c lose , and

knowing th at the momen t long dreaded was come

upon him,Kansa rose to h is fee t and drew h is

sword . But the Cowherd grasped h im by the

h air of ' h is h ead,and at the touch h is crown fe l l

off . Then down from th e dais j umped th e youth ,bear ing the King with H im , powerless i n H is grasp .

He threw h im to the ground in the aren a , and

a moment l ater dr agged h im al l round i t, even ,s ays the h i stori an

,as a l ion might dr ag a dead

e leph ant,th at al l h i s subj ects might see th at th e i r

K r i s hn a Parth a Sarath i,

Charioteer of Arjuna

THE Lord Krish na never afterwards returned

from Mathura to Brind aban . H is l i fe became

th at of a pri n ce and th e adviser of princes,

though H e never occupied the throne H imse l f .

H enceforth H e l ived in th e palaces and cour ts

and counci l -chambers of monarchs , and sorrow

dwel t etern al ly in the heart of Radha .

Once more , indeed , or so it i s s a id , was H e

seen by H is peas ant fr iends . For they,un ab le

longer to endure H is l oss , ma‘

de p i lgrimage t o a

great s acr ifice announced by H im . I t was th at

t ime of year when crops are h arvested , and e arth

l ie s fa l l ow for awh i l e , and men may rest . Then

did these s imple fo lk make bold to enter the roya l

a'emesne and find thei r Fr iend . And He

,when

He heard that they had come and were asking

for H im ,was glad at heart . With al l s t ate and

d igni ty were th ey brough t into the h al l of

audience , and Krishn a , accord ing to the wont

of kings , dressed in th e robes and j ewels of a

pr ince , c ame there to receive th em .

KRISHNA PARTHA SARATHI 20 3

But , str ange to say , the country yokel s would

not look at H im I‘ With eyes cast on the ground ,

or heads averted,s tood these herdsmen and

women of Brindaban,utter i ng not one word ,

cast ing not one gl ance,in the d irect ion of the

Pr ince Who stood before them ! Then Kri shn a

understood th e des ire of thei r hearts , and go ing

outof th eir presence for a moment , H e put offthe robes and j ewel s of st ate

,and , smi l ing , came

back to them , cl ad in the s imple garments of the

cowherds . On H is head now was th e t iny circ let ,with the peacock’s fe ather in the fr ont . I n H is

r ight h and H e carr ied the flute . And H is feet

were b are . And when th ey saw H im in th is , the

be loved form of earl i er d ays , th e he arts of those

country-fo lk were gl ad . Cal l ing H im aga in to

p l ay upon His flute to them , they romped and

pl ayed and sang al l ’ d ay with H im amongst th e

royal gardens , even as of o ld in th e meadows and

woods of Brindaban . How they rej oiced in cal l

i ng to mind the h appy p ast ! “ Ah they would

S i ng , “ now we cannot see You , for You are on

the el eph ant . Butsay , do You remember the

graz ing of the cows ? Now,how can we ta lk

with You, You who wear the diadem ? But te l l

us , what h ave You to say about your steal ing of

the butter ? ” And so i n a kind of h ide - and-go

seek of h appy memories,th e hours were p assed ,

and Krish na was once more a peasant amongst


peasants . For H e , the Lord , i s ever the s ame

unto H is devotees , and appe ars u nto e ach one

of them in th at very form for wh ich H is inmosth eart cr ies out.Those were st irr ing days in I ndi a , and the

pos it ion of Krishna i n the powerfu l Vrishni

State , placed h im in th e front of affa i rs . Kings

sought H is approval and th e a l l iance of H is

peopl e . He bui l t th e sp lend id c ity of Dwarka

on the sea-coast . H is presence was des i red at

every tournament and assembly . Under h is gu id

ance th e Vrishn is and thei r governmen t became

one of the mos t important factors in the l ife of

the period . They grew indeed to such strengththat Krishna H imsel f is sa id to have seen thegrave danger to the nat iona l l i fe in the exi stence

of so strong a mi l i tary class as their nobles formed ,and to have sought in H is own mind for means

of bringing th is danger to an end . I t was never

H is way,however , to interfere i n affa i rs , i n H is

own proper person , and in th e assertion of

H is own wi l l . Rather did H e look on at th e

world as i f i t were a l l a play wh ich he was watch

ing . Some t imes,at most , He would remove an

obstacl e, so that the wi l l of the p layers might have

unimpeded scope . I n th is way He al l owed events

to work themselves out,str iving ever to a id th e

course of dest iny,though th i s l eads in the end to

the sel f-destruct ion of a l l th ings .

20 6 CRADLE TALE S OF HIND UISM

the shoot ing of an arrow at a given t arget from a

certa in great bow . Only those who were by birth

e l ig ib le for th e h and of th e pr incess were al l owed

to compete,and the victor was to be proclaimed

the chosen husband of D raupad i. Amongst the

c and idates were many of Ind ia’

s

'

greatestnames .Duryodh ana h imsel f was there , eager to win the

bride of that day . And the penetrat ing eye of

Krishna,from H is p lace beside D raupadi

’

s father,

detected in th e l i sts five broth ers , dressed as

Brahmins,whose bear ing was more knight ly , and

the ir bu i ld more h ero ic , than those of any others .“ What shou ld you say , He wh ispered to thebride ’s father

,

“ i f yon shou ld prove to be th e far

famed Pandavas,and the i r Brahmin dress only a

disguise ? ” I n good sooth,i t was even so

,and

one of these brothers i t was—Arj un a , th e th ird ofth em—who shot h is arrow into th e centre of th etarget

,and succeeded in winning th e roya l br i de .

But when th e five broth ers h ad taken her to th e

po tter ’s house,Krish na and H is broth er Bolarama

fol lowed th em , secret ly, in th e evening, and ascer

tained that they were , as H e had thought , th ePandava heroes . Then H e gave them H is bl ess

ing,say ing , “ May your prosper i ty i ncrease , even

as fire h idden in a cave spre ads outwards .”

And from th is t ime the fortunes of the Pandavas

began once more to grow .

I n sooth , i t was not str ange that Kr ishn a shou ld ,

KRISHNA PARTHA SARATHI 2 0 7

at the first g l ance,h ave recognised these heroes .

For Arj un a,th e th i rd broth er

,was th at sou l who

had been born for th e exp ress purpose of re

cogni s ing H is d ivin i ty , and by th is fact sh ar ing

H is glory . One of Arjuna’

s names was Partha ,and Krish n a i s known

,i n the south of I nd i a , as

Parth a Sar ath i , th e Ch arioteer of Arj una .

Many t imes dur ing th e ensu ing years did these

two fr i ends vis i t one another , n ow in th e forestand again i n th e p al ace

,and hold d eep convers e

together on matters concerning the sou l and God .

Deep was th e trust of Arj un a in Krishn a’s insight

into those aff airs of men and nat ions through

wh ich th e h igher l aws find vis ib l e express ion .

And he , with al l h is broth ers , and D raupad i, and

their who le househo ld , worsh ipped and loved

the Lord Krishn a , ho lding H im to be th e Sav iourof men .

I t i s to ld , i ndeed , of th is per iod in th eir l ives

th at a cert ain wicked man was th e enemy of

the Pandavas , and , in order to obtain power to

conquer them , he went and l ived for some time

on th e banks of the Ganges,there offering prayers

and great p enances to Siva , whose oth er name is

Mah adeva , th e Great God . At last th e austeri t ies

pract i s ed by th is man bec ame so great and

manifo ld that they could not fai l of th eir aecom

plishment, and Siva appeared in a vi s ion to H i sworsh ipper . “ Speak !

” commanded He.

“ Tel l


me wh at i s th e boon that thou d emandestof Me

“ E ven that in battl e I may defeat th e five

Pandavas , st anding each in h is ch ar io t of war !”

answered the man .

But Siva smil ed and shook H is h ead .“ The

th ing that thou askest , O morta l , i s impossib l e .Listen , and I wi l l t e l l unto th ee ,

” s aid H e,“ who

is Arj un a .”

And th en th e Great God revea led to H is worsh ipper the true n ature of th e h ero Arj una. H e

was , He s aid , th e twin sou l , Nara , of Krish na , th e

incarnation of Narayan H imse l f. And as to

Krishn a , s aid Mah adeva , “ I t i s even for th e de

s truct ion of th e wicked and for th e preservat ion

of re l ig ion th at H e h ath taken H is birth among

men in th i s warr ior race . I t i s no oth er th an

Vishnu the Preserver , Who goeth amongst menby th e name of Kri shn a . Hear

,O thou mort a l

,

th e natur e of H im Whom al l the worlds worsh ip,

H im whom the learn ed descr ibe as without b e

ginn ing and without end , unborn and divine !

They cal l H im ‘Krishn a the Unconquer ab le ,armed with conch -sh el l , discus , and mace , adorned

with the embl em of a cur l of h air , d ivine , cl ad in

s i lken robes of ye l low hue, and ch ief of al l th ose

who are versed in th e art of war .’ Arj un a the

Pandava i s protected by th is Krishn a . That

glorious being , of th e lotus eyes and of i nfin i te

2 1 0 CRADLE TALE S OF HINDUISM

of th e Pandavas,at the same time offer ing his

own al l iance,and calli ng upon h is fr i ends to give

th ei rs a l so,for th e re-estab l ishment of th e five

brothers . Fired by th is generou s enthusiasm , i t

was agreed that Duryodhan a shou ld be cal l ed

upon to make resti tut ion,but that

,i f h e refused ,

the assembled kings shou ld hol d themselves i n

readiness to form an army , for th e purpose of

fo rcing h im to do so .

The organisat ion of th e Pandava army for th is

war fe l l almost ent irely into th e hands of Krish na .

Yet so modest was H is work and so restra ined H is

methods,that it s e emed a lmost as i f p lan s and

combinat ions made th emselves . At the very b e

ginning of th e preparat ions , Duryodhana and

Arj un a both went to H im to ask for H is al l i ance,

for Duryodhana also knew H is d ivin e character.

On reach ing th e palace , th ey were to ld that H e was

asleep . They went forward , however , and en tered

H is s leep ing-chamber,to await H is awaken ing .

Duryodh ana arr ived first , and seated h imsel f nearthe head of the bed on a fine seat . Arj un a stood

wai t ing at the foot,i n an att itude of reverence .

When Kr ishna opened H is eyes,H is first glance

fe l l on Arj una . Duryodh ana then spoke,ex

press ing h is desire for the he lp of Krishna in

the coming campaign , and adding that, as h e

had entered H is presence first , i t wou ld be fa ir

to promise it t o h imse l f. Kr ishna smi l ed and


answered that in this matter H e thought the claims

were equal,since H e had seen Arj una first . He

added , moreover , that , in matters of choice , i t

was customary to l et th e younger choose first .

He desired to re fuse no prayer that Shou ld be

made to H im , but in th is case H e had two alter

nat ives to propose . He cou ld g ive to one of th e

combatants , He said , an army consi sting of some

tens of thousands of so ld iers , ready armed and

equ ipped . To the other H e could p romise only

H is own presence , unarmed , and resolved not tofight . Then H e waited to l et e ach of th e two

knights decide h is own destiny ! for wel l d id He

know that one who h ad been so bl inded by wrath

and des ire as to str ive to keep the possession s ofanother

,could not at the same t ime be so d is

cr iminat ing as to choose the Divin e Person for

h is sole strength and stay . E ven as H e had fore

seen , Arj una , in th e fal tering voice of devot ion ,begged for H is presence beside h im ,

as h is un

armed charioteer , whil e Duryodhana was fu l ly

sat isfied th at h is pr ayer had been answered when

he rece ived the promise of the services of an army

of fighting men .

When the hosts of the Pandavas had been du ly

organised , when their fr i ends and troops were a l l

enro l l ed,and their plans made for batt l e

,th en

Krishna went to the court o f th e Kurus to t ryand ob tain from them overtures of peace . He


fai l ed,however

,and thenceforth there was noth ing

before th e country but th e dark c loud of war .

On th e great p la in of Kurukshetra stood thetwo armies drawn up in order

,and facing each

oth er.The Pandavas were ranged under Yud is

th ira,th e ir monarch , and e ldest of th e five

brothers,over whose head waved th e umbrel la of

pure wh ite and ivory . Nex t i n rank came the

gigant ic Bh ima , whose strength was such that

when st i l l a lad he cou ld hold any ten of th e

Kurus under water at the same t ime . Third stood

Arj una,the migh ty arch er

,i n h is char io t of war ,

with th e Divine Kri shna as h i s char ioteer ! and

th is chariot was r egarded as th e centre of th e

force,Krish na and Arj una being i ts l eaders .

FOurth and fi fth were th e roya l twins,Naku la and

Sah adeva . E ach of th ese princes was surrounded

by h is own section of the army . H is ch ar iot was

drawn by two steeds , with flowing mane and tai l,

and fiery eyes . Over e ach warr i o r waved h is

pennon,carrying h is own cognisance—Arjuna

’

s

a monkey , ano th er an e l eph an t rope , a th ird a

l ion ’s ta i l , and so on . E ach had with h im h is

favour ite weapons , and carr ied in h is hand theshank, or conch-she l l

,with wh ich to sound the

trumpet of battl e .

On the opposi te s ide,i n th e centre of th e army

,

Duryodhan a appe ared, ! r id i ng on an el ephant

,

beneath the umbrel l a of state . At the head of


i nst ance,th at Bh ishma must die by the h and of

Arj una h imse lf, and many s imi lar dooms hung

over the he ads of d ifferen t houses . Yet what

wou ld be even the emp ire of Hastinapura, withou t Bhishma

,without Drona , without th e hundred

sons of D ritarashtra, whose fr iendsh ip and energyh ad h itherto made i ts l i fe and sp iri t ?Arj una had ordered Krishn a to drive h im into

th e space between the two armies , th at he mightsurvey the field

,and there , as h e looked for the

last t ime upon al l th at was sp l endid and bri l l i ant

and st i l l unflawed i n th e hosts o f the enemy , th ese

thoughts of despai r c ame upon h im with a rush

his great bow C and iva dropped from his hand ! and

he s ank down sp ir i t l ess on the floor of h is char io t .

Then came an instant wh ich stands a lone i n

h istory . I t lasted on ly a few minutes . Two

armies faced e ach other , i n the second between

the sounding of th e trumpets and the shoot ing

of the fi rst arrows ! but in th at one moment of

expectancy the Lord Krishna reve aled H imse lf toth e sou l of H is worsh ipper , i n such a way th at h e

s aw h is duty cl early a l l h es i tat ion dropped away

fromh im,and sp ring ing to h is feet fe arl ess ly h e

sounded the war-cry of the Pandavas, and flung

h imse lf upon the fo rtunes of battl e . For to see

God i s th e on ly thing that can make a man st rong

to face the world and do h is duty .

E ven as of old,when the Babe Krish na had


opened H is l it t l e mouth to cry , and H is gr i eved

fos ter-mother,bending over H im

,had seen th e

great vis i on of th e Un iverse wi th in H is l ips , so

now again , on th e fi eld of b at t l e,H e showed to

Arj una H is Un iversa l Form .

Firs t i n a kind of swif t mys t ic ch ant came the

words , “ I am th e sou l,0 Arj una , sea ted in th e

h ear t of every be ing . I am the beginning , th e

middl e , and the end of a l l th ings . Vishnu

amongs t the gods am I,amongs t l igh ts I am the

Sun . I am the mind amongs t the senses,th e

moon amongs t the stars . Amongs t the waters , I

am Ocean h imsel f. Amongs t trees the Aswattha 1

tree am I ! amongs t weapons th e thunderbol t !and Time amongst even ts . Of rivers I am the

Ganges . Of created th ings I am the beginning ,middl e

,and end . Time E ternal am I , and th e

Ordainer wi th face fi lmed on every side Death

tha t seiz eth al l , and the source of a l l th a t i s

to be . I am the sp l endour of those tha t ar e

splendid . I am Victory,I am Exer tion , I am

the goodness of th e good . I am the Rod of those

th at ch asti s e , and the Pol icy of them who seekvictory . I am Si l ence amongst th ing s tha t are

s ecret , and th e Knowledge of those possessed of

knowledge . That which i s th e seed of al l th ings,

I am that ! Suppor ting th is entire Universe wi th

a por tio n only of My s trength,I s tand

1 An old name forthe Bo-tree, Ficus religiosa.


The wonderfu l vo ice d ied away,and a l l th e

senses of Arj una , smi t ten as i t were for a moment ,l ay s ti l l ed and trembl ing , real is ing that , l iv ing or

dead , al l be ings wer e equ a l ly one i n God,and

real i s ing too that even wha t seemed hi s own ac ts

were not his own , but the Lord’s , done th rough

h im . Then he suddenly rose to th e h eigh t of a

great rap ture . Before h im appeared as heretofore

th e countless h os ts of the Kurus and Pandavas ,but he saw al l now as a par t of Krishna H imse lf .

E ach arm , e ach hand , each weapon , was as an

arm,a h and

,a weapon of th e Divine Chario teer .

Mul ti tud inous were the faces and forms that

appeared now as H is . Fierce and terr ib le,l ike

th e fi re that ends th e worlds,was th e shin ing

energy of H is glory . And l ike moths rush ing

upon a flame for the ir own destruction,al l

l iving th ings appeared to be rush ing toward

H im to be devoured .

But as th e morta l gazed upon the great

vis ion,th e te rror of the sigh t overwhe lmed h im .

He could bear no more . And he sh rank back,

crying,

“ O Thou that ar t Lord of a l l th e gods,

Thou that art the refuge of th e Un iverse , be

gracious unto me ! Have mercy ! Show me once

more,I pray

,Thy common from At th ese

words,l ike a dream , the migh ty sp lendou r passed ,

and Arj una,strong and a lert

,with mind braced

,

and muscl es and nerves made firm as steel,found

The Lamentof Gandhari

THE sun its e l f was p al e th at rose over th e batt l e

fi el d of Kurukshetra, when th e combat was

ended . The eigh teenth day h ad seen th e s l aying

of, Duryodh ana, and the l as t n igh t of al l h ad

wi tnessed a mass acre in the S l eep ing camp of th e

Pandavas,where i n ch i ldren

,grandch i ldren

,fr i ends

,

and confeder ates of th e victors h ad a l l a l ike been

put to th e sword . To add to th e h orro r of

th is c arn age,i t was known th a t many of th e

dest ined victims,wakened from sl eep by cr i e s

and sounds of s truggl e coming outof th e d arkness

,and bel i eving th a t an army had taken them

by surprise,h ad struggl ed to the ir fe e t and s l a in

e ach oth er . Morning dawned on scenes of deso

l at ion and despair . True,th e Pandava h eroes

and Krishn a s tood uninj ured and vic tor ious,bu t

about th em l ay the de ath of al l th eir hop es .

Theirs was henceforth th e empire,butwithout

any h e ir to whom it cou ld be left . The th rone

was secured to them , bu t their h omes were emp ty .

Around th em on every h and l ay th e flower o f

th e I nd i an knigh thood,s i l ent for ever . Those

who h ad marched to bat t le wi th co lours flying,

2 1 8

THE LAMENT OF GANDHARI 2 1 9

those‘ whose chario ts h ad been foremos t,the ir

s teeds most spi ri ted,and thei r t rumpets l oudes t

,

those whose seats h ad been veri t ab ly on the back

of the el ephant,l ay now on th e co ld earth

,at th e

mercy of k i tes and j ackals,of vul tur es and wo lves .

E ven amongst the migh ty hosts of Duryodhana,

their foe,three officers alone were l eft al ive .

I n the d is t ance was seen th e woe - s tricken

process ion of th e roy al women of the Kurus ,coming to mourn the ir de ad . And the Pandavas

trembled as th ey gazed at them , for those whose

reserve h ad been h ither to so impenetr abl e th a t

the gods themse lves might sc arce ly look on them ,

walked now , absorbed in the ir grea t gr i ef , i n ut ter

indiffer ence of the publ ic eye . The hundred sons

of D ritarashtra al l l ay dead upon tha t fie ld .

Somewhatwi thdr awn from the res t , and madevenerabl e

,not only

’

by the ir rank,but a lso by

thei r manifo ld bere avements,thei r gre a t age ,

and th eir b l indness , Gandhari the Queen and

D ritarashtra th e King were seated in their carof s t ate . They were th e he ads of the defeated

house,and heads even

,by blood kindred

,of th e

fami ly of the victors . For th em , by re ason of th e

respect due to them,th e meeting with the Pandavas

must necessari ly seem more l ike the submiss ion of

Yud isth ira than h is tr iumph . To them , th erefore ,c ame the young King—D harmma-Raj a , King of

Righteousness,as h i s peopl e c a l l ed him hence


forth—with h is four broth ers,and D raupad i, and

Kr ish na,and

,touch ing their feet

,s tood before

them in deep si l ence .

Rightqueenly was th e aged Gandhar i in hersorrow . D ritarashtra her husband had been bornbl ind but she

,ou t of wife ly devot ion , of her own

accord h ad darkened her eyes with a bandage,and

worn i t fa i th fu l ly a l l the years of th eir un ion . And

by th is h ad come to her deep sp ir i tu a l ins ight .

Her voice was as th e vo ice of fa te . That which

She had sa id wou ld happ en , coul d not fa i l t o come

to pass . Day after d ay of th e batt le,when

Duryodh ana had come to her in the morn ing,

asking for her b l ess ing that h e might retu rntriumphant from tha t day ’s fighting

,she had sa id on ly

,

Victory,my son

,wil l fo l l ow the Right From

the beginning she had known th at Kurukshetrawould see the end of a l l h er house . E ven now,

such was the s ternness of her se lf-contro l , her hear t

was weeping rather for her husband,in h i s sorrow

and deso l at ion,than for h er own loss of “ a century

of sons . And th is was th e more true,s ince she

knew wel l th at had i t not be en for D ritarashtra’

s

own weakness and desi re,th e d is aster of th is day

need never have been the irs . Her own i nflexib l e

wi l l had never wavered . Never for one moment

had she cas t l onging glances towards empire,

preferr ing i t in her secret heartto r ighteousness .But th is very fact

,th at h er husband was be ing


sons and brothers ! The whole field i s covered

with these ch i ld less mothers,and widowed wives

,

of heroes . Here l ie th e bod ies of great warriors,

who in thei r l i fet ime were l ike to blaz ing fires .

Here are scattered th ei r cost ly gems and golden

armour,th ei r ornaments and garl ands . The

weapons hurl ed by hero ic hands,sp iked clubs

and swords,and darts of many forms

,l i e in

confus ion h ere,never again to speed forth on

dread errands of s laughter ! And beast s of pr ey

roam h ither and th i ther a t their wi l l , amongst the

dead . How terr ib le,O Krishna

,i s th is batt le

fi eld ! Beholding these th ings , 0 powerfu l One ,I am on fire with gr ief !

“ How empty is now become the Un iverse !

Sure ly,i n th i s dread contest of Kurus and

Pandavas,th e elements themselves have been

destroyed ! Desolate, l ike ashes of dead fi res,l ie

n ow those heroes who took th e part of Duryod

hana in th is fray . On th e bare ear th s l eep they

who knew al l softness . Hymned by the cr ies

of j acka ls are they whose g lory was chanted by

the bards . Embracing their weapons,th ey l ie

low amidst th e dust of batt l e . And the wai l ing

of women mingles with the roar of hungry beasts ,S i nging th emto the ir rest . What was that d est iny

,

0 Krishna,that has pursued us ? Whence came

th i s curse that has fal len upon us ? ” Weeping

and lamenting in th is fash ion,th e Kuru queen

THE LAMENT OF GANDHARI 2 23

sudden ly became aware that the dead body of her

son Duryodhana lay before h er . This s igh t was

too much for the doom -smitt en woman,and a l l

her gr ief burst forth afresh . She remembered her

own terr ib le b lessing,

“ Victory,O my son

,wi l l

fol low the Right !” pronounced every morn ing

over the head of th e knee l ing prince . She saw now

real i sed that same vis ion that had been present

with her da i ly,since th e batt l e began . Al l these

days sh e h ad been treading a path of angu i sh

under th e shadow of th e coming woe . She had

become as it were the compan ion of j udgment and

sorrow,and there was no room for appeal . A

great queen was Gandhari,wife of D ritarashtra,

sovere ign of th e Kuru cl ans,yet sh e was woman

and mother al so,and her mourning th at was ha lf

wai l,hal f prayer

,rose sudden lyto a new note .

Behold,O Krishna l ” she said . Behold my

son,wont in b att leto be irresist ibl e, s l eep ing h ere

on the bed of heroes ! Terr ib le are the ch anges

wrought by Time ! Th is terror of h is foes , who

of old walked foremost amongst crowned persons ,l i es now before us in th e dust . He for whose

p l e asure th e fa ire st of women wou ld vie with one

another,has none now to bear h im company save

hungry j ackals . He who was proudly encircl ed

by kings,l i es sla in now

,and encirc led by the

vultures .“ Fanned now is he by noisome birds of prey ,


with the fl apping of the i r wings . Pr ince as h e

was and soldi er,my Son l i e s s lain by Bhima, even

as the eleph ant may be s la in by the l ion . Behold

Thou h im , 0 Krishna,l ying on th e bare ground

yonder , st ained with h i s own gore , s l ain i n b att l e

by th e club of Bhima ! Notl ong since,beheld I

th e earth , fu l l of el eph ants and cattl e and horses ,ru led by Duryodhan a wi thout a r ival . To-day do

I behold her dest i tute of cre atures , and rul ed by

another .“ Ah , why breaketh notmy hear t in to a hundred

fr agments , at th e s ight of th ese my beloved s l a in

i n batt l e ? What sin have I and th ese other

weep ing d aughters of men , committed , th at Timeshou ld h ave brough t upon us th i s d i saster ?Pass ing then from th e contempla t ion of Duryod

h ana and th e sons of her own household,th e

mourn ing chant of th e Queen proceeded . Dwel l ing

upon each hero in turn,Gandhari p assed th e

whol e h istory of the batt l e i n rev iew . Again and

again,her mind took note of the imposs ibi l i ty of

having st ayed th e great catastrophe at any point .

Again and again she dwelt on th e inevitablenessof fate . E very now and then wou ld her sobs

break outafresh , “ How ear ly,0 Blessed One

,

how ear ly,have a l l these my sons been u tterly

consumed

The voice of Gandhar i fa i led and broke,and

she ceased for a moment fromthewi ldness of her


the women of Thy race , deprived of sons, kindred

and fr iends,sha l l weep and wa i l in the i r desolat ion

,

as do now these of th e race of Bharata

And 10,as Gandhar i ended

,th e Lord looked

upon her and smi led ! “ Blessed be thou,O

Gandhari,

” sa id H e,

“ i n thus a id ing Me in the

ending of My task . Ver i ly are My peop le,the

Vrishn is,in capab le of defeat , th erefore must they

needs die by the hands of one another . Behold,

0 mother,I accept thy curs e .” And al l who

l i stened to these words were fi l led wi th wonde r

and fear .

Then th e H oly Knight bent down to th e agedQueen .

“ Arise,ar ise

,O Gandhar i , He said

,

“ and se t no t thy heart on grief ! By indulging

in sorrow man increaseth i t two-fo ld .

‘ Beth ink

th ee , O daugh ter , that th e Brahmi n woman bearsch i ldren for th e practice of auster it i es ? The cow

bringeth for th offspr ing for the beari ng of burdens .

The labouri ng woman adde th by ch i ld-beari ng to

the ranks of the workers . But those of roya l

b lood are dest ined from the ir b irth to d ie i nbatt l e !

The Queen l i stened in si l ence to the words ofKrishna . On lytoo wel l d id sh e know thei r tru th .

Desolat i on was spre ad around and with in . Noth ing

appeared be fore her s ave th e l i fe of austerity , to bespent in the fores t . With visi on purified by great

events, she l ooked outuponthe world , and found

THE LAMENT OF GANDHARI 227

i t a l l unrea l . There was noth ing further to besa id

,and she remained si l ent . Then she and

D ritarashtra , together with Yud isth ira and th eother heroes

,restra in ing that gr ief wh ich rises

from fol ly , proceeded together to perform the

las t r i tes for th e d ead by the Ganges s id e .

The Doom of the Vrishnis

MANY years had gone by, and men h ad almostforgotten th e great warfare of th e ir youth , on th eBatt l efield of Kurukshetra. Under the l ong reignof Yud isthira, th e l and had reposed , growing dai lyi n prosper i ty. And the d ifferent peopl es, l iving in

d i fferent parts of I ndia , l ooked up to th e ir suzerain

and were content . Amongst others none h ad

waxed r icher or more powerful th an those clans

who owned th e sway o f Ugrasena, King of

Mathura,and h is powerfu l Min is ter Kri shna .

Their country,from the ci ty of Mathura on th e

jumna, to Dwarka—th at Krishna h ad bui l t—on

th e sea-coast , was fi l l ed wi th abundance of good

th ings . As sold i ers and kn ights the people h ad

come to enj oy l ife d ai ly more and more . Their

cit i es were beauti fu l , their mode of l ivi ng was

sp lendid,th ey possessed great treasures

,and they

th emse l ves were fine and strong,and fu l l of heal th

,

and love of man ly pl e asures .

Sudden ly , i n the midst of al l th is prosp er i ty ,s tr ange rumours began to be whispered aboutamongst them . Cert a in great lords of the court

were s aid to h ave angered th ree d ivin e s ages who2 28


forbade th at such dr inks should be made or so ld

with in h is domin ions,on pain of death ! and

h i s subj ects a lso , understand ing th e great wisdom

of th is command , bound th emse lves over torefr ain from th eir use or manufactur e .

But wh i l e th e c it izens of Dwarka were thus

str iving to avert th e impend ing ca l amity,Death

,

th e embod ied form of Time,wandered dai ly to

and fro amongst the i r dwel l ings . Like unto a

man of fi erce and terr ib l e look , b ald -headed, and

dark of co lour h e was . Somet imes he was seenby the Vrishnis as h e p eered into their h ouses .

Their gre atest archers took aim agai n and again

at h im,but none of th e i r shafts succeeded in

p iercing h im,for he was none other th an the

Destroye r of al l be ings h imse l f . Day after day

strong winds b lew , and many were the evi l omens

th at were seen , awfu l , and forebod ing th e de

struct ion of the royal c l ans . The streets swarmed

with rats . E arthen pots showed cracks,or broke

,

from no apparent cause . Mice in th e n ight wou ld

e at away the hair and nai ls of s lumbering men .

The chirp ing of the mocking-b i rd was const ant ly

he ard with in th e house . Cranes were known to

hoot l ike owls,and goats to imitate th e cries of

j acka ls . Pigeons,messengers of coming ruin , were

seen to enter and fly about the houses of the

Vrishnis . Animals went astray in th eir kinds .

Asses were born of kine and e lephants of mules

THE DOOM OE THE VR ISHNIS 23 1

k i ttens were fathered by dogs , and mice by the

mungoose . Fires,when first l igh ted

,bent the ir

flames toward the l eft . Sometimes they th rew

out a blaze whose sp lendour burnt b l u e and red .

The sun,at h is r i s ing and sett ing over the doomed

ci ty, seemed to be encirc l ed with headless bod iesof men . Those who kept s i l ence

,for prayer or

thought,immediate ly became aware of the heavy

tread about them,of march ing hosts, yet never

could they find outwhat had caused the sound .

The conste l lat ions were again and again seen to

be struck by th e p l anets . The wives of Vrishn i

heroes dreamt n ight ly of a witch who came and

snatch ed from the ir wrists th e ausp ic ious thread .

And the guards of the roya l armoury sudden ly

d i scovered that the pl ace where the weapons and

st andard s of St ate shou ld be were empty .

Then the Vrishnis , In their fear of what seemed

to be coming upon them,fe l t the need of

some opportuni ty for pub l ic prayer and penance

for the avert ing of evi l dest iny . But Krishna,

pondering alone upon a l l these portents,under

stood that the th ir ty-s ixth year was come , and

that the words of Gandhar i,burn ing with grief at

the death of her sons , and deprived as sh e had

been of a l l her kinsmen , were aboutto be fulfi l l ed .

And seeing a l l th ings,and understanding that what

was to be wou ld surely come to pass , He did not

attempt to turn aside th e course of dest iny , but


r ather setH imsel f ca lmly and cheerfu l ly t o makethe path of events easy . He sen t h eralds th ere

fore throughout the city ,to command the Vrishnisto make a pi lgrimage to the sea-coast

,th ere to

bath e i n the sacred waters of th e Oce an .

The command agreed wel l with the fee l ing of

the nobles themse lves , that th ey would do wise ly,as a peop le

,to appoint an occ as ion of publ ic

devot ion and sacrifice,by which to avert the

d ivine anger threaten ing them . Preparations were

immedi ate ly begun,therefore

,for the j ourney of

the grea t kn ights,and a l l th ei r househo lds and

retainers,to the sea-s ide . This cou ld not be done

without l ay ing in large supp l ies of al l k inds of

prov i s ions . And now also came the oppor tuni ty

to break the command of Ugrasena, and the sel f

restra in ing ordinance of th e who le c ity . Great

s tores of wines and sp irits were made ready,along

with al l kinds of costly meats and other vi ands,

and the vast proces sion,with its c arr i ages and

e lephants and horses,and it s cont ingents of

servants j ourneying on foot,was organ ised for th e

march . Li tt le d id these turbulent warr iors,heads

of powerfu l houses,and sk i l l ed in the wie ld ing of

swo rd and bow,su spect that th ei r t ime was come

Only the Lord Kr ishna, of i nfinite energy , knew the

char acter of the hour and stood unmoved .

The coast was reached,the p lace of encamp

ment chosen,and tents were pi tched . But then

,


The sound of the str i fe d ied away in si lence,

for al l the c lansmen—save one who was sent to

cal l Arj una from Hastinapura—had been des troyed . Krishna , th en , l eaving the camp in

charge of servants and men-at- arms , and knowingwel l that the t ime for H is own death had come

,

returned hast i ly t o th e city and ca l led upon H is

father to assume the di rection of affairs,ho lding

the women of the Vrishn is under h is protection

t i l l th e arr ival of Arj una at Dwarka . For H im

sel f, He sa id , having witnessed again a scene as

t err ib le as th e s l augh ter of th e Kurus,and being

robbed of H is kinsmen , th e wor ld had become

in tolerabl e to H im,and H e sh ou ld ret i re to th e

forest for th e l i fe of renunciat i on . Having so

spoken,Krishna touch ed with H is head th e feet

of Vasudeva,and turned quickly to l eave h is

presence As he d id so,however

,a loud wai l

of sorrow broke from the women and ch i ldren

of H is house . Hearing th is,the merc i fu l Lord

re traced H is steps,and

,smil ing upon them al l for

th e last t ime,said gent ly , “ Arj una wi l l come and

wi l l be your protector . And al l your need sha l l

b e met by h im .

” Then H e departed from the

palace,and made H is way to th e forest , notto

return .

Never again was the Lord Krishna seen of th e

world H e had left beh ind . Reach ing the l owest

depths of those wi ld p laces,He establ ished H im

THE DOOM OF THE VR ISHNIS 235

se lf th ere in med itat ion . Deep ly pondered H e on

a l l that had passed,grasp ing in H is mind the curse

of Gandhar i,and th e nature o f Time and Death .

Then did H e setH imsel f towards the restraintof a l l H is senses . Seated firmly beneath a tree

,

He stead ied His own mind upon itself,and drew

in al l H is perceptions,one after another . At las t

H e became al l st i l lness and al l s i lence,reach ing

the uttermos t rest . Then , i t is said , that a l l

might be fu lfi l l ed,wrapped thus i n sel f-communion

as in an impene trabl e mant le,Krishna la id H im

se lf down upon the bare earth . Noth ing in H is

who le body was vulnerab le save the so les of H is

feet . And as H e lay thus , a fierce huntsman came

that way,and mistaking the fee t o f the Lord for a

crouching deer , aimed at them an arrow ,which

struck H im in the heel .

Coming qui ckly up to h is prey,th e huntsman

,to

h is d ismay,behe ld One dressed in the yel low cloth

,

and wrapped in meditat ion ! and h e knew H im

moreover to be d ivine,for behind H im he behe ld

the sh in ing- for th of innumerable arms . Filled with

remors e,not untouched with fear

,that huntsman

fel l to the earth and touched the feet of Kri shna .

And He,th e b l essed Lord

,smi led upon H is

sl ayer,and b lessed and comforted h im . Then ,

with these words of compassion upon H is l ips,He ascended upwards

,fi l l ing the whol e sky wi th

H is sp lendour . Reach ing the threshold of the


divine reg ion,a l l the gods and their attendants

advanced to meet H im,bu t He

,fi l l ing al l H eaven

with H is glory,passed through th e m idst and

ascended up into H is own inconceivab l e region .

Then did th e abodes of b lessedness re sound with

H is praises . Al l th e d ivin i t ies,and the sages

,and

the ce lest ia l h osts,bending before H im in humi l ity

,

worsh ipped H im . The gods made salu tat ion,and

exal ted sou l s offered worsh ip,to H im Who was

Lord of Al l . Angel ic bei ngs attended on H im,

s inging H is praises . And I ndra a lso,th e King of

H eaven,hymned H im r ight j oyfu l ly .

The Lord Krishna and theBroken Pot

NOW ,th e Lord Krish na was hidden by a certa i n

ri ch man to a feas t . And they setbefore H immany dishes . But H is eye took note of a cup

that by chance was b lemished,and firs t th is

imperfect one He drew to H imself, and outofi t began to e at . Which when that rich man

saw,he fel l a t H is - feet and said

,

“ O Lord,

deal est Thou even thus with men ? Choosest

Thou a lways the broken vesse l first ?

The Lord Krishna and theLapwing

’

s Nest

IT was the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The wh ite

conch-she l ls were about to sound,th e e lephan ts

to march forward,and th e att ack of the archers

to commence . The moment was bri e f and

terr ib le . Banners were flying,and the char i oteers

prepar ing for the advance . Sudden ly a l i t t l e

l apwing,who had bui lt h er nest in th e turf of

a h i l lock in the mids t of th e batt l efield,drew

th e at ten t ion of th e Lord Krish na by h er cr ies

of anx i ety and dis tress for her young .

“ Poor

l i t t l e mother !” He said t enderly,

“ le t th is be

thy protect ion and,l i ft ing a great e l eph ant-bel l

th at h ad fal l en near,H e p laced i t over th e lap

wing ’ s nest . And so,through th e eighteen days

of r aging batt le that fo l lowed,a l apwing and

her nest l ings were kept i n safety in their nest,

by th e mercy of the Lord,even in the mids t of

the raging field of Kurukshetra .


the three wor ld s,—th e i r own

,th e upper ! th e

midd le,where men dwel l ! and the nether , or

abode of the demons . But occasional ly th e

demons gain control,se iz i ng the th rones of th e

gods and usurp ing th eir power . Then th e gods

h ave to go to Vishnu th e Preserver,and pray

to H im to hel p them outof the d ifficu l ty,and

sometimes H e does it i n a very curi ous way .

I n such an epoch , H iranyakasipu l ived and

was king. He defe ated al l the gods,and seated

h imse l f on th e throne of the three worlds , declar

i ng th at nowhere in the un iverse was there any

god but h imsel f,and that both demons and men

must worsh ip himalone . Then,in fear of a

coming catastrophe,th e gods themselves began to

walk the earth in th e form of men and , doubtless,they appealed also to th e Lord Vishnu

,imploring

H i s aid . I n any case, soon after the king’s victory

,

a l itt l e son was born to h im , i n th e c i ty of Moultani n the Punj ab

,and he named h im Prahlad .

Curious ly enough,with such a father , the l it t l e

Prahlad proved a very re l igious ch ild . He seemed

to h ave inborn ide as about worsh ip and aboutthe gods . And h is father

,who had determined

to drive the th ought of the deit i es outof th eworld , was very much troub led abou t him . At

l ast h e made up h is mind to put h im into th e

h ands of a very stern teacher,with str ict o rders

that h e was n everto be al l owed to worsh ip any

THE STORY OF PRAHLAD 243

one but h is own father . The te acher,t o h ave

h im better under h is contro l, took the prince toh is own home . I t was a l l to no purpose . When

th ey taught h im h is alphabet,showing h im the

letter K,

“ Yes , th at is for Krishna , the ch i ld

would rep ly,and learn i t e ager ly . G,

“ For

Gopala,” said Prah lad

,and everyth ing th at th ey

cou ld teach h im , he appl i ed at once i n th is way .

Not only d id he h imsel f talk of noth ing but

Krishna ! he spent much of h is t ime also in teach

ing h is worsh ip to th e boys around h im . This

wastoo much . After struggl ing in vainto reformh is pup i l

,th e distressed schoolmaster fe l t that he

must appeal to H iranyakasipu, or the misch ief

would soon spread too far to be set r ight . The

King ’ s anger was great , and he sent for h is son I

h ear th at you'

have been worsh ipp ing Krishna !

he thundered,when the l i tt l e boy , who had

been brough t away from his books , stood before

the th rone . Yes,father !” sa id Prah lad br avely,

“ I h ave .” “ Are you going to promise me that

you wil l never do it ag ain ? asked the King, and

he looked very terr ib le , whi le the royal j ewe l in

h is turban shook with rage .

No,father

,I c annot promise, said poor l itt le

Prahlad .

You cannot promise !” shouted h is father , i n

amazement at h is daring .

“ But I can have you

k i l led !”


“ Not unl ess i t i s the wi l l of Kri shna !” said

th e ch i l d fi rmly .

“ We ’ l l see abou t that , said Hiranyakasipu.

And he ordered his guards to take Prahlad and

throw h im,though he was his own son

,down

to th e bottom of th e ocean , and there p i l e up

rocks on top of h im .

He hoped up to the last minute that th e l i tt l eone would be fr igh ten ed , and run back to giveth e promise h e requ ired . But Prahlad did not

come .

The fact was,he was worsh ipping Kr ishna in

h is own hear t wi th such a fee l ing of love and

happiness,tha t h e had scarcely heard h is father ’s

words,and did not even not ice when th ey put

h im on a stone s lab, and p i l ed huge b locks up

on top of h im , and th rew th e whole great mass

out into the ocean .

He never not iced H e had forgo tten a l l abou t

h imself . That was the s ecret of i t . But no rocks

cou ld keep down one who forgot h imsel f l ike thi s .

So everyth ing fe l l as ide , and he rose again to the

surface of the water . Then Prah lad remembered,

and at once he found h imsel f knee l ing on the

shore,face to face with th e Lord Krishna H imse l f.

The Lotus-E yed smi led gent ly . Ligh t seemed to

be stre aming outround H im in a l l d irect ions . AndH e put H is hand on Prahlad

’

s headto bless H im,

saying,My chi ld

,ask of Me what thou wi l t !”


Terr ible words and wonderfu l prayer of H ira

nyakasipu ! Great beyond that of common men

must have been h is power,for at th is demand

,

r inging outi nto th e ears of the Lord H imself,the p i l l ar cracked from side to s ide , and out

sprang One,ha l f l ike a man and h al f l ike a l ion

,

who leap t upon h im and tore h im in to p ieces

So the demons were dr iven out,and the devas

took the ir own places once more . But some say

that the soul of H iranyakasipu was glad of th is

r elease . And these hold that he was th e same

who in some former b irth had been Ravana,King

of Lanka,and who yet again was t o come into th e

worl d as Sh ishupal.

For once upon a time,l ong before

,they say,

a great sainted sou l h ad been dr iven back to

birth by some evi l fate . But a cho i ce had been

offered him . He migh t pass out of th i s bondage,

i t was said,after seven b irths as the fri end of God ,

or three as H is enemy . Without a moment ’ s

doubt h e chose th ree birth s as th e enemy , that

he might th e sooner return to God . Wherefore

he became Ravana and H iranyakasipu, and yet

again tha t Sh ishupal whose story is s t i l l to t el l .

The Story of D ruwa— A Mythof the Pole Star

THE poetry of th e wor ld Is ful l of the s imi les

devised by poets to suggest the midnigh t sky .

The great mul t i tude of th e s tars sh ining and

qu iver ing,as i t were

,against the darkness

,have

been l ikened to many th ings—to a swarm of

go lden bees,to go lden apples on a tree

,to a

go lden snowstorm in the sky,to fi refl i es at even

ing , holes in a ten t- roof, di s tan t lamps moving

in the darkness,j ewels on a blue banner

,and so

on,and so forth . But only in I ndia , so far as I

know,have they ever been compared to wh ite

an ts,bui lding up a vast b lue anth i l l

For the fac t that seems most deeply to have

impressed th e H indu mind,was not the appear

ance of th e starry dome,so much as the perfect

stead iness i n i t,of th e Polar Star . Wonderfu l

s tar ! the on ly po int in al l th e heavens that stayed

unmoved,whi le round i t came and wen t the busy

wor lds . And th is st i l lness moreover must have

character ised i t from the very beginn ing of things .

I t was never for the Pole Star to learn i ts quietude .

247


I t came by no degrees to i ts proper p lace . Rather

has i t been fa ith fu l and at res t Sinc e the verybirth of t ime . Surely i n a l l the world of men

there cou ld be noth ing l ike th is,unswerving

,

unerr ing from beginning to end,th e witness of

movement , i tse l f immutable . Un less indeed we

might imagine that some ch i l d i n h is h eart had

found the Goal,and remained th enceforth

,s i l en t

,

absorbed and s tirl e ss,from etern ity to etern ity

,

th rough a l l th e ages of man .

I n I ndia , the myst ic land of th e lotus, was born

th e ch i ld D ruwa . H is father was a king,and h is

mother,Suniti

, the ch ief of al l th e queens . Yet

even on a lotso fortunate as th i s,may fa l l th e

dark shadow of disaster . For long before the

bi rth of D ruwa,the son of one of th e younger

queens had been promised th e throne,and the

coming of th e new ch i ld wou ld undo th is c laim,

s ince the son of the pr incipa l queen was un

doubtedly the King’

s true h ei r . I t i s easy,ther e

fore,to understand the anger and fear of th e

lesser wi fe a t the ch i ld ’s bir th . She was j ea lous

of th e new baby,on behalf of her own son

,and

did not fa i l to Show her feel ing in many ways !t i l l at las t th e King

,i n very anxie ty for their safe ty

,

ordered h is wi fe and l i ttl e one t o be exi led from

the court , and sent them to l ive in a s imp le cottage,on the d is tant edge of a great fores t .

I t was a humble cottage enough,yet charming


would s tand quiet ly , watch ing the peasan ts in the

ri ce-fields that s tretched to the horizon beh ind

them,sowing the seed

,and

,when the ra ins l ay

deep on the earth,t ransp lant ing the crops .

So the year s passed,and the brooding s i lence

of nature was a l l about them . Only in the sad

hear t o f Sun iti,a l l th e joy of l i fe was centred in

h er son .

At last,when D ruwa was seven years o ld

,he

began to ask about h is father . “ Cou ld I not go

to see h im,Mataj i , honoured mother ?

” he said

one day .

“Why,yes

,my ch ild !” sa id th e poor Queen ,

fu l l o f star tl ed pl easure at the thought,yet so

accustomed to sorrow,that she t rembled at any

change in th e even tenor of the ir l i fe,l est i t

Shou ld end by robbing her of the one th ing tha t

was sti l l h ers . Oh yes,thou sha l t go, l i t t l e one ,

to -morrow

And so, th e next day , D ruwa set out, i n thecare of a guard , to seek h is father, and te l l h im

that he was h is son . Beaut ifu l was the road by

wh ich they went . H igh over thei r heads spread

the boughs o f the shady trees , and on each s ide

l ay the wide fields . E very now and then they wou ld

pass a great pond,with i ts handsome bathing-steps

on one s id e,crowned by an arch

,and near by

wou ld see th e ch i ldren of th e vi l l age play ing . For

each vi l l age had i ts own bath ing-pond and its own

THE STORY OF DRUWA 25 1

temple . And in the streets,as they passed through

th em,i t being st i l l ear ly i n the morning

,th ey

would see th e j ewel ler working over h is l it t l e

stove,the potter turn ing h is wheel

,and the cow

herds taking the cows to pasture in th e dis tan t

meadows . Somet imes th e ch i ld walked , and some

times h e was carr ied . At last th ey arr ived at the

roya l gates,and D ruwa went i n

,past the sentine l s

,

and entered the palace i tse l f . On and on he

went,t i l l h e reached the hal l of aud ience

,th en h e

came to th e step s of the throne,and there

,at last

,

he saw th e King h imse lf. At th is po int,he ran to

h i s father ’s arms .

The King was overcome with j oy . Not one day

had gone by,of al l those seven years

,withou t

h is longing for h is wi fe and son,and here was

suddenly th e l i t t l e one h imself, come of h is own

accord,ful l of love and t rust . He fe l t as if he

could never caress h im enough,or d ist inguish

h im enough,to make up for those long years of

neglect .

At th i s very moment,however , D ruwa

’

s s tep

mother entered the b all. I f on ly th i s lady had

been the Queen , her son wou ld have h ad the r ight

to be King some day , and she would not have

needed to cl aim the suCcession for h im . But as

it was,she could never forget that h er rival Sun iti

was the rea l Queen , and that D ruwa therefore was

th e r ightfu l hei r . And her whole heart was ful l


of j ea lousy . Now,therefore

,her anger knew no

bounds . She taunted her husband with the

memory of h is ear ly promise,and spoke words

so wicked about the ch i ld on h is kne e,that i n

haste he put h im down , and turned to p lead with

her , as i f afra id that h er evi l prayers migh t come

to pass .

But even a ch i l d knows that a strong man or

woman i s th e greatest th ing i n the whol e wor ld ,and when h i s father put h im away

,D ruwa fe l t as

i f h i s hear t had broken with i n h im,a t finding him

weak . Si lent ly , al l unnoti ced , he touched h is feet ,and k i s sed the steps of th e throne before h im .

Then he turned,beckoned to h is guard

,and

went .

I t s eemed a long way home . But at last

they reached the doorway,where the Queen had

watch ed hour after hour , not able to rest, i n h er

terrible fea r that someth ing migh t have h appened

to h er boy . The servan t d i sappeared,and th e

chi l d l ifted the long la th -curtain,and bounded in to

her presence . Ah,how glad she was to see h im

H ere,at leas t

,he was at home .

Then they went outin to the verandah togeth er ,and D ruwa began to eat the fru i ts and cakes that

were la id in readiness . Whi le h e at e, h is gracefu l

young mother watched h im anxiou sly . Yes , i t

was a s She had feared i t migh t be . There was a

d ifference. Someth ing sad had come into the


About midnigh t , he could bear i t no longer .

He rose up from hi s l i t t l e bed,and stood over

h i s s leep ing moth er for a moment . She did not

wake . “ O Lotus -E yed,I l eave my mother to

Thee !” h e said i n h is h eart . Then he sto le

qu iet ly out,and stood 0 11 th e verandah

,l ooking

at th e forest .

I t was br igh t moon l ight,and the trees cast l ong

black shadows . He had never been al lowed to

go even a l i t t l e way i nto the fores t a lone,and

now he was go ing down to i ts very heart . But

i t must be r igh t , for he cou ld hear the voice

cal l ing,

“ Come to me !” louder than ever . “ 0

Lotus-E yed,I g ive myself to Thee !” he said , and

stepped off th e verandah,and over th e grass into

the forest .

He was barefooted,but the thorns were

noth ing . He had been weary,but that was a l l

forgotten . On and on withou t rest ing,he went

,

seeking the Lotus-E yed .

At las t he reached th e hear t o f the fores t .

Then came one wi th great fiery eyes,and hot

breath,and swinging tai l . D ruwa did not know

who i t was . He went up to h im eager ly.

“ Are

you the Lotus -Eyed ? he asked . And the Tiger

s lunk away ashamed . Next came someth ing with

heavy footsteps and deep dark fur . “ Are you the

Lotus-E yed ? ” asked D ruwa. And the Bear,too ,

s lunk away ashamed St i l l the ch i ld heard th e

THE STORY OF D RUWA 255

voice of the Lotus -E yed in h is heart,saying

,

“ Come ! Come ! And he waited . Al l a t once,

out of th e darkn ess of the forest th ere appeared

before h im a holy man,whose name was Narada

,

and he la id h i s hands on h is head,saying Litt le

One, you seek the Lotus-Eyed ! Let me teach

you the way by wh ich you shal l find H im,and

where !

And then he showed h im how to si t down on

the earth,withou t moving

,and to say over and

over again,

“ Hail,Blessed One , Lord of th e

Worlds ! Hai l ! And he sa id that i f h is whole

thought cou ld fasten without waver ing , in perfect

steadiness,on the words he spoke

,he wou ld find

th e Lotus-E yed,without a doubt .

The boy sank down on the ground , as he was

to ld,and began to repeat the sacred text . Like a

rock he sat there, moving not a muSCle. Even

when the white ants came to bui ld th eir anth i l l,

and raised i t up around him,he never stirred .

For deep in h is own hear t D ruwa h ad found th e

Lotus-Eyed,and h e had come to rest for ever.

So th e Pole Star was given him for hi s home,and is cal led to th is day D ruwa-Lok .

But some say that away beyond i t is another ,l arger and j ust as true

,and that there D ruwa

’

s

mother,Sun iti, was p laced , that her ch i ld might

be always at her feet, and j oy be hers , throughout

the count less ages o f those stars .

Gopala and the Cowherd

FIRST I must te l l you that GO pala had the bes tmother tha t ever l ived . H is father

,too

,had been

a good man . He had not cared about money .

Al l h e had wanted was to be good,and read the ho ly

books,l earn ing a l l th e beaut i ful th ings he could

,

and teaching them to oth er peop le . The vi l lage

fo lk regarded h im as their l earned man,so they

gave h im a l i t t l e fi el d in wh ich he could grow

corn,and there was a patch of ground near his

house wh ich produced fru it and vegetab les,and

th i s had a lways been enough . When he lay dying

h e said to h is wife,

“ Beloved,I am notvery

anx ious about you and GO pala . I know that our

Lord H imse l f wi l l t ake care of you. Besides,th e

field wil l br ing you corn,and our k ind neighbour s

wi l l dig th e garden for you , th at you may have

food . And the mother s aid,

“Qui te right , my

husband . Have no care about us . We shal l

do we l l . Thus she cheered h im , with al l h er

strength,that he m igh t d ie in peace

,fixing al l h i s

thought on God .

And when al l was over,the neighbours came

and carr ied the dead body away . And th ey put2 56


that two long p ieces of cotton are a l l a l i tt l e b oyneeds . One, cal l ed the chudder , i s th rown over the

l eft shou lder l ike a kind of shawl . And th e other ,th e dhoti

,is fo lded round h im below

,and fastened

in at the waist . I suppose he would want four

of these ,two for to-day, and two for to-morrow,

whento-day ’s sui t wou ld be washed in the stream .

Of course a l l these th ings together cost very

l itt l e,butto the poor mother i t s eemed a great

deal,and she had to work hard for many days

at her sp inn ing-whee l,to earn th e money .

At las t a l l was ready,and

,c arefu l ly choosing a

lucky day,she bl essed her l it t l e son , and stood at

the cottage door,watch ing h im go down th e forest

path to h is firs t l essons .

As for GO pala, he went on and on . The road

seemed very long,and h e was beginningto wonder

i f h e had lost h i s way,when at las t the vi l lage

came in s igh t,and he cou ld see numbers of other

boys go i ng in to school . Then he forgot that he

had been a l i tt l e fr igh tened,and hurr i ed up with

th e others and presented h imse l f in cl ass .

I t was a long and del ight fu l day . Even when

l esson s were over, there were games with the other

boys,and when at l ast he setoutto go home ,

i t was almost dark . I t was a long t ime befo re

Gopala cou ld forget that fi rst wa lk home throughth e forest

,alone . I t grew darker and darker

,and

he could h ear th e roars of wi ld beasts . At l as t

GOPALA AND THE COWHERD 259

he was so fr ightened that he did not know what

to do, and so began to run and never stoppedt i l l h e was i n h is mother’s arms .Next morn ing he d id not want to goto school .But

,

” sa id h is mother,you had such a happy

day yesterday , my ch ild, and learnt many beaut ifu l

th ings ! You said you l oved your lessons . Why

do you not wishto goto-day ? ”“ School i s al l very wel l , mother , he repl ied

,

“ but I am afraid to go alone through the

forest .

And then h e stood there , so ashamed ! But

how do you th ink h is mother fel t ? Oh , such a

terr ib le pain came into her h eart,because she

Was t oo poor to send any one with h imto school .I t was on ly for a minute though , and then She

remembered the Lord Krishna . She was one , of

those who worsh ip Himas a young ch i ld,a lmost

a baby,and she had cal l ed her own l i tt l e one

afte r H im , fo r th e word Gopal a means “ Cow

herd .

So she to ld her l itt l e boy a story . She sa id,

“ You know, my ch i ld , there l ives in these woods

another son of mine Who is also cal led Gopala .

He herds cows i n the forest yonder . He is a lways

somewhere,near th e pa th , and if you ca l l outto

h im,‘Oh

,Cowherd Brother, come with me to

school H e wi l l come and take care of you, and

th en you wil l notbe fr ightened , wi l l you


And GO pala said , “ I s i t r ea l ly true that my

Brother wi l l com e and take care of me ? ”

And h is mother Said,

“ Yes , i t i s t rue—j ust astrue as i t i s that you are God ’s ch i ld , and that

H e loves you.

“ Good-bye , mo ther, Said Gopala ! “ I love togo to schoo l .

H e setou t brave ly enough,but a l i t t l e way

down the forest path i t was rather dark,and he

began to fee l afra id . He cou ld hear h i s own

h eart go pi t-a-pat . So he cal l ed out, O Broth er

Cowherd,Broth er Cowherd , come and p lay wi th

me !

The bushes fi rs t began to rust l e , and thenpar ted

,and outpeeped a boy ’s h ead , with a l itt le

go ld crown on i t , and a peacock’s feather in th e

crown . Then a big boy j umped outand tookthe ch i l d ’s hand

,and th ey p layed al l t h e wayto

school .

But when they came near the v i l lage , the young

Cowherd,t e l l ing H is l it t l e brotherto cal l H im again

,

on h is way home,went back to h is cows . There

was someth ing so love ly about th i s boy , He was

so fu l l of fun , and yet so kind and gent le and

strong,that Gopala grew to love H im as he had

never loved any one before .

And as,day after day , he to ld h is mother a l l

about i t,words cou ld notexpress h er grat itude .

Butsh e was noti n th e least surprised . I t seemed


very sad for a momen t . She knew that she was

not r ich enough to give her l i tt l e boy anyth ing

for his master . But it was on ly a moment,

and she br ightened up again,for she though t of

th e Ch i ld Kri shna,and knew that H e would he lp

th em .

“ I cannot give you anyth ing to take to your

teach er,but ask your Bro th er i n the forest for

someth ing as you go to schoo l i n th e morn ing,

”

she said .

So in th e morn ing Gopala and the Shepherd

Boy p layed a l l th e way to schoo l butj ust a s H ewas l eaving

,Gopala sa id to h im

,

“ 0 Brother , I

a lmost forgo t . Wil l you give me someth ing for

my teacher to -day ? He is go ingto have a par ty .

”

What can I give you ? What am I bu t a

poor Cowherd ? Oh,but I know —and away H e

ran for a moment,and came back with a l i tt le

bowl of sour mi lk . I n I ndia th ey eat the th ick

partof sour mi lk,and cal l i t curds . And H e said ,

That i s a l l I can give you , Gopala . I t i s on ly

a poor Cowherd ’s offer ing . But give i t to your

teacher.

Gopala thought i t was a beaut ifu l p resen t, the

more so because i t came from h is woodland

fr i end . So he ha stened to th e master’s house,and stood eager ly wai t ing beh ind a crowd of

boys,al l handing over

‘

what they had brought .

Many and var ied were the offerings,and non e

GOPALA AND THE COWHERD 293

thought even of noticing the gift of th e father less

chi ld .

Th is neglect was d isheartening , and tears stood

in th e eyes of Gopala,when

,by a sudden stroke

of fortune,h is teacher chanced to look at h im .

He took the t i ny potof curd from his hands,

and went to empty i t i n to a l arger vesse l,but

,

to h is wonder,th e pot fi l l ed up again . Again he

poured,again the l i tt l e pot was ful l . And so he

went on , wh i le i t fi l l ed faster than he could empty

it . Then th e master gave them al l curds to eat,

and went on pouring and pouring . St i l l the l it tl e

cup was fu l l . E very one sa id,

“What does th is

mean ? ” And Gopala , as much aston ished as the

rest,understood for the first t ime Who h is Brother

in the forest was . Never t i l l th i s moment had he

even guessed that the Ch ild Krishna H imse lf had

come to play wi th h im . So when the master

turned to h im with the quest ion,

“Where d id

you get th is curd ? i t was very reverently th at

h e answered , “ I got i t i n the forest,from my

Brother,th e Cowherd .

”

“Who i s H e ? ”

“ One who comes and p lays with me on my

way to schoo l,said Gopala . “ He wears a crown

on H is h ead,with a peacock ’s feath er in i t, and

carr i es a flute in H is hand . When I reach school

H e goes back and tends H is cows , and when I

am going home He comes again to play with me .


Can you show me your Broth er in th e forest

I f you come,Sir, I can ca l l .

So hand in hand the master and Gopala wen t

a long the path togeth er . At the usual place the

ch i ld cal l ed,

“ Cowherd Brother ! Brother Cow

herd ! Won ’ t you come ? ” But no voice an

swered . Gopala d id no t know what to do , and

he saw a look of doubt on h is te acher ’s face , so

he cried once more,O Brother Cowherd

,i f you

do not come,they wi l l th ink I do notte l l th e

truth I

Then came a vo ice, as i f from far away with i n

the forest,

“ Nay,l i tt l e one

,I cannot show My

face . Thy master st i l l h as long to wait . Few

sons indeed are blest wi th mothers l iketo th in e

The Story of Sh ib i R ana ! or ,The Eagle and the Dove

THERE was a certa i n king whose name was Shib iRana

,and h is power was so great

,and grew so

rap idly,that th e gods i n h igh heaven began to

tremble , l es t he should take their kingdoms away

from them . Then th ey thought of a stratagem

by which to t est h i s se lf-control,and humble h im

by proving h is weakness . For in the eyes of the

gods only that man is i nvinc ib l e who i s perfect ly

master of h imself .

One d ay,as Sh ibi Rana saton h is throne in

h is p il lared hal l,with the open courtyard and i ts

gardens and fountain s stretch ing far before , there

appeared h igh up i n the air,flying straight towards

h im,a white dove

,pursued by an eagle, who was

evidently trying to ki l l i t . Fast as the dove flew

in i ts terror,th e eagle flew faster . But j ust as

i t was on the point of being captured, th e smal ler

bil'd reached the throne of Sh ib i Rana the King

Opened h is robe,and without a moment

’

s hesi

tation i t fluttered in,and nestled , panting and

trembl ing,again st h is heart .


Then the eagl e ’s fl ight came to a s top before

th e throne,and h is whole form seemed so to blaze

with anger,that every one tremb led except the

monarch,and no on e fe l t th e s l igh tes t surpr ise at

hearing h im speak .

“ Surrender my prey !” he commanded in a

loud voice,facing th e K ing .

Nay,

” said Sh ib i Rana qu iet ly “ th e dove has

taken refuge with me,and I sha l l not betray i ts

trust .”

“ Th is , th en , i s your vaunted mercy ?” sneered

th e eagle . “ The dove that you have sh e ltered

was to have been my food . Show your power by

pro tect ing i t , and you s tarve me . I s such your

in tenti on“ Not at al l

,said the King ! “ in fact, I wi l l give

you i n it s p lace an equal quant i ty of any o ther

food you choose .“ Of any other food said the eagle mockingly .

“ But suppose I asked for you r own flesh“ My own flesh should be given

,

” said Sh ib i

Rana firmly .

A harsh laugh sounded through the hal l,start

l i ng those who were standing about th e throne !but when they looked agai n at the face of

th e b ird,h is eye was s teady and p iercing

‘kas

before .“ Then I require , said -he, speaking s lowly and

del iberate ly, “ that th is dove be weighed in the


unpro tected, i t i s gIven to th e r ight of th e Kinga lone to suffer

At these words,s tar t l ing a l l who h eard them

,

th e forms of the eag le and the dove were seentohave van ish ed

,and i n the i r place s tood I ndra

,the

Ch ief of th e Gods,and Agni , the God of Fire .

And th e vo ice of I ndra was hushed wi th rever

ence as h e sa id,

“ Against greatness l ike that of

Sh ibi Rana,th e gods themse lves shal l s truggle

but in vain . Blessed be thou,0 King

,Protector

of th e Unprotected , who burnestwith th e j oy ofsacr ifice ! For to such sou l s must th e very godsdo homage , yie ld ing to them a p lace above them

selves.”

Bharata

ONCE upon a t ime , i n those bright ages when

I nd ia was young,th ere l ived a great k ing , Bharata,

and so famous was he that even now the peop le

speak of their country amongst themse lves as

Bharat Varsha,or Bharata ’s Land and it i s on ly

fore igners who ta lk of i t as I nd ia .

I n th e days of th is ru l er,i t was considered the

r igh t th ing for every man,when he had finished

educat ing h is fami ly—when his daughters werea l l marr ied

,h is business affair s i n order , and h is

sons wel l-estab l ished in l ife—to say farewel l tothe wor ld and reti reto the forest

,there to give

the remainder of his l i fe to prayer and the though t

of God . This was considered to be the duty of

al l , whatever their stat ion in l ife , priest and mer

chant,king and labourer

,al l al ike .

And so in th e course of events the great K ing

Bharata,type of the true H indu sovereign , gave

up h is wealth and power and withdrew . H is

fami ly and peop le woke up one morning , and he

was gone . That was a l l . But every one under

stood th at itmeant that h e had passed ou t of th ecity duri ng the n igh t in the garb of a beggar , and


the news spread through th e country that h i s son

was k ing . just as th e water of a lake c loses over

a stone th rown into i t,and l eaves no trace

,so

soci ety went on i ts usual course,and the loss of

Bharata made no mark .

And he made h is way to the forests and p lunged

into meditation . He had had enough of r iches

and dign ity . So they were easy to g ive up . He

thought that he wanted noth ing more that thewor ld cou ld give

,save only peace .

But one day,as h e sat under a great tree ,

repeating th e name of God , a mother deer with

h er l itt l e one came down to the stream close by

to dr ink . just a t that moment a l ion roared in

th e for est,and the poor mother

,start l ed

,tr ied to

j ump the stream,carrying h er fawn . But the

shock had beentoo much for her . As sh e reachedthe opposite bank she died

,and her babe s l ipped

back in to th e river,and was carr i ed down by th e

curren t . Bharata,th e herm i t

,saw the who le

occurrence,and

,ful l of mercyto al l l iving th ings ,

broke through h is devotions to run and save the

fawn . He waded i nto th e stream,and catch ing

i t i n h i s arms,bore it in to h is b utand l ighted a

fi re,by whose warmth h e fondl ed it back to

l i fe . A las,th is beautifu l deed became the saint

’

s

s tumbl ing-block ! For al l h is h O pe grew to be

centred on th is foster- ch i ld,and he who could

give up crown and kingdom and money, l ike so


every man has a r ight to learn Sanskri t , and read

the ho ly books .

But Bharat a had forgot ten noth ing of h is l ast

two l ives , and th i s t ime he determined to fin ish th e

struggle, and r id h imsel f o f th is bondage of birth .

For we must always remember that i n the I nd ian

rel ig ion these bodies of ours are held to be prisons ,where we are subj ectto many torture s

,to pain and

need,and sep arat ion from those we love . And

the great obj ect of the struggle of l i fe i s to be free ,and reach the place where we may chose what we

sha l l do,wheth er to come back in to them or not.

This was what Bharata wanted,so he made up h i s

mind that in th is b irth h e would be qu i te si l en t,

and dwel l upon God i n h is heart, thu s avoid ing

a l l temptat ion to further s in . And th i s vow he

kept . Only he spoke once,and th is was how it

happened

H e was supposed by h is fami ly to be dumb and

an idiot . I t d id notoccur to any one then that

h e ough t to marry . So when h is father d ied h i s

broth ers divided the property amongst th emse lves,

and regard ing h im as good for noth ing they

d ivided h is share al so,and al lowed him to make

h imself usefu l,and l ive upon the ir chari ty . During

th e day,the wives of h is brothers wou ld use h im

in l ift ing and carrying,and he wou ld perform

pat ien tly whatever labour was imposed on h im .

Sometimes they wou ld'

be angry , and then he

BHARATA 275

would go out and s it under a tree,wait ing t il l

their anger had cooled . One day th is had hap

pened as usua l , and Bharata had withdrawn ,when a royal palankeen came in sight

,borne by

three cool i es instead of four . Seeing th is st rong

looking fe l low—whom they soon discovered to bedumb—seated by the roads ide

,the bearers in

s isted on putt ing down their burden t il l h e had

been forced to j oin them . Now the occupant of

the palankeen was a king,who was proud of his

learn ing,and he looked outand commanded the

Brahmin to help in carrying him . Perhaps that

one glance was enough to show Bharata that h e

had a message to that soul . He j umped up,took

one pole of the cha ir,and began to walk . But

he was curiously unsteady ! Hop ! j ump ! j o l t !

he went ! j o l t ! j ump ! hop I t was terr ib le to be

carr ied in th i s way. For Bharata was ful l of

mercyto every l iving th ing, and he had to moveas ide for each ant and beet l e and worm

,l est h is

foot shou ld k i l l i t . At last th e King put outh ishead .

“ Art thou too weary,O boor

,to walk

stra ight ? ” he sa id “ I f so,put down thy burden

and rest once more . H is new servant looked at

h im,smi l ing

,and spoke for th e first t ime in h is l i fe ,

and h is voic e was as sweet as liqu id honey, and

h is words were as the words of kings“ Whom

,0 Friend , do you address as

‘thou’

?

And whom do you cal l by the name of ‘boor ’

?


Is there anyth i ng i n th e whole world that is no t

yoursel f ? And to th at Sel f can there be e ither

weariness or rest ? Such a l igh t of greatness

beamed about the man,th at a l l who heard were

overawed,and th e King got

'

outof the palankeenand prostra ted h imse l f

,putt ing the dust of h is feet

on h is own head .

“What , O Mighty One, art th ou ?” he said .

And s i tt ing down by the roads id e , Bharata in

structed h im for many hours,t i l l the des ire for

freedom was l igh ted al so i n th e King’s hear t,and

h e never rested t i l l h e had given up h is kingdom

and become a wanderer . But th e Brahmin went

back to his own peopl e,and never spoke again .

And when at las t th ere came to h im the hour of

death,th en was h e indeed free . Bharata endured

the bondage of re-birth no more .


when h e sta tes the date, he would no t say, of th e

year of th e Lord 1 9 0 0 , for instance,meaning

1 9 0 0 years after Christ , as we might, but h e

would say“of th e year 1 957 of the E ra ofSo we can j udge for ours e lves

whether that name is ever like ly to be forgotten

i n I nd ia . Now who was th is Vikramad itya,and why was h e so l oved ? The whole of that

secret,after so l ong a t ime

,we can scarce ly hope

to recover . He was l ike our King Arthur,or l ike

Alfred th e Great—so strong and true and gentl e

that th e men of h is own day almost worsh ipped

h im,and those of al l a fter t imes were obl iged to

g ive h im the fi rs t p lace,though th ey had never

l ooked in h is face,nor appealed to h is great and

tender heart—s imply because they cou ld see that

never king had been loved l ike th is k ing . But one

th ing we do know about Vikramaditya . I t i s to ld

of h im that he was the greatest j udge in h istory .

Never was h e dece ived . Never d id h e puni sh

th e wrong man . The gu i l ty trembl ed when th ey

came before h im,for they knew that h is eyes

would look straight into their gui l t . And those

who had difficu l t quest ion s to ask, and wantedto know the truth , were thankfu lto be a l lowedtocome

,for they knew that th eir King wou ld never

rest t i l l h e understood the matter, and that then

he wou ld give an answer that would convince a l l .1 The name of th is era i s Sanwal.

JUDGMENT-S EAT OF V IKRAMAD ITYA 279

And so,i n after t ime in I nd ia

,when any j udge

pronounced sentence with great ski l l,i t would be

said of h im,

“ Ah,hemust have sat in the j udgment 5

seat of V ikramaditya !” And th is was th e habit

of speech of th e whole country . Yet in Ujjainitsel f, th e poor . people forgot that the heaped-upru i ns a few mi les away had been h is palace

,and

on ly the r ich and learned,and the wise men who

l ived in k ings ’ courts , remembered .

The story I am about to te l l you happened

l ong,l ong ago ! but yet there had been time for

the old palace and fortress of Uj j a in to fa l l into

ru ins,and for th e sand to be h eaped up over

them, cover ing th e blocks of stone, and b its of old

wal l,often with grass and dust

,and even trees .

There had been time,too

,for the p eop le to

forget .

I n those days,th e people of the vi l lages , as th ey

do sti l l,used to send th eir cows out to the wi ld

land to graze .

E ar ly in the morn ing they would go,i n the

care of th e sh epherds,and not return ti l l evening ,

c lose on dusk . How I wish I cou ld Show you

that coming and go ing of the I ndian cows !

Such gent l e l i tt l e creatures they are , with such

large wise eyes,and a great hump between their

shou lders ! And they are not t imid or wild, l ike

our catt le . For i n I ndia , amongst the H indus ,every one l oves them . They are very usefu l and

280 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM '

prec ious in that hot,dry country , and no one is

a l lowed to tease or fr ighten them . I nstead of

that,th e l i t t l e gir l s come a t daybreak and pet

them , givi ng them food and hanging n ecklaces

of flowers abou t their necks,say ing poetry to

them , and even strewing flowers befor e their

feet ! And the cows,for their part , seem to feel

as i f they belonged to the fami ly,j ust as our cats

and dogs do .

I f th ey l ive i n the country,th ey del igh t i n being

taken out to feed on the grass i n the daytime but

of course some one must go with them,t o fr ighten

off wild beast s , and to see that th ey do not stray

too far . They wear l i tt l e t inkl ing bel l s,that ring

as th ey move their heads,s aying, “ Here ! here

And when i t is t ime to go hometo th e vi l l age forth e n igh t , what a pret ty s ight they make !

One cowh erd stands and cal l s at th e edge of

th e p asture and another goes around beh ind the

catt l e,to dr ive th em towards h im , and so th ey

come qui et ly forward from here and there,some

t imes breaking down the brushwood in th e ir path .

And wh en th e herdsmen are sure that al l are safe,

th ey turn homewards—one leading In fron t, one

bringing up the rear , and th e cows making a long

process i on between them . As they go they k ick

up th e dust a long th e sun-baked path , t i l! at last

th ey seem to be moving th rough a cloud,with the

l ast rays of the sunset touching it . And so th e


“ May your worsh ip be p leased to sett l e betweenmy neighbour and me which is i n the right ? ”

Then they s tated th e case , one saying that a

certai n fie ld was h is,another that i t was not

,and

so on .

But now a strange th ing made itse l f fe l t . When

the j udge had satdown on th e mound , he wasj ust a common boy . But when he had heard the

quest ion,even to the eyes of th e frol icsome l ads

,

he seemed qu ite d ifferent . He was now fu l l of

gravity, and , i n stead of answering in fun , he took

the case ser ious ly,and gave an answer wh ich in

th at parti cu lar case was perhaps th e wises t that

man had ever heard .

The boys were a l i tt l e frigh tened .

‘For though

th ey cou ld notappreciate th e j udgment , yet h i stone and manner were strange and impress ive .

St i l l th ey thought i t was fun,and went away again

,

and,with a good deal more wh ispering

,concocted

another case . Once more they put it to their

j udge,and once more h e gave a reply , as i t were

outof the dep th of a l ong experience , with incontrovertib le wisdom . And th i s wen t on for hours

and hours,he s i tt ing on th e j udge ’s seat

,l i sten ing

to th e quest ions propounded by the others,and

a lways pronouncing Sentence with the same won

derful gravity and power . Til l at l as t i t was t ime

to t ake th e cows home , and then he j umped downfrom his p lace , and was j ustl ike any other cowherd .

JUDGMENT-SEAT OF V IKRAMAD ITYA 283

The boys could never forget that day , and when

ever they heard of any perplex ing d ispute they

wou ld setth i s boy on th e mound , and puti t t oh im . And always the same th ing happened . The

sp ir i t of knowledge and j ust ice would come to

h im , and h e wou ld sh ow them the truth . But

when he came down from his seat,he wou ld be

no different from other boys .

Gradual ly the news of th is spread through the

country-s ide,and grown -up men and women

from al l th e vi l lages about that par t would bring

their lawsu its to be decided in the cour t of the

h erd-boys on th e grass under the green trees .

And always th ey received a j udgment that both

sides understood,and went away sat i sfied . So

al l the disputes in th at ne ighbourhood were

sett led .

Now Uj j ain h ad long ceased to be a cap it a l ,and th e King now l ived very

'

far away,hence i t

was some t ime before he heard the s tory . At last,however

,i t came to h is ears . “ Why

,he s aid

,

“ that boy must h ave saton the judgment-Seat ofV ikramaditya !” He spoke without th inking , but

al l around h im were l earned men , who knew the

chron i cles . They looked at one another . “ The

King spe aks truth,th ey s aid ! “ th e ruins in

yonder meadows were once V ikramad itya’

s

pal ace

Now th i s sovere ign had long des iredto be pos

284 CRAD LE TALES OF HINDUISM

sessed with th e sp ir i t of l aw and j u st i ce . E very

day brough t i t s prob l ems and difficu l t i es to h im,

and h e often fe l t weak and ignorant i n d ecid ing

matters th at needed wisdom and strength .

“ I f

s i tt ing on th e mound brings i t to the sheph erd

boy ,” h e thought , “ l et us dig deep and find the

judgment-Seat . I Sh al l put i t in the ch ief p l ace in

my hal l of audience,and on i t I sh a l l s i t to h ear

al l cases . Then th e sp ir i t o f V ikramad itya wi l ldescend on me al so

,and I shal l always be a j ust

j udge !

So men with spades and tool s came to di sturb

the ancient peace of th e p astures,and the grassy

kno l l where th e boys had pl ayed was overturned .

Al l about th e spot wer e now h eap s of earth and

broken wood and upturned sod . And th e cows

h ad to b e dr iven fur th er afield . But the heart of

th e boy who had been j udge was sorrowfu l,as if

th e very home of his sou l were being taken away

from him .

At l ast th e labourers c ame on someth ing .

They uncovered i t —a s l ab o f bl ack marb le,

supported on th e h ands and outspre ad wings of

twenty-five stone angels,with the ir faces turn ed

outwards as i f for fl ight—sure ly the judgmentSeat of Vikramad itya .

With great rej o ic ing i t was broughtt o the ci ty,

and the King h imse l f stood by wh i l e i t was put inthe ch ief p l ace i n th e hal l of j ust ice . Then the


And when t he King l ifted up h is face,th e p l ace of

th e speaker was empty,and on ly twenty-four

figures supported th e marble s lab .

And so th er e was another three days of roya l

retreat,and he prep ared h imse lf wi th pr ayer and

with fast ing to come agai n and ess ay to sit on the

judgment-Seat of V ikramad itya.

But th i s t ime i t was even as before . Another

s tone ange l addressed h im,and asked h im a

quest ion which was yet more s earch ing . H ast

thou never,

” i t s a id,

“ coveted the r ich es of

ano ther

And when a t l as t he spoke and said,“ Yea

,I

h ave done th is th ing ! I am no t worthy to sitonth e judgment-Seat of V ikramad itya !” the ange lcommanded h im to fast and pray yet anoth er

three days,and spread i ts wings and fl ew away

i nto the blue .

At last four t imes twenty - four days had gone,

and st i l l th ree more days of fas t ing , and i t was

now th e hundredth d ay . On ly one ange l was

l eft support ing th e marb l e s l ab,and th e King drew

near with great confidence , for to-day h e fel t sure

of bei ng a l l owedto t ake h i s p l ace .But as he drew near and prostrated , the last

ange l spoke ! “ Art th ou , th en , perfec tly pure i n

heart,0 King ? ” i t said . I s thy wi l l l ike unto

that of a l i t t l e ch i ld ? I f so, thou art i ndeed

worthy to siton th is Seat !

JUDGMENT-SEAT OF V IKRAMAD ITYA 287

No, sa id the King , speaking very S lowly , and

once more search ing h is own conscience,as the

j udge examines the pr isoner at the bar,but wi th

great sadness “ no , I am not worthy .

”

And at th ese words th e ange l flew up into the

a ir,bearing the slab upon ' h is head , so that never

s ince that day has i t been seen upon the earth .

But when the King came to h imsel f and was

alone,pondering over th e matter

,h e saw that the

l ast angel h ad exp la ined the mystery . Only he

who was pure in heart , l ike a l i tt l e ch i ld , cou ld be

perfect ly j us t . That was why the sh epherd boy

in the forest cou ld si t where no king in the

wor ld migh t come , on th e judgment -Seat of

V ikramad itya.

Prithi R ai,Lastofthe H induKn ights

(THE IND IAN ROMEO AND jULIET)

NOW i n the days o f th e old H indu knighthood of

I ndia,th ere were four great c it ies where strong

kings l ived,who cla imed that between them they

rul ed the whole of th e country . And some of

these ci t i es you can find on the map quite easi ly,

for th ree of them at l east are th ere to th i s day .

They were Delh i,Ajmere, Guzerat, and Kanauj ,

and one of them,Guzerat

,i s now known as

Ahmedabad .

The King who sat on th e throne of Delh i was

the very flower of H indu kn igh ts . Young , hand

some,and courageous

,a fear less horseman and a

brave figh ter,al l th e pa inter s in I ndi a painted the

portrai t , and a l l th e minstrel s sang the pra ises, of

Prith i Rai ! but l oudes t of a l l s ang h is own dearfr iend

,Chand , the court -bard of Delh i .

Prith i Rai ’s l i fe h ad not been a l l p l ay by anymeans . H is duty

,as a king

,was greater than

th at of other knigh ts, si nce h e h ad of course

to defend h is people . ’

And already he h ad had2 88


accepted on a l l h ands th at Prith i Rai was thebr avest kn igh t

,but , al as , every one also knew

th at the most be aut i fu l pr incess in the wor ldwas the daughter of Kanauj She was t a l l

,

gracefu l,and l ovely . Her long

,th ick h ai r was

b l ack,with a b lue l igh t on i t

,and her l arge

eyes were l ike th e b lack bee moving in the petal s

o f the wh ite l otus . Moreover , i t was sa id th atth e ma iden was as h igh-soul ed and hero ic as she

was be aut ifu l .

So Prith i Rai , King of Delh i, determinedto winSanjogata, Pr incess of Kanauj and daughter of h ismortal foe

,for h is own . How was i tto be done ?

First h e wentto h is o ld nurse who had broughth im up . He prostr ated h imsel f before her and

touched her feet,cal l ing her “ Mother

,and she

,

with a smi l e,first put h er fingers under h is ch in

,

and th en kissed her own h and . For so mothers

and chi ldren s al ute each oth er i n I nd ia . Then th e

King sat d own on the floor before h er,and to ld

her al l th at was in h is heart.

She l is tened,and satwithout speaking for a few

minutes when he had fin ish ed .

“ Wel l ,”she sa id ,

after a wh i l e,give me on ly your portrait . I sha l l

send you hers . And I can promise you, tha t when

you win your way to the gir l’s s ide , you wi l l find

her j u st as determined as yourse l f,to marry no

one but you.

Th at evening th e old nurse l e ft Delh i wi th a

PR ITHI RAI 291

party of merch an ts b onnd for another of the royal

ci ties . And in her baggage,unknown to h er

humble fel l ow- t r ave l l ers,was a t iny portra i t on /4 1

ivory of the King . I t was a week or two after- T

7 4wards

,that th e l ad ies of th e King’s househo ld

,at

Kanauj , took an old woman into their service who

claimed that she h ad been born at th e court of

Ajmere, and had wait ed, i n her ch i ldhood , on thelate Queen of Kanauj . This o ld lady soon grew

specia l ly fond of th e Princess,and was gradual ly

al l owed to devote hersel f to her . I n the l ong,hot

hours she would si t fann ing and ch att ing wi th her,

or she would prepare the bath , with its scent s and

unguents,and herse l f brush th e soles of Sanjogata’

s

feet with vermi l ion paint . Or at n ight,when the/aft

heat made i t di fficu l tto s l eep,she would steal in to

some marble pavi l ion on the roof, and cw th e

Princess to come outthere into th e s tarl ight,whi l e

she would crouch by her side, with th e peacock’s

fan,and tel l her ta les of Delh i

,and of Prith i Rai

,

and h is love for her . And often th ey gazed t o

geth er at a miniature , wh ich had been sen t, said KWthe o ld woman

,by her hand

,to ask i f the Pr incess /L

would deg to accept i t . For as we al l have mguessed

,of course

,i t was the old nurse of Prithi

Rai’s mother,and of Prith i Rai h imself , who was

here,serving th e maiden whom he hoped to make

h is bride .In a few months , came th e t ime when the King


of Kanauj must announce h is daugh ter ’s marriage .And he det ermined to ca l l a sway amvara, th at i s,a gath er ing of princes and nobles , amongst whom

the princess might come and choose h er husband .

She would carry a necklace of flowers in her hand ,and hera lds would go before . At each candidate ’s

th rone as they came to i t,the praises of thatprince

,

and al l h i s great deeds in batt l e and t ournament ,would be declared by th e hera lds . Then the

Princess wou ld pause a moment,and i f she decided

that th i s was th e knight whom she des i red tochoose for her h usband

,sh e would s ign i fy the

fact by throwing her garland round h i s n eck .

And then th e sway amvara would turn into awedding

,and a l l th e r iva l pr inces wou ld take

th e i r p laces as guests . Th is was a ceremony

on ly used for a roya l ma iden,and natura l ly no

one was ever asked whom i t wou ld notbe desirabl efor her to choose .

I n th i s case , i nvitat ions were sen t to the kings

and princes of al l the kingdoms,save on ly of

Delh i,and a l l I ndia knew tha t the most beauti fu l

pr inc es s i n th e wor ld was about to hold hersway amvara.

Th is was the time for Prith i Rai to act. 8 0 h e

and h is fr i end Chand , th e court-bard , disgu ised

themse lves as minstre l s,and rode al l the way to

Kanauj,determined to be present at the swayam

vara , wh atever it might°

cost.


where sh e might do anyth ing rath er than face the

ordea l before her

At last , however, the dreaded hour had come .

Seated on thrones in the hal l of choice,the long

array of knights and princes he ld th ei r breath as

they caught the fi rs t distan t s ounds of the bl are

of t rumpets preceding th e princess . Nearer and

nearer came th e hera ld s,and so s i l ent was the

company that present ly,underneath al l the noi se

and c lang of the process ion wi thout,could be

heard d is t inct ly , throughout th e great hal l, th e

t ink l e of ankle ts , and th ey knew that th e queen

of that brida l day was approaching .

As for Sanjogata herse lf, as with s l ow footstepsand bent head she paced along the pathway from

the cast l e to the doorway of the h al l , she saw no

one amongst the many thousands, on foot and on

horseback,bes ide the path . Had she but once

looked up,th e who le scene wou ld have been

changed for her , and i n a moment she might have

made her cho ice . But th is was no t to be . Lower

and lower ben t th e head of the royal maiden b e

neath her l ong r ich vei l . Tighter and t ighter

were clasp ed the hands that with the i r fi rm hold

on th e marriage-garland , hung down before her .

And s lower and slower were the footsteps wi th

wh ich she drew near to the hal l o f cho ice,t i l l

sh e h ad reached the door it sel f . But there the

proud daughter of kings ra ised h er head h igh ,

PR ITH I RAI 295

to lower it never again . For one moment she

paused,start l ed

,dismayed

,incredulous

,and then

,

with flushed cheeks and haugh ty air,drawing

herse l f up to her fu l l h eight , she entered thehal l of choice with perfect ca lm . For h ere at

the entrance to the pavi l ion stood a grotesquewooden figure of th e King of Delh i

,made to

stand l ike a doorkeeper,to wait at th e marr iage

of th e chosen knight . At first Sanjogata cou ldnotbel ieve her own eyes . The image was

h ideous,mean

,and dwarfish , but i t was un

mistakably intended for Prithi Rai . Had it notbeen insu l t enough to the gal lan t kn igh t that h i sname had been omitted from the l i s t of guests

,

that Kanauj shou ld add to th i s th e madness of

mockery ? Yet so i t was . And as soon as she

had real ised i t, th e daughter of the King knew also

her own part in the day ’s great ceremonies,and

whatever might be th e o'

utcome for hersel f, she

would play i t to the end . The princes rose to

their feet as the vei led maiden entered,and then

sat down once more on their,various th rones .

The hera lds fe l l back at the entrance , making

room now for the Princessto precede them . And

then,with s low firm steps

,sh e , whose each foot

fal l was music,passed on from throne to throne ,

wait ing quiet ly for the questi oning cry of her own

heralds,and the answering salutat ion of those

about the enthroned prince,before she could


l is ten to th e ta le of brave deeds by which each

bard sought to glori fy h i s own master i n the eyesof the fair l ady. But at each th rone

,after

patient ly l i sten ing , after giv ing every Opportunityto i ts adherents to urge th eir utmost

,th e ve i led

Pr incess paused a moment and passed on . And

someth ing in her bear ing of qu iet d isdain told each

whom sh e l eft beh ind her,that she requ ired more

of th e knigh t she wou ld choose than he h ad yet

at tained . But the sadness of d isappo intment gave

p lace to aston ishment , as Sanjogata drew near tothe l ast throne

,and s tood l is ten ing as patient ly

and as haught i ly as ever . This p r i nce,as a l l

thought , she must perforce accept . Round h i s

neck she must th row the marriage-gar land . With

vei l knottedto h is c lo ak , she must a t h is s ide stepforward to the sacred fire . These th ings she must

do,for now there was no a l ternat ive . Yet none

of these th ings did the daughter of th e King

attempt . Her sl ender form looked right queen ly,

and even ben eath her ve i l h er courage and

triumph were p lain to be seen as she turned her

back on th e whol e assembly , as if to pass outofthe h al l of cho ice

,and then stood a momen t i n

th e Open doorway,and—threw the garland round

the neck of th e cari catur e of Prith i Rai lHer fath er

,seated at th e end of the hal l

,h igh

above th e guests,sprang to hi s fee t with a

muttered oath ! From'

th e marri age-bower to


gardens and pavi l ion s of the palace they had

wandered hand in h and . And Prith i Rai,l o s t

in h is happiness,had forgotten

,as it seemed

,

th e hab i ts o f the so ld ier . Nor did Sanjogataremember th e wari ness and al ertness that are

proper to great k ings . I t was l ike a cup of r ich

win e drunk befo re death . Yet were th ese two

r ight roya l sou ls,and knew wel l how to meet th e

end . Sudden ly broke the storm of war . Sud

denly came the call to meet Mahmoud of Ghazn i

on th e field of ac tion . And then,without a tear

,

d id Sanjogata fasten her husband ’s armour , andbuck l e on h is sword

,and kiss the royal j ewe l that

she was to p lace in the front of h i s he lmet . And

while the batt l e raged around the s tandard of

Delh i,she wai ted

,cold and co l l ected in th e palace .

What had she to fear ? The funeral fire stood

ready,i f th e worst news shou ld come . Not for

herto see the downfal l of h er country . Was she

not the daughter and the wife of kings ?

Hours passed away,and ever on and farther

onwards ro l l ed th e t ide of bat tl e—on one s ide

th e i nfur iated Kanauj,fight ing by the s ide of the

al i en in fai th and race,and on the other Prith i

Rai wi th h is fa ithfu l troops . Splendid ly fought

the adherents of th e King of De lh i . But in the

end th e advantage of numbers prevai led , and

Prith i Rai fe l l,pierced to the h eart , at th e foo t of

h is own banner .

PR ITHI RAI 299

I t was dark when they brought the news toSanjogata, wait i ng i n the shadows of th e pa lace .

But red grew th e n igh t with the funeral fire, when

she had heard . For her eye brightened when

they to l d her,and her l ips smiled .

“ Then must

I haste to my lord where he awai ts me,” said th is

Raj put queen gai ly , and with th e words she Sprang

i n to the flames .

So passed away th e old H indu kings and queens

of Delh i , and al l th i ngs were changed in I ndi a ,and Moh ammedan sovereigns r eigned in their

stead .

The Story of Bhishma and theG reatWar

FOR s ixty mi les outside “ the rose-red wal l s of

modern Delh i , the plain is strewn with ru ins .

Broken co lumns and huge masses of masonry l ie

there,as if th ey had been tossed about by giants

in the i r p lay . Here and there is some ston e

p i l lar or other monument of speci al importance .

Such is th e marble - screened enclosure where a

gent l e Moslem princess s l eeps her l ast s leep,

amidst the bright sun l igh t and the chas ing

shadows . Such is‘

the lo fty p i l l ar of Asoka,

with its in script ion,and such is the o ld wal led

town of I ndraprastha,three or four mi les from

the gates of the present for tress .I t i s a s trange old p lace . The few inhabitants

of to -day l ive , someth ing l ike the cream in a bowl

of milk,i n atop l ayer of streets and houses . The

cottage-yard in wh ich one watches rice parch ing ,or c lothes being hung

,out to dry, i s made on

th e roof of an o lder dwel l ing , and that perhaps on

anoth er . So that after one has rambled awh i le

through I ndraprasth a it becomes easy to bel ieve30 3


that the ci ty is ancient , and even to imagine that

i t may first h ave been bui lt by King Yud isth ira,

four or five thousand years ago,

For that i s th e c laim ,- that I ndraprastha was

first bui lt befor e th e Great War broke out,by th e

Pandava heroes,Yud isthira and h is four brothers

,

and that i t was their cap ita l unt i l th e day when a l l

the ir enemie s were s lain , and th ey went in statetoHastinapura, near the modern Meeru t,to reign assovere igns over th e whol e country .

What a d istr ict i t i s ! Rome,with a l l h er ru in s

,

i s notso old , nor so impos ing . From Thaneswar,

fi fty mi les to the west of Delh i,to Meerut

,th irty

mi les to th e north,th e who l e country i s covered

wi th the rema in s of anc i en t bu i ld ings,and the

memor ies of ancient war . Many times has the

supremacy of I ndia been dec ided on th is spot ,once by Yud isth ira

,in the bat t l e of Kurukshetra

,

again by Prithi Rai and Mahmoud of Ghazn i,and

many t imes s ince then,even down to th e other

day .

But it i s far away from these last,back into th e

twil igh t of t ime , th at we wish to go—back as faras those ear ly days of the Pandava kn igh ts

,and

the ir cousin s th e Kurus , when th e country was

known as Maha Bharata,

” Great I nd ia , because

she was th e mother of h eroes, and the i r deeds

were the deeds of the great . I n those days, th e

ch ief of both c l ans alike was Bhishma, “ the


quest ion,and as soon as King Shantanu under

stood tha t the gir l ’s father rea l ly meant what he

said,he withdrew h is su i t . But it was impossible

to forget th e beaut i fu l maiden herse l f, and everyone saw that th e King was sad atheart . Even

the Pr ince began to not i ce i t,and to i nquire the

re ason why,and after a wh i l e he found some

member of the court to te l l h im the story

How unexpected was the resu lt ! No sooner

d id Bh ishma understand the cause of h i s father ’ssorrow

,than h e cal led for h is chariot

,and set out

to vis it th e house of the fi sherman . On arriving

there,he inquired careful ly wheth er there were

notsome reason for th e refusa l of marr iage ,other than that which had been ass igned . But

th e fi sh erman assured h im that there was not.I f i t h ad been possib le to make h is daughter th emother of fu ture k ings , h e wou ld by no meanshave obj ected to her en tering the roya l household .

“ Then,sai d the Pr ince, “ the mat ter shou ld be

easi ly s ett led , for I am perfect ly wi l l ingto give upa l l r igh tto the throne , in favour of th e ch i ldren of

your daughter Satyaki.”“ Ah

,Sir

,said the fisherman

,

“ i t i s easy for

you to promise , and easy for y ou to keep ! I

be l i eve in your good-wil l . But you wi l l marrysome day

,and wh at about your sons ? They

wi l l not be wi l l ing to forego a crown , s implybecause such was your intent ion

THE STORY OF BH ISHMA 30 7

The Pr ince saw the truth of these words,and

qu iet ly determin ing that h is father ’s happiness was

dearer to h im than al l th e wor ld bes ides,he made

up his mind to another great vow.

“ I promise

you , he said , “ that I shal l never marry . So I

can never have a chi ld to lay cla im to th e

success ion . And now,wil l you al low me to

take your daughter to my father ?The fi sher-maiden was led forth vei led

,and the

Prince salu ted her as h is mother, and placed

her in h is own chariot . Then , taking th e p lace

of th e char ioteer , he gathered up the reins,

and drove stra ight to th e doorway of the

palace .

Shantanu cou ld hard ly bel ieve h is eyes,when

the bride that he had des ired was led before h im,

by th e son for whose sake he had s i l ent ly re

nounced her . But when he understood how

and why she had come,he fe lt a sudden awe of

th e selflessness of h is own chi ld,and named h im for

the first t ime “ Bh ishma,th e Terr ib le

,

” bless ing

h im with a wonderfu l b l es s ing .

“ Go forth,my

son ,sa id the King

,

“ knowing that as l ong as

thou shal t des ire to live , none can ever en

danger thy l ife . Death h imself sha l l never be

able to approach thee,without first obtain ing th ine

own consent ” The bless ing of father or mother

a lways creates dest iny,and long

,l ong afterwards

Bhishma,on h is l onely death-bed bes ide the lake of


Kurukshetra, was to prove the tru th of the King ’s

words .

From th i s t ime on the l i fe of th e Pri nce was

half that of a monk . Ful l of knight ly deeds he

was,but , l ike some grea t kn ight-t emplar, no act

was performed for his own benefi t,but a lway s for

th e safe ty of h is order or th e commonwealth . I t

was h is part to crown k ings and then serve them,

protect ing thei r k ingdoms for th em . Satyak i theQueen had two sons , but one died young , i n th e

ear ly years of her widowhood,and i t seemed as i f

th e roya l l i n e migh t become ext inct . With tears ,th en

,she

,now the Queen -mother , but once a simpl e

fi sher-maiden , implored Bh ishma the Prin ce tomarry

,re l eas ing h im over and over again from

h is promise .

But noth ing wou ld induce h im to break h is

vow. I nstead,he went

,l ike a monk clad in

armour,to th e sway amvara of the pr incesses of

a neighbouring kingdom,and cha l lenged a l l th e

oth er guests to fight . Then he won each duel in

turn,and ended by carrying off th e three daughters

of the King,to be the wives of Satyaki’s son .

With breath l ess pr ide and admirat ion had the

r oyal ma idens watched the prowess of the strange

kn igh t . H is strength was i ndeed terr ib le . E very

antagonist went down before h im . And h is

armour shone in the sunl ight wi th go ld and

j ewe ls . But th e eldest of th e th ree s isters turned


to another , and refused to come and take her to

h imse l f . And she , poor lady , fee l ing unspeak

ably d i shonoured by th i s refusa l,but unable to

be angry wi th th e pr ince whose name she loved ,prayed earnestl y to the gods to

‘

l e t h er,gir l as

she was,become a knight

,that sh e might some

day meet Bh ishma face to face on th e fiel d of

batt le,and bring about h is death . And her prayer

was granted . And so, from th is day o nwards,the dark shadow of dest i ny lay ever across thepath of th e great and kn igh tly warr ior

,and th e

foot steps of death were never far off froin h im .

Now the young King of Hastinapura l ivedhapp i ly with h is two queens for seven years .

Then he died,and th ey were l eft widows . But

th ey had th ree son s— D ritarashtra th e Bl ind,

Pandu the Pale,and Vidura th e just . 8 0 once

more Bhishma was left with the educat ion of

pr inces who were not h is sons , and th e care of

a k i ngdom that was not h is own,upon h is hands .

He found wives for D ritarashtra and for Pandu,

and bestowed th e roya l domain s on them .

I t i s to ld of Gandhari,th e princess of Gandhara ,

or Afghan is tan ,’ br ide of the bl ind King Dri ta

rashtra, that, when she heard of h is infirm i ty ,she bound her own eyes al so with many fo lds of

c loth,and vowed to rema in thus s ightl ess through

1 Gandhara was a coun try bordering on , and in par t inc luding ,Afghan is tan.

THE STORY OF BHISHMA 3 1 1

outher l ife . For she cou ld not bear to enj oy th e

l igh t from which her husband was shut out .

The wife of Pandu the Pal e was known as Prithaor Kunti , and she became the mother of the five

Pandavas , as they were ca l led , Yud isthira, Bhima ,Arj una

,and th e twins Naku la and Sahadeva .

E very one l oved th ese boys, for th ey were fu l l of

great qua l i t ies , and the heart of Bh ishma wasglad

,for he saw that Yud isthira

,the e ldest of a l l

th e pr inces,had in h im the making of a perfect

king . Pr ince Pandu,the father, d ied sudden ly i n

the forest,and D ritarashtra declared tha t the

young Yud isthira shou ld be regarded henceforthas the heir to both kingdoms .

But, alas, amongst th etwo famil ies of Pandavasand Kurus

,that ca l led Bhishma Grand sire , there

was one fa l se heart— that of Duryodhana,head of

the Kurus and eldest ' of th e hundred and one

chi ldren of D ritarashtra the King !Al l the princely cous ins had grown up side by

s ide ! they had had the s ame lessons ! they h ad

p layed together . But the strength of Bhima,

second of th e Pandavas, was so great that,un

aided , he could ho ld any ten of the Kurus under

water at the same t ime . Th is of i tsel f angered

Duryodhana,and he could obta in no redress

,for

Bhima a lways won the victory again . But i t was

notonly Bhima . The young Yud isthira wasspecial ly be l oved for h is gen t leness and hero ic

3 1 2 CRADLE TALES OE HINDUISM

uprightness , and Arj una threw h imself with such

devo tion i nto every task that h e wa s th e most

ski l fu l archer of th em al l,and th e favouri te of

th eir tutor,Dron a

,t h e Brahmin .

Perhaps i t was natura l that the young ch ief of

th e Kurus shou ld be made j ea lous by al l th i s

br i l l iance . But i t was notknight ly . Duryodhana,

i ndeed,had courage and ski l l and princely dar ing

,

but not the sunny temper and generous h eart of

the true knight . There was a vein of treach ery

and ski l fu l cunn lug i n h im , and he was tooremorse l es s an enemyto be a perfec t fr i end .

Long , l ong afterwards , when Bhishma l ay dying ,and when a l l h is l i fe was pass ing in review before

h im , as i t does before th e eyes of dying men , he

could look back on th e youth of these ch i ldren of h is

house,and trace c learly the growth of th e hatred that

had l edto th e Great War . E very year of Duryod

hana ’s l i fe had added to its b i tterness,and he had

been unscrupu lous in str ivingto sat isfy h i s enmity .

' Once he had tr i ed to po ison Bh ima , and hadalmost succeeded

,but the Prince had recovered ,

after e igh t days of a death l ike swoon . Again,he

had formed a dastardly p lotto entrap th e Pandavasand th ei r mother in to a lonely house and seti t onfire . Th is consp iracy a lso had seemed to succeed ,yet by the warn ing of V idura, the ir uncle, the

l i tt l e company had escaped and taken shel ter in

the cot tage of a vi l lage pot ter .


victory i n th e west ! Victory through al l the Uni

verse be Th ine For i nfinite i n power,and infinite

in wi l l , pervading a l l , Thou art th e Al l . And

then , fa l ter ing with excess of memory, th e chan t

would tremble and change,and the worsh ipper

would cry— “ What in the pas t I have ignorant ly

uttered , from irreverence or from love , ca l l ing upon

Thee as ‘O Kr ish na ! O Yadava ! O Beloved ! ’

look ing upon Thee mere ly as a morta l fr iend , un

l ightened of th i s,Thy divine greatness , al l such I

implor e Thee,O I neffabl e , to forgive

And Krishna,to whom past, present, and future

were al l al ike an Open book,thr ew the mant l e of

h is fr iendsh ip over the Pandava heroes,from th is

first hour of D raupadi’s sway amvara. Al l these

th ings passed before th e eyes of the dying grand

s ire,l ike a p lay seen in a dream .

Sh ie ld ed by the re lat ionsh ip now exist ing between

D raupadi’

s kindred and themselves,and protected

by their a l l iance with Krishna,th e powerfu l min ister

of th e Vrishni Sta te,Yud isthira and h is brothers had

next proce ededto resume th eir name and dignities .Then the news had been carr i ed to Hastinapura,that they st i l l l ived

,and Bhishma h imsel f

,ful l of

thankfu lness that th e s ta in of th e blood-gu i l t was

wiped off h is nephew’s name, had ins is ted on

D ritarashtra’

s recal l ing the Pandavas,and assign ing

to them hal f the kingdom .

Those were the days of th e bui lding of I ndra


prastha—for that part of the rea lm that was

given to Yudisth ira was wi ld and covered withj ungle , ly ing towards the jumna . Yet such were

the pat ience and industry of the young heroes ,and such th e ski l l of th e e ldest in good govern

men t , that i t was not long before they had erected

this mighty Ci ty,with foundat ions so deep , that

ages would pass and l eave th e wal l s st i l l s tand ing

with fortificat ions so s trong that arm ies would

never be able to destroy it ! and with a s i te so

wel l chosen that over it,or some city near by ,

shou ld always float the standard of I nd ia ’s ru l ers .

Al l th ese th ings did Bh ishma remember .And when they were wel l es tabl i shed in the ir

new cap ita l,the Pandavas had l aid al l the sur

rounding kings under tribute,and proclaimed the

Royal Sacr ifice,where feal ty should be sworn .

And Bh ishma smiled,as the imperia l pagean t

passed before h is eyes .

But the sp lendours of I ndraprastha,and the

proud ceremonies of the H omage of Vassals , had

infl icted countless new wounds o n the j ea l ous

heart of Duryodhana , so that b e determined in

h is wrath to compass the rui n of h is cou s ins .

And the cheeks of the dying Chieftain werecr imsoned with shame and sorrow

,as he re

membered how the son of D ritarashtra had consulted eager ly with the false-hearted and coward lyas to th e method of h is treachery . At last a

3 1 9 CRADLE TALE S OF HINDUISM

brother of Gandhar i the Queen , sugges ted that

he should chal l enge Yud isthira to a game of dicewith h imsel f

,he being ski l fu l a t p lay—and that

th e Kuru dice shou ld be loaded,that he migh t

lead th e Pandavas to the l oss of a l l their pos

sess ions under the semb lance of a game . I t was

wel l known that th e young Empero r loved gambl ing, though he showed l i tt l e sk i l l , and that a

formal chal l enge to th row for the s takes was

deemed by h im as sacred as th e ca l l to bat tl e .

The message was du ly issued and received,and

the Pandava heroes,with D raupad i, setoutfor Has

tinapura,to play th e fa ta l game . For a moment,

Yud isthira was star t l ed,to find , on h is arrival , that

Duryodhana h imse l f wou ld not be h is antagon ist .

Then h e reca l l ed the form of th e chal l enge , and

r ea l i s ing that honour demanded acceptance of

any odds,he staked

“

and threw . Staked , threw,

and lost,a las ! Again he tr i ed , with larger r isks .

Then the fever of th e gamester came upon h im .

I t never occurred to h im that the p lay was false .Again and again h e threw , always with odds

i ncreased—and always th e game went aga ins t h im .

t i l l i n one short h our he who had entered Hastinapura as Overlord of al l I ndia , s tood beggared

and a bondsman,beside four brothers

,who , with

h is wi fe,were al l a l ike th e slaves of Duryodhana .

I t was now that th e first of th e Kurus committed h is mos t unknightly deed . A younger


rain ed from his s ight l ess eyes,as h e stretched

outh is hands in appea l to Duryodhana .“ My son ! my son ! i s th i s madness ? ” he

cr i ed . Forget you that as a mother’s bless ing

works a man’s greatest good, so a woman’s sorrow

bri ngs h im supreme woe ? Why should you outrage th i s proud and he lpless queen

,unless

,i ndeed

,

ye be weari ed of th e good days,and desire to

br ing destruct i on on your father and h is h ouse ?

And then,as if in a vain des ireto mitigate the force

of the coming doom,by winn ing some measure

of goodwi l l from the hap l ess woman , th e o ld man

turned h imsel fto D raupad i, Speak, my daughter !”

he commanded tremu lously . Name three boons

th at I can gran t to you. This at l east r emains,that

I am freeto restore whatever youmay ask !”

The hero ic consort of th e Pandavas drew hersel f upto her fu l l h eight , and the cl ear cold tonesof her wonderfu l vo ice rang through th e ha l l .“ I speak

,0 King

,a s a free woman ,

”she began

,

“ for he who has so ld h imsel f i nto s lavery hasno power over th e free to make them bondsmen .

Yud isth ira first bartered h is own freedom,there

fore cou ld he c l aim no control over h i s wife ’s !

The King nodded h is assent,and D raupadi went

on .“ I demand

,th en

,th e freedom of Yudisth ira,

that no son of mine henceforth may have to

claim a sl ave for h i s father !“Granted

,said D ritarashtra briefly .

“Ask again .


Next , said D raupad i,“ I beg the same for

h is four brothers,with a l l the ir weapons .

“ This I a lso grant,said th e bl ind King ! “ and

what is your demand in gold and oth er weal th“ Nay

,sa id the state ly D raupad i, with a flash

of mingled scorn and pr ide , “ I ask no more !

Th e Pandavas,being free

,can righ t themse lves

they need owe no man anyth ing !”

D ritarashtra shuddered , as i f a co ld b last hadswept over h im , even wh ile h e bent before the

courage of the Queen . For her refusa l to accepth is amends seemed to him as a terrib le curse

upon h is house . But Duryodhana ’s sou l had b e

come bl i nder by reason of h is enmity , than were

th e bod i ly eyes of h is two parents . He pressed

forward eager ly .

“ Nay,O my father !” he cr i ed , thrust ing h im

se lf before D ritarashtra,

“ I a lso wil l consent to

th is r estorat ion i f thou wi l t grant me but one

condi t ion more ! Let these Pandavas and their

wife go forth free , but let th em l ive in the forests,as a forfei t

,for twelve years

,and spend the i r

th i rteenth year in disguise,wherever they wi l l . At

the end of these th irteen years,i f they are not dis

covered by me or by my friends,l e t them be indeed

fr ee . Buti f in the ir th i rteenth year we track themout

,another twelve years of ex i l e pays the penalty .

One throw more of the diceto sett l e itAl l waited

,breath l ess

,for th e King ’s answer .


What wou ld he do Which s ide wou ld he take ?

But a moment before i t h ad seemed as i f,with

D raupad i’

s help,he might break the spel l of di saster

that Duryodhana ’ s l icence was about to cast over

the roya l h ous e . Now th e shadow of evi l , bringing

woe behind it , th reatened to enwrap them al l again .

Where,and on which s ide

,would th e King be found ?

Alas,overborn e by h is son ’ s impetuos i ty

,B r itar

ashtra nodded consent . Yud isth ira accepted th echa l l enge

,and the fata l d ice were oncemore thrown

and los t

The Pandava pr inces sa lu ted the King, and

turned to go .“ But

,sa id D ritarashtra

,rais ing

a warning hand to deta in them,and speaking

loudly in the hear ing of a l l th e nob les present,

But,—if my son fai l to di scover your h id ing

place,th en

,on th e day that ends the th i rteen

years,know

,0 Heroes , that yours i s th e r ight to

return to your home and to your empire,free

men and princes as but yesterday ye came forth .

Duryodhana and th e l it t l e group of lawless

court iers gathered round h im,bit th eir l ip s in

anger at what they cons idered h is father ’s need less

generos ity . But the promise was a l ready spoken ,and could notbe reca l led . The five kn ights were

gone . And in her dis tant chamber Pritha wasSaying farewe l l t o her son s for th irteen years .

These scenes al so passed before th e eyes of

Bh ishma. H e remembered al l .


And now at last th e th irte en years were ended,

and the Pandavas demanded th e restoration of

th ei r k ingdom . Alas ! th e ch ief p l ace amongst

D ritarashtra’

s counse l lors had long been held

by that fa lse knight,h is son . The weakness that

had always had p l ace i n D ritarashtra’

s character

h ad grown with th e years,and he was now com

pletely under the influence of Duryodhana . justice

ca l led for the cess i on of I ndraprasth a and hal f

th e kingdom . The King’

s own words were fresh

in al l memories . Krishna H imse l f p leaded in

person that r igh t shou ld be done . Bhishma, asch ief of the k ingdom , po inted outstern ly th e peri lthat lay in breaking a p ledge

,and dec laring war

on th e al l ie s of Krishna . Butthe awfu l fate thatworks i n th e a ffa irs o f men had borne everyth ing

before i t . E ven now it would seem as if Dur

yodhana might have saved h imsel f and h is for tunes

by th e s imp le right . But , i nfatuated , he refused

to l i sten,and proceeded with h is organ isati on of

the a rmy and other war l ike preparat i ons . Bh ishmah imse lf was compe l led by h i s al l egi ance to take th e

part of commander- in -chief .

The dying min ister and warr ior must have

covered h is eyes as he came to th i s po in t in h is

rever ie . For th e panorama of destruct ion was

st i l l s o fresh that i t cou ld scarcely presen t i tse l f

i n p ictures ! th e trumpets of batt l e, th e neigh

ing of horses, the trampl ing of e lephan ts , and

THE STORY OF BHISHMA 323

the whiz of arrows were st i l l i n h i s ear s . He

saw now the b l ack doom of the Kurus,created

by Duryodhana ’s own tyranny and fal sehood,

gath er ing to a h ead , and sweep ing the honour of

D ritarashtra i nto th e gul f o f t ime .Here was the actua l field of batt le

,and on i t

th e mind cou ld see once more,drawn up in batt le

array,th e two great armies , the l argest that the

Ind ia of that day had ever seen . On the one s ide

were the hosts o f Duryodhana, l ed by Bh ishma,Drona

,and others on the oth er

,th e troops of the

Pandavas,headed by th e five brothers

,th ei r sons

,

and their a l l ies . The chariots of the commanders

were drawn by mi lk-whit e horses ! over each waved

a banner,bear ing th e cognisance of i ts ch ief

Bhishma’

s was a l ofty p alm-tre e,Arjuna

’

s an

embroidered monkey ! and a l io n’s t a i l

,a bul l

,a

peacock,and an e lephant- rope

,were amongst the

devices . I n the h ands of each hero and h is

ch ar ioteer were wh ite conch -sh el l s , t o be used as

trumpets,and on receiving the sign al for batt l e

al l wou ld answer by putt ing th ese to thei r l ips,

and blowing on them a mighty bl ast . St anding

in th eir pl aces in e i th er army were the great l ines

of eleph ants— th e re a l wal ls of ancient I ndi aand on the neck of e ach sat h is dr iver

,whose l i fe

was held i nvio l ab l e i n the warfar e of that t ime .

1

1 E lephan t s unguided are aptto b e seiz ed b y pan ic , and then theyw il l tramp le all before themind i scriminately.


The combat b egan . The var ious d ivis ions

fought h and to h and in a seri es of mele’es . A

Ch i eft a in in one army would s ingl e outsomest andard i n the other which h e part i cu l ar ly de

siredto capture,and he and h is con t ingent wou ld

make a rush upon i t,and fight for it s possess ion

ti l l a l l h is opponents were dead,or h e repu lsed .

So th e batt l e surged to and fro on th e bro ad

fields of Kurukshetra,for n ine whol e d ays . Then

i t became evident to the Pandava brothers that

they cou ld never hope to win th e vi ctory whil e

Bhishma th e Grands ire remained al ive .That nigh t

,when d arkness h ad descended , and

th e sold iers of both hosts lay ch atting round th e

t iny fires on which they h ad cooked th e i r evening

meal,th e old Protector was start l ed to see th e

curta i n of h is ten t door l i ft ed noise l ess ly,and th e

five brothers stea l no ise less ly into h is presence .

The hear t of Bh ishma was glad at the sigh t ofthese men

,whom he loved as h is own son s , and

he mot ioned them to a seat before h im . Arj una

was perhaps h is favouri t e,but for Yud isth ira he

fe l t a specia l responsib i l i ty,inasmuch as i n h is

h ands would a lways l ie supreme authori ty over

men and kingdoms .

H e waited for them to speak,and at last th e

eldest broke th e si l ence . “ Grand fath er,he sa id

,

“ i t i s imposs ib l e for us t o ach ieve victory so long

as thou remainest l eader of th e Kuru hosts , and


I f you attack me to-morrow from beh ind one such ,

you wil l ach ieve my death .

”

Then th e five heroes remembered that kn ight

named Sikhand in,who had been born a woman

,

and had obta ined kn ighthood by specia l favour o f

the gods .‘

I t must b e Sikhandin whom Bhishmameant . So i t was a rranged that on th e tenthday Arj una Shou ld fight from beh ind th is kn ight

,

pierc ing Bhishma on every s ide with arrows . Awave of l ove and fi erce remorse swep t over th e

young kn ight as the p lans were comp leted,and he

spoke with broken accents of those days of ch i ld

h ood in wh ich he had p layed abou t th e feet o f

Bh ishma,and to ld how once he had c l imbed on

h is knee and cal l ed h im “ Father .” “ Nay, l i t t l e

one,but thy f ather’s f ather, had been th e tender

answer . How cou ld one so caressed aim the

arrow of death at the heart of th i s be loved

warr io r ? And it was Bhishma h imsel f who hadat th i s moment to remind th e soldi er of h i s

kn ightly duty,and nerve him to the stern per

formance of th e morrow ’s task .

The day rose bright,and the batt l e began .

Bh ishma p lunged into th e struggle,and wher

ever he went,th e ch ar i ot of Arj una

,with i ts

mi lk-white steeds,pursued h im . Sikhand in stood

foremost,bes ide Kr ishna

,th e Charioteer

,and

Arj una,from b ehind

'the maiden - knight, sh ot

arrow after arrow at the head of h i s house .

THE STORY OF BHISHMA 327

Scorn ing to shoot a t one who had been a gir l,

Bh ishma would laugh ingly aim a shaft at Arj una,

whenever a sudden turn of th e wheel s gave h im

a chance. As so much play seemed to h im those

darts wh ich c lustered th icker and th icker on h is

own person . But when sunset drew n ear , th e hour!

for the morta l wound being come,he received

an arrow straigh t in h i s heart, and fe l l from h is

char iot to the ground .

E ven now,however , Death could not draw

nearto Bh ishma . I n the moment of h is fa l l , the

though t flash ed into h is m ind that h e was about

to die in th e dark half of th e sun ’s year,a t ime

most unfortunate for great sou l s,and he deter

min ed to remain al ive s ix month s, that he might

die in th e summer so lst ice .

The l eaders of both s ides crowded round him,

having doffed theiri

armour in token of t ruce .

They would have carried h im away to comfortab l e

quarters,but h e wou ld have none of i t . “ The

hero ’s bed,

” h e said , “ i s where h e fal ls . I desire

no other . But I need a p il l ow ! ” He had fal l en

on the broad ends of those arrows which had

struck h im behind,and h is shou lders being

thereby l i fted,h is head hung down . One and

anoth er ran and broug h t h im cush ions . Their

luxury was fi t for kings . But the old saint

warrior shook h is head .“ Arj una

,chi ld he said

,

l ooking towards h im who h ad provided h im with


h is hard bed,standing now speech less wi th grief.

Arj una understood th e request,and shot three arrows

downwards into the earth , with such sure- aim that

they made th e support th e mighty bowman required .

Bh ishma gave a s igh of rel i ef, and ordered tha ta trench shou ld be dug ab out h im

,and he be left

wi thout tent or furn ish ings,to spend the remain ing

months in so l i tary worsh ip . Next day,however,

need i ng water,he had recour se again to Arj una

and h i s arrows,and a great spring burs t forth at

that p lace where th e so ld ier shot h is bolt i n to th e

earth,so that the ear of Bh ishma was soo thed

wi th th e sound of running water,unti l the day of

h is actua l departure . Such at least i s th e l egend

of the peop le concern ing th e great pond that

sparkles st il l on the lone ly p l a in of Kurukshetra.

Of the remainder of Bh ishma’

s l i fe,men speak

to th i s day with bated breath . E igh t l ong days

more the batt l e r aged bes ide h im,and at the end ,

th e Doom-c loud of th e Kurus had broken,and

carr ied a l l away with i t,and th e Tr iumph of the

Pandavas was establ ished . For the five brothers

s tood vi ctor ious,with al l the ir foes lying s lain

about them . Then the t ide of war ebbed away

from Kuruk shetra,and Bh ishma

,through sunny

days and s tarry nights,kept h is l ong vig i l

,whil e

months passed by for th e victorious Pandavas,in

th e bus iness ent ai l ed by .v ictories and th e govern

ment of kingdoms .

The A scentof Yudisthirainto Heaven

TO Arj una , when Krishna passed away, the wholeearth became a blank . He cou ld no longer str ing

h i s great bow , C and iva, and h is d ivine weapons

fa i l ed to come to h is hand at need, for h e cou ld

no t concentrate h is mind upon them . Therefore

he understood that h i s t ime was ended . H e and

h i s brothers had accompl ish ed the great purpose

of thei r l ives . The moment had come for the ir

departure from the world .

For t o a l l is i t known that understanding and

courage and fores igh t ar ise in us,only so l ong as

th e days of our prosper ity are notoutrun,and al l

a l ike l eave a man,when the hour of his advers ity

str ikes . Such th ings have Time on ly for th eir

root . I t i s Time,i ndeed

,that is the seed of the

Universe . And veri ly i t i s Time who takes back

al l a t h is own pleasure . Arj una saw therefore

th at to th e pl ace whence h is invincible weapons

had come to h im,th i ther had th ey been wi th

drawn again,having

,i n th e day given them

,

ach ieved th e victories that had been the irs . He3 3°

THE ASCENT OF YUD ISTHIRA 33 1

rea l ised , moreover , that when the time for h is use

of them shou ld again approach,they wou ld return

of their own accord into h is hands . Meanwh i l e,

i t was for h imse lf and h is four brothers to setthe ir faces reso lu te ly

,towards the attainment of

the h ighest goal .

Yud isthira fu l ly agreed wi th th is though t ofArj una . You must see,

” he sa id to h im,

“ that

i t i s Time who fastens th e fetters,and Time

who loosens the bond . And h is brothers,under

standing th e a l lus ion could utter only the one

word,

“ Time Time The Pandavas and Drau

padi,being thus ent i re ly at one in the deci s ion

that the empire was over for them , the quest ion

of the success ion was quick ly arranged . The en

treat ies o f cit izens and subj ects were overruled !successors and a protector insta l l ed in differen t

cap itals ! and farewe l l was taken of th e king

dom . Having thus don e th eir duty as sovereigns,

Yudisthira and h is broth ers,with D raupadi, turned

to the performance of persona l rel igi ous r i tes .Donning cover ings of birch bark on ly

,they fasted

many days and rece ived the bl ess ings of the

priest s . Then each took the fire from h is domest ic

a ltar,—that fire wh ich had been l ighted for h im on

h is marriage,and kep t al ight

,worshipped

,and

tended ever since by h is wife and h imself in

person,— and threw i t in to consecrated water .

Th is was the last act of their l ives in th e world,


and as i t was performed,and the brothers turned

th emselves to the east , a l l th e women in th e

assembled cour t burs t i n to t ears . But for the

great happ in ess which shone now in the i r faces,

i t would have seemed to al l as i f th e Pandavas

were once more l eaving Hastinapura poor , anddefeated a t d ice

,for their ex i le i n the forest .

Fol lowed for some dis tance by a crowd of cit izens,

and by the ladi es of th e roya l h ousehold,th e l itt l e

process ion went forward—none,however

,daring

to address the King,or to p lead with h im for a

poss ible return . After a t ime,th e c it izens wen t

back,and those members of the Pandava fami ly

who were to b e l e ft beh ind,ranged themselves

about the i r new king as a centre . Those of the

royal consorts who were daughters of re ign ing

houses,set forth

,accompan ied by travel l ing

escorts,for th e ir fathers’ kingdoms . Those who

were re lated to the succeeding sovere ign took

th ei r p laces beh ind h im ! and so,receiving fare

we l ls and benisons from all,Yudisth ira

,Bh ima

,

Arj una,and th e twins Naku la and Sahadeva

,

l ooked thei r last on th e wor ld they were l eaving,

and went onward,fo l lowed by D raupad i. But

Yud isth ira was in fact th e head of a party ofseven ! for hard upon the i r footsteps fol lowed a

dog,whose affec tion for them al l was so great

that h e wou ld notdesert th em .

Long was the j ourney and arduous,and i t was


less bow Gand iva, and h is two inexhaust ibl e

qu ivers . And the God of Fire,sat i sfied with th is

supreme renunciati on , disappeared from be fore

them .

On and on went the p i lgrims , unt i l th e ci rc l eo f their worsh ip was complete . From th e sa l t

sea, th ey proceeded south -west . Then they turned

north , and pass ing Dwarka , th e city be loved of

Krishna , th ey saw i t covered by the waters of th e

ocean . For even so had it been proph es ied , that al l

th e th ings they had known Should pass away,l ike a

dream . At last th ey reached th e H imalayas,home

of med itat ing sou ls . Here were the great forests,

and here the migh ty snow-peaked mountain s,

where the mind cou ld be st i l l ed and quieted,and

centred on i tse l f . And beyond , i n th e dim north ,l ay Meru

,Mountai n of th e Gods . And here i t

was,as they j ourneyed on

,with faces setever to

the goal,that a l l th e errors

,of al l thei r l ives

,t ook

shape and bore fru it . They had been bu t smal l,

th e se sins of th e Pandavas,—a thought of vanity

here , a va in boast , unfu lfi l l ed , th ere ! Yet smal l

as they were,th ey had been sufficient to flaw

those l ives th at without them wou ld have been

a l l-perfect , and one by one th e hero ic p i lgrims

turned fa int with a mortal fa intness , and s topped ,and fe l l . Only i n th e cl ear mind of Yudisth ira“ th e King of just ice and Righ teousness ,

” as h is

subj ects had loved to ca l l h im—in that c lear mind ,

THE ASCENT OF YUD ISTH IRA 335

with its tra ined sens e of human conduct , rose

knowledge of i t s cause , with each disaster that

befe l l .

E ven he h imsel f, i t i s sa id , could not a l together

escape the common lot of imperfection,and as

he fel t th e very pang of death shoot through one

foot where i t touched the earth,he remembered

a shadow that had fal len once,upon h is own

unstained truth .

But with h im there could be no rebel l ion

against the r ight . He shed no tear,and uttered

no sigh . Rather did h is own purpose sh ine

cl earer and stronger befo re h im,at each defeat

of h is l itt le party . And thus Yud isthira,not even

looking back,proceeded alone

,fo l lowed by th e

dog .

Sudden ly there was a deafe n ing peal of thunder,

so overwhelming thatth e two stood st i l l on themounta in—s id e . Then came towards them,

as i t

were,a c loud of l ight

,and when this had become

clear,the hero behe ld in the midst of i t I ndra , th e

God of Heaven,s tanding in h is chario t .

“ I t i s ordained,thou ch ief o f the race of

Bharata,that thou shal t en ter the realm of

Heaven,i n th is thy human form . Wherefore do

thou herewith ascend th is chariot,said the god .

“ Nay,Lord of a thousand Deit ies !

”answered

the King,

“ my brothers have a l l fa l len dead, and

without them atmy s ide , I have no desire to enter


Heaven . Nor cou ld any one of us,ind eed

,accept

fe l ic i ty , i f the de l icate D raupad i, our Queen , were

ban ished to regions of hardsh ip . Let a l l there

fore go i n with me .”

“ But thou sha l t beho ld th em al l when thou

reachestth e abodes of blessedn ess,

” said th e god .

“ Veri ly they have but ascended th ere before

th ee . Wherefore yie ld th ee not to gri ef,0 Ch ief

of th e Bharatas ! But r ise with me in th is thymorta l form .

The King bowed h is head in accep tance of the

invitat ion,and stood as id e to l et the dog go fi rs t

i n to th e char iot .

But I ndra intervened .

“ To -day,C King , thou

hast won immortal i ty ! Happ in ess and victory

and a throne l ike un to my own,are th ine . But

send away th is dog ! E nj oy what th ou hast

ach ieved !”

“ How difficu l t i s i t to an Aryan,said Yud is

th ira,

“to do a deed unworthy of an Aryan !How cou ld I en j oy that prosper i ty for wh ich I

had cast off one who was devoted ?

Said I ndra , “ For men with dogs there is no

p lace in H eaven . Thou art the just ! Abandon

thou th is dog ! I n do ing th i s wi l l b e no crue l ty .

”

But Yud isth ira answered slowly , “ Nay , gre at

I ndra,to abandon one who has loved us i s

i nfin i te ly s infu l . Never t i l l my l i fe ends shal l I

g ive up th e terr ified,nor one who has shown me


D harmma,th e God of Righ teousness . “ Hai l

,O

Yud isth ira sa id he,

“ thou who hast renounced

the very chario t of the cel est ial s on behal f of a

dog ! Ver i ly , i n H eaven is none equa l unto the e !

Region s of i nexhaust ib l e happ in ess are th ine !

Then,surrounded by th e ch ar io ts of th e gods

,

Yud isth ira the just , th e King of Righteousness,

seated on the car of glory,ascended into H eaven

in h is morta l form . And enter ing , he was met

by all th e Immortals,eager to welcome h im to

th eir midst,eager to praise h im as he deserved .

But Yudisth ira,l ook ing round and see ing nowhere

h i s brothers or D raupad i, sa id on ly, “ Happy or

unhappy,whatever be th e region that is now my

brothers’,to that , and n owhere e lse, do I desi re

to go ! But why , remonstrated I ndra, “ dost

th ou s ti l l ch er i sh human affect ions Thy brothers

a l so are h appy, each in h is own p lace . Veri ly,I

see that th ou art but morta l . Human love st i l l

binds thee . Look,th i s i s H eaven Beho ld around

th ee those who h ave at ta ined to the regions of the

gods !”

But Yud isth ira answered , “ Nay,Conqueror of

th e Demons ! I cannot dwel l apart from them .

Wherever they have gone,th ith er

,and not e lse

where,wi l l I a l so go !

At th is very moment the King’s eyes,sweeping

H eaven again, in h is firs t eager search for those

he loved , caught sight , first o f Duryodhana, then of

THE ASCENT OF YUD ISTHIRA 339

his foe ’s brothers,and final ly ofthe'

whole hundred

and one sons of D ritarashtra,blaz ing l ike th e sun ,

wearing a l l th e s igns of glory that bel ongto heroes ,and seated on thrones l i ke gods . At th is sigh t

,

Yud isth ira was fi l l ed with rage . I wi l l n ot ,”he

shouted in anger , “ dwe l l even i n the region s of

happ iness with the vain and reckl ess Duryodhana !For him were our fri ends and kinsmen sl aughtered .

By him was the Queen insu l ted . Listen to me ,ye gods ! I wi l l not even look upon such as

th ese . Let me go there,whither my broth ers

are gone !“ But

,Great King , said one of those about

h im,smi l ing at h i s fury

,

“ th is shou ld not be . LilHeaven do al l feuds cease . By pouring h imsel f

,

l i ke an ob l at ion ,on the fire of batt l e

,by remain

ing unterrified i n moments of great terror , hasDuryodhana attain ed

‘

to cel estia l j oys . Do thou

forgetthy woes . This i s H eaven , 0 Lord of menHere th ere can be no enmity !”

“ I f such as h e cou ld have deserved th i s,

answered Yud isth ira,

no whit appeased,

“ what

must not my fr iends and kindred have deserved !

Let me go to the company of th e righteous !

What are the cel est i al regions to me withoutmy brothers ? Where th ey are

,must in i tse l f be

Heaven . This p lace,i n my Op in ion

,i s notso.

Seeing the King so determined , th e gods turned

and gave orders to th e celest ia l messenger,saying

,


“ D o thou Show unto Yudisthira his fr iends andkin smen

,

” and, turn ing h is face away from the

regions of blessedness,yet keeping st i l l in the wor ld

of the gods,th e d ivine gu ide made to do th ei r

b idding , and went forward , fo l lowed by th e King .

Dread and terribl e was that road by wh ich th ey

now j ourneyed . Dark and pol luted and difficu lt , i t

was no isome with fou l odours,in fested with st ing

ing i nsects , and made dangerous and fearfu l by

roaming beasts of prey . I t was sk i rted on e i th er

s ide by a runn ing fi re . III i ts s trange twi l igh t

cou ld be seen s ights of a namel ess terror . Here

and there l ay human bones . I t s eemed to be fu l l

of evi l sp i r its , and to abound i n inaccess ib l e fast

nesses and l abyri nth ine paths .

On went the messenger of th e gods,and on

beh ind h im fol l owed th e King,h is mind every

momen t s ink i ng deeper and deeper i n to thoughts

of angui sh . At l ast th ey reached a gloomy region ,where was a r iver , whose waters appeared to boi l ,foaming, and th rowing up c louds of vapour . The

l eaves of the trees , moreover, were sharp l ike

swords . Here also were deser ts of fine sand,

l uminous to the s ight and heated to white h eat .The very rocks and stones were made of iron .

There were te rr ib le thorns a lso,and innumerab le

cau ldrons fi l l ed with boi l ing o i l . I n such forms

d id they beho ld th e tortures wh ich are infl ic ted

upon s infu l men .


A moment passed . Duryodhana in H eaven

h e pondered,

“and th ese my kinsmen fal l en i nto

H el l ! Do I wake, or dream ? Or is al l th is some

disorder o f th e brain ? What j ust ice can there

be in the Universe ? Nay,for th is crime shal l

I abandon th e very gods themse lves ! At thes e

words , uttered with in h imsel f by h is own mind ,th e wrath of an a l l-powerfu l monarch awoke i n

th e heart o f Yud isth ira .“ Go he thundered in

anger , turn ing h imse lf t o h is gu ide . Return thou

to the presence of those whose messenger thou

art, and make known to them that I return not to

the ir s ide . Here,where my brother s suffer

,here,

where my presence aids them,here and no other

where,do I eterna l ly abide !”

The messenger bowed his head , and passed

swift ly out of sight . Up to h igh H eaven passedb e, carryi ng th i s defiance of Yud isthira, t o I ndra ,Ch ief of Gods and Men . And the King stood

alone - in Hel l , brooding over the unspeakab le

suffer ings of h is kinsfo lk .

Not more than a moment had passed , when a

coo l and fragrant breeze began to b low .

‘

Light

dawned . Al l th e repu ls ive’

sights d isappeared .

The bou lders of i ron , the cauldrons of oil, and

th e thorny p lants van ish ed from sight . And

Yud isth ira, ra is ing h is eyes , s aw h imsel f sur

rounded by th e gods’

“ These i l lus i ons,said they

,

“ are ended !

THE ASCENT OF YUD ISTHIRA 343

Ascend thou to th ine own place ! Hel l must

indeed be seen by every king. Happy are they

whose good deeds h ave been so many that they

first suffer and afterwards enj oy . Tor thee and to

these thy kindred,Yudisthira, has H el l been shown

only by a kind of mirage . Come , then , thou royal

sage,beho ld here th e heaven ly Ganges . Plunge

thou in to th is Mi lky Way , and casting off there

thy human body,d ives t thyse l f with it of al l

th ine enmity and gri ef. Then rise,0 thou of

never-dying glory ! t o j oin thy kinsmen and

fr iends and D raupadi, i n those blessed reg ion s

wherei n they a lready dwel l,great even as I ndra

,

enth roned in Heaven !

THE END

Printed b y BALLANTYN E , HANSO N 63° Co.

Edinburgh 69° London

Nob l e , MargaretEl i z ab ethCradl e tal es of Hi ndui sm

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