Story of the metamorphoses of Pingeśvara and Guheśvara.
There is on the earth a royal grant to Bráhmans, named Yajnasthala. In it there lived a rich[14] and virtuous Bráhman named Yajnasoma. In his middle age he had two sons born to him; the name of the elder was Harisoma and of the younger Devasoma. They passed through the age of childhood, and were invested with the sacred thread, and then the Bráhman their father lost his wealth, and he and his wife died.
Then those two wretched sons, bereaved of their father, and without subsistence, having had their grant taken from them by their relations, said to one another, “We are now reduced to living on alms, but we get no alms here. So we had better go to the house of our maternal grandfather, though it is far off. Though we have come down in the world, who on earth would welcome us, if we arrive of our own accord. Nevertheless let us go. What else indeed are we to do, for we have no other resource?”
After deliberating to this effect they went, begging their way, by slow stages, to that royal grant, where the house of their grandfather was. There the unfortunate young men found out, by questioning people, that their grandfather, whose name was Somadeva, was dead, and his wife also.
Then, begrimed with dust, they entered despairing the house of their maternal uncles named Yajnadeva and Kratudeva. There those good Bráhmans welcomed them kindly, and gave them food and clothing, and they remained engaged in study. But in course of time the wealth of their maternal uncles diminished, and they could keep no servants, and then they came and said to those nephews in the most affectionate way, “Dear boys, we can no longer afford to keep a man to look after our cattle, as we have become poor, so do you look after our cattle for us.” When Harisoma and Devasoma’s uncles said this to them, their throats were full of tears, but they agreed to their proposal. Then they took the cattle to the forest every day, and looked after them there, and at evening they returned home with them, wearied out.
Then, as they went on looking after the cattle, owing to their falling asleep in the day, some animals were stolen, and others were eaten by tigers. That made their uncles very unhappy: and one day a cow and goat intended for sacrifice, belonging to their uncles, both disappeared somewhere or other. Terrified at that, they took the other animals home before the right time, and running off in search of the two that were missing, they entered a distant forest. There they saw their goat half eaten by a tiger, and after lamenting, being quite despondent, they said, “Our uncles were keeping this goat for a sacrifice, and now that it is destroyed, their anger will be something tremendous. So let us dress its flesh with fire, and eat enough of it to put an end to our hunger, and then let us take the rest, and go off somewhere and support ourselves by begging.”
After these reflections they proceeded to roast the goat, and while they were so engaged, their two uncles arrived, who had been running after them, and saw them cooking the goat. When they saw their uncles in the distance, they were terrified, and they rose up in great trepidation, and fled from the spot. And those two uncles in their wrath pronounced[15] on them the following curse, “Since, in your longing for flesh, you have done a deed worthy of Rákshasas, you shall become flesh-eating Bráhman-Rakshasas.” And immediately those two young Bráhmans became Brahman-Rákshasas, having mouths formidable with tusks, flaming hair, and insatiable hunger; and they wandered about in the forest catching animals and eating them.
But one day they rushed upon an ascetic, who possessed supernatural power, to slay him, and he in self-defence cursed them, and they became Piśáchas. And in their condition as Piśáchas, they were carrying off the cow of a Bráhman, to kill it, but they were overpowered by his spells, and reduced by his curse to the condition of Chaṇḍálas.
One day, as they were roaming about in their condition as Chaṇḍálas, bow in hand, tormented with hunger, they reached, in their search for food, a village of bandits. The warders of the village, supposing them to be thieves, arrested them both, as soon as they saw them, and cut off their ears and noses. And they bound them, and beat them with sticks, and brought them in this condition before the chiefs of the bandits. There they were questioned by the chiefs, and being bewildered with fear, and tormented with hunger and pain,[16] they related their history to them. Then the chiefs of the gang, moved by pity, set them at liberty, and said to them, “Remain here and take food; do not be terrified. You have arrived here on the eighth day of the month, the day on which we worship Kártikeya, and so you are our guests; and should have a share in our feast.”[17] “When the bandits had said this, they worshipped the goddess Durgá, and made the two Chaṇḍálas eat in their presence,[18] and having, as it happened, taken a fancy to them, they would not let them out of their sight. Then they lived with those bandits by robbing, and thanks to their courage, became eventually the chiefs of the gang.
And one night those chiefs marched with their followers to plunder a large town, a favourite abode of Śiva, which some of their spies had selected for attack. Though they saw an evil omen, they did not turn back, and they reached and plundered the whole city and the temple of the god. Then the inhabitants cried to the god for protection, and Śiva in his wrath bewildered the bandits by making them blind. And the citizens suddenly perceiving that, and thinking that it was due to the favour of Śiva, assembled and smote those bandits with sticks and stones. And Gaṇas, moving about invisibly, flung some of the bandits into ravines, and dashed others to pieces against the ground.
And the people, seeing the two leaders, were about to put them to death, but they immediately turned into bob-tailed dogs. And in this transformation they suddenly remembered their former birth, and danced in front of Śiva, and fled to him for protection. When the citizens, Bráhmans, merchants, and all, saw that, they were delighted at being free from fear of robbers, and went laughing to their houses. And then the delusion, that had possessed those two beings now turned into dogs, disappeared, and they awoke to reality, and in order to put an end to their curse, they fasted, and appealed to Śiva by severe asceticism. And the next morning, the citizens, making high festival and worshipping Śiva, beheld those dogs absorbed in contemplation, and though they offered them food, the creatures would not touch it.
And the two dogs remained in this state for several days, beheld by all the world, and then Śiva’s Gaṇas preferred this prayer to him, “O god, these two Gaṇas, Pingeśvara and Guheśvara, who were cursed by the goddess, have been afflicted for a long time, so take pity on them.” When the holy god heard that, he said, “Let these two Gaṇas be delivered from their canine condition and became crows!” Then they became crows, and broke their fast upon the rice of the offering, and lived happily, remembering their former state, exclusively devoted to Śiva.
After some time, Śiva having been satisfied by their devotion to him, they became by his command first vultures, and then peacocks; then those noble Gaṇas, in course of time, became swans; and in that condition also they strove with the utmost devotion to propitiate Śiva. And at last they gained the favour of that god by bathing in sacred waters, by performing vows, by meditations, and acts of worship, and they became all composed of gold and jewels, and attained supernatural insight.
“Know that we are those very two, Pingeśvara and Guheśvara, who by the curse of Párvatí endured a succession of woes, and have now become swans. But the Gaṇa Maṇipushpeśvara, who was in love with the daughter of Jayá, and was cursed by the goddess, has become a king upon earth, even yourself, Brahmadatta. And that daughter of Jayá has been born as this lady, your wife Somaprabhá; and that Dhúrjaṭa has been born as this your minister Śivabhúti. And therefore we, having attained insight, and remembering the end of the curse appointed by Párvatí, appeared to you at night. By means of that artifice we have all been re-united here to-day; and we will bestow on you the perfection of insight.
“Come, let us go to that holy place of Śiva on the Tridaśa mountain, rightly named Siddhíśvara,[19] where the gods performed asceticism in order to bring about the destruction of the Asura Vidyuddhvaja. And they slew that Asura in fight, with the help of Muktáphalaketu, the head of all the Vidyádhara princes, who had been obtained by the favour of Śiva. And that Muktáphalaketu, having passed through the state of humanity brought upon him by a curse, obtained reunion with Padmávatí by the favour of the same god. Let us go to that holy place, which has such splendid associations connected with it, and there propitiate Śiva, and then we will return to our own home, for such was the end of the curse appointed to all of us by the goddess, to take place at the same time.” When the two heavenly swans said this to king Brahmadatta, he was at once excited with curiosity to hear the tale of Muktáphalaketu.
[1] An allusion to the Arddhanárísa form of Śiva.
[2] Pitámaháḥ must be a misprint for pitámahaḥ, as is apparent from the India Office MSS.
[3] This story is in the original prefaced by “Iti Padmávatí kathá.” It continues to the end of the book, but properly speaking, the story of Padmávatí does not commence until chapter 115.
[4] There is a reference to the sectaries of Śiva in Benares, and the Gaṇas of Śiva on mount Kailása.
[5] Here we have a longer form of the story of Brahmadatta found on pp. 12 and 13 of Vol. I. Dr. Rajendralál Mitra informs me that it is also found in a MS. called the Bodhisattva Avadána, one of the Hodgson MSS.
[6] i. e., moonlight.
[7] There is probably a double meaning. The clouds are compared to the Ganges, and it is obvious that geese would cluster round lotuses.
[8] The sárasa is a large crane; the chakraváka the Brahmany duck.
[9] i. e., Tárkshyaratna. I have no idea what the jewel is. B. and R. give ein bestimmter dunkelfarbiger Edelstein. In Játaka No. 136 there is a golden goose who had been a Bráhman. He gives his feathers to his daughters to sell, but his wife pulls out all the feathers at once; they become like the feathers of a baka. Afterwards they all grow white. See Rhys David’s Buddhist Birth Stories, p. ix, note. In Śloka, 4. 1, I read tadrasád for tatra sadá, with MSS. Nos. 1882 and 2166; No. 3003 has tatrasád.
[10] It may possibly mean “acted a love-drama.” I cannot find the sense I have assigned to it in any Dictionary.
[11] Before anu we should with the India Office MSS. insert tad. Monier Williams explains Brahma-Rákshasa as a “fiend of the Bráhmanical class.”
[12] It is worth while remarking that all the India Office MSS. here read kshetram̱ which would make Siddhíśvara the name of a place here.
[13] All the India Office MSS. read gatvá for jnátvá. I have adopted this; and I take tatkóraṇam̱ adverbially. MS. No. 1882 has gatovijnáta.
[14] It appears from the India Office MSS. that dhanaván should be inserted after bráhmaṇo. In śloka 82, the India Office MSS. read chitráyatam which I have adopted.
[15] The three India Office MSS. have viteratuḥ.
[16] Dr. Kern would read kshudduḥkáváptasam̱kleśau. I find that all the three India Office MSS. confirm his conjecture, so I have adopted it.
[17] Cp. Vergil’s Aeneid VIII. 172 and ff.
[18] All the three India Office MSS. and the Sanskrit College MS. read svágra, which I have endeavoured to translate. Perhaps it may mean, “before they took any food themselves.”
[19] Here the name of a place sacred to Śiva. Before we have had it as the god’s title. See B. & R. s. v. It means “lord of magic powers.”