Story of Yaśovarman and the two fortunes.
There was in old time in this country a city, named Kautukapura. In it there lived a king, called Bahusuvarṇaka,[10] rightly named. And he had a young Kshatriya servant named Yaśovarman. To that man the king never gave anything, though he was generous by nature. Whenever in his distress he asked the king, the king said to him, pointing to the sun, “I wish to give to you, but this holy god will not permit me to give to you. Tell me what I am to do.” While he remained distressed, watching for an opportunity, the time for an eclipse of the sun arrived. Then Yaśovarman, who had constantly served the king, went and said to him, when he was engaged in giving many valuable presents: “Give me something, my sovereign, while this sun, who will not permit you to give, is in the grasp of his enemy.” When the king, who had given many presents, heard that, he laughed, and gave garments, gold, and other things to him.
In course of time that wealth was consumed, and he, being afflicted, as the king gave him nothing, and having lost his wife, went to the shrine of the goddess that dwells in the Vindhya hills.[11] He said—“What is the use of this profitless body that is dead even while alive? I will abandon it before the shrine of the goddess, or gain the desired boon.” Resolved on this course, he lay down on a bed of darbha grass in front of the goddess, with his mind intent on her, and fasting he performed a severe penance. And the goddess said to him in a dream, “I am pleased with thee, my son; tell me, shall I give thee the good fortune of wealth, or the good fortune of enjoyment?” When Yaśovarman heard this, he answered the goddess, “I do not precisely know the difference between these two good fortunes.” Then the goddess said to him: “Return to thy own country, and there go and examine into the good fortunes of the two merchants, Arthavarman and Bhogavarman, and find out which of the two pleases thee, and then come here and ask a like fortune for thyself.” When Yaśovarman heard this, he woke up, and next morning he broke his fast, and went to his own country of Kautukapura.
There he first went to the house of Arthavarman,[12] who had acquired much wealth, in the form of gold, jewels, and other precious things, by his business transactions. Seeing that prosperity of his, he approached him with due politeness, and was welcomed by him, and invited to dinner. Then he sat by the side of that Arthavarman, and ate food appropriate to a guest, with meat-curry and ghee. But Arthavarman ate barley-meal, with half a pal of ghee and a little rice, and a small quantity of meat-curry. Yaśovarman said to the merchant out of curiosity—“Great merchant, why do you eat so little?” Thereupon the merchant gave him this answer: “To-day out of regard for you I have eaten a little rice with meat-curry and half a pal of ghee; I have also eaten some barley-meal. But as a general rule, I eat only a karsha of ghee and some barley-meal, I have a weak digestion, and cannot digest more in my stomach.” When Yaśovarman heard that, he turned the matter over in his mind, and formed an unfavourable opinion of that prosperity of Arthavarman’s, as being without fruit. Then, at nightfall, that merchant Arthavarman again brought rice and milk for Yaśovarman to eat. And Yaśovarman again ate of it to his fill, and then Arthavarman drank one pala of milk. And in that same place Yaśovarman and Arthavarman both made their beds, and gradually fell asleep.
And at midnight Yaśovarman suddenly saw in his sleep some men of terrible appearance with clubs in their hands, entering the room. And they exclaimed angrily—“Fie! why have you taken to-day one karsha more of ghee than the small amount allowed to you, and eaten meat-curry, and drunk a pala of milk?” Then they dragged Arthavarman by his foot and beat him with clubs. And they extracted from his stomach the karsha of ghee, and the milk, flesh, and rice, which he had consumed above his allowance. When Yaśovarman had seen that, he woke up and looked about him, and lo! Arthavarman had woke up, and was seized with colic. Then Arthavarman, crying out, and having his stomach rubbed by his servants, vomited up all the food he had eaten above the proper allowance. After the merchant’s colic was allayed, Yaśovarman said to himself: “Away with this good fortune of wealth, which involves enjoyment of such an equivocal kind! This would be altogether neutralized by such misery of ill health.” In such internal reflections he passed that night.
And in the morning he took leave of Arthavarman, and went to the house of that merchant Bhogavarman. There he approached him in due form, and he received him with politeness, and invited him to dine with him on that day. Now he did not perceive any wealth in the possession of that merchant, but he saw that he had a nice house, and dresses, and ornaments. While Yaśovarman was waiting there, the merchant Bhogavarman proceeded to do his own special business. He took merchandise from one man, and immediately handed it over to another, and without any capital of his own, gained dínárs by the transaction. And he quickly sent those dínárs by the hand of his servant to his wife, in order that she might procure all kinds of food and drink. And immediately one of that merchant’s friends, named Ichchhábharaṇa, rushed in and said to him: “Our dinner is ready, rise up and come to us, and let us eat, for all our other friends have assembled and are waiting for you.” He answered, “I shall not come to-day, for I have a guest here.” Thereupon his friend went on to say to him, “Then let this guest come with you; is he not our friend also? Rise up quickly.” Bhogavarman, being thus earnestly invited by that friend, went with him, accompanied by Yaśovarman, and ate excellent food. And, after drinking wine, he returned, and again enjoyed all kinds of viands and wines at his own house in the evening. And when night came on, he asked his servants—“Have we enough wine left for the latter part of the night or not?” When they replied, “No, master,” the merchant went to bed, exclaiming, “How are we to drink water in the latter part of the night?”
Then Yaśovarman, sleeping at his side, saw in a dream two or three men enter, and some others behind them. And those who entered last, having sticks in their hands, exclaimed angrily to those who entered first—“You rascals! Why did you not provide wine for Bhogavarman to drink in the latter half of the night? Where have you been all this time?” Then they beat them with strokes of their sticks. The men who were beaten with sticks, said, “Pardon this single fault on our part.” And then they and the others went out of the room.
Then Yaśovarman, having seen that sight, woke up and reflected, “The good fortune of enjoyment of Bhogavarman, in which blessings arrive unthought of, is preferable to the good fortune of wealth of Arthavarman, which, though attended with opulence, is devoid of enjoyment.”
In these reflections he spent the rest of the night.
And early the next morning Yaśovarman took leave of that excellent merchant, and again repaired to the feet of Durgá, the goddess that dwells in the Vindhya range. And he chose out of those two good fortunes mentioned by the goddess, when she appeared to him on a former occasion,[13] while he was engaged in austerities, the good fortune of enjoyment, and the goddess granted it to him. Then Yaśovarman returned home and lived in happiness, thanks to the good fortune of enjoyment, which, owing to the favour of the goddess, continually presented itself to him unthought of.
“So a smaller fortune, accompanied with enjoyment, is to be preferred to a great fortune, which, though great, is devoid of enjoyment and therefore useless. So why are you annoyed at the good fortune of king Chamarabála, which is combined with meanness, and do not consider your own fortune, which is rich in the power of giving and in enjoyment?
“So an attack on him by you is not advisable, and there is no auspicious moment for commencing the expedition, and I do not foresee victory to you.” Though those five kings were thus warned by the astrologer, they marched in their impatience against king Chamarabála.
And when king Chamarabála heard that they had reached the border, he bathed in the morning, and worshipped Śiva duly by his auspicious names referring to sixty-eight excellent parts of the body,[14]—his names that destroy sin and grant all desires. And then he heard a voice coming from heaven, “King, fight without fear, thou shalt conquer thy enemies in battle.” Then king Chamarabála was delighted, and girded on his armour, and accompanied by his army, marched out to fight with those foes. In the army of his enemies there were thirty thousand elephants, and three hundred thousand horses, and ten million foot-soldiers. And in his own army there were twenty hundred thousand foot-soldiers, and ten thousand elephants, and a hundred thousand horses. Then a great battle took place between those two armies, and king Chamarabála, preceded by his warder Víra,[15] who was rightly so named, entered that field of battle, as the holy Vishṇu, in the form of the great boar, entered the great ocean. And though he had but a small army, he so grievously smote that great army of his foes, that slain horses, elephants, and footmen lay in heaps. And when king Samarabála came across him in the battle, he rushed upon him, and smote him with an iron spear, and drawing him towards him with a lasso, made him prisoner. And then in the same way he smote the second king Samaraśúra in the heart with an arrow, and drawing him towards him with a noose, made him also prisoner. And his warder, named Víra, captured the third king, named Samarajita, and brought him to him. And his general, named Devabala, brought and presented to him the fourth king, named Pratápachandra, wounded with an arrow. Then the fifth king Pratápasena, beholding that, fell furiously upon king Chamarabála in the fight. But he repelled his arrows with the multitude of his own, and pierced him with three arrows in the forehead. And when he was bewildered with the blows of the arrows, Chamarabála, like a second Destiny, flung a noose round his neck, and dragging him along made him a captive. When those five kings had in this way been taken prisoners in succession, as many of their soldiers, as had escaped slaughter, fled, dispersing themselves in every direction. And king Chamarabála captured an infinite mass of gold and jewels, and many wives belonging to those kings. And among them, the head queen of king Pratápasena, called Yaśolekhá, a lovely woman, fell into his hands.
Then he entered his city, and gave turbans of honour to the warder Víra and the general Devabala, and loaded them with jewels. And the king made Yaśolekhá an inmate of his own harem, on the ground that she, being the wife of Pratápasena, was captured according to the custom of the Kshatriyas. And she, though flighty, submitted to him because he had won her by the might of his arm; in those abandoned to the intoxication of love the impressions of virtue are evanescent. And after some days, king Chamarabála, being solicited by the queen Yaśolekhá, let go those five captive kings, Pratápasena and the others, after they had learnt submission and done homage, and after honouring them, dismissed them to their own kingdoms. And then king Chamarabála long ruled his own wealthy kingdom, in which there were no opponents, and the enemies of which had been conquered, and he sported with that Yaśolekhá, who surpassed in form and loveliness beautiful Apsarases, being, as it were, the banner that announced his victory over his foes.
“Thus a brave man, though unsupported, conquers in the front of battle even many enemies coming against him in fight, distracted with hate, and not considering the resources of themselves and their foe, and by his surpassing bravery puts a stop to the fever of their conceit and pride.”
When Naraváhanadatta had heard this instructive tale told by Gomukha, he praised it, and set about his daily duties of bathing and so on. And he spent that night, which was devoted to the amusement of a concert, in singing with his wives in such a ravishing way, that Sarasvatí from her seat in heaven gave him and his beloved ones high commendation.
[1] This reminds one of the description which Palladius gives of the happy island of Taprobane. St. Ambrose in his version speaks of it as governed by four kings or satraps. The fragment begins at the 7th chapter of the 3rd book of the History of the Pseudo-Callisthenes edited by Carolus Müller. See Rohde, Der Griechische Roman, p. 239.
[2] i. e. Lakshmí or Śrí.
[3] Hansa—means swan and also supreme soul, i. e., Vishṇu.
[4] War, peace, marching, encamping, dividing one’s forces, seeking the alliance of a more powerful king.
[5] Or sects. The word used for “bee” means literally the six-footed. The whole passage is full of double meanings, charana meaning foot, line, i. e., the fourth part of a stanza, and also sect.
[6] Darśana utsukaḥ should probably be read here for the sake of the metre.
[7] Here there is a pun.
[8] This passage is an elaborate pun throughout.
[9] I read phalam which I find in the Sanskrit College MS. instead of param.
[10] i. e., possessor of much gold.
[11] i. e., Durgá. For mṛitajátir I read mṛitajánir which is the reading of the MS. in the Sanskrit College. In the next line jívitá should be jívatá.
[12] Cp. the story of Dhanagupta and Upabhuktadhana, Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. II, p. 197. It is part of the fifth story, that of Somilaka. See Benfey, Vol. I, p. 321, where he traces it to a Buddhist source.
[13] I read tapaḥstha-púrva-dṛishṭáyás one word.
[14] Śiva is invoked by a different name for each limb which he is asked to protect. See the quotations in Brand’s Popular Antiquities (Bohn’s Edition, Vol. I, pp. 365 and 366) from Moresini Papatus and Melton’s Astrologaster. Brand remarks, “The Romanists, in imitation of the heathens, have assigned tutelary gods to each member of the body.”
[15] Víra means hero.