When he heard this speech of the adorable Śiva, the king of Vatsa, with his retinue, worshipped him, and joyfully made up his mind to celebrate the marriage of his son. Then the king congratulated his prime minister, who had before discerned the truth, and summoned the astrologers, and asked them what would be a favourable moment, and they, after being honoured with presents, told him that a favourable moment would arrive within a few days. Again those astrologers said to him—“Your son will have to endure some separation for a short season from this wife of his; this we know, O lord of Vatsa, by our own scientific foresight.” Then the king proceeded to make the requisite preparations for the marriage of his son, in a style suited to his own magnificence, so that not only his own city, but the whole earth was made to tremble with the effort of it. Then, the day of marriage having arrived, Kalingasená adorned her daughter, to whom her father had sent his own heavenly ornaments, and Somaprabhá came in obedience to her husband’s order. Then Madanamanchuká, adorned with a heavenly marriage thread, looked still more lovely; is not the moon truly beautiful, when accompanied by Kártika? And heavenly nymphs, by the order of Śiva, sang auspicious strains in her honour: they were eclipsed by her beauty and remained hidden as if ashamed, but the sound of their songs was heard. They sang the following hymn in honour of Gaurí, blended with the minstrelsy of the matchless musicians of heaven, so as to make unequalled harmony—“Victory to thee, O daughter of the mountain, that hast mercy on thy faithful votaries, for thou hast thyself come to-day and blessed with success the asceticism of Rati.” Then Naraváhanadatta, resplendent with excellent marriage-thread, entered the wedding-pavilion full of various musical instruments. And the bride and bridegroom, after accomplishing the auspicious ceremony of marriage, with intent care, so that no rite was left out, ascended the altar-platform where a fire was burning, as if ascending the pure flame of jewels on the heads of kings. If the moon and the sun were to revolve at the same time round the mountain of gold,[23] there would be an exact representation in the world of the appearance of those two, the bride and the bridegroom, when circumambulating the fire, keeping it on their right. Not only did the drums of the gods in the air drown the cymbal-clang in honour of the marriage festival, but the rain of flowers sent down by the gods overwhelmed the gilt grain thrown by the women. Then also the generous Kalingasená honoured her son-in-law with heaps of gold studded with jewels, so that the lord of Alaká was considered very poor compared with him, and much more so all miserable earthly monarchs. And then the bride and bridegroom, now that the delightful ceremony of marriage was accomplished in accordance with their long-cherished wishes, entered the inner apartments crowded with women, adorned with pure and variegated decoration, even as they penetrated the heart of the people full of pure and various loyalty. Moreover, the city of the king of Vatsa was quickly filled with kings, surrounded with splendid armies, who, though their valour was worthy of the world’s admiration, had bent in submission, bringing in their hands valuable jewels by way of presents, as if with subject seas.[24] On that high day of festival, the king distributed gold with such magnificence to his dependants, that the children in their mothers’ wombs were at any rate the only beings in his kingdom not made of gold.[25] Then on account of the troops of excellent minstrels and dancing girls, that came from all quarters of the world, with hymns, music, dances and songs on all sides, the world seemed full of harmony. And at that festival the city of Kauśámbí seemed itself to be dancing, for the pennons agitated by the wind seemed like twining arms, and it was beautified with the toilettes of the city matrons, as if with ornaments. And thus waxing in mirth every day, that great festival continued for a long time, and all friends, relations and people generally were delighted by it, and had their wishes marvellously fulfilled. And that crown-prince Naraváhanadatta, accompanied by Madanamanchuká, enjoyed, though intent on glory, the long-desired pleasures of this world.
[1] i. e. Káma the Hindu Cupid.
[2] This probably means in plain English that she wore glittering anklets.
[3] Cp. the conduct of the Meerweib in Hagen’s Helden-Sagen, Vol. I, p. 55.
[4] i. e. Śiva.
[5] Prajápati.
[6] Literally—placing it upon his head.Cp. also the following passage from Brand’s Popular Antiquities, Vol. II, p. 78. “Borlase quotes from Martin’s Western Islands. ‘The same lustration by carrying of fire is performed round about women after child-bearing, and round about children before they are christened, as an effectual means to preserve both the mother and the infant from the power of evil spirits.’” Brand compares the Amphidromia at Athens. See Kuhn’s Westfälische Märchen, Vol. I, pp. 125, and 289: Vol. II, pp. 17 and 33–34.
[7] The superstitious custom of lighting fires, lamps &c., to protect children against evil spirits is found in many countries. Liebrecht (Zur Volkskunde, p. 31,) refers us to Brand’s Popular Antiquities, edited by Hazlitt, Vol. II, p. 144, for the prevalence of the practice in England. “Gregory mentions ‘an ordinary superstition of the old wives who dare not trust a child in a cradle by itself alone without a candle.’ This he attributes to their fear of the night-hag;” (cp. Milton, P. L. II, 662–665). He cites authorities to prove that it exists in Germany, Scotland, and Sweden. In the latter country, it is considered dangerous to let the fire go out until the child is baptized, for fear that the Trolls may substitute a changeling in its place. The custom exists also in the Malay Peninsula, and among the Tájiks in Bokhara. The Roman custom of lighting a candle in the room of a lying-in woman, from which the goddess Candelifera derived her name (Tertullian Adv. nation, 2, 11) is to be accounted for in the same way. See also Veckenstedt, Wendische Sagen, p. 446. The same notion will be found in Bartsch’s Sagen, Märchen, und Gebräuche aus Meklenburg, Vol. I, pp. 17, 64, 89, 91; Vol. II, p. 43.
[8] For treasures and their guardians see Veckenstedt’s Wendische Sagen, pp. 356–374 and p. 394. For the candle of human fat see Benfey in Orient und Occident, Vol. I, p. 383. For treasures and their guardians see Bartsch’s Sagen, Märchen, und Gebräuche aus Meklenburg, Vol. I, p. 243 and ff., and for the candle of human fat, Vol. II, pp. 333 and 335 of the same work. Cp. also Birlinger, Aus Schwaben, pp. 251 and 262–270.