And the next morning, when king Chandraprabha was sitting in secret conclave together with the queen, his son, the kings and his ministers, the Asura Maya said to him—“Listen, king, I will to-day tell you a secret long guarded; you are a Dánava, Sunítha by name, my mighty son, and Súryaprabha is your younger brother, named Sumundíka; after you were slain in the war of the gods, you were born here as father and son. That Dánava body of yours has been preserved by me skilfully embalmed with heavenly drugs and ghee. Therefore you must enter a cavern and visit Pátála, and then return to your own body by a charm which I will teach you. And when you have entered that body, you will be so much superior in spirit and strength, that you will conquer in fight the wanderers of the air. But Súryaprabha, who is an incarnation of Sumundíka, with this same beautiful body which he now possesses, shall soon become lord of the sky-goers. When king Chandraprabha heard this from Maya, he was delighted and agreed to it, but Siddhártha said this—“O excellent Dánava, what ground of confidence have we, if this doubt should arise, ‘Why has the king entered another body, has he then died?’ And moreover will he forget us when he enters another body, like a man gone to the other world? Who is he, and who are we?” When the Asura Maya heard this speech of Siddhártha’s, he answered—“You yourselves must come and see him with your own eyes entering another body, of his own free will, by the employment of a charm. And hear the reason why he will not forget you. A man, who does not die of his own free will, and is born in another womb, does not remember anything, as his memory is destroyed by old age and other afflictions, but whoever of his own free will enters another body, penetrating by the employment of magic the internal organ and the senses, without his mind and intellect being impaired, and passes, as it were, from one house to another, that prince among Yogins has supernatural knowledge and remembers all. So do not feel doubtful; so far from there being any reason for it, this king will obtain a great divine body free from old age and sickness. Moreover you are all Dánavas, and by merely entering Rasátala,[4] and drinking nectar, you will obtain divine bodies free from sickness.” When the ministers heard this speech of Maya’s, they all said, “So be it,” and consented to his proposal, abandoning their apprehensions out of the confidence they reposed in him. And by his advice, Chandraprabha, with all the kings, went on the next day to the confluence of the Chandrabhágá and the Airávatí.[5] There Chandraprabha left the kings outside, and committed to their care the wives of Súryaprabha, and then he entered in company with Súryaprabha, the queen, and the ministers with Siddhártha at their head, an opening in the water pointed out by Maya, and after entering he travelled a long distance, and beheld a heavenly temple, and entered it with all of them.
And in the meanwhile the Vidyádharas descended with troops on those kings, who were remaining there outside the opening; and paralyzing the kings by supernatural arts, they carried off the wives of Súryaprabha, and immediately a voice was heard from the sky—“Wicked Śrutaśarman, if you touch these wives of the emperor, you shall immediately perish with your host. So guard them respectfully, treating them like your mother; there is a reason for my not immediately slaying you and setting them free; so let them remain as they are at present.” And when the kings, Vírabhaṭa and the others, saw them carried off, they prepared to die by fighting with one another. But a voice from heaven forbade their attempt, saying, “No harm will befall these daughters of yours, you shall obtain them again, so you must not act rashly, prosperity befall you!” So the kings remained waiting there. In the meantime Chandraprabha was in the temple in Pátála surrounded by all his companions, and there Maya said to him, “King, listen attentively to this wonderful thing; I will shew you the supernatural art of entering another body.” He said this, and recited the Sánkhya and the Yoga doctrine with its secrets, and taught him the magic art of entering another body; and that chief of Yogins said—“This is the famous supernatural power, and the independence of knowledge, the dominion over matter that is characterized by lightness and the other mystic properties. The chief of the gods, possessing this power, do not long for liberation; in order to obtain this power others endure the hardship of muttering prayers and performing asceticism. Men of lofty soul do not love the pleasures of heaven even when attained. And listen, I will tell you a story in illustration of this.”
Story of the Bráhman Kála.
In a former Kalpa[6] there was a certain Bráhman, of the name of Kála. He went to the holy bathing-place Pushkara and muttered prayers day and night. While he was muttering, two myriads of years of the gods passed away. Then there appeared a great light inseparable from his head, which, streaming forth in the firmament like ten thousand suns,[7] impeded the movement of the Siddhas and others there, and set the three worlds on fire. Then Brahmá, Indra and the other gods came to him and said—“Bráhman, these worlds are on fire with your brightness. Receive whatever boon you desire.” He answered them—“Let me have no other pleasure than muttering prayers, this is my boon, I choose nothing else.” When they importuned him, that mutterer of prayers went far off and remained on the north side of the Himálayas, muttering prayers. When this extraordinary brightness of his gradually became intolerable even there, Indra sent heavenly nymphs to tempt him. That self-restrained man did not care a straw about them, when they endeavoured to seduce him. Then the gods sent him Death as plenipotentiary. He came to him and said—“Bráhman, mortals do not live so long, so abandon your life; do not break the law of nature.” When the Bráhman heard this, he said—“If the limit of my life is attained, why do you not take me? What are you waiting for? But I will not of myself abandon my life, O thou god with the noose in hand; indeed, if I were wilfully to abandon my life, I should be a self-murderer.” When he said this, and Death found that he could not take him on account of his power, he turned away from him and returned as he came. Then Indra repenting seized that Kála,[8] who had conquered Time the destroyer, in his arms, and took him up to heaven by force. There he remained averse to the sensual enjoyments of the place, and he did not cease from muttering prayers, so the gods made him descend again, and he returned to the Himálayas. And while all the gods were trying to induce him there to take a boon, the king Ikshváku came that way. When he heard how affairs stood, he said to that mutterer of prayers, “If you will not receive a boon from the gods, receive one from me.” When the mutterer of prayers heard that, he laughed, and said to the king—“Are you able to grant me a boon, when I will not receive one even from the gods?” Thus he spoke, and Ikshváku answered the Bráhman—“If I am not able to grant you a boon, you can grant me one; so grant me a boon.” Then the mutterer said—“Choose whatever you desire, and I will grant it.” When the king heard this, he reflected in his mind: “The appointed order is that I should give, and that he should receive; this is an inversion of the due order, that I should receive what he gives.” Whilst the king was delaying, as he pondered over this difficulty, two Bráhmans came there disputing; when they saw the king they appealed to him for a decision. The first said, “This Bráhman gave me a cow with a sacrificial fee: why will he not receive it from my hand, when I offer to give it back to him?” Then the other said, “I did not receive it first, and I did not ask for it, then why does he wish to make me receive it by force?” When the king heard this, he said—“This complainant is not in the right; why, after receiving the cow, do you try to compel the man, who gave it, to take it back from you?” When the king said this, Indra, having found his opportunity, said to him—“King, if you hold this view of what is right, then, after you have asked the Bráhman, who mutters prayers, for a boon, why do you not take it from him when it is granted?” Then the king, being at a loss for an answer, said to that muttering Bráhman—“Revered sir, give me the fruit of half your muttering as a boon.” Then the muttering Bráhman said—“Very well, receive the fruit of half my muttering,” and so he gave the king a boon. By means of that boon the king obtained access to all the worlds, and that muttering Bráhman obtained the world of the gods called Śivas.[9] There he remained for many kalpas, and then returned to earth, and by mystic contemplation obtained independence, and gained everlasting supernatural power.
“Thus this supernatural power is desired by wise men, who are averse to heaven and such low enjoyments; and you have obtained it, O king, so, being independent, enter your own body.” When Maya said this to king Chandraprabha, after communicating to him the doctrine of mystic contemplation giving supernatural power,[10] he and his wife and his son and his ministers rejoiced exceedingly.
Then the king, with his son and companions, was led by Maya to a second under-world, and made to enter a splendid city. And there they saw a gigantic hero, reclining at full length upon a beautiful couch, as if asleep, anointed with potent herbs and ghee, awful from the ghastly transformation of his features, surrounded by the daughters of the kings of the Daityas, with their lotus-faces full of melancholy. Then Maya said to Chandraprabha:—“This is your body, surrounded by your former brides, enter it.”—The king had recourse to the magic contemplation taught by Maya, and entered the body of that hero, abandoning his own frame.[11] Then the hero yawned slowly, opened his eyes, and rose up from the bed, as if awaking out of sleep. Then a shout arose from the delighted Asura brides, “Happy are we, that our husband, the god Sunítha, is to-day restored to life.” But Súryaprabha and the others were immediately despondent, beholding the body of Chandraprabha lying lifeless. But Chandraprabha-Sunítha, appearing as if risen from a refreshing sleep, saw Maya, and falling at his feet honoured his father. That father too embraced him and asked him in the presence of all,—“Do you remember both your lives, my son?” He said; “I do remember them,” and related what had happened to him in his life as Chandraprabha, and also what had happened to him in his life as Sunítha, and he comforted one by one Súryaprabha and the others, and also his queens, mentioning each by name, and also the Dánava ladies, his wives in his first life. And he preserved the body, which he had as Chandraprabha, carefully laid by, embalmed by means of drugs and ghee, saying, “It may possibly be useful to me.” Then Súryaprabha and the others, tranquil now that they had gained confidence, bowed before him, and joyfully congratulated him.
Then Maya, having conducted all of them in high delight out of that city, led them to another city adorned with gold and jewels. When they entered it, they beheld a lake of the appearance of beryl, filled with nectar, and they all sat down on the bank of it. And they drank that nectarous draught there, more excellent than the water of life, in curiously ornamented cups formed of jewels, which were brought to them by the wives of Sunítha. And by that draught they all rose up, as from a sleep of intoxication, and became possessed of divine bodies, and of great strength and courage.
Then the Asura Maya said to Chandraprabha-Sunítha, “Come, my son, let us go, and see your mother after so long a separation.” And Sunítha said “So be it,” and prepared to go conducted by Maya, and so proceeded to the fourth under-world with Súryaprabha and the others. There they beheld curious cities made of various metals, and at last they all reached a city built entirely of gold. There, on a pillar composed of jewels adorned with every luxury, they beheld that mother of Sunítha, the wife of Maya, by name Lílávatí, surpassing in beauty the nymphs of heaven, surrounded with Asura maidens, and adorned with all ornaments. The moment she beheld that Sunítha, she rose up in a state of excitement, and Sunítha, after saluting her, fell at her feet. Then she embraced with gushing tears the son, whom she once more held in her arms after so long an interval, and again praised her husband Maya, who was the cause of her regaining him. Then Maya said—“Queen, your other son Sumundíka has been born again as the son of your son, and here he is, Súryaprabha by name. He has been appointed by the god Śiva the future emperor of the Vidyádharas, and is destined to rule over them in the body which he now possesses.” When Súryaprabha heard this, and saw her look at him with an eye of longing affection, he and his ministers fell at her feet. And Lílávatí gave him her blessing, and said to him—“My darling, you do not require the body of Sumundíka, in this you are sufficiently glorious.” When his sons were thus triumphant, Maya called to mind his daughter Mandodarí, and Vibhíshaṇa, and when called to mind, they came. And Vibhíshaṇa, welcomed with triumphant rejoicings, said to him—“O prince of the Dánavas, if you will listen to my advice, I will give it you. You are among the Dánavas singularly virtuous and prosperous, so you ought not to take up a causeless enmity against the gods. For you will gain nothing but death from your hostility to them. For Asuras have been slain in battle by the gods, but not gods by Asuras.” When Maya heard this, he said—“We are not forcing on war, but if Indra violently makes war on us, tell me, how can we remain passive? And as for those Asuras who were slain by the gods, they were reckless, but did the gods slay Bali and others who were not infatuated?” That king of the Rákshasas having, with his wife Mandodarí, been addressed with these and similar speeches by Maya, took leave of him, and went to his own dwelling.
Then Sunítha, with Súryaprabha and the others, was conducted to the third under-world to visit king Bali. In that world, which surpassed even heaven, they all beheld Bali, adorned with chain and tiara, surrounded with Daityas and Dánavas. Sunítha and his companions fell at his feet in due order, and he honoured them with appropriate welcome. And Bali was delighted with the tidings related by Maya, and he quickly had summoned Prahláda and the other Dánavas. Sunítha and the others honoured them also by falling at their feet, and they, being full of joy, congratulated them, as they bent before them. Then Bali said, “Sunítha became Chandraprabha on the earth, and now is restored to life for us by regaining his body. And we have also gained Súryaprabha, who is an incarnation of Sumundíka. And he has been appointed by Śiva the future emperor of the Vidyádharas: and by the power of the sacrifice offered by Chandraprabha my bonds have been relaxed. So without doubt we have gained prosperity by recovering these.” When Śukra, the spiritual adviser of the Dánavas, heard this speech of Bali’s, he said, “In truth those who act according to right never fail of prosperity in any matter; so act according to right, and do on this occasion also what I bid you.” When the Dánavas, the princes of the seven under-worlds, who were assembled there, heard that, they agreed to it and bound themselves so to act. And Bali made a feast there, out of joy at the recovery of Sunítha.