The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story

by active 11th century Somadeva Bhatta

So six days passed, but on the seventh Súryaprabha and the others, with their wives and all, set out from the under-world. Delusive portents, which their rivals displayed to impede them, were dissipated by Suvásakumára, who came when thought of. Then they anointed Ratnaprabha, the son of Chandraprabha, king of the earth, and ascended the chariot Bhútásana,[1] and went all of them, by the advice of Maya, to a wood of ascetics on the bank of the eastern Ganges, the dwelling of Sumeru the king of the Vidyádharas. There Sumeru received them with all honour, as they had come on a friendly visit, having been told the whole story by Maya, and remembering the previous command of Śiva. And while Chandraprabha and the others were in that place, they summoned each of them all their own forces, and also their relations and friends. First came those princes, the sons of the fathers-in-law of Súryaprabha, who had acquired from Maya the required sciences, eager for the fray. They were sixteen in number, headed by Haribhaṭa, and each was followed by a force consisting of a myriad of chariots, and two myriads of footmen. After them came the Daityas and Dánavas true to their agreement, brothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, friends and other connexions of Súryaprabha.

Hṛishtaroman, and Mahámáya, and Sinhadanshṭra and Prakampana, and Tantukachehha and Durároha, and Sumáya, and Vajrapanjara, and Dhúmaketu, and Pramathana, and the Dánava Vikaṭáksha, and many others came from as low down as the seventh under-world. One came with seven myriads of chariots, another with eight, another with six, and another with three, and the least powerful of all with one myriad. One brought three hundred thousand footmen, another two hundred thousand, another one hundred thousand, and the pettiest potentate of all fifty thousand. And each brought a corresponding number of horses and elephants. And another innumerable host came belonging to Maya and Sunítha. And Súryaprabha’s own countless army also arrived, and those of Vasudatta and the other kings, and that of Sumeru.

Then the Asura Maya addressed this question to the hermit Suvásakumára, who came to him when thought of, in the presence of Súryaprabha and the others—“Reverend sir, we cannot review this army here because it is scattered; so tell me where we could get a view of the whole army at once extended in long array.” The hermit answered—“Not more than a yojana from here there is a place called Kalápagráma; go there and behold it drawn up in line.” When the hermit said that, all the princes went with him and Sumeru to Kalápagráma. There they made the armies of the Asuras and the kings take up their positions, and going to an elevated spot they reviewed them separately. Then Sumeru said—“Śrutaśarman has the larger force, for he has under him a hundred and one chiefs of the Vidyádharas. And every single one of those chiefs is lord of two and thirty kings. Never mind! I will draw away some and make them join you. So let us go in the morning to the place named Valmíka. For to-morrow is the eighth lunar day of the black fortnight of Phálguna, which is a high day. And on that day there is produced there a sign to show the future emperor, and for that reason the Vidyádharas are going there in a great hurry on that day.

When Sumeru gave that opinion with regard to the army, they spent that day in accordance with the law, and went on the morrow to Valmíka in chariots with their army. There they encamped with shouting forces on the southern plateau of the Himálayas, and beheld many Vidyádhara kings that had arrived. And those Vidyádharas had lighted fires there in fire-cavities, and were engaged in sacrificing, and some were occupied with muttering prayers. Then, where Súryaprabha made a fire-cavity, the fire burst forth of itself, owing to the power of his magic science. When Sumeru saw it, he was pleased, but envy arose in the breasts of the Vidyádharas at the sight; then one said to him—“For shame, Sumeru! why do you abandon your rank as a Vidyádhara, and follow this inhabitant of earth named Súryaprabha?” When Sumeru heard this, he angrily rebuked him. And when Súryaprabha asked his name, he said—“There is a Vidyádhara of the name of Bhíma, and Brahmá loved his wife at will; from this connexion he sprang. Since be sprang from Brahmá in a secret way, he is called Brahmagupta. Hence he speaks in a style characteristic of his birth.”

After saying this, Sumeru also made a fire-cavity. And in it Súryaprabha sacrificed with him to the god of Fire. And in a moment there suddenly rose from the hole in the ground an enormous and terrible serpent. In his arrogance, that chief of the Vidyádharas, named Brahmagupta, by whom Sumeru was blamed, ran to seize it. That serpent thereupon sent forth a hissing wind from its mouth, which carried Brahmagupta a hundred feet, and flung him down with such violence that he fell like a withered leaf. Then a chief of the Vidyádharas, named Tejaḥprabha, ran to seize it; he was flung away by it in the same manner. Then a lord of the Vidyádharas, named Dushṭadamana, approached it; he was hurled back like the others by that blast from its mouth. Then a prince of the sky-goers, named Virúpaśakti, approached it; he too was flung away as easily as a blade of grass by that breath. Then two kings, named Angáraka and Vijṛimbhaka, ran towards it together; and it flung them to a distance with its breath. Thus all the princes of the Vidyádharas were flung away one after another, and rose up with difficulty, with their limbs bruised with stones. Then Śrutaśarman, in his pride, went forward to seize the serpent; but it hurled him back with the blast of its breath like the others. He fell at a short distance, and rose up again, and ran again towards it; when it carried him a greater distance with its breath, and flung him to earth. Then Śrutaśarman rose up abashed, with bruised limbs, and Sumeru sent Súryaprabha to lay hold of the serpent. And then the Vidyádharas ridiculed him, saying, “Look! he too is trying to catch the snake! O! these men, thoughtless as monkeys, imitate whatever they see another doing.” Even while they were mocking him, Súryaprabha went and seized the serpent, whose mouth was quiet, and dragged it out of the hole. But at that moment the serpent became a priceless quiver, and a rain of flowers fell from the sky on his head. And a heavenly voice sounded aloud—“Súryaprabha, thine is this imperishable quiver equal to a magic power, so take it.” Then the Vidyádharas were cast down, Súryaprabha seized the quiver, and Maya and Sunítha and Sumeru were delighted.

Then Śrutaśarman departed, accompanied by the host of the Vidyádharas, and his ambassador came to Súryaprabha and said; “The august lord Śrutaśarman thus commands—‘Give me that quiver, if you value your life.’” Then Súryaprabha said; “Ambassador, go and tell him this—‘Your own body shall become a quiver, bristling all over with my arrows.’” When the ambassador heard this speech, he turned and went away, and all laughed at that furious message of Śrutaśarman’s[2], and Sumeru, joyfully embracing Súryaprabha, said to him—“I am delighted that that speech of Śiva’s has without doubt been fulfilled, for now that you have acquired this excellent quiver, you have practically acquired sovereign empire; so come and obtain now a splendid bow with calm intrepidity.”

When they heard Sumeru say this, and he himself led the way, they all, Súryaprabha and the others, went to the mountain Hemakúṭa. And on the north side of it they reached a beautiful lake named Mánasa, which seemed to have been the first assay of the Creator’s skill when making the sea, which eclipsed with its full-blown golden lotuses shaken by the wind, the faces of the heavenly nymphs sporting in the water. And while they were contemplating the beauty of the lake, Śrutaśarman and all the others came there. And then Súryaprabha made a sacrifice with lotuses and ghee, and immediately a terrible cloud rose up from that lake. That cloud filled the heaven, and poured down a great rain, and among the rain-drops fell from the cloud a black serpent. By the order of Sumeru, Súryaprabha rose up, and seized that serpent with a firm grasp, though it resisted, thereupon it became a bow. When it became a bow, a second snake fell from the cloud, through fear of the fiery poison of which all the sky-goers fled. That serpent too, when seized by Súryaprabha, like the first, became a bowstring, and the cloud quickly disappeared. And after a rain of flowers, a voice was heard from heaven,—“Súryaprabha, you have won this bow Amitabala and this string which cannot be cut, so take these priceless treasures.” And Súryaprabha took that excellent bow with the string. Śrutaśarman, for his part, went despondent to his wood of ascetics, and Súryaprabha, and Maya and the others were delighted.

Then they asked Sumeru about the origin of the bow, and he said—“Here there is a great and marvellous wood of bamboo canes; whatever bamboos are cut from it and thrown into this lake, become great and wonderful bows; and these bows have been acquired by several of the gods before yourself, and by Asuras and Gandharvas, and distinguished Vidyádharas. They have various names, but the bows appropriated to emperors are all called Amitabala, and were in old time deposited in the lake by the gods. And they are obtained, through the favour of Śiva, with these exertions, by certain men of virtuous conduct destined to be emperors. Hence it comes that Súryaprabha has to-day procured this great bow, and these companions of his shall procure bows suited to them. For they, being heroes who have acquired the sciences, are appropriate recipients for them, for they are still procured by worthy men, as is right.”

When the companions of Súryaprabha, Prabhása and the others, heard this speech of Sumeru’s, they went to the bamboo-grove, and after defeating the king Chandradatta, who guarded it, they brought the bamboos, and threw them into the lake. And these heroic men, by fasting on the bank of the lake, and muttering prayers, and sacrificing, obtained bows in seven days. When they returned and told their adventure, Súryaprabha returned with them and Maya and the others to that wood of ascetics, in which Sumeru dwelt. Then Sumeru said to him: “It is strange that your friends have conquered Chandradatta, the king of the bamboo-wood, though he is invincible. He possesses a science called the bewildering science, for that reason he is hard to conquer. Surely he must have been keeping it to use against a more important enemy. For this reason he did not employ it against these companions of yours on the present occasion, for it only can succeed once in his hands, not repeatedly. For he employed it once against his spiritual preceptor to try its force, thereupon he laid upon him this curse. So this matter should be thought upon, for the might of sciences is hard to overcome, and for that reason you should consult the revered Maya. What can I say in his presence? Of what avail is a candle in the face of the sun?” When Sumeru had said this to Súryaprabha, Maya said; “Sumeru has told you the truth in few words, listen to this which I now say—From undeveloped matter there spring in this world various powers, and subordinate powers. Among them the sound expressed by Anusvára arises from the power of breathing, and becomes a spell of force in magic sciences, when accompanied with the doctrine of the highest truth. And of those sciences which deal with spells, and which are acquired by supernatural knowledge, or austerity, or the holy command of holy men, the power is hard to resist. So, my son, you have obtained all the sciences, except two, in which you are deficient, namely, the science of bewildering, and that of counteracting. But Yájnavalkya knows them, therefore go and ask him to bestow them on you.” When thus advised by Maya, Súryaprabha went into the presence of that ṛishi.

That hermit made him dwell for seven days in the serpent-lake, and ordered him to perform austerities for three days in the midst of the fire. And he gave him the bewildering power when he had endured for seven days the bite of the snakes, and the counteracting power when he had resisted for three days the force of the fire.[3] And when he had obtained these sciences, that hermit ordered him again to enter the fire-cavity, and he consented and did it. And immediately there was bestowed on Súryaprabha a chariot in the form of a white lotus, that moved at the will of the possessor, and travelled through the air, which was furnished with a hundred and eight wings, and the same number of dwellings, and constructed of precious jewels of various kinds. And a voice from heaven addressed that resolute one,—“You have obtained this chariot suitable for an emperor, and you must place your wives in all these dwellings, in order that they may be safe from your enemies.” Then he, bending low, addressed this petition to his preceptor Yájnavalkya—“Tell me what fee I am to pay.” The hermit answered him—“Remember me at the time when you are anointed emperor, this in itself will be sufficient fee; in the meanwhile go to your army.” Then he bowed before that hermit, and ascended that chariot, and went to his army, that was encamped in the place where Sumeru dwelt. There he told his story, and Maya and the others, with Sunítha and Sumeru, congratulated him, now that he had obtained a magic chariot.