[19] Two of the India office MSS. read cha te datta-dútáḥ, the other reads cha taddattadútáḥ. I think these readings give a better sense. The king of the Mátangas is here Durgapiśácha.
[20] I read samamánayat the conjecture of Dr. Kern. I find it in MS. No. 1882 and in 2166.
[21] Being a man of high caste, he ate with men who had none, or next to none. Dr. Kern wishes to read kárye, but all the MSS. have káryam̱.
[22] Compare the way in which king Melias receives the proposals of Osantrix in the 53rd chapter of the Wilkina Saga, (Hagen’s Helden-Sagen, Vol. I, p. 182.)
[23] Or “of the mountains that retained their wings,” i. e., by taking refuge from Indra in the sea. The pun is, of course, most intentional.
Chapter CIII.
Then Mṛigánkadatta, accompanied by his friends, crossed the Vindhya range, and with his army ready for battle, reached the frontier of Ujjayiní. When the brave king Karmasena heard that, he also made ready for the fight, and with his army moved out from the city to meet him. And when those two armies came to close quarters, and could see one another, a battle took place between them, that gladdened heroes. The battlefield seemed like the dwelling-place of Hiraṇyakaśipu, as it was full of timid demons dispersed in terror by the roar of the Man-lion;[1] the continued dense showers of arrows flying through the air, and cutting one another, descended on brave warriors, like locusts on the tender herb. Dense clouds of pearls gleamed as they sprang from the frontal globes of elephants struck with swords, resembling the necklace of the Fortune of that battle broken in her agitation. That place of combat appeared like the mouth of Death; and the sharp points of spears, that seized on men, horses, and elephants, were like his fangs. The heads of strong-armed warriors, cut off with crescent-headed arrows, flew up to heaven, as if leaping up[2] to kiss the heavenly nymphs; and at every moment trunks of brave heroes danced, as if in delight at the battle of their noble leader being gloriously illuminated; and so for five days that hero-destroying battle went on, with flowing rivers of blood, rich in mountains of heads.
And in the evening of the fifth day the Bráhman Śrutadhi came secretly to Mṛigánkadatta when he was closeted with his ministers, and said to him, “While you were engaged in fighting, I went away from the camp, in the disguise of a mendicant, and entered Ujjayiní, the gates of which were almost deserted; and now listen; I will tell you truly what I observed, being myself all the while, though near at hand, unseen in virtue of my knowledge. As soon as king Karmasena went out to battle, Śaśánkavatí with the permission of her mother also left the palace, and repaired to a temple of Gaurí in that city, to propitiate the goddess, in order to ensure her father’s success in the combat. And while she was there, she said in secret to a devoted confidante ‘My friend, it is for my sake, that my father has become involved in this war. And if he is conquered, he will give me to that prince; for kings disregard love for offspring altogether, when the interests of their kingdoms are at stake. And I do not know whether that prince is a suitable match for me in respect of personal appearance, or not. I would sooner meet my death than marry an ugly husband. I think a good-looking husband, even though poor, is to be preferred to an ugly one, though he be emperor over the whole earth. So you must go to the army and see what he is like, and then return. For, my fortunate friend, Prudence[3] is your name, and Prudence is your nature.’
“When the princess had given this order to her confidante, that girl managed to come to our camp, and after seeing you, prince, went and said to that princess, ‘My friend, I can say nothing but this; even Vásuki[4] himself has not got a tongue able to describe the beauty of that prince. So far however I can give you an idea of it: as there is no woman in the world equal to you in good looks, so there is no man equal to him. But alas! that is but a feeble description of him; I believe in these three worlds there is no Siddha, or Gandharva, or god like him.’ By this speech of her confidante’s Śaśánkavatí’s heart was fixed on you, and at the same moment it was nailed to you by the god of love with his arrows. And from that time forth she has remained desiring the welfare of you and also of her father, becoming gradually attenuated by penance and the grief of separation from you.”