When some more days had passed, there was born to that king’s minister, named Sumati, a son of the name of Mahámati, and the warder Vajráyudha had a son born to him, named Bhadhráyudha, and the chaplain Mahídhara had a son of the name of Śrídhara. And that prince Vikramáditya grew up with those three minister’s sons, as with spirit, courage, and might. When he was invested with the sacred thread, and put under teachers, they were merely the occasions of his learning the sciences, which revealed themselves to him without effort. And whatever science or accomplishment he was seen to employ, was known by those, who understood it, to be possessed by him to the highest degree of excellence. And when people saw that prince fighting with heavenly weapons, they even began to pay less attention to the stories about the great archer Ráma and other heroes of the kind. And his father brought for him beautiful maidens, given by kings who had submitted after defeat, like so many goddesses of Fortune.
Then his father, king Mahendráditya, seeing that his son was in the bloom of early manhood, of great valour, and beloved by the subjects, duly anointed him heir to his realm, and being himself old, retired with his wife and ministers to Váráṇasí,[7] and made the god Śiva his refuge.
And king Vikramáditya, having obtained that kingdom of his father, began in due course to blaze forth, as the sun, when it has occupied the sky. Even haughty kings, when they saw the string fitted into the notch of his bending bow,[8] learnt a lesson from that weapon, and bent likewise on every side. Of godlike dignity, having subdued to his sway even Vetálas, Rákshasas and other demons, he chastised righteously those that followed evil courses. The armies of that Vikramáditya roamed over the earth like the rays of the sun, shedding into every quarter the light of order. Though that king was a mighty hero, he dreaded the other world, though a brave warrior, he was not hard-handed,[9] though not uxorious, he was beloved by his wives. He was the father of all the fatherless, the friend of all the friendless, and the protector of all the unprotected among his subjects. Surely his glory furnished the Disposer with the material out of which he built up the White Island, the Sea of Milk, Mount Kailása, and the Himálayas.[10]
And one day, as the king Vikramáditya was in the hall of assembly, the warder Bhadráyudha came in and said to him, “Your Majesty despatched Vikramaśakti with an army to conquer the southern region and other territories, and then sent to him a messenger named Anangadeva; that messenger has now returned, and is at the gate with another, and his delighted face announces good tidings, my lord.” The king said, “Let him enter,” and then the warder respectfully introduced Anangadeva, with his companion. The messenger entered and bowed, and shouted “Victory”[11] and sat down in front of the king; and then the king said to him, “Is it well with king Vikramaśakti, the general of my forces, and with Vyághrabala and the other kings? And does good fortune attend on the other chief Rájpúts in his army, and on the elephants, horses, chariots and footmen?”
When Anangadeva had been thus questioned by the king, he answered, “It is well with Vikramaśakti and the whole of the army. And Your Majesty has conquered the Dekkan and the western border, and Madhyadeśa and Sauráshṭra and all the eastern region of the Ganges; and the northern region and Kaśmíra have been made tributary, and various forts and islands have been conquered, and the hosts of the Mlechchhas have been slain, and the rest have been reduced to submission, and various kings have entered the camp of Vikramaśakti, and he himself is coming here with those kings, and is now, my lord, two or three marches off.”
When the messenger had thus told his tale, king Vikramáditya was pleased and loaded[12] him with garments, ornaments, and villages. Then the king went on to say to that noble messenger, “Anangadeva, when you went there, what regions did you see, and what object of interest did you meet with anywhere? Tell me, my good fellow!” When Anangadeva had been thus questioned by the king, he began to recount his adventures, as follows:—
The adventures of Anangadeva.
Having set out hence by Your Majesty’s orders, I reached in course of time that army of yours assembled under Vikramaśakti, which was like a broad sea resorted to by allied kings, adorned by many princes of the Nágas that had come together with horses and royal magnificence.[13] And when I arrived there, that Vikramaśakti bowed before me, and treated me with great respect, because I had been sent by his sovereign; and while I was there considering the nature of the triumphs he had gained, a messenger from the king of Sinhala[14] came there.
And that messenger, who had come from Sinhala, told to Vikramaśakti in my presence his master’s message as follows, “I have been told by messengers, who have been sent by me to your sovereign and have returned, that your sovereign’s very heart Anangadeva is with you, so send him to me quickly, I will reveal to him a certain auspicious affair, that concerns your king.” Then Vikramaśakti said to me, “Go quickly to the king of Sinhala; and see what he wishes to say to you when he has you before him.”