Raja! having thus spoken, Shree Krishnù Chund Jee, said to Joorasindhoo, “O great king! you equal in the present age the just and liberal Rajas, who flourished formerly in other ages, and now satisfy our expectations in the same way, that formerly they fulfilled the desires of those who solicited them. There is a saying, ‘What will not a beggar ask, and what will not a liberal man give; he has no avaricious desire for his house, sons and wives, but will give up his body and head, and obtain celebrity.’ ” When Krishnù had thus spoken, Joorasindhoo said, “A beggar has no sympathy with a donor, but in spite of this the liberal and resolute do not lay aside their usual dispositions, whether they derive pleasure or pain from the exercise of them. Lo! Huri, being disguised as, and transformed into, a dwarf, went to the Raja Buli, an asked for three paces of ground; at that time, Shookrù cautioned Buli not to give it, but the Raja did not swerve from his promise, he gave the earth together with his body, and has obtained renown in the world by this act. What celebrity has Vishnù acquired by being a beggar, who, having received every thing, acted perversely? For this reason, do you first of all explain your names, and your mysterious appearance, and I will then grant whatever you ask. I do not speak falsely.” Shree Krishnù Chund replied, “Raja! we are Chutrees; Basoodeo is my name; you know me very well, and these two, Urjoon and Bheem, are my father’s sister’s children; we have come to fight with you, be pleased to fight with us; we have come here to make this request, and do not ask any thing else from you.”
Having, O great king! heard this speech of Shree Krishnù Chund Jee’s, Joorasindhoo laughed and said, “Why should I fight with you; you have already fled from before me? Nor will I fight with Urjoon, because he went into the Bidurubh country, disguised as a woman; there remains Bheemsen, with whom I will fight, if you wish it, he is my equal, and I am not ashamed to fight with him. First of all refresh yourselves with food, and afterwards wrestle in the palæstra.” Having given them refreshments the Raja came out, and sent a message to Bheemsen. He gave him his own club, and took himself one belonging to another man. Moorari went and sat where all the spectators were assembled in a circle, Joorasindhoo and Bheemsen stood up simultaneously, opposed to each other; they had helmets on their heads, and fastened tight the cloths they wore round their hips, and tucked them in behind, appearing very like jugglers.
O great king! when the two heroes striking the upper part of their arms in preparation for the encounter, holding their clubs at arm’s length, changing their attitudes, and moving slowly from side to side, confronted each other in the palæstra, they seemed like two “must” elephants, rushing upon each other. Before the struggle commenced, Joorasindhoo said to Bheemsen, “Strike the first blow with your club, because you came to my gate in the appearance of a brahmin; and I will not, therefore, strike you first.” Having heard this, Bheemsen replied, “Raja! we will have a fair fight, and the understanding is not necessary, that I should strike first, let who will, strike first.”
O great king! these two brave men having thus conversed with each other, aimed blows simultaneously, and began to fight. They watched each other’s stratagems, inflicting wounds right and left; and jumped about, avoiding blows, and sparred and fought club against club; they struck their clubs violently against each other, making them clash, and inflicting wounds. Great noise and tumult were produced by the collision.
Having narrated thus much of the history, Shree Shookdeo Jee said to the Raja Pureechit,—O great king! in this manner those two resolute antagonists had a fair fight during the whole day; and coming in the evening to the house, ate and rested together. They thus spent twenty-seven days, fighting continually; when one day at their fighting time, Shree Krishnù Chund Jee thought to himself, that Joorasindhoo could not be destroyed by this mode of encounter, because, when he was born, he was born in two separate parts; and the female Demon, Jura, his mother, closed his mouth and nose; and then the two separate parts were united. Having been informed of this circumstance, his father, Jyedruth, summoned the astrologers, and enquired from them, “What the child’s name should be, and what would be his future career?” The astrologers said, “O great king! his name is Joorasindhoo, and he shall acquire a very glorious reputation, and shall not be subject to the infirmities of age, and shall be immortal: and shall not be destroyed by any one, until the junction, uniting the two separate parts of his body, shall be rent asunder.”
Having thus spoken, the astrologers took leave. O great king! Shree Krishnù Jee reflected upon these matters in his mind; and, having bestowed his own strength upon Bheemsen, and splitting a straw winked to him, that he must split up Joorasindhoo in the same manner. On receiving this hint from Krishnù, Bheemsen laid hold of Joorasindhoo and threw him down, and having placed his foot on one of his thighs, and laying hold of his other foot with his hand, he tore him asunder, just as any one would tear asunder a stick for cleaning the teeth. On the death of Joorasindhoo, gods, men and celestial musicians, playing upon drums and other musical instruments, and raining down flowers, began to raise shouts of victory; and grief and calamity having departed, joy was diffused throughout the city. At that time, the wife of Joorasindhoo came and stood, weeping and lamenting in the presence of Krishnù, joining her hands, she exclaimed, “Bravo! bravo! you have great reason to exult, O lord! in having taken away the life of him, who gave you every thing, this is the sort of friendship, you show to one, who resigns to you his sons, wealth and body. Under a disguised appearance you have practised deceit and violence, and this is the celebrity you have acquired coming into the world.”
O great king! when the wife of Joorasindhoo, from tenderness for her husband’s memory, spoke thus solicitingly, with joined hands in presence of the abode of mercy; then Krishnù taking compassion on her, first performed the funeral obsequies of Joorasindhoo, and having afterwards sent for his son, Suhdeo, making the marks of sovereignty on his forehead, and seating him on a throne said, “Son! carry on a moral government, and protect sages, holy men, cows, brahmins and your subjects.”
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! Shree Krishnù Chund Jee having seated Suhdeo on the royal throne; and, having given him advice, said to him, “Raja! go now and bring those Rajas, whom your father kept shut up in a hill cave.” On hearing these words from the mouth of Krishnù, Joorasindhoo’s son, Suhdeo, consenting to bring them, went to the cave; and, having removed a stone from the mouth of it, brought forth twenty thousand eight hundred Rajas, and took them to the presence of Huri. On coming there with handcuffs and leg-irons, iron collars on their necks, their nails and hair grown long, bodies emaciated, depressed in spirits, and dirty in appearance, all the Rajas stood in rows before Krishnù, joining their hands, they submissively said, “O sea of compassion and brother of the poor! you have thought of us in good time, otherwise we should have died; by seeing you our lives have been restored, and our former griefs have been obliterated.”
On hearing these words, O great king! when Shree Krishnù Chund, the sea of favour, looked upon them; Suhdeo immediately took them away; and, having had their handcuffs, leg-irons and the rings with which their fetters were fastened, cut off, causing them to be shaved and bathed, and washed, entertaining them with all sorts of delicacies, giving them clothes and ornaments, and furnishing them with arms, brought them again into Huri’s presence; at that time Shree Krishnù Chund Jee appeared to them in a form with four arms, and holding a shell, quoit, club and lotus. On beholding the form Krishnù had assumed, the Rajas joining their hands said, “Lord! you liberate mortals from the difficult bonds of the world; what difficulty was there to you to release us from the imprisonment of Joorasindhoo? As you have compassionately released us from this severe confinement, release us also from this well in the form of a dwelling, free us from desire, anger, avarice and inordinate affection, in order that we may sit down in retirement and meditate on you, and cross over the sea of the world.”