“Mother, as I wish to fight with them, let the king give me a chariot.”
“My son, as you displease him and excite his wrath, how can he be expected to give you a chariot?” [[23]]
“Do go to him, mother, and having gone, tell him that the youth Kuśa will fight with the enemy if a chariot is given him.”
The king gave him a chariot, and Kuśa took two quivers, mounted the chariot, and prepared to start. The king of gods, Indra, said to himself, “As these subordinate kings are strong, this Bodisat of the Bhadrakalpa, the youth Kuśa, may fall into trouble, so I will lend him aid.” And he gave Kuśa a shell, a disk, and a mace, and then said, “Bodisat, these things will save you.”
Kuśa opened one of the gates and drove out. As soon as he sounded the shell, the hostile host was terrified at its sound; some were deafened by its clang, others fled away with shattered ears. Whenever he flung the disk or the mace, the enemy fell to the ground. He pressed into the midst of the host, and when he sounded the shell every ear cracked, and the enemy fled saying, “This man is a Rākshasa.”
When the youth had overthrown the whole of them, he went to his father, and told him that he had conquered all the kings, and the land was at peace. On hearing this, King Mahāśakuni rejoiced, and said to himself, “The youth Kuśa is strong and remarkably brave. Why should I dislike him?” And he began to take delight in him.
After arranging marriages for all his other sons, the king set to work to find a wife for the youth Kuśa as well. But all men said, “We are ready to give our daughters, only not to Kuśa.” Now a certain king desired to obtain another king’s daughter in marriage, but did not succeed; and on her, by means of a trick, pretending it was for another of his sons, King Mahāśakuni laid his hands. And he gave her to Kuśa, and celebrated his marriage with her in consonance with the constellation, the epoch, and the moment.
Now the king had said, “Honoured sirs, let no one show the youth Kuśa a mirror. Moreover, he must not [[24]]bathe in places where a man, in order to take a bath, must step into water. And he must never be allowed to approach his wife by daylight.” But Kuśa’s wife saw him playing with his brothers one day, and she said, “Who is that Piśācha [or demon] who is playing with the youths?”
“That is your husband.”
“What! is my husband like that?”