“O youth, your mother you may see.”
Sudhana took Manoharā’s head-jewel, went to his mother, touched her feet, and said, “O mother, as I am setting out to subdue the mountaineers, do you keep this jewel with the utmost secrecy, and do not give it to Manoharā except in a case of life and death.” After saying these words to his mother, and taking leave of her, he set forth with the army to the sound of music. After gradually advancing for some time, he halted under a tree at no great distance from the mountaineers. Just at that time the Mahārāja Vaiśravaṇa was going to a Yaksha meeting, together with many Yakshas, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands of Yakshas. As he drove along, and was delayed upon the celestial road, he said to himself, “Often as I have driven along this road, yet has my chariot never once been delayed. What can be the cause of its being delayed now?” [[59]]
Perceiving the youth Sudhana, he thought, “This is a Bodisat of the Bhadrakalpa, who has gone forth to war and will be in difficulty. I will assist him, and subdue the mountaineers without living creatures being exposed to danger.” So he summoned Pānchika, the commander-in-chief of the Yakshas, and said to him, “Pānchika, come here. Contrive so that the youth Sudhana may subdue the mountaineers without a battle being fought or injury being inflicted upon living creatures.” The Yaksha commander-in-chief Pānchika listened to the orders of Vaiśravaṇa, and said, “I will act in accordance with your commands.” Then he conjured up the four contingents of the divine host, men of the stature of palm trees, elephants of the size of mountains, horses as large as elephants, and chariots as bulky as the palace of the gods Vimāna. Together with his mighty host, spreading great alarm by means of all kinds of weapons, such as swords, mallets, javelins, lances, disks, maces, arrows, battle-axes, and so forth, and through the clang of all sorts of musical instruments, Pānchika moved onwards towards the mountaineers, whose walls gave way in consequence of the uproar made by the elephants, the horses, and the chariots, and of the clangings of all kinds, and of the power of the Yakshas. Seeing these hosts, and perceiving that their walls had given way, the mountaineers were greatly astonished, and asked the hosts whence they came. They replied, “Open the gates with all speed. The youth Sudhana is on the march behind us, and we are his army. If you do not open your gates with all speed, everything will be overthrown.” The mountaineers said, “We did not rebel against the king. Moreover, the youth is judicious; but we have been reduced to fear and anxiety by the king’s officials.” Then they opened the gates, and went forth to meet the youth Sudhana, with banners and standards displayed, with full urns, and to the sound of all manner of instruments. After he had taken rest, he called them to him, nominated chiefs, [[60]]fixed taxes, and took hostages. Then, having subdued the mountaineers, the youth Sudhana returned home.
That same night King Dhana dreamt this dream. A vulture came flying up, tore open the king’s belly, seized his entrails, and wound them around the whole city. And the seven treasures came into the palace. Terrified by this dream, with creeping skin and unquiet mind, he rose swiftly from his couch, and sat down in his sleeping chamber, his head leaning on his hand, absorbed in meditation as to whether he was about to lose his sovereign power or whether he was about to die. In the morning he told his dream to the Purohita, who came to the conclusion that, as the king had dreamt such a dream, the youth must certainly have subdued the mountaineers, and that it was the Purohita’s business to devise some means for his destruction, so he said to the king, “What your majesty has seen in this dream is not good. There is no doubt that either you will lose your sovereignty, or your life will be placed in danger. There is, however, a means of averting this evil. I have found it in the mystic lore of the Brahmans.” “What is the means of averting it?” “Your majesty, let a tank be dug in the park, a man’s height in depth, and let it be lined with mortar, and when all is smooth, let it be filled with the blood of young roes. Then, when you go there to bathe, you will enter the tank as far as the first step, and when you have descended to the first step you will go down to the second step, and after you have descended to the second step you will go on to the third step, and when you have descended to the third step you will go down to the fourth step. Then must four Brahmans, perfectly versed in the Veda and Vedānga, lick your feet with their tongues, and anoint them with the fat of a non-human being (i.e., a demon). In this wise will all that is sinful in your nature become purified, and you will long retain your sovereignty.” The king said, “All this may possibly be carried out, but yet demon-fat is very rare.” The Purohita [[61]]said, “Your majesty, is that a rarity which it is possible to find?” The king said, “What does that mean?” The Purohita said, “Your majesty, is Manoharā a human or a non-human being?” The king said, “O Purohita, speak not so; for the youth’s life depends upon her.” The Purohita said, “Your majesty, have you not heard that for the sake of the house should one of its inmates be given up, for the sake of the city should the house be given up, for the sake of the country should the city be given up, for the sake of one’s own self should the country be given up?[7] If you, O king, are firm, you can bestow another wife on the discerning youth, and cause Manoharā to be put to death.”
As the king, out of self-love, did not wish any means to be neglected, he acquiesced and ordered the preparations to be made according to the Purohita’s directions, the tank to be dug, lined with mortar and glazed, and filled with the blood of roes and so forth. When Sudhana’s wives saw these preparations, cheerfulness and joy sprang up within them. “As we also,” they said, “shall acquire exquisite beauty if we avail ourselves of this, we shall be able to partake of great enjoyment with the youth Sudhana.” As they spoke joyfully to this effect, Manoharā saw them, and asked wherefore they were so delighted. One of them explained the whole matter to Manoharā. Thereupon pain and displeasure sprang up within her, and she betook herself to Sudhana’s mother, and touched her feet, and told her the whole story in words provocative of sympathy. The queen said, “As these things are so, ponder over them well, and I will ponder over them also.”
When Manoharā had reflected and spoken, and the queen also had considered the matter, and had decided that it was right so to do, she gave Manoharā the head-jewel and a garment, and said, “Child, I was to give you this jewel only if your life was in danger. In the present circumstances I shall be beyond reproach.” [[62]]
After a time, all things having been prepared for the bath according to the command of the king, he entered the blood-filled tank and came forth from it again, and then the Brahmans licked his feet with their tongues. When, subsequently to this, all things had been set in order for the bath according to the commands of the king, and he had entered the blood-filled tank and emerged from it again, then the tongues of the Brahmans licked his feet. After that the supernatural being was brought forward. When Manoharā was ordered to draw nearer, she immediately rose heavenwards, saying, “After being seized and bound, after having laughed and played, like a cow freed from its bonds, will I flee away.” When the king saw her sweeping through the air, fear came upon him, and he said to the Purohita, “How comes it that the Kinnarī Manoharā has flown away before our preparations were carried into effect?” The Purohita said, “Your majesty, the end is now attained, and your nature is made free from sin.”
While Manoharā was wending her way through the air she said to herself, “The directions of the Rishi were the cause of my passing into this condition. Had he not given these directions I should not have been captured. So I will go to him for awhile.” On reaching the Rishi’s hermitage she touched his feet and said, “Great Rishi, in consequence of your directions, I have been captured and exposed to the touch of man, and have nearly lost my life. Now then, if the youth Sudhana should happen to come here in search of me, give him my ring, and say to him these words: ‘O youth, turn back again, for the way is full of woe and hard to tread. But if you cannot turn back, it is right to show you the way. Thus, O youth, does Manoharā point it out. In the north there are three black mountains. When these are surmounted, there rise three more. When these three have been surmounted, there rise three more again. And when these three also have been surmounted, there remains the prince of mountains, [[63]]Himavant. On its north side are the mountains Utkīlaka, Jalapatha, Khadiraka, Ekadāraka, Vajraka, Kāmarūpin, Kīlaka, Airāvata, Adhovāna, and Pramuchapa. Over these mountains you must make your way. Traverse Khadiraka, Ekadāraka, and Utkīlaka by the cavern. The king of the birds will carry you over Vajraka. In such a way will you traverse these mountains. You will overcome magic creatures, ram-like and goat-faced, and also a man having the form of the Rākshasa Pingalā. In the cavern is a huge snake, which rolls with the force of a foaming stream. This snake you must tame by force. When you see the black snake half coiling in the cavern, you must slay it, bending the bow and shooting the arrow. When you see two rams butting one another, break a horn off each of them, and you will find the way. If you see two iron men with fear-inspiring weapons, and you slay one of them, you will find the way. If you see an iron-lipped Rākshasī opening and shutting her mouth, you must fling a wedge at her forehead. Likewise must you spring across the fount with the wild whirlpool, which measures sixty fathoms. Bending your bow, you must slay Yakshas and Rākshasas with lion-yellow hair and eyes, difficult to resist and hard to approach. Many rivers, also, full of tens of thousands of alligators, must you cross. You will see the Crocodile, the Butterfly, the Sad, the Gay, the Weeper, the Laugher, a river full of snakes, and another full of reeds. In the Crocodile is Rākshasī-anger, in the Butterfly a demon, in the Sad are many water-monsters, in the Gay is a Vidyādhara, in the Weeper is a Kinnarī serving-maid, in the Laugher is a Kinnarī, in the snake-filled river are many snakes, in the river rich in reeds is Śālmali [the Seemul or silk-cotton tree]. In the presence of the Crocodile [river] you must stand firm, and be bold in that of the Butterfly. On reaching the Sad, you must bind the jaws of the water-monsters. With the Gay you will succeed by the help of some Nāgas, with the Weeper by means of courage, with the Laugher by means of silence. [[64]]The snake-filled river you must pass by means of snake-charms, and the reed-producing river by means of the charm of sharp weapons beaten together.[8] Having crossed all the rivers, you will come to a wild country wherein five hundred Yakshas dwell. Opposing these, overcome them. Then will appear the capital of the Kinnarī king. To him address yourself.’ ” Having spoken these words to the Rishi, Manoharā touched his feet with her head and went away.
Great was the joy when the king heard that the youth Sudhana had returned to Hastināpura with the army after subduing the mountaineers. As soon as the youth had rested, he went to his father, made obeisance, and took his place before him. The king began to speak with great joy, and said, “O youth, have you been successful?”