“Your majesty, through your grace have the mountaineers been overcome, hostages have been taken, and chiefs appointed. Tribute and taxes have also been levied. Be pleased to have all this taken into the treasury.”
The king said, “O son, as you have done well, I will receive these things.” Then the son made obeisance to his father, and was about to depart when the king said, “Stay, O youth, in order to take food with your father.” [[65]]
“Your majesty, as it is a long time since I saw Manoharā, I wish to go to her.”
“O youth, put off going to her for to-day and go to-morrow.”
“Father, I will certainly go to-day,” said the youth, moving restlessly this way and that. Whereupon the king made no reply.
When the youth entered his house, and did not see the fair one at the door of the women’s chamber, he was utterly cast down. As he did not see Manoharā, his mind became disordered, and he ran hither and thither, calling out, “Manoharā! Manoharā!” When the women had repeated these words to the winds, and he in his grief of heart had many times questioned them, they told him the whole story. Clouded over was his mind with grief. The women said, “Why should you be so cast down? In the band of women are those who are much more beautiful than she was.”
When he had learnt how cruelly his father had acted, he went to his mother, touched her feet, and said, “O mother, as Manoharā is not here, Manoharā who was endowed with every virtue that could be wished for, and endowed with admirable beauty, where then has she gone? Thinking ever so rapidly, I am all confused in mind. On account of being separated from her my mind is exceedingly sad. As Manoharā dwells within my mind, pleasing to my mind and my mind’s joy, as through separation from Manoharā my body is saddened, what is there that will make my pain diminish?” His mother said, “O son, as intolerable fear came upon Manoharā, I let her go away.” “Mother, how did that come to pass?” His mother gave him a complete account of the matter. He said, “That was a cruel misdeed on my father’s part.” He said, moreover, “Mother, whither has she gone? which way lies the road?” His mother replied, “The road which Manoharā has taken is that of the mountains where Rishis and lions ever dwell, and which are the abode of the Dharma-rāja.”[9] [[66]]In his intolerable grief at being separated from Manoharā, the prince renewed his sad wailings, crying, “As Manoharā is not here, Manoharā who was endowed with every virtue that could be desired,” and so on down to the words, “What is there that will make my pain diminish?” Then his mother said, “My son, as there are women in this band of wives who are more beautiful than she is, wherefore are you sad?” The youth replied, “Mother, how can I be happy if I find her not?”
Although his mother tried to console him, he still remained sad; but as he wandered hither and thither, looking for Manoharā and seeking for information as to her abode, a bright idea occurred to him. “Where I obtained her,” he thought, “there will I go again and make inquiries.” So he went to the hunter Phalaka, and asked him where it was that he had got possession of Manoharā. The hunter replied, “On the slope of such and such a mountain dwells a Rishi, in whose hermitage there is a pool, Brahmasabhā by name. Going there to bathe, I captured her according to the Rishi’s directions.” Sudhana said to himself, “I will go to the Rishi’s abode, and there obtain information.” Hearing that the youth was greatly depressed by his separation from Manoharā, the king said, “O youth, wherefore are you so depressed? I will now give you a much more beautiful wife.” The prince replied, “Father, as she is not here, I shall certainly betake me to her tarrying-place.” The king could not dissuade him from this, though he repeatedly attempted to do so. Then the king ordered watchers to be set at the gates and outlets from the walls, in order to prevent the youth from going forth. Thereupon the youth could not sleep the whole night long. Five are there who on their nightly couch are sleepless all night long, namely, the man whose mind is enchained by love for his wife, the wife who loves her husband, the red duck, the robber chieftain, the Bhikshu who studies zealously. The youth [[67]]said to himself, “If I go to the gate, the king’s gatekeepers are harsh. As they would punish me, or even deprive me of life, I would rather depart by a road which has no watchers.” So he went forth by night to a spot where no watcher was, having attached to a standard such blue lotus garlands as men bind around their heads. Just then the moon rose. When he saw the moon, he uttered this lament for his separation from Manoharā, “O full moon, king of the stars and illuminer of the night, thou who art dear to the eye of Rohiṇī,[10] excellent caravan-leader, hast thou seen the abiding-place of my loved one, the lotus-eyed Manoharā?”
Remembering the joys he had formerly experienced, he walked on, and when he saw a gazelle, he addressed it also, saying, “O gazelle, thou who enjoyest grass, water, and foliage, wander in peace and quiet, for I am no hunter. Hast not thou seen my deer-like, long-eyed, beautifully formed Manoharā?” Going on farther, and reaching another spot, he saw bees at work in the interior of a wood adorned with flowers and fruits, and to one of the bees he said, “O bee, thou who art blue, like unto the mountains, thou who abidest within hollow canes and upon lotuses, hast thou seen my Manoharā, her of the long hair, dark of hue, like unto bees?” Going still farther he saw a snake, and when he saw it he said, “O snake, thou who movest thy tongue as a forest tree its leaves, thou who emittest from thy mouth and eyes masses of smoke, hast thou seen her who is unlike thy poison-fire and the fire of passion? hast thou seen my Manoharā?” He went on still farther, and he heard a Kokila calling in the forest, and seeing it, he said, “O Kokila, thou who abidest on the magnificent trees of the forest, king of the troops of birds, hast not thou seen her who is endowed with the lovely, spotless eyes, like unto [[68]]blue lotuses? hast not thou seen my Manoharā?” Going still farther on, he saw an Aśoka tree widely spreading forth its leaves, and when he saw it he said, “Thou who art called after happiness,[11] and who art the great king of the trees, troubled by grief for Manoharā, I clasp my hands. Do thou dispel my grief.”
After this fashion, with troubled mind, he at length arrived at the hermitage of the Rishi. And when he had meekly paid reverence to the Rishi, he said, “O thou who art exalted through endurance, thou who art clothed in the bark of trees and the skins of wild beasts, thou who feedest on roots and sprouts, the Vilva tree and the Kapittha tree.[12] O Rishi, I pay thee reverence, bowing my head. Hast thou seen my Manoharā? Tell me quickly.” Then the Rishi said to the youth Sudhana, “Welcome!” And after unfolding a carpet and making preparations for a friendly reception, he continued, “I have seen her who is endowed with smooth, interlacing eyebrows, who possesses a comely form, a face resembling the full moon, and eyes like unto blue lotuses. Take your seat upon the carpet, and partake of these different kinds of roots and berries. There is no doubt in my mind that you will obtain happiness in the future. Thus spake she of the beautiful eyebrows: ‘I have learnt that the youth, rendered unhappy by longing, although a dweller in the forest, affected by great sorrow, will come to you.’ Then she gave me this ring and said, ‘As the way which leads to me is full of woe and hard to tread, he can turn back. But if he cannot bring himself to turn back, then you must direct him on his way.’ And she spoke as follows: ‘In the north there are three black mountains. When these are surmounted, there are three more on the other side; and when these three have been surmounted, [[69]]there are again three more; and when these three also have been surmounted, there remains the king of mountains, Himavant. Here are certain remedies to be obtained. There is the remedy nectar.[13] When it has been boiled in melted butter, he who drinks it will feel neither hunger nor thirst, and will increase in memory and strength. There is also a monkey which must be carried away; there are spells which must be learnt; and there are also to be carried away a bow and arrows, a gleaming jewel, a deadly poison and a remedy, three iron wedges, and a lyre. On the north side of Himavant, king of mountains, is Mount Utkīlaka, and beyond are Mounts Jalapatha, Khadiraka, Ekadāraka, Vajraka, Kāmarūpin, Utkīlaka, Airāvata, Adhovāna, and Pramuchaka. These mountains you must climb, but to pass Khadiraka, Ekadāraka, and Utkīlaka you must traverse a cavern, and over Vajraka will the king of the birds convey you. In this way will you cross the mountains. Magic creatures, ram-like and goat-faced, and a man who has the form of the Rākshasa Pingalā, you must overcome. In the cavern is a snake which rolls with the strength of a foaming stream, and this you must overcome by force. Where there is a black snake, and you see half of it in the cavern, you must bend your bow and let fly your arrow and kill it. When you see two rams butting one another, break a horn off each of them and you will find your way. When you see two iron men holding fear-inspiring weapons, strike down one of them and you will find your way. When you see a Rākshasī with iron lips opening and shutting her mouth, fling a wedge at her forehead. Then you must leap across the fount with the wild whirlpool, which measures sixty fathoms. You must bend your bow and slay Yakshas and Rākshasas with lion-yellow hair and eyes, difficult to resist and hard to approach. Many rivers, also, filled with alligators, must you cross. There are the Crocodile, the Butterfly, the Sad, the Gay, [[70]]the Weeper, the Laugher, a river full of snakes, and a river rich in reeds. In the Crocodile is Rākshasī-anger, in the Butterfly is a demon, in the Sad are many water-monsters, in the Gay is a Vidyādhara, in the Weeper 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. In the presence of the Crocodile you must stand firm, and you must be bold in the presence 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. You will cross the snake-filled river by means of the charm against snakes, and the river rich in reeds by means of the magic of sharp weapons struck together. When you have crossed the rivers and reached a land rich in bushes, you must oppose and overcome five hundred Yakshas who dwell there. There stands the capital of the Kinnarī king. Go and speak with him.’ ”