When Gopāla had committed a thousand misdeeds, and the Liććhavis had blamed and reproved him and called him to account, Śakala sent for him, and commanded him, in order not to irritate the people, to retire to a certain hill district, and there to practise agriculture on his own lands. The son obeyed his father’s commands.
Afterwards, when the commander of Vaiśālī died, the first minister, Śakala, was elected commander. After he had held this post for a short time, he also died. The people of Vaiśālī met together, and held counsel as to whom they should appoint commander. Then some of them said, “As the excellent minister, Śakala, has admirably protected the people, let us elect his son.” Others said, “His son Gopāla is fierce and of great strength. If we appoint him as commander, discord will be sure to come upon the people. His younger brother, Sim̃ha, is good, accessible, and likely to render the people contented. If it so please the people, let us appoint him commander.” As all acquiesced in this, the assembly waited upon Sim̃ha [[80]]and offered him the post of commander. He answered, “Gopāla is my elder brother; therefore appoint him.” They replied, “O Sim̃ha, is the post of commander hereditary in your family? If you are not inclined to take the post, we will appoint some one else commander.” He reflected that it would not be well if the commandership were to pass to some other family from his own, so he decided that it would be better to accept it. Thereupon he was invested with the office in great state.
Previously to this, when the inhabitants of Vaiśālī sent a missive, they used to write, “Thus say the people, with Śakala at their head.” A little after this a missive arrived at the place where Gopāla was practising agriculture on his lands. When Gopāla had opened it and perused it, he asked if his father was dead, seeing that the inhabitants of Vaiśālī had been in the habit of writing, “Thus say the people, with Śakala at their head,” but now there was written, “Thus say the people, with Sim̃ha at their head.” When he was told that his father was dead, he took offence, and went to Vaiśālī, and asked Sim̃ha if it was right that he should have been made commander, although he himself, Gopāla, was the elder brother. Sim̃ha explained how the whole matter had come about. Full of displeasure against the Liććhavis, Gopāla determined, in consequence of this slight, to go to Rājagṛha. So he sent a messenger to King Bimbisāra to make known his desire to place himself under the king’s protection. The king sent back word that he would be welcome. So he went to Rājagṛha, and King Bimbisāra made him his first minister.
Now after some time King Bimbisāra’s chief wife died, and as he was sitting depressed, leaning his cheek upon his hand, Gopāla asked him what was the cause of his grief. He replied that his chief wife was dead, and he could not but be unhappy. Gopāla said, “O king, be not troubled in mind. My younger brother has two daughters, perfect in youth and beauty. They would be [[81]]exactly suitable for you. One of them, according to predictions, will give birth to a son who will put his father to death. But the other will bring into the world a son possessing the most excellent characteristics. It will be well for you, O king, to have that maiden brought here, of whom it was predicted that she would bear a son with the most excellent characteristics.”
Thereupon Gopāla informed his brother Sim̃ha that King Bimbisāra’s chief wife was dead, and that he ought to send his daughter Upavāsavī, as she would in that case become the king’s chief wife. Sim̃ha wrote to him in reply, “What this will come to I will not ask you. But you, who understand the measure of things, will know what ought to be done. As the people have made a law that no maiden of Vaiśālī may be given in marriage to an outsider, you must come yourself and wait in the park. I will go to the park with my daughter, and you can carry her off from there.”
Thereupon Gopāla took leave of the king, mounted his chariot, and set off for Vaiśālī. Having arrived there, he waited in the park. At that time one of the gatekeepers of Vaiśālī had died and had been born again among the demons. He gave to the inhabitants of Vaiśālī the following instructions: “As I have been born again among the demons, confer on me the position of a Yaksha and hang a bell round my neck. Whenever any foe to the inhabitants of Vaiśālī appears, I will make the bell sound until he is arrested or has taken his departure.” So they caused a Yaksha statue to be prepared and hung a bell round its neck. Then they set it up in the gatehouse, provided with oblations and garlands, along with dance and song, and to the sound of musical instruments.
Gopāla sent word to Sim̃ha to come to him, as he was waiting in the park. Taking the people of Vaiśālī into consideration, Sim̃ha went home and said to Upavāsavī, “You are to be given to King Bimbisāra as his wife, so take your ornaments and go forth to the park.” When [[82]]she began collecting her ornaments, Vāsavī saw her and asked why she was doing that.
“I am going to be married.”
“To whom?”
“To King Bimbisāra.”