And after the princess, travelling in a ship on the ocean, had left Hansadvipa some days" sail behind her, there suddenly rose up against her a roaring cloud, as it were a bandit, showering raindrops like arrows, that sang terribly in the whistling wind. And the gale, like mighty fate, in a moment dragged her ship to a distance, and smote it, and broke it in pieces. And those attendants were drowned, and among them Vinitamati; and all her treasure was whelmed in the ocean.
But the sea lifted up the princess with a wave, as it were with an arm, and flung her up alive in a forest on the sh.o.r.e, near the scene of the shipwreck. To think that she should have fallen into the sea, and that a towering wave should have landed her in a forest! Behold now, how nothing is impossible to Destiny! Then she, in such a situation, terrified and confused, seeing that she was alone in a solitary wood, was again plunged in a sea, but this time it was the sea of grief. She exclaimed, "Where have I arrived? Surely it is a very different place from that for which I set out! Where too are those attendants of mine? Where is Vinitamati? Why has this suddenly happened to me? Where shall I go, ill-starred as I am? Alas! I am undone! What shall I do? Cursed Fate, why did you rescue me from the sea? Ah! father! Ah, mother! Ah, husband, son of the king of Alaka! Look; I am perishing before I reach you; why do you not deliver me?" While uttering these and similar exclamations, Mandaravati wept copiously with tears that resembled the pearls of a broken necklace.
And at that very time a hermit, named Matanga, came there from his hermitage, which was not far off, to bathe in the sea. That sage, who was accompanied by his daughter, named Yamuna, who had observed a vow of virginity from her childhood, heard the sound of Mandaravati"s weeping. And with his daughter he approached her kindly, and he saw her, looking like a doe separated from a herd of deer, casting her sorrowing eyes in every direction. And the great sage said to her with an affectionate voice, "Who are you, and how did you get into this wood, and why do you weep?" Then Mandaravati, seeing that he was a compa.s.sionate man, slowly recovered herself, and told him her story, with face dejected from shame.
Then the hermit Matanga, after meditating, said to her, "Princess, cease to despair; recover your composure! Though you are delicate of body as a sirisha-flower, the calamity of sorrow afflicts you; do misfortunes ever consider whether their victim is tender or not? But you shall soon obtain the husband you desire; so come to this hermitage of mine, which is at no great distance from this place; and remain there with this daughter of mine as in your own house." When the great hermit had comforted her with these words, he bathed, and accompanied by his daughter, led Mandaravati to his hermitage. There she remained leading an ascetic life, longing to meet her husband, delighting herself with waiting upon that sage, accompanied by his daughter.
And in the meanwhile Sundarasena, who was emaciated with long expectation, remained killing the time in Alaka, continually counting the days, eager for his marriage with Mandaravati, and his friend Chandaprabha and the rest were trying to console him. And in course of time, as the auspicious day drew nigh, his father, the king, made preparations for his journey to Hansadvipa. And after prayers had been offered for a prosperous journey, prince Sundarasena started from his home on an auspicious day, shaking the earth with his armies.
And as he was marching along with his ministers, he reached in course of time, to his delight, that city Sasankapura, which adorned the sh.o.r.e of the sea. There king Mahendraditya, hearing of his approach, came to meet him, bowing humbly, and the prince entered the city with his followers, and mounted on an elephant, he reached the palace of the king. And as he went along, the splendour of his beauty fluttered the hearts of the ladies of the city, as the hurricane flutters the lotus-bed. In the palace, king Mahendraditya shewed him every attention, and promised to accompany him: and so he rested there that day. And he spent the night in such thoughts as these, "Shall I ever get across the sea, and win that blushing bride?"
And next morning he left his army in that very city, and went with king Mahendraditya to the sh.o.r.e of the sea. There he and his ministers, together with that king, embarked on a large ship, that was well supplied with food and water. And the prince made the small retinue, that he could not help taking, embark on a second ship. Then the ship was let go, and its flag fluttered in the wind, and those two kings, who were in it, shaped their course towards the south-western quarter.
And after two or three days had pa.s.sed, as they were sailing on the sea, there suddenly arose a great hurricane. And the ranges of forest on the sh.o.r.es of the sea shook to and fro, as if in astonishment at the unprecedented character of the gale. And the waters of the sea, inverted by the wind, were turned upside down, again and again, as affections are by lapse of time. And an offering of jewels was made to the sea accompanied by a loud cry of woe; and the pilots let loose the sail and relaxed their efforts at the same time; and all excitedly flung out very heavy stones on all sides, fastened by chains, and flung away their hopes of life at the same time; and the two vessels, driven to and fro by the waves, as elephants by elephant-drivers, [443] wandered about in the sea, as if in the melee of a battle.
Then Sundarasena, beholding that, was moved from his seat, as if from his self-command, [444] and said to king Mahendraditya, "It is through my demerits in former births that this day of doom has suddenly come upon you. So I cannot endure to witness it; I will fling myself into the sea." When the prince had said this, he quickly girt his upper garment round his loins, and flung himself then and there into the sea. And when his five friends, Chandaprabha and the others, saw that, they too flung themselves in, and Mahendraditya did the same. And while, having recovered their presence of mind, they were swimming across the ocean, they all went in different directions, being separated by the force of the waves. And immediately the wind fell, and the sea became hushed and calm, and bore the semblance of a good man whose wrath is appeased. [445]
And in the meanwhile Sundarasena, with whom was Dridhabuddhi, found a ship that had been driven from somewhere or other by the wind, and with that minister of his as his only companion he climbed up on it, as it were on a second swing of incert.i.tude oscillating between rescue and destruction. Then, having lost all courage, he drifted, not knowing his bearings, looking on the whole world as made of water, confiding in his G.o.d: and the ship, which was wafted along by a gentle and favourable breeze, as if by a deity, carried him to the sh.o.r.e in three days. There it stuck fast, and he and his companion sprang to sh.o.r.e and to a hope of life at the same moment.
And when there, he recovered breath, and said to Dridhabuddhi; "I have escaped even from the sea, from the infernal regions, though I went below; but since I have not been able to do so without causing the death of my ministers Vikramasakti, and Vyaghraparakrama, and Chandaprabha and Bhimabhuja, such fine fellows as they were, and also of king Mahendraditya, who became without cause so good a friend to me,--of all these,--how can I now live with honour?" When he said this, his minister Dridhabuddhi said to him, "Prince, recover your composure; I am persuaded that we shall have good fortune; for they may perhaps make their way across the sea, as we have done. Who can discern the mysterious way of Destiny?"
While Dridhabuddhi was saying this and other things of the same kind, two hermits came there to bathe. The good men, seeing that the prince was despondent, came up to him, and asked him his story, and said kindly to him; "Wise sir, even the G.o.ds are not able to alter the mighty influence of actions in a previous state of existence, that bestow joy and sorrow. So a resolute man, who wishes to take leave of sorrow, should practise right doing; for right doing is the true remedy for it, not regrets, nor emaciation of the body. So abandon despondency, and preserve your body by resolute endurance; as long as the body is preserved, what object of human endeavour cannot be attained? Moreover, you possess auspicious marks; you are certain to enjoy prosperity." Saying this the hermits consoled him, and took him to their hermitage.
And prince Sundarasena remained waiting there for some days, accompanied by Dridhabuddhi.
And in the meanwhile his ministers Bhimabhuja and Vikramasakti, having swum across the sea, reached the sh.o.r.e in a separate place. And hoping that perhaps the prince might have escaped from the sea like themselves, they entered that great forest, and searched for him bewildered with grief. And his other two ministers, Chandaprabha and Vyaghraparakrama, and king Mahendraditya, in the same way escaped from the sea, and sorrowfully sought for Sundarasena, and when they did not find him, were afflicted; and at last they found their ship unharmed and went to Sasankapura. Then those two ministers, and the army that had been left in that city, hearing what had happened, [446] went weeping to their own city Alaka. And when they arrived without the prince, lamenting their loss, the citizens wept, and one universal wail was heard in the city. When king Mahasena and his queen heard that news of their son, they were in such a state that they would have died, if it were not that their allotted term of life had not yet expired. And when the king and the queen were bent on suicide, the ministers dissuaded them with various speeches, which gave them reasons for entertaining hope. Then the king remained in a temple of Svayambhu [447] outside the town, engaged in asceticism with his attendants, enquiring for news of his son.
And in the meanwhile king Mandaradeva, in Hansadvipa, heard the news of the shipwreck of his daughter, and of that of his proposed son-in-law. And he also came to know that his son-in-law"s two ministers had arrived in Alaka, and that king Mahasena there was keeping himself alive by hope, being engaged in practising austerities. Then that king also, who was afflicted by grief for the loss of his daughter, and was only prevented by his ministers from committing suicide, entrusted to them the care of his kingdom, and with the queen Kandarpasena went to the city of Alaka to visit king Mahasena, who was his partner in misfortune. And he made up his mind that he would do whatever that king did, as soon as he had trustworthy intelligence with regard to the fate of his son. And so he came to king Mahasena, who was still more grieved when he heard of the fate of Mandaravati, and sorrowed in sympathy with him. Then that king of Hansadvipa remained practising austerities with the king of Alaka, restraining his senses, eating little, sleeping on darbha-gra.s.s.
When they had been all scattered in this way in different directions by the Disposer, as leaves by a wind, it happened that Sundarasena set forth from the hermitage in which he was, and reached that hermitage of Matanga, in which Mandaravati was staying. There he beheld a lake of clear water, the bank of which was thickly planted with trees bent down with the weight of many ripe fruits of various flavours. As he was weary, he bathed in that lake, and ate sweet fruits, and then walked on with Dridhabuddhi, and reached a forest stream. And going along its bank, he saw some hermit maidens engaged in gathering flowers near a temple containing a Linga. And in the midst of them he beheld one hermit maiden, who seemed to be the peerless beauty of the world, illuminating the whole wood with her loveliness, as if with moonlight, making all the regions full of blown blue lilies with her glance, and sowing with her foot-falls a thicket of lotuses in the forest.
Then the prince said to Dridhabuddhi, "Who can this be? Can she be a nymph of heaven worthy of being gazed upon by the hundred-eyed Indra; or is she the presiding G.o.ddess of the forest with her shoot-like fingers clinging to the flowers? Surely the Creator framed this very wonderful form of hers after he had perfected his skill by continual practice in creating many nymphs of heaven. And lo! she exactly resembles in appearance my beloved Mandaravati, whose beauty I beheld in a picture. Why should she not be the lady herself? But how can this be? She is in Hansadvipa far away from this heart of the forest. So I cannot [448] conceive who this fair one is, and whence she comes, and how she comes to be here." And Dridhabuddhi, when he saw that fair maid, said to the prince, "She must be whom you suppose her to be, otherwise how could her ornaments, though made of forest flowers, thus resemble a necklace, a zone, a string of bells, and the other ornaments usually worn? Moreover, this beauty and delicacy are not produced in a forest; so you may be certain that she is some heavenly nymph, or some princess, not the daughter of a hermit. Let us rise up and stand here [449] a moment to find out." When Dridhabuddhi had said this, they both of them stood there concealed by a tree.
And in the meanwhile those hermit maidens, having gathered their flowers, went down into that river with that lovely girl to bathe. And while they were amusing themselves by splashing about in it, it happened that an alligator came and seized that lovely girl. When those maidens saw that, they were bewildered, and they cried out in their sorrow, "Help, help, ye woodland deities! For here is Mandaravati, while bathing in the river, suddenly and unexpectedly seized by an alligator, and perishing." When Sundarasena heard that, he thought to himself, "Can this really be that beloved of mine?" and rushing forward he quickly killed that alligator with his dagger. And when she fell from the monster"s mouth, as it were from the mouth of death, he carried her up on the bank, and comforted her.
And she, for her part, having got over her fear, and seeing that he was a charming person, said to herself, "Who is this great-hearted one that my good fortune has brought here to save my life? Wonderful to say, he bears a close resemblance to that lover of mine whom I saw in a picture, the high-born son of the king of Alaka. Can he possibly be that very man? But out on my evil thought! Heaven forefend! May such a man never be an exile from his native land! So it is not fitting for me now to remain in the society of a strange man. Accordingly, I will leave this place: may prosperity be the lot of this great-souled one!" After going through these reflections, Mandaravati said to those companions of hers, "First take a respectful leave of this n.o.ble gentleman, and then come with me; we will now depart."
When prince Sundarasena, whose doubts were before unsatisfied, heard this, he conceived great confidence from merely hearing his own name, and he questioned one of her companions, saying to her, "Auspicious one, whose daughter and of what condition is this friend of yours? Tell me, for I feel a great desire to know." When he questioned the hermit maiden in these words, she said to him, "This is the princess Mandaravati, the daughter of king Mandaradeva, the sovereign of Hansadvipa. She was being conducted to the city of Alaka to be married to prince Sundarasena, when her ship was wrecked in the sea, and the waves flung her up upon the sh.o.r.e: and the hermit Matanga found her there and brought her to his hermitage."
When she said this, Sundarasena"s friend Dridhabuddhi, dancing like one bewildered with joy and despondency, said to the prince, "I congratulate you on having now been successful in obtaining the princess Mandaravati; for is not this that very lady of whom we were thinking?" When he had said this, her companions the hermit maidens questioned him, and he told them his story; and they gladdened with it that friend of theirs. Then Mandaravati exclaimed, "Ah, my husband,"
and fell weeping at the feet of that Sundarasena. He, for his part, embraced her and wept, and while they were weeping there, even stocks and herbs wept, melted with compa.s.sion.
Then the hermit Matanga, having been informed of all this by those hermit maidens, came there quickly, accompanied by Yamuna. He comforted that Sundarasena, who prostrated himself at his feet, and took him with Mandaravati to his own hermitage. And that day he refreshed him by entertaining him, and made him feel happy; and the next day the great hermit said to that prince, "My son, I must to-day go for a certain affair to Svetadvipa, so you must go with Mandaravati to Alaka; there you must marry this princess and cherish her; for I have adopted her as my daughter, and I give her to you. And you shall rule the earth for a long time with her; and you shall soon recover all those ministers of yours." When the hermit had said this to the prince and his betrothed, he took leave of them, and went away through the air with his daughter Yamuna, who was equal to himself in power.
Then Sundarasena, with Mandaravati, and accompanied by Dridhabuddhi, set out from that hermitage. And when he reached the sh.o.r.e of the sea, he saw coming near him a light ship under the command of a young merchant. And in order to accomplish his journey more easily, he asked the young merchant who was the owner of that ship, through Dridhabuddhi, hailing him from a distance, to give him a pa.s.sage in it. The wicked merchant, who beheld Mandaravati, and was at once distracted with love, consented, and brought his ship near the sh.o.r.e. Then Sundarasena first placed his beloved on board the ship, and was preparing to get on board himself from the bank where he stood, when the wicked merchant, coveting his neighbour"s wife, made a sign to the steersman, and so set the ship in motion. And the ship, on board of which the princess was crying piteously, rapidly disappeared from the view of Sundarasena, who stood gazing at it.
And he fell on the ground crying out, "Alas! I am robbed by thieves,"
and wept for a long time, and then Dridhabuddhi said to him, "Rise up! Abandon despondency! this is not a course befitting a hero. Come along! Let us go in that direction to look for that thief: for even in the most grievous hour of calamity the wise do not take leave of their fort.i.tude." When Sundarasena had been thus exhorted by Dridhabuddhi, he was at last induced to rise up from the sh.o.r.e of the sea and set out.
And he went on his way weeping, and crying out, "Alas, queen! Alas, Mandaravati!" continually scorched by the fire of separation, fasting, accompanied only by the weeping Dridhabuddhi; and almost beside himself with distraction he entered a great wood. And when in it, he paid no attention to the wise counsels of his friend, but ran hither and thither, thinking only of his beloved. When he saw the creepers in full bloom, he said, "Can this be my beloved come here, adorned with blown flowers, having escaped from that merchant-robber?" When he saw the beautiful lotuses, he said, "Can she have dived into a tank in her fear, and is she lifting up her face with long-lashed eyes and looking at me?" And when he heard the cuckoos singing concealed by the leafy creepers, he said, "Is the sweet-voiced fair one here addressing me?" Thus raving at every step, he wandered about for a long time, scorched by the moon, as if it were the sun; and so to him the night was the same as the day.
And at last the prince with Dridhabuddhi emerged from that wood, though with difficulty, and having lost his way, reached a great wilderness. It was perilous with fierce rhinoceroses, dangerous as being inhabited by lions, and so was as formidable [450] as an army, and moreover it was beset by a host of bandits. When the prince entered this wilderness, which was refugeless, and full of many misfortunes, like misery, he was set upon with uplifted weapons, by some Pulindas, who happened to be on the look out for human victims to offer to Durga, by order of Vindhyaketu the king of the Pulindas, who lived in that region. When the prince was tormented with five fires, of misfortune, exile, the grief of separation, that affront from a base man, fasting, and the fatigue of the journey; alas! Fate created a sixth fire in the form of an attack of bandits, as if in order to exhaust his self-command.
And when many of the bandits rushed towards him to seize him, showering arrows, he, with only one companion to help him, killed them with his dagger. When king Vindhyaketu discovered that, he sent forward another force, and Sundarasena, being skilled in fighting, killed a great many bandits belonging to that force also. At last he and his companion fainted from the exhaustion of their wounds; and then those Savaras bound them, and took them and threw them into prison. The prison was full of mult.i.tudes of vermin, filthy with cobwebs, and it was evident that snakes frequented it, as they had dropped there the skins that clung to their throats. The dust in it rose as high as the ancle, [451] it was honey-combed with the holes and galleries of mice, and full of many terrified and miserable men that had been thrown into it. In that place, which seemed the very birthplace of h.e.l.ls, they saw those two ministers Bhimabhuja and Vikramasakti, who, like themselves, had entered that wilderness after escaping from the sea, in order to look for their master, and had been already bound and thrown into prison. They recognised the prince and fell weeping at his feet, and he recognised them, and embraced them, bathed in tears.
Then their woes were increased a hundredfold by seeing one another; but the other prisoners there said to them, in order to console them, "Enough of grief! Can we avoid the effect of acts done in a previous state of existence? Do you not see that the death of all of us together is imminent? For we have been collected here by this king of the Pulindas, in order that he may offer us up to Durga on the coming fourteenth day of the month. So why should you grieve? The way of Fate, that sports with living beings, is strange; as she has given you misfortune, she may in the same way give you prosperity." When the other prisoners had said this to them, they remained there bound with them; it is terrible to see how little respect calamities shew even for the great.
And when the fourteenth day arrived, they were all taken thence by the orders of the king to the temple of Durga to be sacrificed. It seemed like the mouth of death, the flame of the lamp being its lolling tongue, the range of bells being its row of teeth, to which the heads of men clung. [452] Then Sundarasena, when he saw that G.o.ddess, bowed before her, and praised her with mind humbled by devotion, and uttered this prayer, "O thou G.o.ddess that didst quell the oppression of the Asuras with thy blood-streaming trident, which mangled haughty Daityas, thou that givest security to thy votaries, look upon me, G.o.ddess, that am burned up with the forest-fire of grief, with a favourable nectar-shedding eye, and refresh me. Honour to thee!"
While the prince was saying this, Vindhyaketu, that king of the Pulindas, came there to worship the G.o.ddess Durga. The moment the prince saw the king of the Bhillas, he recognised him, and being bowed down with shame, said of his own accord to his friends, "Ha! this is that very Vindhyaketu, the chief of the Pulindas, who comes to my father"s court to pay him homage, and is the lord of this vast wilderness. Whatever may happen, we must not say anything here, for it is better for a man of honour to die, than to make known who he is under such circ.u.mstances."
While the prince was saying this to his ministers, king Vindhyaketu said to his servants, "Come now, shew me this heroic human victim, who killed so many of my warriors when he was being captured." As soon as his servants heard this, they brought Sundarasena, smeared with clotted blood, and defiled with wounds, into the presence of that king. When the king of the Bhillas saw him, he half recognised him, and being terrified, said to him, "Tell me, who are you, and whence do you come?" Sundarasena answered the king of the Bhillas, "What does it matter who I am, or whence I come? Do what you are about to do."
Then Vindhyaketu recognised him completely by his voice, and exclaiming excitedly, "Alas! Alas!" fell on the ground. Then he embraced the prince, and said, "Alas, great king Mahasena, see what a fitting return I, villain that I am, have now made for your numerous benefits, in that I have here reduced to such a state your son, whom you value as your life, prince Sundarasena, who has come here from somewhere or other!" This and many other such laments he uttered in such a way that all there began to shed tears. But the delighted companions of Sundarasena comforted the Bhilla king, saying to him, "Is not this much that you recognised the prince before any misfortune had happened? What could you have done after the event had taken place? So why do you despond in the midst of this joy?"
Then the king fell at the feet of Sundarasena, and lovingly honoured him, and Sundarasena got him to set all the human victims free. And after he had shown him all due respect, he took him to his village and his friends with him, and proceeded to bandage his wounds and administer medicines to him; and he said to him, "Tell me, prince, what brought you to this place, for I have a great desire to know." Then Sundarasena related to him all his adventures. And that prince of the Savaras, being astonished, said to him, "What a wonderful chain of events! That you should have set out to marry Mandaravati, and that you should then have been wrecked [453] in the sea, and that this should have led to your reaching the hermitage of Matanga, and to your meeting your beloved there, and that this merchant, in whom you confided, should have carried her off from you, and that you should have entered the wilderness, and have been imprisoned for sacrifice, and recognised by me and delivered from that death--how strangely does all this hang together! Therefore honour by all means to mysteriously working Destiny! And you must not feel anxious about your beloved, for, as Destiny has done all this, she will also do you that other service soon."
While the king of the Pulindas was saying this, his commander-in-chief came quickly in a state of high delight, and entering said to him, "King, a certain merchant entered this wilderness with his followers, and he had with him much wealth and a very beautiful lady, a very gem of women; and when I heard of this, I went with an army, and seized him and his followers, with the wealth and the lady, and I have them here outside." When Sundarasena and Vindhyaketu heard this, they said to themselves "Can these be that merchant and Mandaravati?" And they said, "Let the merchant and the lady be brought in here at once," and thereupon the commander-in-chief brought in that merchant and that lady. When Dridhabuddhi saw them, he exclaimed, "Here is that very princess Mandaravati, and here is that villain of a merchant. Alas, princess! How came you to be reduced to this state, like a creeper scorched by the heat, with your bud-like lip dried up, and with your flower-ornaments stripped off?" While Dridhabuddhi was uttering this exclamation, Sundarasena rushed forward, and eagerly threw his arms round the neck of his beloved. Then the two lovers wept for a long time, as if to wash off from one another, by the water of a shower of tears, the defilement of separation.
Then Vindhyaketu, having consoled them both, said to that merchant, "How came you to carry off the wife of one who confided in you?" Then the merchant said, with a voice trembling with fear, "I have fruitlessly done this to my own destruction, but this holy saint was preserved by her own unapproachable splendour; I was no more able to touch her, than if she had been a flame of fire; and I did intend, villain that I was, to take her to my own country, and after her anger had been allayed, and she had been reconciled to me, to marry her." When the merchant had said this, the king ordered him to be put to death on the spot; but Sundarasena saved him from execution; however he had his abundant wealth confiscated, a heavier loss than that of life; for those that have lost their wealth die daily, not so those that have lost their breath.
So Sundarasena had that merchant set at liberty, and the wretched creature went where he would, pleased at having escaped with life; and king Vindhyaketu took Mandaravati, and went with her and Sundarasena to the palace of his own queen. There he gave orders to his queen, and had Mandaravati honoured with a bath, with clothes and with unguents, and after Sundarasena had been in the same way bathed and adorned, he made him sit down on a splendid throne, and honoured him with gifts, pearls, musk, and so on. And on account of the reunion of that couple, the king made a great feast, at which all the Savara women danced delighted.
Then, the next day, Sundarasena said to the king, "My wounds are healed, and my object is attained, so I will now go hence to my own city; and, please, send off at once to my father a messenger with a letter, to tell the whole story, and announce my arrival." [454] When the Savara chief heard this, he sent off a messenger with a letter, and gave him the message which the prince suggested.
And just as the letter-carrier was reaching the city of Alaka, it happened that king Mahasena and his queen, afflicted because they heard no tidings of Sundarasena, were preparing to enter the fire in front of a temple of Siva, surrounded by all the citizens, who were lamenting their approaching loss. Then the Savara, who was bearing the letter, beholding king Mahasena, came running up proclaiming who he was, stained with dust, bow in hand, with his hair tied up in a knot behind with a creeper, black himself, and wearing a loin-cincture of vilva-leaves. That letter-carrier of the king of the Bhillas said, "King, you are blessed with good fortune to-day, as your son Sundarasena has come with Mandaravati, having escaped from the sea; for he has arrived at the court of my master Vindhyaketu, and is on his way to this place with him, and has sent me on before." Having said this, and thus discharged his confidential commission, the letter-carrier of the Bhilla king laid the letter at the monarch"s feet. Then all the people there, being delighted, raised a shout of joy; and the letter was read out, and the whole of the wonderful circ.u.mstances became known; and king Mahasena recompensed the letter-carrier, and abandoned his grief, and made great rejoicings, and entered his palace with all his retainers. And the next day, being impatient, he set out to meet his son, whose arrival he expected, accompanied by the king of Hansadvipa. And his force of four arms marched along with him, innumerable, so that the earth trembled, dreading insupportable weight.
In the meanwhile Sundarasena set out from that village of the Bhillas for his own home, with Mandaravati. And he was accompanied by his friends Vikramasakti and Bhimabhuja, whom he found in the prison, and Dridhabuddhi too was with him. He himself rode on a horse swift as the wind, by the side of Vindhyaketu, and seemed by the hosts of Pulindas that followed him, to be exhibiting the earth as belonging to that race. And as he was marching along, in a few days he beheld on the road his father coming to meet him, with his retinue and his connections. Then he got down from his horse, and the people beheld him with joy, and he and his friends went up and fell at the feet of his father. His father, when he beheld his son looking like the full moon, felt like the sea which surges up with throbbings of joy, and overflows its bounds, and could not contain himself for happiness. [455] And when he saw Mandaravati, his daughter-in-law, bowing at his feet, he considered himself and his family prosperous, and rejoiced. And the king welcomed Dridhabuddhi and the other two ministers of his son, who bowed at his feet, and he received Vindhyaketu with still warmer welcome.
Then Sundarasena bowed before his father-in-law Mandaradeva, whom his father introduced to him, and rejoiced exceedingly; and beholding his ministers Chandaprabha and Vyaghraparakrama, who had arrived before, clinging to his feet, he considered that all his wishes were accomplished. And immediately king Mahendraditya, who was delighted at hearing what had happened, came there from Sasankapura out of affection. Then prince Sundarasena, mounted on a splendid horse, escorting his beloved, as Nadakuvara did Rambha, went with all those to his own home, the city of Alaka, the dwelling-place of all felicities, abounding in virtuous men. And accompanied by his beloved he entered the palace of his father, being sprinkled, as he pa.s.sed through the city, by the wives of the citizens, who were all crowding to the windows, with the blue lotuses of their eyes. And in the palace he bowed at the feet of his mother, whose eyes were full of tears of joy, and then spent that day in rejoicings, in which all his relations and servants took part.
And the next day, in the long desired hour fixed by the astrologers, the prince received the hand of Mandaravati, who was bestowed on him by her father. And his father-in-law, king Mandaradeva, as he had no son, bestowed on him many priceless jewels, in his joy, and the reversion of his kingdom after his own death. And his father, king Mahasena, without exhausting the earth, made a great feast, in a style suitable to his desires and means, in which all prisoners were released, and a rain of gold was seen. [456] And having beheld Sundarasena prosperous by his union with Mandaravati, and having taken part in his wedding festivities, in which all the women danced to song, and having been honoured by king Mahasena, king Mandaradeva returned to his own territory, and the king of Sasankapura returned to that city, and Vindhyaketu, the lord of the great wilderness, returned to his domain.
And after some days had elapsed, king Mahasena, perceiving that his son Sundarasena was virtuous and beloved by the subjects, established him in his throne, and went himself to the forest. And prince Sundarasena, having thus obtained the kingdom, and having conquered all his enemies by the might of his arm, ruled with those ministers the whole earth, and found his joy in the possession of Mandaravati ever increasing.
When the minister Vyaghrasena had told this story on the bank of the lake to Mrigankadatta, he went on to say to him, "This wonderful tale, prince, did the hermit Kanva relate to us in the hermitage, and at the end of the tale the compa.s.sionate man said to us, to comfort us, "So, my sons, those who endure with resolute hearts terrible misfortunes hard to struggle through, attain in this way the objects they most desire; but those others, whose energies are paralysed by loss of courage, fail. Therefore abandon this despondency, and go on your way. Your master also, prince Mrigankadatta, shall recover all his ministers, and shall long rule the earth, after having been united with Sasankavati." When that great hermit had said this to us, we plucked up courage, and spent the night there, and then set out from that hermitage, and in course of time reached this wood, travel-worn. And while here, being tortured with excessive thirst and hunger, we climbed up this tree sacred to Ganesa, to get fruits, and we were ourselves turned into fruits, and we have now, prince, been released from our fruit-transformation by your austerities. Such have been the adventures of us four, during our separation from you [457] brought about by the curse of the Naga; and now that our curse is expired, advance, united with us all, towards the attainment of your object."
When Mrigankadatta had heard all this from his minister Vyaghrasena, he conceived hopes of obtaining Sasankavati, and so pa.s.sed that night there.
CHAPTER CII.
Then, the next morning, Mrigankadatta rose up from the sh.o.r.e of that beautiful lake, together with all his ministers, who had rejoined him; and in company with them, and the Brahman Srutadhi, set out for Ujjayini, to win Sasankavati, after he had paid his orisons to that tree of Ganesa. [458]