द्वितीय राजतरङ्गिणी (जोनराज - कल्हणोत्तर मध्यकालीन कश्मीर का प्रामाणिक इतिहास)

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 79
king levied taxes from his poor subjects that they might
not perish through their pride. The Fame of his enemies
along with their Royal Fortune, sacrificed herself in the
fire of the king’s prowess at the extinction of their own.
Once on a time, Jasratha, oppressed by the king of
Ḍhilli took shelter under the king, and he protected him
as the mountain protects darkness in its caves from the
sun.
During the time when this restrainer of the wicked
ruled the country, there lived a Brāhmaṇa at Jayāpīḍa-
pura. He had a cow which was the very embodyment
of the hope of the gods. The cow once broke away
from him and fled, either in quest of corn in villages,
or by the will of fate. The Brāhmaṇa went to
Maḍavarājya, to bathe in a shrine, and there recog-
nised his cow, the marks of which animal he knew.
He knew that the cow was his, and he followed the
animal in the evening and quarrelled with the master
of the house to which it went. The master of the
house was urged by cupidity, and the Brāhmaṇa was
certain that the animal was his, so their quarrel did
not cease, and they took their dispute before the king’s
court. There they were unable to meet each other’s
arguments, and the king threw some water-nuts before
the cow inorder to test their claims. The cow had
been accustomed to eat the nuts in its younger days,
it smelled them and ate them with alacrity like fruits ;
but its calves did not eat them for a long time. The