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

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 91

king was not pleased to hear of the deeds of enterprise
achieved by past kings in inaccessible mountains or lakes.
And as the poet arranges words according to the sound,
so did the king act according to the advice of merchants
in pursuit of wealth. The king was anxious to make
oblations to the fire, and leaving all other thoughts
aside, he heard Nīlapurāṇa and other sāstras read by
the paṇḍitas.
For a long time the king had conceived that this
world was to the universe what the face is to the body;
and that Kashmīra was the principal portion of this
world as the eyes are of the face, and that the line of
mountains around were like eyelashes. Inside, like the
eyeball, was located the Mahāpadma lake where large
lotuses grew, and like the * * * * If the lake could be
filled up and gradually built upon by any means, the
kingdom * * * * This prince of lakes, whose fathom-
less waters extended over twenty eight kroshas, like the
great purposes of great men * * * * In order
to accomplish his purpose the king went by a boat to
the middle of the lake, even as a yogi attains the
Supreme Soul by means of his own. * * * * Previous
kings did not go to the great Mahāpadma lake constant-
ly agitated by waves, through fear that the boat might be
demolished. It was either by the power of penance, or
by his patience, or on account of the greatness of his aim,
that the king moved in the waters of the lake as easily as
he would on land. What the mind can conceive can be