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

168 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
today to be with the king, was heard of as attending the
Khāna the next morning. Like the Sārasa birds the ser-
vants no where remained steady. The king did not find a
single servant devoted to him, who could give him
consolation, and to whom he could describe the troubles
of his heart. The people came to the palace unopposed
and uttered words such as had never been uttered before,
and spoke of things such as had never been seen or
heard of before. Bahrāmakhāna, by his various acts of
duplicity and by his eagerness to foment quarrel be-
tween his brothers, became like Karṇa, the source of
evil. A stick of wood, if it contains oil, will give light,
but does that light last long ? Does it not spread dark-
ness on all sides with its smoke ?
It was to protect the king that Ādamakhāna had
come, and protection was expected from him, but he was
incapable of protecting himself. He informed the king
one day that Bahrāma had joined his brother Hājya-
khāna, and had sought, by cruel stratagem to destroy
him, and that he (Ādamakhāna) had no other course
left but to seek the king's protection. From Bahrāma
he had no hope of life, and he therefore asked the king
to save him. If the king reigned in the kingdom,
Ādamakhāna feared nothing. But the people eager to
engage in a battle between the brothers were on that
day coming to attack him, and he was overcome with
fear at the news. Thus informed, the king replied that
he had no attachment for his own kingdom or for his