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

KINGS OF KAṢHMÍRA. 199
foot of the Vālyeshvara hill. The gallant army with
its prancing horses, seemed to shake the roads on which
they passed. As the army marched, the ground became
shorn of grass, the pools were drained of water, and the
forests bereft of wood. At this time I was honored
by the king and was sent to the prince. I explained
the Vṛihatkathā to him and became his reader. The
prince who had reduced kings to the state of tributary
chiefs had stayed for six months out of the country, but
at the end of Chaitra became anxious to return to
Kashmīra.
In the meantime Vahrāmakhāna, who knew that the
king was addicted to vices, attacked the ministers and
the leaders of the army and moved unchecked and un-
opposed. The king's constitution became weak by
constant drinking, his strength and beauty faded, and
he was attacked with gout and the spitting of blood. The
king received Hassanakhāna who had arrived, and as
the full moon dries up the lotuses, so did he reduce
the ministers. But instigated by the wicked, the king
became angry with his son because he had not brought
Rāja the Gakhvara bound. When Vahrāmakhāna heard
of the coming of the prince, whose arrival he had as
little expected as the coming of the eastern hill to the
west, his exertions became lax. The king did not show
his affection towards his son even when he had attained
greatness ; the intellect of those whose end is nigh
departs from them as if in fear. Entreated by the