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

218 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
there were others again who observed that it was the
punishment for keeping low company. Some said that
it was an inhuman act committed for the sake of wealth,
and others remarked that it was done owing to the
king's timidity. When the people heard that the Khāna
was blinded, they made remarks which are not fit to
be repeated. Let none be born as man, they exclaimed,
or if so born, let him be born rather as an ordinary
individual ; let no one take his birth in the house of a
king.
The king's time passed quickly in the enjoyment
of new delights of prosperity, and in various pleasures
and recreations. But even a dream appears like a
kalpa to one in the afflictions of misfortune, who
broods over his past prosperity and his present
danger. Bahrāma's feet were bound in iron chains, and
he remained imprisoned and blind, and passed the
remainder of his life in thinking of the pleasures he
had enjoyed in the days of his prosperity. He who
had always listened to songs in his house was now
kept awake by the noise of crickets. He who had al-
ways been served by his servants, champooing him in
every limb in his bed room had now sparrows and
insects for his attendants. He who had lived under
canopies such as even the gods did not possess, had
now to live under rows of spiders' nets spread over him
as a canopy. His tender limbs which had once adorned
a bed of silk and cotton, now lay on the ground without