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

282 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
letter :—" Ye are the good and principal men in the
country ; but why have you killed the Saidas ? Alas !
that you should do a deed that is hated by men. If
the son of the late king has been, through the will of
fate, established in his place, who among you has lost
thereby, and what has he lost, that you have taken mea-
sures to destroy all ? We are not all against you ; make
over to us, ye people of Kashmīra, two or three of the
foreigners by whom your people have been killed, or
drive them out of the kingdom with their followers, and
be ye the principal ministers in this country as before.
Let each retain the post he had held before, and let all
of us enjoy together. Death is destined for the living,
and what is decreed by fate must come to pass, no one
can prevent it.” The Mārgesha and the other leaders
considered the contents of the letter and they sent the
following reply written in the alphabet of the Yavanas.
“ The king should ever be defended, even like a jewel,
but through wickedness, even such a king was not
spared ! What was the reason for which the prince, the
son of Vahrā:nakhāna was killed ? Who will, after
the murder of Noroloha and others can trust in his own
safety in the country ? The whole wealth of the infant
king of this kingdom has also been robbed. There is
but an iron gong left in the king’s gate, and it seems
to proclaim by its sound that it alone has been left
by the Saidas ! The troublesome Madras should be
removed out of the country by various devices, while
you remain happy in your granᵈ-fathers’ posts !”