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

416 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
taken round with the proclamation that "any person who
becomes so devoid of sense as to kill another will surely
get similar heavy punishment." Once a Yavana, intoxi-
cated with wine, killed a Kashmīrian without any
fault. The murdered man was kept hidden under
water, and the Yavana declared that he had murdered
none. When Merja Barddhaka was informed of this
by the relatives of the murdered man, he at once asked
the Yavana why he had killed a Kashmīrian ; but he
asserted that he had killed none. "If a person is killed"
continued the Yavana "where is his headless trunk ?"
The Yavana said this in a firm tone, whereupon
Merja Barddhaka ordered men to look in the tank.
When the tank was stirred up, the headless trunk ap-
peared, and the Yavana's guilt for having murdered a
man was established. Merja Barddhaka found the
Yavana guilty and ordered his punishment as it is laid
down in the shāstra.
Asked by Jyallāladīna, Yosobha Khāna, with his head
bent down, thus spoke about the countless excellent
things of Kashmīra :—"The Creator has created Kashmīra
like a second heaven ; and even the king of the serpents,
with his two thousand tongues, cannot describe the glories
of that country. There the amorous men leave aside the
grapes whose sweet juice does not last long, and drink
the nectar which exudes from the lips of their
beloved women. There the faces of the women, with
their quick moving eyes of flirtation, look graceful like