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

70 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
the iron rod guides an elephant blinded by madness.
Men could not for a long time pollute the king's mind
by dark and evil counsel, as the dark clouds cannot
pollute the Mānasa lake. The king was affectionate
towards his devoted and able younger brother (the heir
apparent), and was also affectionate towards those who
sought shelter with him; but urged by evil minded
men he became uneasy.
The king at last wished to go on pilgrimage, and for
the protection of the people, he thus addressed the
heir apparent and his servants:—"Wealth cannot be
had because those who ask for it will be glad to
have it; our mind becomes corrupt without meditation
and without offerings to the dead, and our body
becomes polluted without pilgrimages to holy places.
I have placed the weight of the kingdom on you as on
the world supporting elephants, and am, like a second
Ananta Nāga, anxious to serve Nārāyaṇa." Agitated
with affection, as the sea with the Mandāra hill, Shāhi-
khāna replied to the king with this speech, sweet as the
new moon:—"Let thy untimely desire to go to pilgri-
mage, which is of doubtful good, abandon thee; rule
thy subjects and thus win the sure gate to fame and
virtue. If you, a warrior, cruelly leave this heriditory
kingdom after having ruled it for a long time, it will be
thought that you leave it for want of ability to rule. If
you are anxious to go on pilgrimage, then what work
shall be left to us, whose duty it is to serve you?"