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

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 93

seemed like that of an enemy who had surrounded the
city. Then the Brāhmaṇas chanted their incantations
and bowed to the Nāgas, and boys began to cry; but
like the king of death the king of the Nāgas neither felt
fear nor pity. The boys clasped the necks of their
mothers in fear, and the mothers shed tears, as if they
worshipped the lord of the Nāgas with pearls. [As the
water rose], the children got up from the feet of their
mothers to their lap, then to their shoulders, and then
to their head, and finally departed from them even as
life departs from the body; and the agitated water of
the inundation clasped the trembling limbs of the
women like a lover. It covered every thing, small and
large, thin and thick, little and great, and spread itself
over all like darkness. The lord of the Nāgas, unable to
brook the touch of the wicked who were drowned in
that fathomless water, stayed like a good man in the
woods. Kāliya was the name of the lord of the Nāgas,
and his head when pressed by the feet of Nārāyaṇa
received the impression of the feet, and hence he obtain-
ed the name of Mahāpadma. The king heard some
one telling him in a dream that he was an incarnation of
Nārāyaṇa and that his purpose to reconstruct Kashmīra
which lay in ruin would be fulfilled. For a short time
he revolved in his mind as to how he could accom-
plish the work. The Nāga did not refrain from punish-
ing the city for the evil practices of the people; why
should a great being like him put up with a wrong

94 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
when even an inferior being does not. Thus informed
by the lord of the Nāgas [in a dream] the king thought
to himself that he would raise the land like an umbrella,
and make it beautiful as a jewelled cup. * * * *
In that great land which would be raised in the
midst of the billowy lake, in that holy and lonely spot,
the hermits would attain emancipation. With stones
carried in strong waggons the king filled up the centre
of the billowy lake which was fathomless before. When
the middle of the lake became land the king built on it

• • • • Jainalaṅkā * * * * It was on one extremity
        of this very lake that king Jayāpīḍa had raised land
        by the help of the king of the Rākṣhasas. If in the
        dewy season the lotus plants, the water nuts, and the
        kavuka plants be uprooted, the foundation of Shrī
        Jayāpīḍakoṭa can be seen in the bottomless gulf. On the
        margin of the billowy lake were Suyyakuṇḍalaka and
        many other villages with traces of large houses. The
        king now built the rich town of Jainalaṅkā in a deep
        part of the lake where even hills would be drowned,
        and he appointed a superintendent of the town * * * *
        Rūpyabhāṇḍa, a man of beaming intelligence, decorated
        the palace gates * * * * At Kramarājya, he built
        Suratrāṇapura graced with houses that humbled the pride
        of the peaks of the Himālaya. The king, who had sub-
        dued his enemies, built Jainakoṭṭa with houses all around
        and adorned with silk banners above the buildings. It
        was through the king's orders and by the intelligence of

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 95
Rūpyabhāṇḍa that delapidated buildings were repaired
and new ones constructed. On the margin of the
Mahāpadma lake the king, whose epithet was Jaina, built
two towns named Jainakuṇḍala and Jainapattana; and
there were planted the creeping fennel which bore tender
leaves and beautiful roots, and by which the towns were
adorned. O! how mild were even the punishments
which he inflicted tempered as they were with mercy;
for without killing the Ḍomba thieves, or fastening their
hands in chains, and subjecting them to constant beating

• • • • The king forbade the killing of birds and fish
        in several tanks, and spread his fame on all sides.
        Once on a time the king came to know that thieves
        had stolen a cow, and the owner lamented its loss.
        The king after questioning the man caused the thieves to
        be brought in; but the truthful Brāhmaṇa could not
        state the age of the animal or describe the marks on it,
        and he thus caused regret to the court. He only stated
        that the cow had bent horns. The thief addressed the
        king and said that as it was natural for the human body
        to have moles, so it was natural for a cow's horns to be
        bent. The king asked [the verdict of the court], but the
        court remained silent. The king then, with a view to
        examine [the animal], applied some contrivance on the
        horns by which he exposed the artifice of the thief and
        refuted his plea about the crookedness of the horns.
        The ministers who composed the court of justice were
        elated with joy by this fine judgment of the king. The

96 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
chief judge Gauraka the Gaṇanāpati pleased the people
by his forgiveness, his good sense, and the dispensation
of equitable punishments, and imposed upon himself the
king's duty of ruling the subjects. Some men had bribed
Malvāna Mallānāsāka and had received favours from
him ; but after a lapse of time they became ungrateful
and disclosed in court the amount of gold they had paid
as bribe. Upon this the king became angry, and caused
Malvāna Mallānāsāka to restore the amount to them.
Daryyāvakhāna had first seated himself at the feet of
the king, then went hand in hand with him, then placed
himself before his eyes, and finally reached his head.
The grateful king had purchased this man [as slave],
and bore him even as Mahādeva bears on his forehead
the crescent of the moon which sheds soft light. The
sun does not dispel the darkness which settles on the
world under the cover of the cloud like night ; but it is
dispelled by the moon which reflects the sun. Wearied
with the weight of the kingdom and ever exposed to
danger from the sword, the king felt a relief at the
sight of the riches which he had himself bestowed on
the learned Mahmadakhāna. Mahmadakhāna now died.
Where do we see length of life in those who are agreeable
to others ? This truthful and prosperous Thakkura, who
every year ministered through the Pratīhāra and others to
the wants of those who came to beg, now went to heaven.
He was openly murdered by one of his own family
whom the king had exiled from his own country and who

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 97
came on the pretence of delivering a message. En-
feebled by journeys to places of pilgrimage, Vinna re-
turned to the town of Sou [dha ?] where the king's tolls
were collected on articles brought from the Sindhu coun-
try, and there he died. At this time, the great Shri
Shivabhaṭṭa who superintended the king's courts of
justice, also went to heaven [died]. Though these men
died, the king's acts of virtue did not decrease. The ele-
phants who prop the four sides are but as pageants to the
serpent who really supports the world. In one day, the
king distributed one koti of Dinnāras to the boys through
Jayyabhaṭṭa.
A collection of wonderful things was made in the
kingdom during the reign of this king, otherwise how
could he be the incarnation of Nārāyaṇa? He planted
the country round Mārttaṇḍa with sugarcane, compared
to the juice of which, the nectar that flows from the moon
is poor as a beggar. On account of the greatness of his
yoga, Shri Jainallābhadina escaped wrinkles and white
hair incident to old age, and displayed the faculties of a
god. He made * * * * the river which flows into Bhārosa,
and which injured his power and wealth.
Here ends the Second Rājatarangiṇī by Jonarāja.

THIRD SERIES.
BOOK I.
I bow to Shiva who is the sole lord of the three
worlds, and who has attained eternal godhood and free-
dom from endless pain. May Shiva, one half of whom
is female, give us faith in the unity of godhood. Witness-
ing one half of Shiva's person united with one half of
Pārvvati's, the moon also cut off one half of his body
and united himself with night, sable as the locks of
Pārvvati.
The court-poets of celebrity who make their composi-
tion elegant by the proper arrangement of words, and who
distinguish milk from water, [i. e. good from bad], are
entitled to respect. In this world, which is without a
master, and covered by the darkness of uncertainty, what
is it that can make the things of the past known except
the works of poets which are like lamps? Kings were
perishing in this world, but the poet Jonarāja enabled
them to live in their fame to the end of time. Fate how-
ever removed the poet Jonarāja from the world, as if in
anger. The learned Jonarāja became merged in Shiva
[i.e. died] in the year 35, while writing the Rājatarangiṇī,
I am pupil of this Jonarāja, my name is Shrīvara Paṇḍita,
and I have undertaken to finish the remainder of the

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 99
book of kings. What a difference between the produc-
tion of my master and that of mine, I who am possessed
of little sense! How can chalk do the work of camphor
merely because it resembles it in color? The good hear
me read, for the sake of the annals of kings, and not for
the merits of my work, and they understand my composi-
tion by their intelligence. Let other poets compose works
of beauty, my work has been undertaken to commemo-
rate the accounts of kings. I have received various
benefits, gift of wealth and of village, and the privilege
of perfcrming the Homa sacrifice; and I have been
brought up by the king like his son. I will narrate his
history therefore, partly to free myself from my endless
obligations to him, and partly because I am attracted by
his merits. How much of his merits can be described
by one tongue? My words could have described them, if
I had as many tongues as there are hairs on the body.
Truly my words are not able to enumerate the merits of
the king which are like the stars in the clear and bound-
less sky. Yet as the three worlds are represented within
the limits of a picture, even so shall I delineate the
merits of Shri Jainollābhadina. I will describe accord-
ing to my understanding what has not been described
by my guru. One can free himself from obligations for
houses, gifts, and honours received, by describing the
reign of this king and of his son. The Jainatarangini
will recall to mind the prosperity and the adversity of
men who are now dead, but whom many have seen; and

(100 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
in whose mind will it not raise a feeling of indifference to
worldly desires?
Shri Jainollā'bhadina having destroyed his enemies
in distant lands returned to his paternal kingdom, and
obtained it even as Rāma had done. The treasuries
were drained, but he collected what remained, inorder to
carry out his designs, even as a poet collects from the
vocabulary his words and meanings, suited for his work.
The reign of this king, after that of Ālishāha, who was
ignorant of the art of ruling, was like the cooling sandal
paste after the heat of summer in a desert had departed.
The punishments which his enemies received from his
hand were like those received from Yama after death;
each getting it according to his merit. Though the king
possessed great merits and executed good works, yet,
strangely enough, he was always possessed of riches of
various kinds. The goddess of Fortune certainly lived
on his face, graced with his bright eyes, and dwelt in his
house, bright with silk, rich with virtue, and adorned
with women of lotus-like beauty ; — while his fame, like
the notes of music, spread over Banga'a, Mālava, Ābheri,
Gauḍa and Karṇāṭa. Radiant as the sun but soft as the
moon, learned as Budha, and wise as Vṛihaspati, the
king obtained the names of the planets, and all the
planets were in his favour. The king was like the jewel
that fulfils every desire, and his merits attained great
lustre, even as the Kumuda flowers do at night on seeing
the moon. The six schools of philosophy which gladden

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 101
the learned, delighted his heart, as the six seasons, which
gladden men by flowers, adorn the garden of Indra. The
three great faculties [majesty, perseverance, and wisdom]
found in the king the three amiable attributes [virtue,
wealth, and desire], and like lovers they lived in harmony
in the king. Like Pārtha, the king satisfied every day
those who came for alms, and his fame spread on all
sides, as if to invite the poor. Artists considered him as
Vishvakarmmā descended on earth, yogis considered him
as Gorakṣha, and chemists looked on him as Nāgārjuna.
The king favoured those who showed their skill in arts
or in letters, and they were thus encouraged to persevere
in their callings. He spent his life in listening to
poems and songs, in dance and in the music of the
harp, and in shows, and was not anxious for work. He
directed those who knew the shāstras to persevere in
their duties, for they work justly who know the shāstras.
Driven by the irresistible force of his arrows, his enemies
always lived like insects in woods and remote places.
His spies made daily enquiries about his enemies' affairs
as well as about his own, and the king knew all about
his subjects except their dreams. No one could exact
even five gaṇḍās of cowries from a pious householder
engaged in prayer. The king caused the feet of the
chaṇḍāla thieves, who ought to have lived by agri-
culture, to be chained, and he compelled them to work
on land. Knowing that low caste men take themselves
to thieving when in want of means of livelihood, the king

102 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
gave them provisions. He knew Chakra and others of
Kramarājya to be wicked men, and he therefore con-
fiscated their land, made provision for their livelihood,
and kept them in the Maḍava country. The annoyance
from thieves being thus repressed by the prudence of
the king, travellers slept at ease in the woods as in a
house. The king lived in a simple way and in doing
good works; his actions were free, all his state officials
were prosperous, and he gave himself up to enjoyments
in various towns. Who does not praise the eternal sun
who rises on the eastern mountain and drives away the
mischievous darkness, the lover of the lotus, who sheds
his beams on it and is adored by it, and who withers
the kumuda flowers, and displays his power to men?
The Ṭhakkuras, sons of the king's nurse, were elated
with pride, made ill use of their wealth and fortune, and
like unchecked elephants, became the destroyers of the
king's joys. The eldest of them, Meraṭhakkura, though
conspicuous on account of his position as judge, and an
aged Musula [Musulman], became illustrious by his
literary work. It was with difficulty that he reached
Kāshṭhavāṭa from Vaṭapatha; there he found himself in
the midst of snow with which his feet were affected. He
stayed for sometime before the shrine of god Māṇikya on
the shores of the lake, and having obtained a few attend-
ants, he arrived at Chika country after a long time. He
reached there, worried by hundreds of difficulties, and
his feet were washed by a saida as by a servant, and in-

order to allay the pain of the sore, physicians bandaged
one of his feet with thongs for life. In this place he
lived five years with difficulty, and made various attempts
to reach his own country and to take possession of his
wealth. [Here it is said that a portion of the MS. from
which the text has been printed is destroyed by time.]
The king, after he had conquered Sindhu, Hinduvāṭ,
and other countries outside his dominion, went with his
army to conquer the Bhuṭṭa country. As soon as the
army had entered a forest, they saw with wonder, a
black skeleton of a man by the light of a lamp placed on
a wall. The wise men who had appreciated the king's
worth used to assert, that, by performing penances extend-
ing over a long period the king had attained emancipa-
tion, and had cast off his [former] body, as a serpent
casts off his skin. Their words were now proved ; or
how could the king know of hidden things if he had not
been a saint ?

CHAPTER I.

The description of the kingdom.

The king begat three sons, the eldest Ādamakhāna,
the second Hājyakhāna, and the youngest Vahrāmakhāna.
The eldest was handsome, and he pleased his father
by the natural grace of his person and by his appearance,
even as the moon pleases the sea. Hājyakhāna dis-

104 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
played his greatness in his daily boyish pastimes, even as
the camphor indicates its nature by its sweet scent. The
two boys were beloved of their parents, and the happy
king left them in charge of two Ṭhakkuras, the sons of
his nurse, inorder to be brought up. The two Ṭhakkuras,
sons of the nurse, knew how to serve their own interests
and to damage their opponents ; and they became to each
other like the two disputants in logic. They cut the stem
of the tree of brotherly affection, and, owing to their
mutual envy, became envious of the princes; and the
three worthy sons of the king grew up in mutual enmity
caused by the Ṭhakkuras. The country was like a
body of which the king was the soul, when the king
felt happy all others felt happy, and when he felt miser-
able all others felt miserable. It was owing to the
wicked policy of the ministers that the princes felt angry
with each other, and the elder and the younger did not
perform their mutual duties.
Once on a time the king heard of the enmity
which his sons bore against one another, and he ordered
Ādamakhāna to prepare himself for departure without
delay to a foreign country. "O! bad son" he said "if
you do not act according to my reasonable command,
difficulties will arise which will destroy your dignity, life,
and wealth." When he had heard these words of his father,
the prince said to his servants that he would go to
Parṇotsa where they would always live in happiness.
They replied that his brother was of magnanimous mind,

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 105
and liberal, and could bestow wealth on his servants ;
and they asked him if he could do so. "We would rather
die in his service and before his eyes," they said, "than
serve you who are so weak and devoid of powers." As
an arbitrator stands between the two who are engaged in
making a partition, so Fate stood between the elder and
the younger brother inorder to equalize their happiness
and misery by reversing the scales. The king was afraid
that the life of Ādamakhāna was in danger, and he sent
him out of the country within a few days on the pretence
of sending him to Bhuṭṭa.
Mechanics showed to the king different kinds of
thunder-weapons [cannon] which make men tremble with
the deep sound they make. The king brought out these
weapons made of different metals, new, and hard ; and at
his command I composed the following lines in praise of
the weapons :— " In the year 41, in the Saka year '1586,
the king Shri Jainollābhadīna, renowned like the lord of
heaven [Indra], the victorious, the ruler of Kashmīra,
constructed this weapon which is well known to the
world and is spoken of in the mausula language. It
destroys forts, pierces the hearts of men, strikes horses
with terror, throws arrows [balls] of stone from a distance,
and remains unseen by the soldiers from encampments,
strong, well regulated, of deep sound, and of great value ;
— such was the engine constructed by the mechanics. The
engine will be useful to the king like a new town. May
it be useful by the large quantity of the different metals

166 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
of which it is composed, and by its frame, by its sound,
and by its power of expansion." The engines, vying with
the thunder in their roar and their fire, were inscribed
with these lines, and they looked graceful.
In a short time Ādamakhāna returned after the con-
quest of Bhuṭṭa and Hājyakhāna went to the mountains
of Lohara under the orders of the king. The king knew that
two swords do not find room in the same scabbard, and
so he caused one of his two sons to go out and the other
to come into the country. Ādamakhāna bathed and
drank and played and engaged himself in amusements
every day before his father. The swan that lives at ease
in the Satī lake does not leave it in the rainy season till
he is struck dead by the fowler.
In the year 28 Hājyakhāna wished to return Kashmīra,
when Rāvatralavala thus spoke to him :— "O ! master !
the friends of your elder brother are enjoying the delights
of Kashmīra, we alone have left our home and are
pining in a foreign land. The powerful Rājānaka the
Pratīhāra, Kulaja the Mārgapati, and others who are
proud of their prowess are awaiting us in Kashmīra.
Even if you be disobedient to your father, will the merci-
ful king kill us all in his anger? Should Ādamakhāna
come out with his forces to fight, he will have to fly
before you, even like young birds before a hawk. The
people of Rājapurī wish us good, let us therefore go by
the way of Rājapurī. What can we not win through
courage? Now that Agira the Pratīhāra is dead there

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 107
lives no hero in the country ; you should therefore proceed
and snatch the throne of your father. We warriors, your
subordinates and followers, will fight with your father's
men ; and you should see what heroism is." "Be it so"
said the Khāna, and he asked the opinion of two minis-
ters, SaphiryyaḌāmara and Tajatantresha, and they thus
replied :—"O ! master ! your servants are anxious for
their homes, and are speaking without due consideration
of circumstances, and their advice will lead to mischief.
How can we get into the country so long the powerful
king is alive ? Who can with a cocoanut shell cover the
radiant sun in the sky ? No one will be able to oppose
the king so long he lives, hence for the present, you
should do what is pleasing to him. What prosperity
may we not attain if your father be favourably inclined
towards you ? The virtuous have reverence for their king
and senior ; and even when angry, he is more propitious to
you than others even when they are favourably inclined.
The light which emanates from the sun even on a cloudy
day, is more than what emanates from a burning lamp.
The king always renders justice, and the purity of his
mirror-like heart is not destroyed by the foul breath of
the wicked. He is attached to the doctrine of nirvvāna,
and is equally versed in all the shāstras ; he is kind and
does not inflict any pain. Though he had risen against
his father's party, he did not discard his affection for his
father, and his father's last moments were hallowed like
those of king Jaina. His officers are wise, friendly,

108 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
humane, and worthy of him, and it is on account of
this happy circumstance that his sons are prospering.
He is your father and you his son, and we all are your
servants. If you go and fight against him how can we
gain a victory? The king has many servants, and if
some of them perish, his loss will be little, if the Gaḍura
bird loses a plume, is his speed impeded? There is no
auspicious omen in our favour; the country of Kashmīra
is mountainous and difficult of access; and the king is
your father; for these reasons we should avoid a war
now. Let the king rule over the interior of the country,
and let us rule over the outer country; what blessings
have you not got here by his favour except the royal
umbrella? If they come to fight us here, they will not
be able to conquer us, and if we go into the interior we
shall never be able to overcome them" The Khāna how-
ever, instigated by the wicked, and in his own pride,
set out by the Sūrapura road, in spite of this advice,
and keeping Rājapurī before him, came to Kashmīra.
The king in the meantime had heard of the sudden
arrival of his son, and had taken his army with him, and
he soon issued out of the capital. While marching
with the army, the king felt certain that he would die, and
caused this verse to be read :—"The thought of war and
peace always creates alarm; and when such alarm is
caused by ones own son, his happiness is at an end." As
the king marched, he heard blessings of men in villages,
and people said that the son was under the coutrol of the

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 195
ignorant and had caused pain to his father, not to speak
of the sin committed in rising against his father. While
the king was yet reigning, his son, forgetting the affection
due to his father, had come to bring affliction to the
country; that the prince might with his army speedily fall
like an insect in the fire of the king's valor, and the virtu-
ous king might reign without opposition, and his enemies,
defeated in battle, turn back. The king heard this and
more, and arrived with his army at a place named
Suprashamana.
Then when the armies of the father and son met at
Pallashilā, the king sent a Brāhmaṇa as messenger
to his son. But the messenger was for sometime sur-
rounded by the angry people who were anxious to know
his message, and they shouted and asked what the
Brāhmaṇa had to say. The messenger thus fearlessly
delivered the message of the king, "O prince! O
mighty armed! O! Sea of amṛita! Attend to what
your father orders which I speak unto you. 'The son
is to the family as the fruit is to the tree, he is the
benefactor in this as well as in the next world, and always
delights the eyes of the parents; by whom can such a
son be discarded? All people endeavour to provide for
their sons, since in old age an obedient son brings com-
fort and ease. You, who are born my son, are my stay
in this world and in the next; but now all my hopes
of ease have fled, and my anxiety has increased. The
protection which you are giving to the wicked men
10

170 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
obscures my reign, even as a breath obscures a mirror.
The unruly Khashas, ever ready to destroy, will not
remain long with you, even as swans do not remain
long in tanks. Why have you of your own accord, and
without my orders, come into the country ? Who can
obtain the kingdom by force except when propitious
fortune favours him ? You were ruling over all the
outer countries, wherefore were you not satisfied with
them, and wherefore have you come to take away the
rest of my kingdom by force ? O son ! Cease to enter-
tain vain and vicious thoughts ; the sin of the destruc-
tion of the two armies will rest on thee.’ This have I
told you in the words of your father ; but I tell you truly,
that, like a sparrow before a hawk, your warriors will
fly away from the king.” When the soldiers heard
these unpleasant words of the Brāhmaṇa, they cut off
his ears, and with the blood they marked the foreheads
of their friends. When Hājyakhāna saw this he felt
ashamed, and came to Abhimanyu the Pratīhāra, and
asked permission to leave his soldiers and to bow at
the feet of his father. “Be the king pleased or angry,”
said he “he will deal with me as he likes. I shall al-
ways serve the feet of the king, and he surely will pro-
tect us. In my judgment, this battle should not be begun.
I do not, even in dream, think of mischief to the king ;
he who bestows on me happiness both in this world
and in the next is greater to me than a god. My elder
is approaching in the front, and my father is preparing

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 111
for battle, I have not come prepared to kill my father."
When Tājatantripati and other ministers heard this, they
held the bridle of the prince's horse, keeping it in front
and told him these cruel words :— “When we told you
that it was not the time for battle, and advised you to
return, you slighted our words. You must now there-
fore complete the work you have begun. If you two,
father and son, be reconciled with each other, the enemy
will be pleased with your conduct, but we, who have
suffered in the hope of serving you, shall be ruined.
Heated oil remains on the pan, but whatever is thrown
between them is instantly burnt. You are our master,
we your servants, witness our heroism now. If we win,
you gain the kingdom, and if we lose, you return as you
came. Wait as long as we fight, when we are killed, do
whatever be your duty. If deceived by your father, you
reject our advice, we will do violence to your person,
and then go away hence.” The prince felt frightened at
these words of reproach, and sank into a sea of anxiety,
and was induced to give battle.
In the meantime when the king saw the Brāhmaṇa
in that plight, he became angry like Kṛishṇa, and pre-
pared himself for battle. The king, who could observe
the stars, and whose name was derived from the posi-
tion of the planet Venus in a lunar mason, placed him-
self in a position so as to have the sun behind him, and
made arrangements for the protection of his men. The sun
shone on his sword from behind as if to assure him of

312 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
victory, and then descended from the sky. While the king
was trying to guess the number of the troops led by his
son, those troops appeared before him glittering in the
rays of the sun, and illumining the earth with their
splendour. And he saw his own troops also, and the
armoured and spirited horses moving swiftly in com-
panies. Whom could not the king or his eldest son
with the help of his army overthrow, were he Hājyakhāna
or any other hero? There at Mallashila the soldiers
met and displayed their various quick manœuvres, even
as dancers show off their different steps on a stage.
The army of the king was like a cloud, furnished with
weapons like lightnings, and it showered forth arrows
with deep and prolonged roar. The men who met one
another got mixed ; they produced sounds like those of
brazen gongs, and they bore mutual blows making a loud
noise. The drums of Hājyakhāna sounded loudly as if to
say—"the soldiers are compelling me to battle, do not
press me hard." I [the author] saw the Pratīhāra and
others, men of great and of little prowess, but all powerless
in this battle, as clouds are powerless to arrest the course
of the sun. Then the two Ṭhakkuras, Hassana and
Hossana, sons of the nurse and well wishers of the king,
came out in their wrath from among the king's forces.
The Rajputs Suvarṇa and Sīhanagra were struck with
many weapons, and they sacrificed their handsome persons
even as Shrī fruits are sacrificed in the smoke of a
Yajña. Warriors moved to and fro in the presence of