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

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

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 113
their master in that field of battle, ambitious of obtain-
ing fame, even as black-bees roam about in a garden in
the presence of spring, seeking for flowers. Soldiers
whose heads were lopped off lay in the battle field, like
morsels of food in a vessel for the hungry Yama. What
with the sound of the war trumpet, what with the uproar
of men, and what with the lion like shouts of heroes,
there was a noise, the like of which was never heard.
The king's servants, who had received the king's favours
as a debt, now repaid it by casting aside all hopes of
their life; and they earned merit and praise by saving
the lives of many bewildered people. The sharp arrows
of the royal troops fell on the party of the Khāna, as if in
fear, and seemed to convey to him a friendly hint to save
himself. His banner also trembled in the breeze and
flew backward, as if seeking shelter behind in fear of the
battle. The field of the battle where slaughter took place
was like a lotus plant; the severed heads of warriors
beaming like lotuses, and the chariots moving like
leaves on the water. The king beheld the extraordinary
heroism of his son and his army, and when at last the
battle was over, he thought that he had obtained a new life.
All through the day, while the battle lasted, Hājyakhāna
was held by force by his servants, and now he turned
back from the combat, surrounded by the guards. When
the timid elder brother saw his younger yield, he pur-
sued him and killed the soldiers who were overcome by
their fear and felt ashamed at their defeat. What need

114 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
be said of the cruelty of the elder brother who in his folly
even killed some travellers who were going to a marriage
party, in Sūrapura. The king marched in the midst
of all his troops to that distant part of the country in
the south where the sun shines mildly. They who
entrust the duty of ruling the earth to wicked warriors,
who depend on their heavy lances, and are fond of
horses, who listen to the advice that leads to the mischief
of others, and who are not anxious to preserve their
religion and caste, like the sons of Kuru, do not win
in battle.
On the following day Hājyakhāna collected the rem-
nant of his force, repented of what he had done,
and decided to live in the Chitra country. He consoled
some of the men who were in distress, supported others
who were broken down, nourished those who were
hungry, and spent the night on the summit of a hill.
The kind hearted king returned from battle after passing
orders that none of his men should harass his son. He
had thought to himself that by placing the burden
of the kingdom on his son he would obtain rest,
and with this view he had entrusted the administration
of the country to his kindreds, to the lords of the
kingdom who had surrounded themselves with horse-
men, and to his principal servants whom he had
favoured. But they had all sided with his son, and had
come to fight with him to usurp his kingdom. He blamed
himself for having cast aside prudence in his kindness,

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 115
and accused himself as the cause of the mischief. Thus
he reflected, and blamed the servants who by the work
of Fate had become his enemies, and he returned to his
own city in grief. The king caused the heads of the
great warriors who had fallen in battle to be brought, and
over them he built a beautiful edifice in the town. In
this way many warriors lost their lives in battle that
year, in the quarrel between the father and the son,
owing to the wickedness of the servants. Dissensions
among kindred are like a curse, and are as little con-
ducive to the king’s happiness as the fall of snow is to
the full blown lotuses, or as the dreadful comet, the
destroyer of wicked men, is to an ill fated kingdom. O
king Shrī · Mānasimha* ! the letters of your name are as
potent as the five arrows of Kandarpa towards women,
or like the five vital fires to friends, or like the five sons
of Pāṇḍu to the enemies, or like the five celestial trees
to the poets and the learned.
Here ends the first chapter named the account of the
battle of Mallashīlā of Jainarājatarangiṇī composed by
Paṇḍita Shrīvara.
CHAPTER II.
Owing to the wickedness of the younger son, the
strong and pure stream of the king’s affection now flowed

• This name and the concluding lines are inexplicable here,
  probably inserted by mistake in the text from some other place.

116 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
towards the elder. He now won the affection of the king,
enjoyed good fortune, and had his councillors, and shone
owing to the absence of the heroic prince from whom
much was expected. After a long time the king returned
to the capital, and made over to Ādamakhāna a few of
the adherents of his younger brother who were at
Kramarājya. Ādamakhāna appropriated all the wealth of
Hājyehaidharakhāna which was in the house, or in
villages, or in the temples of gods, even as the sub-
marine fire consumes the water. From that time the
elder brother remained at ease in Kashmīra, in the pre-
sence of the king, as heir-apparent, and spent five years,
enjoying the dignity of kings.
Fate augments the happiness of men by increas-
ing the crops, and Fate also brings calamity to them
in the shape of famine. The clouds that make the
grass grow by rain, also destroy it by the weight of
snow. The country was rich in crops, when in the
year 36, in the month of Chaitra, the sky suddenly rained
dust.* It is well known from the Mahābhārata that the
year 36 [of a preceding century] had become terrible to all
on account of the destruction of the race of Yadu. The
leaves and the flowers hung down, grey with dust, as if
sorrowing for the people threatened with famine. The
chief of the soothsayers was consulted by the king, and

• The translator witnessed a dust-rain at Jammu, during the
  winter of 1885-86.

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 117
he said, that owing to the dust-rain there would be a
famine in such a year. The year 36 of the last century
was the harbinger of a severe famine, and men feared that
the present year 36 would become like the one that was
past. The country was beautified with the shāli rice, when
snow fell in the month of Agrahāyaṇa and caused distress.
The earth covered her face with snow, as with a white
mantle, as if unable to bear the sight of the people's dis-
tress. The ripe shāli crop which had gladdened the
hearts of men was covered with snow, even as men of
learning and merit are covered with sandal paste in
an assembly of the wicked and the ignorant. The
monster famine soon stamped its mark on the coun-
try ; there were emaciated men distressed for want
of food, oppressed with hunger, and with eyes in-
flamed. A hungry man, distressed with the thought
of what he should eat, entered a house at night, and
leaving aside gold and other riches, stole rice from a pot.
All day, and even at night, the beggars entered the
house where there was rice, one after another, even as
arrows enter a body. Some took shells (coin) with them,
went to houses where there was grain, and obtained dry
cakes with which they sustained their lives ; and some
died by eating after too long or too short an interval,
Feeble, emaciated men in villages longed to obtain rice
which was like nectar to them, but lived on edible
leaves, roots, and fruits, as if they had taken some reli-
gious vow. Some again supported themselves by cook-

118 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
ing rice after a long interval, and by edible leaves. The
high price of ghee, salt, and oil was reduced on account
of the dearness of rice, as the greatness of good men is
detracted by the pride of the low. Those citizens who
had been garrulous before about many things now be-
gan to talk a great deal about rice only. The Bandhujīva
flower, which is like the life of a friend, was neglected
even like the ākanda, for without rice the people were
blind with hunger, and the sight of flower inflicted pain.
Formerly one khāra of paddy could be had for 300
dinnāras, but owing to the famine, the same khāra of
paddy could not then be obtained even for 1500. What
more need be said ? In some parts of the kingdom the
poor people were denied even the gruel of rice. Before
this the people had thought little of the lucious brīhi
and the shāli rice, and it was for this, I think, that they
now suffered from this calamity.
Being of a kind disposition, the king became anxious
for his people, and after he had fed his distressed sub-
jects for a few months, like his children, with his own
rice, a plentiful crop grew, as if on account of the
greatness of his heart. A truthful king has not to
grieve for a long time. It was the sea, I think, [by
not supplying the clouds with water,] that troubled
the earth with the calamity of the famine, inorder
that the king's humanity might be displayed. Thieves
delight at the time of anarchy, unchaste women in the
hours of darkness, and those who sell grain delight in

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 911
the time of famine. As the people were oppressed by
hunger, precious things were received in exchange for
grain ; but after the famine the king caused them to be
paid for at their proper price. During famine men
had eaten up walnuts ; so the intelligent king, ob-
serving the condition of the people caused oil to be
extracted from the pine. Out of humanity he cancelled
the deeds on bhūrja leaves drawn up between the credi-
tors and the debtors. The sixty-four branches of learn-
ing, art, science, and progress, all remained dormant in
the distress caused by the famine. For new books
exhibiting the play of words and sentences, the arts of
singing, music, and dance, and women skilful in the arts
of love delight not the hungry.
Here ends the second chapter named the account of
the famine of the year 36* of Jainarājatarangiṇī composed
by Paṇḍita Shrīvara.
CHAPTER III.
Fate, like a mad sovereign, can in a moment bestow
unusual favour on his subjects when propitious, and inflict
untold miseries when unpropitious. Who can understand
the caprices of Fate ? While the people had not yet for-
gotten the miseries of the famine of the year 36, they
witnessed in the year 38 a dust-rain descending on the
* The year 26 in the text is a misprint for 36.

120 KINGS OF KASHMIRA.
earth from the sky, and indicating a famine in the future
from the failure of shāli rice. Not long after, heavy
clouds with the rainbow, and peals of loud thunder,
terrified the people, even like enemies with their arrows.
Bubbles appeared on the water, beaten by the rain, and
seemed like the heads of snakes intent on destroying
the crops ; and the clouds which raised the bubbles
threatened to destroy all that would grow. Everywhere
the rain fell on the leaves of trees, and the sound seemed
like the wailing of the trees at the calamity which was
about to overtake the people. The Vitastā, the Ledari,
the Sindhu, the Kṣhiptikā, and other rivers, seemed to vie
with one another, and drowned the villages on their
banks in their fury. The waves of those rivers, ran like
coursers, swift and tumultuous, and the roar of the
whirlpools rose above the waves. The waters then
became ungovernable and caused mischief, lowering
objects which were high, and lifting up things that were
low. Who taught them then to lift the earth from the
foot of the hills and to fell trees ? They swept away
beasts and kine and living beings, as well as houses, grain,
and other things, and became terrible as a host of the
Mlechchhas. The river Vishokā caused misery in
Maḍavarājya, and entered Vijayeshvara as if seeking to
walk round the shrine, and a line of houses soon fell into
the water as if to bathe in the river which flowed eastward,
to have their sins removed. The river Vishokā is celebrat-
ed in the Purāṇa as the destroyer of afflictions, but owing

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 121
to the misfortunes of the people it belied its name. The
buildings in the city drowned themselves in the water,
as if to avoid the sight of the distress of those who had
raised them. The king had built a flaghouse on the
Vitastā made of stone and wood, and consisting of four
towers, and it served as a bridge to the people who came
to visit him from the villages of Darad, even as the four
steps of virtue serve to ferry men over hell. But owing
to the rush of water over the bank of the river, the portion
of the building which was on the side of the town was
destroyed, and only the columns remained and the two
towers like two legs, as if to call on future kings to
complete the other two. In Kramarājya, the Mahānap
lake caused sufferings to people by its waves, and its
water rushed within Durgapura. The edifices in the town
witnessed this from a distance, and apprehended that
some other lake had come on a joyous visit to the
Padmanāga lake; and they threw themselves into the
water, fearing to be beaten down like trees by the waves.
The Vitastā, far away from her lord the ocean, was
alarmed at this intrusion, turned in her course, and
flowed in an opposite direction. Landmarks were sub-
merged, roads were destroyed, and the land was full of
water and polluted with mud, even as Kaliyuga is polluted
with apprehensions. At the time when Indra thus poured
torrents of rain, the king was filled with anxiety, on ac-
count of excessive water, and set out in a boat. His soul
was full of kindness towards men; and he wandered
II

122 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
about and saw the cultivated fields merged under water ;
and his sorrow made him weak. Embarked on a boat, he
saw the place where the milkmen had their quarters, and
which was not visible before, so densely was it wooded.
Within a few days the ruthless flood subsided, and was
dried up as if by the fire of the king's prowess. The
people were then soon delighted with the sight of
the wealth of ripe shāli crop that grew that year,
as if through the virtue of their king's charity. And
the kind heart of the king of Kashmīra became full at
the prosperity of the people, even as the sea becomes
full at the increase of the moon's crescent. The virtuous
king is like the soul, and the subjects are dear to him
as the body. By the increase of the king's happiness
the subjects become happy, and by his afflictions they
become afflicted.
The king apprehended the recurrence of a similar
calamity, and wandered about with a view to build a
city on the high banks of the Vitastā near Joyāpīḍapura.
On an elevated site on the banks of the river he built a
town called Jainatilaka, which was like an ornament to
the earth, and humbled the pride of Alakā. The moon-
light rested on the walls of this whitewashed city, as if
the goddess of the capital lingered there to see the
king. The houses in the city looked like Kailāsa, as if
it had come there in sorrow, for the favour shown by
Mahādeva towards Rāvaṇa who had uprooted that
mountain. The city with its white washed houses seemed

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 123
to laugh at Jayāpīḍapura where the houses and fields
were mouldering in decay. The wise who saw the new
city remarked that the king in his search for the
way into the nether world must have come across the
city of Maya the Asura. The beautiful water from the
river surrounded the city and flowed by its gate, white
as lime, and seemed to laugh at the city of Dvārikā in
the pride of its beauty. It was here that the king, on
the anniversary of his birth day, marked Jayasiṁha of
Rājapurī, with the symbol of royalty. The king who
loved the Brāhmaṇas was pleased with the services
rendered by Jayasiṁha, and as he sat here, he gave
Jayasiṁha the charge of the beautiful kingdom of
Rājapurī. In this same year the king showered gold
in the court-yard of the palace where all the songs of
Kashmīra and of the Kāshya countries were chanted. In
the neighbourhood of this city, a servant of the king
named Helāla killed a mad elephant, and the king built a
small town called Helālapura, inorder to commemorate
the deed.
Within Jayāpīḍapura, the king erected a high seat
of stone, and he built a beautiful palace by the side
of a tank, and having drained off water from the tank
which had been submerged by the inundation, the wise
king built rows of houses for royal offices, befitting
his palace. Every year, on the day of Nāgayātrā, and
during the festivity of Gaṇachakra, the king fed the
devotees here for five days. He made tanks here which

124 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
were filled with wine, cream, and curries, and fed every
body. Here also was heard frequently the sound of horns
of thousand devotees, which made even the serpents of
the Mānasa lake shut their eyes. There was no kind of
rice or meat or vegetable or fruit or food with which the
king did not feed the people at the time of this feast.
Out of his reverence for the devotees the king put up
with their indecorous behavior arising from intoxication
which even ordinary men would not have borne. He
dressed Mera the chief of the devotees in valuable
robes and gave him presents, and marks of honor, and
made him like himself in splendour. On the twelfth
day of the moon the king dismissed the devotees after
having laden them with quilts, attendants, money, and
walking stalves.
On the thirteenth day of the moon the king wished
to see the display of lamps made on the occasion of the
worship held on account of the birth of the Vitastā ; and
he embarked on a boat and went to the capital. While
on the water he listened to well composed songs, and at
the time of embarking and disembarking he accepted
the blessings of the citizens. The display of lamps
offered by the citizens to the river looked graceful as if
the spirits of numberless holy places had come to the
Vitastā for adoration. The rows of lamps placed at the
ferry on both banks looked beautiful, as if the gods had
scattered golden flowers for the worship of the Vitastā.
The moon was reflected on the river, but trembled