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

160 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
no more without the king's orders. The king saw his
son lusterless, weak, emaciated, and devoid of affection,
even like a lamp with a thin wick and without oil, and
he was surrounded by the darkness of despair. The
word of advice is dear to those who are fortunate, but
those whose adversity is nigh repent because they did
not follow the advice in time. The prince began to
drink the poison as soon as he went home, though he was
bound by promise to abstain from it. Advice is useless
to those who become blind by addiction to a vice. The
ministers feared that the king doted on him, and sent
secret letters to bring Ādamakhāna from a distant
country. Alarmed at the approach of the younger
brother, the elder had on one occasion set out to meet
him, but now alarmed at the approach of the elder brother
the younger started from the country. When Ādamakhāna
arrived, the king remained indifferent, determining, as
before, not to be troubled by the quarrels between his
two sons. When the son of Hājyakhāna heard of the
arrival of his father's brother he left Parnotṣa with a
view to fight with his uncle, and reached Rājapurī.
When the uncle arrived in Kashmīra, a terrible battle
took place between him and his nephew for the capture
of the fort of Ārdroṭa. At this time the people witness-
ed the patience of the powerful Hasanakhāna ; for
though anxious for the country, he did not march out
without the orders of his grandfather.
When the eldest brother entered the house of his

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 161
father he saw Hājyakhāna at the door joined by the
youngest brother, and out of policy made peace with him.
But though they had sworn peace by the god of the
Mausulas, their hearts were not freed from enmity, even
as a silk cloth does not give up its color. When people
saw that they had met in peace before the king, the
country, the nobles, and their own family, they looked
upon them with misgivings, as on four lions met in a
cavern ; and apprehended that ruin arising from their
mutual enmity was at hand.
In the meantime the king considered Vahrāmakhāna
as the best of his sons ; he was the youngest, and the
object of jealousy of the other two brothers. The king
caused him to be brought before him, and when alone,
he thus spoke :—“O Vahrāma ! Your eldest brother has
been made your enemy by your unfriendly deed. He
will remember the harm you have done to him, and
will never be your friend, and it is with vain expecta-
tion that you are serving the other brother. How can
he leave his own son and attend to your interest ? There-
fore do not commit such wicked acts as will bring misery
in future. Leave him without delay, rely on me alone,
and employ your time accordingly. Adhere to the path
of rectitude, and prosperity will then come unto you.
Otherwise O foolish man ! You will be burnt in the
fire of their enmity, even like a thing placed in an iron
pan full of heated oil.” When he heard these words
of his father, he thus replied in his folly :—“It appears

162 KINGS OF KASHMĪRA.
to me O king! that Hājyakhāna loves me exceeding-
ly like a father. I will never forsake him, but serve him.
He will protect me in time of need, and who is at present
more powerful than he?" When the king heard this he
was angry, and he thus spoke to the son who had made up
his mind:—"Fie to thee, that thou hast discarded me
and acknowledged another as thy father! Ah foolish man!
On what hast thou fixed thy mind after having disregard-
ed my words? There is no doubt that thy expectation
will soon be disappointed." He said this and left him.
Then at a time when the king was alone and was not
afraid of any mischief from his son, he thus thought in
his own mind:—"Alas! From me, bright as a house
on fire, have sprung these three sons, and they are
like the ashes of a wood fire; unlike me, useless, and
without lustre;" and he said aloud:—"What should I
do at present?" The wise men who were around him
said in reply that his kingdom was being ruined by his
sons who were aspiring to the throne, and they asked
the king why he did not bestow the kingdom on the one
who was most friendly to him, so that neither he nor
his subjects might be troubled thereafter. Even then,
they said, Mānikyadeva, powerful on account of his
wealth, would hear of the newly appointed king, and
might turn an enemy and soon cause destruction in the
kingdom. The king who knew the characters of his sons
replied:—"The eldest has superior qualifications, but
he is a miser, and has therefore no worthy servants

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 163

who can consolidate a kingdom. The second is very
liberal, but his expenses are so great that if he had gold
as high as the Pradyumna hill, there would not be one
karṣha of it left.* The youngest is wickedly inclined and
addicted to vice, he would soon ruin the court. I do not
consider any of them to be a good and worthy son. I
will not bestow the kingdom on any ; he who is the strong-
est will get it when I am dead ; this is my purpose. Who
will appreciate my worth unless many perish in the conflict
after I am gone? Men will then appreciate my peaceful
reign. One does not know that the sun has set if dark-
ness does not cover all sides, and men's sight is not
blinded, if robbers do not rob, and good people are not
alarmed. I have obtained the kingdom by my own power,
and have governed it by my intelligence, but by quarrel-
ling among themselves, my wicked sons are destroying
every thing. The royal power with its seven constituents,
and with its mineral wealth, is like a body with seven
limbs and blood ; but it is being wasted by the three
wicked sons, as by three diseases. There does not exist a
good minister today who, like a physician, can restore
it to health by nourishment and treatment. I have long
enjoyed this kingdom, and have tasted the joys of religion,
song, literature, and my life is satiated. I have no other
work to do. I have, owing to my love for my subjects, in-
creased all the new productions of the country threefold

• A karsha is equal to about 280 grains troy.

164 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
by means of canal, cultivation, and by other ways. I have
always conversed with learned persons for the preservation
of the six schools of philosophy, have invited such per-
sons from all places, and granted lands for holy purposes.
But as there are gaps between the teeth in the mouth,
so there are defects in the government of the country,
and they are causing me pain every day. I shall there-
fore secure happiness by leaving the kingdom. As a lamp
is hateful to the eye of thieves, so have I become hateful
to many ; but they will soon have to pine for the peace
in the country. Even my sons have not been able to
remain quiet all this time while I am alive ; they will
not die in a hurry ; and I wish to depart from this life
so that all my sons may obtain what they desire.
When they heard this speech of the sorrowful king,
they again said :—" If this be thy intention O king !
why have you then kept a great treasure accumulated ?
Spend them while you are alive and make it pay
your way to the next world." When the king heard
this he replied that :—"That is well said, but listen
to the reason why the treasury is kept full. When
I am dead, any of my sons who may gain the king-
dom will be satisfied with the savings left, and will
not covet for the wealth of my subjects who are dearer
to me than my sons, and I think it my duty to protect
them. I will thus prevent the future oppression of
the subjects with the savings I have made. He enjoys
whose treasury is full, and when it is drained, he oppres-

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 165
ses the subjects. If the lion's hunger is satisfied, he
plays within the cavern ; but if hungry, he devours the
beasts of the forest. One will call me a foresighted man,
and will not speak ill of me when the subjects will be
free from oppression in future on account of my savings.
When the palace is full of riches, men outside it will
become rich and will be friendly to their king. If the
clouds did not take water from the sea, how could they
shower it on the ground ? It is always by the means of
riches that all the beautiful objects which the king
possesses are obtained ; the fruits, the leaves, and the
flowers that grow on the trees are produced by one
cause ;—the sap within the ground." When those who
had questioned the king heard this reply of the expe-
rienced sovereign, they were silenced. The king's palace
attended by soldiers is like the sea attended by rivers ;
it is full with various objects, and people come there in
quest of those objects. The abundance in all things is
the beauty of the palace as of the sea. When afterwards
the people found that all that the king had said was
verified, they all were afflicted with sorrow, and recalled
his sayings to their mind, and praised his experience.
There was none among the ministers, servants, sons,
friends, relatives, and kindred who could console the
king. He heard of the affairs of his sons who were
enemies to one another, but were now united in hollow
friendship ; and he remained in the central room of the
palace and was afraid to come out. I knew how to

166 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
explain to the king the way to remove worldly afflictions,
and for nights together he heard from me the Saṃhitā
which is the way to salvation. The king was for a
time consoled by listening to my explanations, the
modulations of my voice, and well turned beautiful
passages. "This appears to me most strange that this
waking illusion of good men like the color of the sky
(vacuum) sinks into oblivion in which there is no memory
of the past. O son of Raghu ! Be it long or be it
pleasant, know this mundane existence to be a long
dream as unsubstantial as a large imaginary kingdom.
If there had been no birth, old age, or death, no fear of
separation from the beloved object, and if all had not
been fleeting, who would not have wished to have been
born in this world ? Men will be freed from objects
from which they withdraw their desire ; a man cannot
know of greater happiness than by withdrawing his desire
from all earthly things." The king learnt shlokas like
those mentioned above by listening to my explanations,
and also many others which indicated his own condition,
and he himself read them. The king heard me read the
"way to salvation," and pondered over the meaning of
many verses, and on one occasion he told the learned
who were about him that some one seemed to whisper
to his ear enquiring why he loved his sons, none of
whom was friendly to him. He thought to himself :—"By
eating meat with our teeth, flesh is served with flesh,
and in such meals, which enriches our blood and gives us

strength, I see no harm. I am mild in my temper, and
I promote the happiness of all, but alas ! my sons are
attempting my destruction as insects destroy woollen
cloth by making holes. None of those with whom I
have spent my former years are left behind ; the afflic-
tion which I feel for their absence will last to the end
of my life. O Muni ! My body is like a cottage which
is worn out, and is covered with hair as with grass ; it
is full of rents, and my mind dislikes it in this evil day.
The districts of my kingdom have been ruined by
my sons, even as the members of the body are bitten
by serpents. The only means left to me is to part with
them, otherwise there is no peace." After he had thus
thought, he composed a book in the Pārasī language
named Shikāyata treating of the vanity of all objects.
The sons of the king's nurse and others of proved
and honourable character left the party of the king and
went over to Hājyakhāna. What else need be said,
those shameless men who were seen with the king du-
ring daytime, were at night found seated at ease before
Khāna. The king remained indifferent to the affairs of
the kingdom, and his servants reviled one another, and
consequently there was a tumult in the country. When
the king was in danger who would not go over to his
sons, as if hoping to obtain thereby one-half of the king-
dom ? Thus thought the king, and he was ignorant of the
true movements of his servants, and became disgusted
with all the members of his family. He who was seen

168 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
today to be with the king, was heard of as attending the
Khāna the next morning. Like the Sārasa birds the ser-
vants no where remained steady. The king did not find a
single servant devoted to him, who could give him
consolation, and to whom he could describe the troubles
of his heart. The people came to the palace unopposed
and uttered words such as had never been uttered before,
and spoke of things such as had never been seen or
heard of before. Bahrāmakhāna, by his various acts of
duplicity and by his eagerness to foment quarrel be-
tween his brothers, became like Karṇa, the source of
evil. A stick of wood, if it contains oil, will give light,
but does that light last long ? Does it not spread dark-
ness on all sides with its smoke ?
It was to protect the king that Ādamakhāna had
come, and protection was expected from him, but he was
incapable of protecting himself. He informed the king
one day that Bahrāma had joined his brother Hājya-
khāna, and had sought, by cruel stratagem to destroy
him, and that he (Ādamakhāna) had no other course
left but to seek the king's protection. From Bahrāma
he had no hope of life, and he therefore asked the king
to save him. If the king reigned in the kingdom,
Ādamakhāna feared nothing. But the people eager to
engage in a battle between the brothers were on that
day coming to attack him, and he was overcome with
fear at the news. Thus informed, the king replied that
he had no attachment for his own kingdom or for his

own life, and he called Ādamakhāna a coward, and ad-
vised him to go and save himself, and told him that he
need not have come to him. Thus rebuked by the king,
Ādamakhāna went to Kudmadīnapuri, and kept himself
on the watch, afraid of an attack from his younger
brother. The king had thought that this ambitious
man Ādamakhāna was worthy of his protection, hoping
to find comfort in him and expecting that he would
remove the king's fear of his enemies. But Ādama-
khāna was himself assailed by his enemies, he was like
a horse afraid of the harness, and became a cause of
trouble ; and the king was surprised to hear that his
other two sons thought that he had taken their elder
brother, the object of their hatred, near him out of his
fear of them. Neither the king, nor the king's son, nor
the ministers could sleep owing to mutual fear. The
servants did not serve in accordance with orders but
tried to please their masters by words only, and when
the servants did perform the duties ordered by the king,
he would declare that he did not remember what he
had ordered. He left off the old practice of signing
his orders, and knowing the unsettled state of his mind,
he left the administration to his ministers. "The wicked
men have set the fire of enmity to my house, and have
received pay from both sides, but they do not care to
quench the fire. Let my ministers and my sons perish ;
I helped them to prosper, and they now wish to obtain
my kingdom and will rejoice in my ruin." Thus sighing,
15

170 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.

and unsettled in mind, sorrowful, and devoted to religious
meditation, the king wished that they might all perish.
The citizens exclaimed that the king was indifferent to
everything, that his sons were engaged in mutual enmity,
and that a great calamity had befallen them. When the
month of fasting for the Yavanas arrived the king left off
taking meat, and reflected thus :—"Those who brought
this wicked son from a distant country, are, alas ! for their
own interest destroying my whole kingdom. On one side
of the city are the two sons with their combined army,
and on the other side is one son alone attended by wicked
men and wicked ministers. A great calamity has come !
The sons will fight, but I am sorry for this city which
should, like a good wife, be guarded. What would be the
use of my living if the city be destroyed while I am
alive ? The servants who were devoted to me, and
strong, are all gone, whom shall I ask for advice and
what shall I do ?" The king's mind was afflicted by
these anxious thoughts and by sorrow caused thereby.
Stricken by such grief, the king, who was solicitous for
the welfare of his kingdom, became like one inanimate.
The city, with its population old and young, was agitated
with alarm on account of many evil news ; it was like
a boisterous sea which the king could not calm.
On the next day when Shivabhaṭṭa brought the king
his meals, the king became angry and said that he had
eaten what he could eat, and told him to take the food
away. In the excess of his anxiety the king became

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 171
distrustful even of a shadow. He heard that the minis-
ters intended to rise against him, but he took no care
of his own life. For a few days he remained like one
whose intellect was gone, and, when questioned by his
friends, he made reply to none. On one occasion when
the ministers asked him some questions about the
affairs of the state, he uttered some words without mean-
ing, and as if oppressed with illness he laid himself
exhausted on the bed. The physicians did not know
the cause nor the symptoms of his illness, but I think
he took the vow of fasting in order to get himself rid
of his affliction. High as lofty trees, yielding food with
extended arms, of high renown, and beloved of Brāhmaṇas
as the trees are beloved of birds, the good kings are struck
down by evil fate as by a gale. In the meantime the
three sons disorganised all the seven constituents of the
kingdom, as terrible diseases destroy the humours of the
body. The Rajputs were alarmed, and came every day,
with many soldiers, and found the king in his miserable
plight and almost dumb. The king was afraid of his sons,
but in order to give an audience to all, he was placed in
his wretched condition before the gate of the palace, with
his elephants and horses. Men belonging to the palace
and those outside thronged to see the king ; they heard
the sound of religious festivities, and beheld the king
with gladness, as one beholds the moon on the second
day after the new moon. Bahrā nakhāna became alarmed
when he heard of this, and came near to the place, but

172 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
he knew by the symptoms that the king was on the point
of death. He then went to a distance and thus said to
his brother :-"Our father will not live ; he fell on the
ground before the gate, and was almost dumb and un-
conscious. Vainly is he being raised up by the cunning
people. Therefore arise, and let us go to the yard of
the king's palace clad in iron mail, and bind the wicked
ministers, and take possession of the horses and of other
things. We will cut down the bridge of boats, and that
will prove the ruin of your elder brother." When
Hājyakhāna heard this, he said :-"This shou'd not be
spoken before me. I do not even in dream wish any
harm to my father and king." He then spent one night
in grief with his father.
Then when Ādamakhāna heard the report that his
father was dead, he moved with his army towards Shrī
Jainanagara with a view to usurp his father's kingdom.
In the way he caused his soldiers to be clad in armour
for his own defence. He then passed one night secretly
in a house at the outskirts of the capital. In the mean-
time, Hassana, the treasurer, blinded by self-interest
and deceiving others, took oath to Shrī Hājyakhāna
and sought his shelter. On the next day the eldest
brother, driven by the ministers, reached Kudmadīna-
purī with his army ; but there his good fortune left him.
Though he was the eldest and possessed of a strong
intellect, though himself a hero endowed with unusual
energy and patience, and attended by followers, he was

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 173
still unable to perform any signal deed in the time of ac-
tion; for men devoid of virtue cannot achieve success.
Had Ādamakhāna killed a guard that night and captured
the horses, he would have got the kingdom. But the
intelligence of a man is according to his merit.
In the meantime Hājyakhāna sent by the treasurer
and his youngest brother, went into the yard of the
palace, and took possession of his father's horses. When
those servants of the prince, who had been impatient
for fight, heard of the news of the capture of the animals,
they suited their action to the time, clad themselves
in armour and entered the palace. Abhimanyu the
Pratīhāra, and others reviled them, but they were soon
punished by the confusion that followed. Hājyakhāna
with his army remained that day outside the palace,
afraid of a rising, and though he was anxious to see the
king he could not do so.
When Ādamakhāna heard of this news, he became
alarmed. He was in a defenceless condition, and des-
pairing of success, he went with his followers by the
road leading to Vipulāṭa. Surrounded by his own
men, Ādamakhāna marched by the way of Tārabala.
His younger brother pursued him and killed many of
his soldiers. When Abhimanyu the Pratīhāra and others
beheld the superhuman prowess of Ādamakhāna, they
found that he fulfilled what his name implied.* He
*It is difficult to unravel this pun. It seems that the pun lies in
the similarity of the sound of Adamakhana and Admi-khun, the
latter is a Hindi word.

174 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
killed many men in his anger, and their corpses were
heaped in the caverns of the mountain. In the mean-
time prince Hassanakhāna, resplendent with many virtues,
soon passed over Parpotsa and came within Kashmira.
The tree growing on barren soil is dried up by the heat
of summer, and becomes sapless, and casts no shadow,
and is forsaken by travellers ; but when nourished by
the copious waters of the rainy season it is decked with
flowers, it shelters men from the heat, and becomes en-
joyable. As a river is equally accessible from both its
banks, even so the kingdom was hitherto accessible to
the two belligerents, but now it became favourable to one
party. Thus by the conduct of the two brothers, vic-
tories and defeats were brought about by fate in a way
which the people had not anticipated. Who does not
wish for a son ? And when a son is born, who does not
feel both happiness and anxiety on his account, and
does not strive by various means to bring up the child ?
But alas ! when the child is grown up, he seeks through
his avarice to obtain his father's wealth, and is even
anxious for the time when the father would die, and
considers him as a hinderance in his way.
At this time the king, surrounded by a few servants,
remained without any anxiety, as if he had not heard
of the reports which had reached him. He gave out
that owing to illness his voice had failed and he had
lost the power of deglutition. His beauty was gone,
and he became like the moon when near its end. It

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 175

was owing to the misfortune of his subjects and for the
affliction of all, that the king, shorn of his beauty and
suffering from malady, appeared like the sun about to
set at the end of the kalpa. By the quivering of his
lips it was known that he was praying, and he expired
at noon on Friday, on the twelfth day of the moon, in
the month of Jaiṣhṭha. At the time of his death, Fortune
seemed to abandon all his limbs and appeared on his
face, and I saw him in that state. His face methought
was the dwelling place of the goddess of Fortune, and
perspiration issued from it, even like a stream of good
luck. His breath left him, taking his life with it, and
as if afraid of having stolen that jewel. After life had
departed, tears still issued from his eyes, as if his eyes
which were like the sun and the moon melted away and
his affection for his subjects trickled down.
King Shri Jaina reigned happily for fifty-two years,
and went to heaven in the year 46. The corpse was
placed in a litter and was borne on men's shoulders,
and on it were placed the umbrella and the chāmara,
and they looked like the sun and the moon dropped from
the sky in their sorrow. At that time the ministers,
servants, slaves, and citizens offered oblation to the dead
in tears of lamentation. The king had obtained the
kingdom in the month of Jaiṣhṭha in the year 96 ; and
the period of the sun's course towards the north ended
with him. He had counted sixty-nine years, and the
beauty of the flowing black beard was still seen on his

176 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
face. After death his body became a corpse and he
became a Shiva. Such was the king that was borne on
a litter and, adorned with umbrella and chāmara, was
brought by the weeping ministers to the burial ground,
where the previous kings looked beautiful as in sleep,
and the earth, as if out of affection for her lords, had
received them in her bosom. All sides resounded with
the loud lamentation of the sorrowing citizens as if
with the noise of sounding brass. Within the city
no other voice was heard than the cry of "O king !
O life of the people ! Where art thou going, leaving thy
subjects behind." The ears of the men were incessantly
filled with these cries, so that they sometimes seemed to
hear the cries in the air. The king was then lifted from
the litter which had been borne on men's shoulders,
and was covered with cloth, and laid within the bowels
of the earth beside his father. The people looked on
the face of the king with tearful eyes, and, as required by
their rites, they threw a handful of earth on him; as if
to indicate that there would be no other king like him,
and that the world was ruined by his death. Monarchs
who had conquered powerful enemies in battle, had
covered the earth with riches, and had given wealth
to all; who had built cities named after them, and
were well known in other countries; who had long reign-
ed in the country possessed of the seven component
parts of royalty, leave all behind in the end, and
receive only the winding sheet for their portion. Scorched

by a hostile country, as by a forest fire, the deceased king
enjoyed the sleep of ease in the cool interior of the
grave-yard.
Hājyakhāna saw the face of his father graced by
fortune, and appearing as if in sleep, and for seven nights
he performed the rite of mastaka. He exclaimed:—"O
father! Bent on wickedness I have many a time trans-
gressed against thee, and methinks you have left me in
your anger, and have gone to heaven alone. Admirable
is king Shekandhara who is in heaven and now beholds
thee. Fie to me O king! that I am deprived of the sight
of thee. No where O father! at the time of festivity did
you enjoy yourself without me; how then do you now
enjoy the pleasures of heaven alone? You could not
obtain sleep on a soft bed and surrounded by men, how
can you now sleep on the gravel in the midst of those
buried in the earth? When I left you and returned to my
house, who did not curse me in anger saying that we
two might not speak to each other again? We wicked
sons always kept you sleepless, and art thou now having
thy long sleep? O king! Your person was consumed
with ever present anxiety; has that anxiety of yours been
now transferred to another? O father! I see thy face in
the portrait and in my imagination, but where shall I,
who have so much sinned against thee, hear thy voice?
Without thee O master! my kingdom is a thing of
danger to me, the day is night, the good garden is a
cemetery, and life is death. Come O father! and show

178 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
thyself to me, be thou angry or propitious. I am un-
able to bear this death-like pain of separation. O father!
Where hast thou gone leaving me, thy servant, behind;
the lotus bud does not expand without the sun. Art
thou angry O king? I am thy servant bent on serving
thee; and in consideration of my excessive solicitude
speak but one word to me, for without thee I shall not
live."
Thus the prince lamented, and performed the rites
of the bhujā night; he gazed on the face of the king for
a long time and wept aloud. Thus loudly lamenting,
Hājyakhāna was overcome with grief, and when the day
declined the ministers forcibly took him to the palace.
For the benefit of his deceased father, the son, while yet
he was on the burial ground, gave away his own village
of Sālora for the supply of drinking water to the people in
the hot season; and for the services of those who pro-
vided the water, he permanently endowed lands in that
village and allotted them for a religious purpose. At this
time the sun, as if unable to look upon the earth without
a king, set in the sea; and the earth casting away her gar-
ment of evening cloud, spread the gloom of the evening
which was even like her dishevelled hair to weep in sorrow
for the king. A darkness prevailed in the kingdom at
the death of the king. He had raised high hopes in
men, he was of princely appearance, and a friend of the
men of merit. No one cooked his food that day, no
smoke arose from the houses, all were dumb with grief

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 179
and breathless. Such was the state of the capital which
seemed to be without life.
A long crystal stone was placed in the grave-yard,
it was the highest among those that were there, and
was like the figure of the king in a recumbent position,
and it was illumined with verses. Men came to see
the place out of curiosity and they lamented and shed
tears on the king, which looked like offerings of pearls. It
was Friday when the citizens went to the grave-yard, and
their images were beautifully reflected on the stone, as if
the king out of curiosity had drawn them near to him.
The people remembered the king's breast broad as door
pannel, his face beautiful as the full moon, the tip of his
long nose like the beak of the Suka bird, the eyes tender
as the lotus, his hairy eye-brows and forehead bright
with auspicious signs, and his intellect and his quali-
fications, and his attention to kingly duties. All these
came to their mind as if they were standing before the
the king himself; and they spoke lightly of the world,
as devoid of worth and substance. If the moon beams
of the full moon, the beauty of the flowers of spring,
the purity of the autumnal sky, the budding youth of
women, and the rule of a wise king,—all these that afford
happiness to men,—were made lasting by fate, men would
not long for heaven. In his boyhood, the king lost his
father, and apprehended mischief from the principal
minister, and was involved in a quarrel with his brothers
and servants. He was living in foreign countries when