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

318 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
plans, and fearlessness. He circulated the false rumour
that the Khāna had fallen into his hands, and thus by an
artifice he brought back those who had fled from the
battle. The soldiers returned to the battle field with
shouts in the presence of the Mārgesha, and joined their
party ; even as in spring, the black-bees come to a
garden, humming, on their beautiful wings. Gakka and
others, flushed with victory, killed many men, and plun-
dered the camp of the Khāna of articles left there by
the Khāna after what he had taken away. Evarāhima
Mārgesha was in the front of the battle with his atten-
dants ; he threatened Masodanāyaka and others and
caused them to retreat. Shṛingārasiha and others saw
the formidable army and fled without delay from
Meḍīvana and reached their own country. All the
soldiers of Rājapurī were surrounded by the Kashmīrian
troops, but Gakka, like Gaṇesha, gave them assurance,
and protected them in the battle. The foreigners left
all the amunitions of war behind, and fled, pursued by
the Kashmīrian soldiers. They were plundered by the
Khashas and the Ḍombas who hung on their rear and
greatly harassed them. Some of them lived by eating
the leaves of trees in the wood, and they gave back
all that they had extorted from the villagers, as if the
things had been only deposited with them. Hundreds
of foreigners and Kashmīrians died, some oppressed
with cold and fever, some faint with hunger. Fate
is beyond our comprehension ; and though it is not

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 319
really the cause, yet it is considered the strange cause
of events. It casts down, all of a sudden, some person
in high position, and prospers some who should be cast
down, even as the wind does with the trees. The
Khāna's intention was good, and if his soldiers had been
like him, what results might not have ensued ? For
victory follows virtue.
Thus in the year 61, in the month Shrāvaṇa, when
Phataha Khāna arrived in Kashmīra, many natives of
the country and foreigners perished, as in the
preceding year, by the meeting of the two armies
near Kalyāṇapura. Astrologers found three reasons
for this destruction of men in the country, the presence
of Saturn in the seventeenth mansion of the moon,
the conjunction Saturn with Jupiter, and the year
being presided over by Mars. In the reign of king
Shri Jaina, the subjects were devoted to the study of
the six schools of philosophy and were attached to
their own religion, they were fearless and did not
suffer from the six calamities.* But the customs of
the country were injuriously affected by the base acts
of the subjects when that king went to heaven, and so
the destruction of men came to pass. This is my
opinion. Some merchants, for instance, discarding
the custom which befits Hindus, killed a cow within
the city and ate its meat. Sons are now fond of the

• They are excess of rain, drought, destruction of crop by
  ats, locusts, and birds, and the approach of a foreign king.

320 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
Mausulas, and are ashamed to follow the shāstra
which was followed by their fathers and grand-fathers.
Men of the four castes had graced the kingdom in
former days, but latterly the people had gradually adopted
blameable practices, and the ceremonies prescribed
for special days in the Purānas came to be forgotten
year by year. Why should not the people whose
custom is bad suffer calamities?
The Mārgesha heard a false rumour that the king
had been attacked by the enemy, and he became
anxious. He placed Tājabhaṭṭa and others in his
post, and went to his own tent. If he had pursued
the fleeing and powerless soldiers of the Khāna, not
one of the retreating army would have survived. But
the Mārgesha was unacquainted with the road, and all
his men had accepted payment from both sides, and
intending to promote their own interest in this world
and wishing misery of their relatives, they induced the
Mārgesha to retire from the battle, and they themselves
dispersed. The victorious Jyahāngira then took the king
and the army with him, and elated with victory went to
Jyamālamaruga. Tājabhaṭṭa thought that the people
who had been left behind by the Mārgesha had joined
the Khāna, and he set fire to the villages of Mangalya-
nādaga. The smoke which arose from the flames of
the burning houses covered the sky and looked like
clouds in the rainy season streaked by lightnings.
Conflagration and robbery were now witnessed in

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 321
Kashmīra, such as the people of this country had
inflicted on other countries, when they had made
foreign conquests. Kashmīrian invaders in foreign
lands had seen the poor and the naked, as well as
helpless new born babes, but had not supplied them
with clothes. And when the poor of those lands saw
their silver and baser metals, their kine and beasts
taken away by the Kashmīrians, they filled all sides
with sighs and lamentations and exclaimed that as the
Kashmīrians had robbed them of every thing without
any provocation, so they too would, in their turn, be
similarly, robbed by their enemies. When Phatā-
hashāha obtained the kingdom, the great sin bore
fruit in the sufferings of three persons at the time of
their death.
As commotions rose in the country the Mārgesha
returned to his place, listening, as he passed, to these
and other animadversions. It was owing to the sins
of the people that he refused to conclude a peace.
He reached the city, accompanied by the king, and
began to celebrate a festival on account of his victory;
and he punished the partisans of the Khāna, both high
and low. But he did not oppress the relations of those
who had gone over to the side of the Khāna, as a disease
oppresses the body. Auspicious Fate sometimes bes-
tows happiness which is enjoyed by all, and sometimes,
in its displeasure, it afflicts people with the six calamities.*

• See foot note at page 319.

322 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
Curious alas ! is the course of Fate in this world, like the
course of a planet, it brings on good as well as evil on
the people.
For a time the Khāna was struck with panic and
was without any help, and he remained useless like a
cloud in the season of drought. At this time he was at
Bhairavagala, and he received some accession of strength
from the Nāyaka, so that he again thought of entering
Kashmīra. After two months, he marched towards that
country, and arrived there supported by excellent
soldiers. When he had reached Shūrapura, Jyahāngīra
issued out of the city without delay accompanied by the
king ; he had numerous troops under him, and much
wealth. As before, he remained at Sagusikā, but he
heard that the son of Gakkarāja had fled. When the
Mārgesha was about to mount his horse, the animal took
fright. The Mārgesha understood omens, but had be-
come impatient in his anger, and would not wait for a
moment. The son of Gakkarāja had accepted a large sum
of money from him, and if he fled, who else would stay
with him ? This thought made the Mārgesha anxious, and
he returned. He again issued out of his camp in an aus-
picious moment, and thought of creating a division in
the army of the Khāna. In the meantime Jeraka and other
great chiefs came from Shūrapura and entered the city at
night and liberated those who were in prison. Thus
Saiphaḍāmara and others issued from the prison, as from
the door of death, and came to Vijayeshvara. On a pre-

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 323

vious occasion, when in prison, Saiphaḍāmara had
dreamt that some one had severed his two legs by a
weapon at night. To keep a great chief, the head of
a strong party, in confinement, is like covering a fire
with a cloth. And so it happened. Why was he brought
from the fort of Jayāpīḍapura and kept imprisoned in
the city? This imprisonment of Saiphaḍāmara caused
harm to the Mārgapati.
Ebhrāhima the Mārgesha came up from the rear and
killed Shamṣhanāyaka and many other people. Ṭhak-
kura Ahmada, Jeraka, the Pratīhāra Anvaya, and others
had marched over sixty kroshas, and displayed acts of
courage. Some people suffer in times of danger, only
to achieve a royal station, even as the gold is melted
in fire and beaten by a hammer, in order that it may be
formed into a diadem which adorns the head of a king.
Set free from the bondage of a prison, like a bird from
a cage, the Ḍāmara thought as if he was born again.
Once before when he had been imprisoned along with
Hodara in the fort of Jayapura, he had scaled the walls
of the prison by means of a rope, and had come out
alone. But he was captured again when asleep, and was
kept in the prison of the capital, and his friends felt
certain that he would be killed within two or three
days. From such a danger he was now set free. In
time he came to the Khāna and remained with the
ministers as was expected. Such was Saiphaḍāmara,
and he obtained the fame due to a great man. Had

324 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
not Rāma been decoyed out of his dwelling into the
forest by Rāvaṇa, and had not Vāli aroused the
anger of Sugrīva, how could Rāma have won his
victories, marching to Laṅkā and destroying his
enemies? Fate ordains both pleasure and pain for the
good of man. The Khāna had aspired after the
kingdom but was driven from the country; but now
he obtained the support of great warriors on his side,
and became addicted to pleasures. The Mārgapati
was angry with Saiphaḍāmara, but he came to be
ruined and was deprived of his post. How could the
Khāna have entered Kashmīra and obtained it, if he
and the Ḍāmara had not mutually, and of their own
accord, come to each other’s help. It is by the help of
many chiefs that the king obtains glory, and the
chiefs obtain it by depending on the king; their union
is indispensible, and looks graceful like the golden
ornaments on a young woman. The court of the
Khāna was adorned by the fortunate leaders who joined
him, even as the person of a woman is adorned by
necklaces of pearls.
The Mārgapati became alarmed by the union of
the Khāna with the leaders, and he sent Khāna Shikha-
vāhārddha Mukha who was desirous of establishing
peace. Edha Rājanaka, Riga Ḍāmara, and Keshava-
budha brought the king of Rājapurī to the king of
Kashmīra with a view to establish peace. At this time
the Mārgapati gave wealth and assurances of safety to

[Header] KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 325
Shṛiṅgārasīha, and alienated him from Gadāyarāvatra
Mukha. The king of Rājapurī took with him the son
of the Mārgapati, and desiring to establish peace,
prevented the calamity of a battle between the two
armies. Others at this time resolved to get hold of
the son of the Mārgesha, to whom the king of Rājapurī
had not paid any special attention, and the ministers
became alarmed. When fate becomes adverse to
the king and his subjects, the distress that befals their
party cannot be removed even by a hundred remedies.
When one is oppressed by mental anxiety, how can
then the disease which has got a firm hold on him be
removed by the skill of physicians? The partisans of
the Khāna alienated the king of Rājapurī from the
party of the Mārgapati, and when that king left the side
of the Mārgapati, a tumult arose which alarmed both the
armies. Gakka, Shṛiṅgārasīha, and others were alarmed
and went to Rājapurī; and the Khāna with his army
was struck with fear, and retired as before, without
effecting anything. Jerāka, Mera, and others, who, owing
to their love for Jyallāla Ṭhakkura, had resolved to
remain neutral, went to the Mārgesha. The confusion
which thus arose made the army of the Khāna tremble;
and it broke up into thousand parts, even like a river
whose embankment is destroyed.
When the Mārgapati heard of this, he pursued the
Khāna, and arrived with his army at Sūrapura. But his
anxiety became great, when he learnt from his spies that
28

disorder had broken out at Kramarājya, and that some
troops had arrived at Shāhibhaṅga. Leaving the king,
he went to Svayyapura, and there, by an artifice, he threw
Naurujakhāna into prison. This was a wise measure, as
Nauruja had intended to plunder Shrīnagara on that
very day with the help of wicked men, and it was owing
to the virtues of the citizens that his cruel intention was
not fulfilled. He had expected the arrival of the Mār-
gapati from Kramarājya, and he set fire to much pro-
perty, and reduced it to ashes in his anger. Wealth
which is obtained day by day by wicked means and is
not given in charity, which is hoarded in pits, and only
causes sorrow to the miser, finds its way at last either to
the king or to fire, to enemy or to robbers. Jyahāngira
arrived in the city with Nauruja, and graced it by his
triumph over him. Though the Saidas had been exiled
from the country, and though they had killed his son,
yet Jyahāngira wrote to them and brought them back
because they were worthy men.
In the meantime the Khāna stationed himself in his
exalted position of strength at Janmavāṭa, and distressed
the Khashas even as the lion distresses the deer ; and as
he had harassed the twenty-seven districts of Kashmīra
in his prowess, so did he now harass Sindhuri. His
army was strong in good soldiers, and was joined by the
Malha chiefs, and he plundered the country of the
Madras, and alarmed the Turuṣhkas. He conquered
the country of the Madras, and gave it to the king of

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 327
Rājapurī. Having thus secured a victory, and joined by
the king of Rājapurī, he arrived in the house of Masoda-
nāyaka in the month of Chaitra. The Nāyaka received
the Khāna in his house as if he were a god ; and owing
to the Khāna's virtues, the Nāyaka's devotion to him was
never shaken. The sea may over leap its shores, the
sun may rise in the west, but a Kṣhattriya never swerves
from his duty towards one who asks his protection.
The Khāna had now collected an army and was joined
by the Chhayilla soldiers, and, with a view to overcome
his enemies, he stationed himself on the top of a hill.
The soldiers were like diseases, and destroyed every-
thing in the houses, and the people remained in them with
difficulty, even as life remains in a body prostrated by
illness. Jerāka, who was in prison with his back fastened
to a door, was killed by the Mārgapati out of fear, within
the city. When the officers of the king heard of this
they all became displeased and spoke ill of the Mār-
gesha, for the Mārgesha had violated the assurance of
safety he had given to Jerāka. In the month of Jyāiṣhṭha
the cruel Mārgesha heard the evil news, and being dis-
tressed, remained at Mallashila with the king. As the
draṅga road was blocked, those who had received
pay from both parties despaired of reaching the two
armies. At that time, the people of this country had to
eat their food without salt, and who did not hear of this
ludicrous Mārgesha curry? It was with difficulty then
that the people in the city bought one and a half pala
of rock-salt for twenty-five dīnāras.

328 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
In the year 62 the Mārgapati heard that the Khāna
was anxious to come into Kashmīra, and he adopted a
wicked policy. He appointed Eskandharakhāna, son
of the daughter of Hājyakhāna, to the post of the lord of
Kampana, and sent him to Sthāma ; and in order to
protect himself, he gave the possessions of Masoda-
nāyaka to Yashsharājānaka, and sent him out with an
army. When the snow decreased, and with it the happi-
ness of the country decreased also, the Khāna came with
his army from Rājapurī. When the Mārgesha heard
that the Khāna had come within Bhairavagala, he went
to Sūrapura with the king, with the view to obstruct the
Khāna's way. Now the Khāna who was in a high
pass was obstructed from entering the country,
even as Rāhu is prevented for fear of the chakra from
coming in contact with its lifeless trunk. So the Khāna
went by the Pashupādiṣhṭa road as in the previous year,
and after surmounting a hill issued by the Kāchāgala in
the month of Shrāvaṇa. But the soldiers of Tājabhaṭṭa
and others came like a storm and agitated the sea like
army of the Khāna in the field of Gusikoḍḍāra. The
Khāna and his army spread alarm on all sides by the
din of the sounding kettle-drums, and agitated the city
with panic. The Mārgapati was astonished when he
heard of this, and was struck as if the Khāna had come
on his wings, and he hastened with his army and the
king to offer him battle. The Ḍāmara named Yāga, of
high rank, was like the immortal Garuḍa in valour

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 329
and beauty ; and in the engagement which ensued he
graced the field like the fiery Shiva. In that battle, some
of the Saida warriors fought against the powerful
soldiers ; they did not retreat, but died on the field, and
obtained the pleasure of the company of celestial females.
Many fell into chasms, many died of wounds, and heaps
of dead bodies lay on the field. Neither in the strug-
gles with the Saidas, nor in the first engagement with
the Khāna, did so many soldiers perish as in this battle
of Gusikoḍḍāra. The proprietors of lands, although
high in their position, remained passive witnesses to the
battle, and did not display the heroism befitting
their rank. The dead bodies of persons killed
in the battle or when fleeing, or of those who died of
wounds, lay here and there, like the young ones of
birds scattered by the fall of a tree. Those who had
injured others before in village or in town, were now
harassed by stronger men. Masodanāyaka was killed by
a discharge of arrows and the career of his horse was
arrested at the same time. Who can escape what must
happen ? The Mārgesha sent his people to fight, but he
himself retired to a distant place for safety. Shrī Saipha-
ḍāmara however was there attended by powerful war-
riors. Shrī Saiphaḍāmara, who was attended by his
soldiers, was rejoiced that the very man who should be
sought for had come there of himself, and he struck the
Mārgapati on the head. Ala, Shira, and Haidhara, like
cruel planets, struck him on the face, arm, and forehead,

330 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
and made him insensible ; and the Ḍāmara took away
the Mārgapati's gold coloured auspicious and indestructi-
ble necklace, as if it were the goddess of victory. The
Mārgapati lay there, neglected by his own men, but a
horse of noble breed, fleeing from the battle, saved him,
and his mind was comforted.
When all the ministers direct the helm at the same
time, and lean on the same side of the vessel of
state, Royal Fortune sinks like a boat though supported
on all sides by arms. When the foreign soldiers
mutinied at the beginning of the war, Katthavāḍa and
others led the Khāna out of the country in the same
manner in which he had come. Saiphaḍāmara,
skilful in battle, was then disheartened by the false
rumour that the Khāna had been captured in battle
by the king's soldiers, and he turned away from the
engagement. He went away by the Sūrapura road,
taking with him good horses and other things, but he
afterwards joined the Khāna. Then for the third time
the Khāna entered the country ; and after having
killed many men, he issued out of Maṇḍala and
arrived at Parṇotsa. The Mārgesha thought that the
time was frought with calamities, and that all were
inclined to rebel. He considered that the king was
but a young child, the ministers had become insubor-
dinate, his own men were unruly and were wishing to
go over to the side of the Khāna, the citizens bore no
affection to him, and there was no money in the palace ;

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 331
and he himself was an old man, without any life in
him and bereft of all strength. He was moreover
oppressed with the pain caused by his wounds, and he
spent two months in his own house. Let that man go
to the sea who desires to acquire valuable jewels and
pearls and corals, and can, at the same time, cast away
fear, and can overcome the frightful monsters of the
deep by his strength.
In the meantime the Khāna came down from the
Chaṭikāshāra hill, strengthened by the soldiers who
went from Kashmīra. He arrived into the interior of
the country, and the hills clad themselves, as in
gladness, in the white garment of snow that fell that
day. The Mārgesha was alarmed at this news, and
saw the villagers fleeing, he left Vāngila with his army
and came to fight. The Khāna then came to
Bahurūpa with a few followers, and joined by the
Ḍāmaras, arrived in the field of Dāmodaroḍḍāra. The
powerful Mārgapati accompanied by the king, came
like a gale from behind, and stationed his troops in the
neighbourhood of Sātadaivata. But Saiphaḍāmara,
who was there with his army preparing for battle, arose
like Vishṇu and routed the army of the Mārgapati at
the close of night. It is strange that by his three
expeditions, the Khāna, though weak in army, accom-
plished, through the help of fate, what was not
accomplished by Haidarashāha. What else need be
said? The Khāna, though he had a small force, killed,

332 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
routed, and destroyed the troops of Kashmīra, as a
lion destroys herds of elephants. The Mārgapati retired
within the city, fearing mischief from Saiphāḍāmara
as before, and perceiving that he had lost the regard of
others. The bridge was destroyed, as during the
previous civil war of the Saidas, and the citizens on
both banks of the river were harassed, as if they
belonged to two separate kingdoms. Pirvaja the Pratīhāra
and others came from Maḍavarājya, and they left the
side of the king and went over to that of the Khāna.
The Mārgapati found that his army was weakened
by mutual dissensions and was at a loss to know what
should be done ; and like the Saidas he spent two or
three nights in the temple of Skanda. At one time he
had made Meyā Mahammada head of all the army, and
had joined with Nosarājānaka and risen against his
master. What could he not have accomplished had
his body been as strong as his mind, and had he not
pursued only his own interest. But he sought his
own interest, and slighted his nephew the king, and
rose against him, and these acts became the cause of
his destruction. His army fled, he was humbled and
afraid, and he sought shelter with his benefactor
Jyallala Ṭhakkura who was living at Kharvvāshrama.
He was reduced to that state to which his opponents
had been reduced by his orders. Fie to the uncertainty
of prosperity derived from royal power ! As the king
Bahrāma had, under the influence of the seven planets,

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 333
worn costly and various tinted robes and ornaments seven
times, and had then met death like an ordinary mortal,
even so it happened with the M rgapati. Fie to Fortune !
He arrived at the cavern of a saint, and forgot
his king and his former prosperity and his attendants.
His brother had taken away the king's wife, and for
that sin he became unable to escape, and got into a
boat with his wife. The soldiers of the Mārgapati
were humbled, they spent their days in the caves of
mountains, their complexion turned pale, and their
hearts were damped by the rain which fell to their
misfortune. Their powerful and unrelenting enemies
pursued them ; they were robbed of their clothes,
dragged, and forcibly thrown into prison, and confined
like beasts. The wicked enemies, the Khashas, shouted,
and plundered the country, and men and women left
all their property behind, and went about without
clothes in fear of them. The weak people were killed
on the road by the Khashas who remembered the injury
they had received from the Kashmírians. The disorder
which then prevailed in the kingdom was like that at
the end of a kalpa ; it was terrible. The condition in
the city was miserable ; the rich were robbed of every-
thing, the poor became rich, and the rich became
poor. The trees which had once been decked
with leaves and flowers and fruits, were now withered
in winter ; the rivers which had once flowed in waves
were now dried up ; and the kokilas which had sung

334 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
before now became mute. What does not come to
pass with the reverse of fortune? When the king's
party was destroyed, the beautiful women who were
dear to the king, lived only in name!
Thus the king Mahmadashāha sat on the throne
for two years and seven months, and he was dethroned
in the year 62, in the month of Āshvina. He was then
brought from Vīmshaprastha, and given up to the
enemies by Phiryapāla. The Ḍāmara chiefs who had
assembled in the yard of the palace and in the residence
of the king gave Mahmadashāha a few attendants and
a maintenance allowance, and kept him under their
protection. He had hitherto lived under difficulties ;
and as long as he was a king, he had never enjoyed
the ease which he now felt through the favour of
the king's ministers.
The city had been plundered during the slaughter
at the time of the civil war of the Saidas, but now, when
a new king assumed the royal power, the Khashas robbed
thrice as much, but they did not burn it down. Some
principal merchants were deprived of the millions they
had accumulated; they saved their lives, but lived by
covering their bodies with grass. The foreigners bribed
the ministers, and the ministers allowed them three days
to plunder the city. The foreigners plundered in the
same way as the Kashmīrians had plundered foreign
countries when they had marched against those coun-
tries. What does not time bring forth? The industrious

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 335
female bee extends the hive by working with her feet ;
but others come and raise a smoke, deprive her of the
hive, and enjoy its sweets. For six months the followers
of the Khāna enjoyed at ease what others had saved in
their houses with great care. None however plundered
the wealth which was hid in the grass and besmeared
with blood, mistaking it for the rags of a lying in room
left in a dirty place. Listen to the truth which we
tell you, O ye rich ! Make proper use, by gifts and
enjoyment, of the wealth which you have hoarded in
your houses depriving others of it. Otherwise, riches
are of no value during this period of revolution in the
kingdom. Some people scattered broken pots and
boxes round their houses, pretending that they had
been plundered, and thus deceived the Khashas.
Some citizens saved their wealth by emptying their
houses, and filling grave-yards beyond the water with
their goods. Holes were dug and heaps of riches
were thrown into them, and the earth every where
became vasundharā (holder of wealth) in reality as its
name implies. The people of Rājanavāṭika threw
missiles and stones with a view to obstruct the road
and did many rash acts. The revolution was to the
royal officers what the sound of drum is to the serpent ;
it was to the old and persecuted servants of the king
what the winter is to the lotuses ; it was to the king's
dominion what the thick smoke is to the hive ; and
it was to the new court of the king what the spring is

336 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
to the trees of the garden. It was owing to a
change in manners and customs, or to the unjust
acquisition of wealth, or to the oppression of
the good, or to the admixture among men of the
higher castes, or to the weakness of the boy king,
or to the enmity of the ministers, that this calamity
befell the people of the kingdom, even like the one in
the reign of king Sussala. Let Saipha Mallika, the chief
of the Ḍāmaras, the meritorious leader among the
ministers, the one without a rival, be victorious! He
had before, during the war of the Saidas, liberated in
battle those who had been captured; he attained
prosperity according to the ways approved by saints;
he conquered the enemies and destroyed them and
obtained fame; and he gave an extensive kingdom to
king Phatiha.
Here ends the fourth book named the acquisition
of the kingdom by Phatihashāha of Srī Jainarājatarangiṇī
composed by Paṇḍita Shrivara.
‘This is the end of Shrīvara’s Rājatarangiṇī.

FOURTH SERIES.
I bow to the Great Being, Mahādeva, who assumes
the form of the movable and of the immovable, on
whose crown rests the moon, and whose purpose is
pure. Let that form, half of Hara and half of Gourī,
protect you. At the sight of this form, the king of
the serpents twined himself round the bracelet of Gourī,
out of excess of devotion. I bow to the sun-like
guru, the light of whose favour dispelled the thick
darkness of ignorance, even of Shuka,* and expand-
ed the lotus-like heart of Buddhyāshraya.†
A good poet should bow to the truthful words of per-
sons skilled in discussion and deliberation, to the shlokas
graced with good rhythm, thick with alliterations, and
beneficial, and conveying various meanings and full
of sweetness and thought. It is by the beauty of
such sentences that a king's fame is brightened on all
sides. When the energetic Shrī Jonarāja and the
learned Shrīvara saw the Rājatarangiṇī written by the
Brāhmaṇa, Shrī Kahlaṇa, they, in order to immortalise
themselves, composed two beautiful books of kings,
bringing the account down to the year 62. Then the
poet Shrī Prājyabhaṭṭa, adorned with every good
* The name of the author.
† The name of the author's father.