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

24 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
by Shahamera, and as Shahamera had not the necessary
strength, he did not himself rule the kingdom. The
Lavanyas, though they had risen against Riñchana, did
not oppose the wise Sahamera, as he was the chief of
his tribe ; and Shahamera bestowed on Udayanadeva the
country of Kashmíra, together with queen ShríKoṭā who
was like the goddess of victory inearnate. The exalted
but fickle goddess of Royal Fortune, who is sought by
men of worth, left Riñchana and went to the present
king, as if she descended from a high station to a low
one. The king then gratified Jyamshāra and Allesha,
two sons of Shahmera, by bestowing on them the lord-
ship of Kramarājya and other places. At this time
queen Koṭā was all powerful ; she was, as it were, the
mind, and the king, the body, who carried out her or-
ders. The Lavanyas, who had like stars been hidden
by the rays of the sun like Riñchana, now shone out
during the reign of the present king, as at nightfall.
Why should it cause any regret that the Lavanyas at-
tacked the possessions of the feeble king whose very
house was in the power of Koṭā ? The king did not
molest the country of the Lavanyas or the abode of the
Chaṇḍālas, but like one versed in the Vedas, he spent
his time in bathing, in penance, and in prayer. How shall
I describe his faith in God who dressed himself like a
hermit, and who tied bells in the neck of his horses,
through fear lest worms should be crushed to death. To
god Viṣhṇu he gave all the golden ornaments in his trea-

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 25
sury, making them into a crown and necklace for the
deity.
At this time the proud Achala, whom the lord of
Mugdhapura had supplied with soldiers, forcibly enter-
ed Kashmīra, like another Ḍalcha. Achala attacked
the country and filled all sides with his partisans, but
the king did not deal with him as Indra dealt with the
mountain (achala) which harassed the world with its wings.
When the army of Achala reached Bhīmānaka, the king
was humbled and speedily fled to the country of the
Bhoṭṭas. Then ShrīKoṭā sent a letter to Achala through
the ministers stating that, as the country was without a
king, he might govern the kingdom as if he were the
head of the dynasty, and asking him to send away
the soldiers who were not his own, and not to harass
the country needlessly. Achala was deceived, and he
sent away the army of his ally. The foolish Achala who
had sent away his army was then detained by the ministers
on pretence of celebration of festivities in the way. In
the meantime queen ShrīKoṭā set up one Riñchana,
a Bhoṭṭa, as king, with a view to protect her subjects
in the capital. All the friends of Achala sorrowed for
a long time over his want of sense, as a widow sorrows
over the death of her child born after her husband's
death. The fear of king Udayanadeva now abated ;
he spent a day in the worship of Tuṣhāraliṅga and
returned to his own country from the country of the
Bhoṭṭas. The king destroyed Riñchana in the capital ;
3

26 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
and Koṭā respectfully received him with her head bent
down, even as the eastern hill receives the gloom-
dispelling full moon on its head.
Shahamera had brought up the son of Riñchana,
and owing to his affection for the boy he was an eye-
sore to the king. But the queen was equally disposed
towards both her sons, and the king, through fear of
the queen, did not harm Shahmera though he was an
object of animosity to him. During the dreadful time
of the troubles caused by Achala, the people, in fear,
had taken shelter of Shahmera, and Shahmera did not
deem the king even as grass. He frightened the king
day and night by holding up Heidara before him, even
as one frightens a bird by holding up his hawk.
Strange that this believer in Alla became the saviour
of the people. As a dried up river allows men to cross
it, and gives them shelter on its banks ; even so this
believer in Alla, calm and active, protected the terrified
subjects. Shahmera had two grandsons of great merit,
named Shirḥshāṭaka and Hiṁda, and they beautified
all sides like the sun and the moon. Proud on account
of his connection with the lord of Dvāra, and prepared
even to disobey the orders of the king, Shahmera was
like the gate of danger to those who served the king.
He had bestowed the daughter of Alleshvara on Lusta
the lord of Dvāra, and had conquered ShrīSaṅkarapura,
and thus magnified the fear of the king. His son
Jymsara was a man of business, and Bashailākashūra

married Jymsara's daughter and obtained the lordship
of Bhāngila. Shahmera, who was as a lion among men,
and who had achieved many victories and won the god-
dess of Fortune, kept the turbulent province of Shamālā
under control, even as Nṛisiṃha, who could assume
many forms, the lord of Lakshmī, controlled the Daityas.
Deep as the sea wherein abides the goddess of Victory,
and terrific in his power, Shahmera taxed the people
of Karāla. His fame smiled on him, and he thought of
the conflagration of Vijayeshapura of king Kalasa. In
order to secure his possessions, Shahmera fortified the
Chakradhara hill, and showed to the people that his
works were imperishable. Shahmera marked out the
lord of Kampana, and gave him a large fortune, and
obtained a spotless fame, even as one obtains a marriage
present. Then Shahmera accepted the daughter of
the lord of Koṭa whom he welcomed. The lord of
Koṭa was as the first actor on the stage of kings. The
irreligious Lavanyas were brought under his subjection,
some by conciliation and others through disunion
caused among themselves, some by gifts and others
through fear. The Lavanya people bore his daughters
like garlands, but they knew not that his daughters
were like life destroying serpents of deadly poison.
The Lavanyas were brought under the control of Rāja-
vīji, and they were all brought under the power of
the king, as elephants submit to the power of the lion.
As a tree in a marsh is overcome by lotus-covered

28 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.

water, so was the king overcome by Shahamera. And
as if overpowered by loss of authority everywhere out
side his palace, the king relinquished his life along
with his fame. On the Shivarātri night, on the thirteenth
lunar day, in the year 14, that forbearing king left the
world polluted with the touch of Shahmera.
Then ShrīKoṭā, out of fear of Shahmera, kept the
death of the king a secret for four days, suppressing her
own feelings. She discarded her eldest son lest Shahamera
should rule the kingdom through him, and she discar-
ded the other son also because he was only a boy.
Grieved for her sons, bewildered by the infirmity of
old age, and annoyed at being kept shut up, the queen
ShrīKoṭā, supported by the Lavanyas, comforted
[ruled] the country as if it was her co-widow. All the
ministers,—Shahamera and others,—remembered the
benefits they had previously received, and bowed to her
as to the cresent of the moon. As the summer rain
allays dust and heat, and nourishes plants, even so she
brought back prosperity to the subjects.
The queen feared that Shahmera would destroy her
prosperity, and with a view to check his rise she bes-
towed honors on Bhaṭṭa Bhikshaṇa. It was through
his intelligence that the queen managed to perform her
duties, as one crosses by a boat the dreadful ocean
which is difficult to traverse. Shahmera could not
in his heart tolerate the ascendency of Bhikshaṇa who
was helped by Koṭā, for the proud can scarcely bear

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 29
equality even of his shadow. Fire manifests itself by
heat and smoke, but no sign of anger manifested itself
in that wise man. The wise Shahamera pretended
illness and caused it to be known that his end was near.
Queen Koṭā then sent BhaṭṭaBhikshaṇa with Avatāra
and others to see him. They found people at the door
discussing whether perspiration was good for one who
suffered from beliousness ; and these people prevented
the Bhaṭṭa's party from entering. Bhikshaṇa and
Avatāra, however, went in to Shahmera, but their pro-
tecting deities did not enter with them, as if on account
of the difficulty in getting admission. Shahmera at
first complained to them in detail of his illness, and
when the proper time arrived, he buried their own
weapon in their bodies, and thus allayed the illness
of his mind. Blood issued from their heads, and
water came out of their eyes; their lives left their
bodies, and the rancor which Shahmera had felt, left
his mind. Shahmera was bathed in their blood as
one bathes after recovery from illness ; their two heads
were like the two halves of a vessel, and their wounds
were like the marks of the lamp. Queen Koṭā was
determined to besiege Shahmera, and she was capable
of doing so ; but her evil minded ministers deterred
her from doing it, and reminded her that Shahmera and
Bhikshṇa had brought up her boys, and that it was Fate
that had killed the one by making the other an instru-
ment. That inorder to assuage the grief which had

30 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
arisen from the death of a Brāhmaṇa, the senseless Shah-
mera would sacrifice the lives of others in the blazing fire
of his anger.
As the canal nourishes cultivated fields with water,
so did the queen nourish the people by bestowing
much wealth on them. She was to the kingdom what
the moon is to the blue lotus ; and to the enemy she was
what that luminary is to the white lotus. On one
occasion she marched against the lord of Kampana,
with the intention to fight, because he had disobeyed
her orders. But the lord of Kampana captured her
in a mountain defile and put her in prison, even as
one catches a bird in its nest and puts it in a cage.
Her best minister named Kumārabhaṭṭa pretended to
quarrel with her other ministers with a view to release
her. He took with him a young student who carried
in his hand a water vessel, and who resembled the
queen in his appearance except that he was a man.
The wise Kumārabhaṭṭa went over to the lord of
Kampana, praised his intelligence, and admired his
magnanimity and beautiful appearance. “O lord ! ” he
said “ by obeying the orders of a female we live with
our heads humbled, but you have this day made our
manhood triumph. With your permission I, your ser-
vant, will go to the prison, and by reproving and con-
soling her by turns, I will take out her money
and give it to my lord. She has accumulated money,
being a woman, and being unable to part with it

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 31
of her own inclination.” The lord of Kampana was
thus deceived and suffered Kumārabhaṭṭa to go to the
prison. The evening, which paints the world so skil-
fully, now approached, as if to see queen Koṭā come
out of her prison. Accompanied by the boy who
carried water for his evening prayer, Kumārabhaṭṭa
entered the prison, and the grief of the queen left it.
He left the boy dressed in the queen’s garments, and
made Koṭā to follow him wearing the dress of the boy,
and thus issued from the prison.
Shahmera, who had thus risen by art, was not devoid
of circumspection ; the wise, when they are in enmity
with the powerful, never remain indifferent. Koṭā
was neither favourable to, nor angry with the powerful
Shahmera. Enmity attended with want of circums-
pection is the first germ of destruction. Once on a
time when the queen had gone to Jayāpīḍapura on
some business, the powerful Shahamera possessed him-
self of the capital. And when the Lavanya people
were subdued by the strong Shahamera, the qneen
closed the gate of Koṭṭa, in the hope of thwarting her
enemy. The strong and the wise Shahamera, a lion
among men, closed the front of the cavern-like fort,
and Koṭā like a she-jackal was struck with fear. The
fascinating Shahamera sent word to the queen through
his messengers, stating that she might sit with him on
the throne, and on his breast, with the goddess of
Royalty, and that she might live in his heart with the

32 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
virtue of forbearance. The queen was won by his
assiduity, and he took possession of the Koṭṭa country
and of queen Koṭā. He spent one night with her
in the same bed, and when he rose in the morning, he
caused her to be captured by the Tikṣhṇas. Then on
the tenth bright lunar day, in the month of Shrāvaṇa,
in the year 15, the queen dropped from her kingdom
like a star from the sky, Shahmera who was as the
kalpa tree to his kinsmen and relatives, and wise in
his actions, and chief among the warriors, imprisoned
the two sons of the queen. The results of our acts
manifest themselves in every direction, and generate
wisdom or ignorance. The influence of karma is sur-
ging with the influences of time and of local circums-
tances and leads to results. I bow to the god of
karma, be it Soul or Shiva or Hari or Brahmā or
Buddha or Jina.
Shahamera then overawed the Lavanya people,
spread his fame on all sides. He took the country
into his hand, placed the goddess of Fortune on his
breast, and put Koṭā in prison. The king then assuaged
the troubles of Kashmīra and changed its condition,
and called himself ShrīShaṁsadena. The scar of the
bow string on his mighty arm was like the smoke,
issuing from the flame of his power, which could have
burnt all sides like a forest. The king removed the
suspicions of his ministers, but the ministers could not
remove his circumspection ; as the diamond pierces

KINGS OF KAṢHMÍRA. 33

jewels, but the jewels pierce not the diamond. The
king who had won fame worthy of praise, caused the
Rajputs who were at Kāṣhṭhavāṭa to flee through fear.
His fame increased, and he wisely placed on his two
sons, who were not inferior to him, the burden of the
kingdom. He reigned for five years, and three days,
and died on the full moon day of Aṣhādha, in the
year 18.
Then Jaṃsara protected the country at Satisara, un-
diminished in prosperity and obeyed by the principal
feudatory princes. Like the two pillars that support
a gate, the strength and the intellect of the king's
younger brother supported the kingdom, and they be-
came objects of apprehension. He was not inferior to
the king in making gifts or in receiving presents, in
awarding punishments or favours on the people, in un-
dertaking pleasure trips or in the luxuries of the table.
The king ceased to trust him as he had trusted before,
and the mind of the young prince was inflamed by the
people around him. When the Rajputs heard that
the king's mind was alienated from his brother, they
instantly communicated the fact to the young prince.
And when hostility was inevitable, the rash young
prince left the protection of the Rajputs and went
excited to their chief town Avantinagara. The king
accompanied by his soldiers efficient in war, took shelter
in Utpalapura and sent the following message to his
brother :—"If you have not under estimated my affec-

tion by the instigation of wicked men, why do you not
tremble in fear of the censure of the people ? The
wishes of the king who has gone to heaven [our father]
to protect each other should be obeyed. Think of this
and turn your affection again towards me." After the
king had sent a messenger with this intimation to his
brother, he sent his son to kill the lord of Kampana.
The king's messenger was detained on the pretence
that the young prince had gone to hunt, while the
prince, whose treason had by this time become known,
went to kill his brother's son. Lakṣhmabhaṭṭa became
anxious as the messenger did not return for a long
time. He went to the king and said that, since the
messenger was delaying he feared that the king's bro-
ther was bent on rebellion, and had gone to kill the
king's son. He also said that, in order to fraustrate
the king's design, the messenger was no doubt detained
on some pretence or other, such as that the young
prince was bathing or eating or sleeping. He pro-
posed that as soon as the king's brother repaired to
ShrīDevasarasa, they should destroy Avantipura which
would then be left without any protector ; the king's
victory would then he complete. The powerful king
agreed to the proposal. He went to Avantipura with
his efficient soldiers, and besieged the town ; so that
the river Vitastā, the current of which was blocked up
by dead bodies, flowed backward, as if to inform Allesh-
vara of the slaughter of his men. Meanwhile Allesh-

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 35
vara defeated his brother's son and returned. Jaṃsara,
who was resting from the toils of battle, fled. The wise
Alleshvara came to an agreement with the king that
hostilities should cease between the brothers for two
months. Allesha left his soldiers and Avantipura be-
hind, and went to Ikṣhikā by the Kṣhīrī road. Jaṃsara,
beaming in splendour, left the protection of the capital
in the hands of his own minister Sayyarāja, and went
to Kramarājya. But the young prince alienated Sayya-
rāja from the king by promises of gifts and honors, and
got possession of the city by artifice. The king, now
king only in name, died after having suffered troubles
for one year and ten months in the kingdom of Kash-
mīra. Then Alāvadena [Allesha ?] knowing that the
time was unsuited for further disputes, immediately
bestowed the lordship of Dvāra on his [third] brother,
inorder to smooth all difficulties. Jaṃsara had caused
a bridge to be built to cross the river at Sujjapura, but
did not devise means to cross over his dangers. He
had excavated a tank and raised buildings by its side,
close to the mountains, as resting places for travellers.
For this beautiful act of improving his own country, Shrī-
Shivasvāmika had obtained from him the lordship of
Dvāra.
Once upon a time the prince was wandering for
amusement in the forest of Vākpuṣhṭā when he saw a
circle of the Yoginīs in the cavern of a mountain. His
friends Udayashrī and Chandraḍāmara also saw them ;

36 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
for what is not visible to those who follow great men?
Small things like bells tremble and make a noise, but
great things like the minds of valiant heroes remain
unmoved. They wished that the Yoginīs might not
disappear, as they were anxious to see them and to
speak to them. The heroes then alighted from their
horses and were not afraid of the Yoginīs. Shining in
their formidable strength, these valiant men proceeded
slowly and silently, and approached the Yoginīs. The
leader of the Yoginīs recognized the prince from a
distance and sent him a cup of liquor with incantation
and blessing. The king drank his fill ; Chandra partook
of what remained, and though pleased with it, he left a
portion for the sake of Udayashrī. Udayashrī was much
gratified with the drink, and owing to some fatality,
forgot the groom of the horses and left nothing. They
were pleased with the strange sights they saw. The
Yoginī, who understood omens, thus said to the prince
with clasped hands : "your kingdom will remain entire,
and Chandra will enjoy a part of your wealth, and
Udayashrī, as long he lives, will be blessed with undy-
ing prosperity ; but the groom bereft of our favour
will be soon left bereft of life." Thus she foretold the
future, and vanished with the other Yoginīs, and then
the life of the keeper of horses departed.
It is owing to the merit of the subjects that such
kings are born, who raise the prosperity of the kingdom,
and deliver the people sunk in the gloom of injustice.

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 37
The king abolished the evil custom under which a
childless widow, though unchaste obtained a share of
her husband's property from her father-in-law. The
great and wise king made Jayāpīḍapura his capital, and
built at SrīRiñchanapura, an edifice named Budhagira.
In the year 19, a famine of unprecedented severity, the
effect of the sins of men, harassed the suffering people.
Having ruled the kingdom for twelve years, eight
months, and thirteen days, the king died in the month
of Chaitra, in the year 30.
The halting description of the reigns of bad kings
now gives place to an account of the very powerful
Shāhāvādīna [Sahab-ud-din]. When he became king,
the country ceased to remember the prosperity and
dangers, the pleasures and afflictions of the time
of Lalitāditya. As the sky, after the departure of the
different seasons, obtains the bright sun in summer, so
the earth passed under the rule of many kings, and
obtained this sovereign at last. The king did not re-
pair to the city of the sinful Jayāpīḍa. Adorned with
pearls and necklace, this king was the most prominent
among all kings, past and future, as the central jewel
is prominent in a necklace. Though he obtained
victory at every step yet the fire of his valor was not
satiated, even as the ocean receives rivers from all
directions, and is not satiated. He counted as lost
those brief periods of time in which he obtained no
victory. The march with his army was as dear to him

38 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
as a young wife is to an old man. Deer-eyed women
attracted not his mind, nor the pleasures of drinking,
nor the light of moon. Only the march with his army
occupied the king's attention. Neither heat nor cold,
nor evening nor night, neither hunger nor thirst obstruc-
ted his march. When this proud king was on his
march, he found no difficulty in crossing unfordable
rivers, inaccessible mountains and barren deserts. In
his conquering expeditions, the king first went to the
north which had never been conquered by previous
kings, and which was peopled by the Pārasīkas. He
took Chandra, Laulaka, and Shūra with him for help,
even as the world conquering Kāma takes the spring,
wine, and woman as his auxiliaries. This destroyer
of the proud filled his soldiers with strength, his enemies
with grief, and all sides with dust. Udabhāṇḍapura,
ruled by Govindaḵẖāna, was first entered by his arrows
and then by his soldiers. When the army of the king
reached the top of the mountain, his opponents, des-
cended from the high peak in fear. The ruler of Sindhu
unable to make presents befitting the king, presented
his own daughter to him. The weight of the country
of the Gāndhārās was added to the king's glory, but
strange! that the weight of fear lowered the hearts of
those people. The powerful king destroyed the pride
of the country of the Shiṅgas but did not destroy their
swords. On hearing the lion-roar raised by the army
of the lion like king, Gajinīpurī [the elephant city] fell

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 39
bereft of pride, and struck with fear. At Aṣhṭanagara
the veda-readers and the Kshatriyas wept through fear,
as if the smoke from the fire of their youth and
valor, which was extinguished, affected their eyes. When
the king had robbed the wealth and the fame of Puru-
ṣhavīra, the name of that country lost its meaning. The
women in the villages assigned to the Brāhmaṇas shed
tears, as if they offered water to the dead and food to
the living. When the leaders of the cavalry had gone
away on the pretext of repairing to the banks of the
Ghoṣhadhātu river, the king administered a severe
chastisement to Udakpati.
Returning thence, he marched southward, and
assuaged the toil of the journey in the waters of the
Shatadrū. He harassed Udakpati who had arrived
after plundering Ḍhillī, and blocked his way. He then
bestowed horses and clothes on petty kings and sent
them to their countries, and they looked as if they were
the embodiment of the king's fame. The king of Su-
sharmmapura apprehended danger from the king of
Kashmīra, and he forsook the pride of his fort and
sought the protection of the queen. It was owing to
the humility, not to the pride of the Bhauṭṭas, that the
king's horses, eager to ascend the mountains, were check-
ed. The king arrived at the banks of the Sindhu which
he found difficult to cross, but the gods smoothed
the waves of the river. This strange fact has been
heard from elderly men. Thus in his unceasing en-

40 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
deavour to conquer other countries, his own became to
him as a foreign land, and foreign countries became his
own. Thus having filled all sides with his valor, he
entered Kashmira and instituted festivities to delight
the eyes of the citizens.
In the course of our narration, we are describing the
superhuman abilities of this king, and shall perhaps be
considered by future generations to be flatterers. Once,
when the king was marching to a distant country, he
heard of a woman beautiful like an Apsarā, with eyes
like those of the deer, and became eager to enjoy her.
He deceived his followers by some device, and alone en-
tered the country where she lived, and like a second
Kandarpa fascinated her by his wit. He drank the nectar
from her lips and quenched the desire of his heart.
When his soldiers missed him, they feared that he was
killed by some enemy, and lost their reason in their
anger. They searched for him, and when they saw his
horse tethered in the courtyard of a house, they thought
that he had been overcome by his enemies. Without
any armour, the soldiers blockaded the house with a
view to fight with Shauryyasvāmī and Anugā. But on
hearing a voice like the roar of a lion from within the
house, their hearts that knew no fear were softened
with gladness, their faces were subdued with awe, and
their heads were bent with good sense. The king caused
many columns of victory to be raised, proclaiming his great
deeds, in places where his enemies had been destroyed

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 41
like sacrificial beasts in the flame of his prowess. In
the management of the affairs of his own country he
depended on his two ministers Koṭabhaṭṭa and Udaya-
shrí, and in battle he depended on Chandraḍámara
and Laula. Koṭasharmmá was like the moon in the
sea like dynasty of Devasharmmá. Indifferent to
worldly concerns, he left the wealth repeatedly bestowed
on him by the king, and retired to a forest.
Surely it was to display the prowess of the king that
on a certain occasion a calamity befell, troubling his
subjects grievously. In the year 36, a cruel inundation
distressed the subjects. What the sun is to the kumuda
flower, or a hero to his enemies, so was the inundation to
the city and the trees. The city was under water, but
the mighty inundation still increased and reached the
hills which shed tears in the shape of waterfalls. There
was not a tree, not a boundary mark, not a bridge, not a
house, that stood in the way of the inundation, which
it did not destroy. The king, who never took shelter in
a hill fort in fear of an enemy, now frequently resorted
to such forts through fear of the inundation. It subsid-
ed within a few days, as if dried up by the prowess of
the king; but the king wished to build a town on a hill
in fear of another inundation. He consulted his queen
named Lakshmí and built a celebrated town which
equalled his own greatness; and the people saw be-
fore them, at the base of the Himálaya, the town of
Sháriká, inhabited by virtuous men, even like Alaká, at the

42 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
base of the Sumeru. At the junction of the Vitastā and the
Sindhu, he built a town after his own name, and the
town was reflected in the waters, as if it had hid itself
in the river through modesty. Lolaḍāmara, on whom
fortune shone steadily, built a town after his own name,
and the high edifices were like glory amassed. The
ever restless world soared upwards [in the shape of hills]
as if to reach the heavens, and thus [casting its shadow
on the town] deprived it of the rays of the sun.
Lāsā was the daughter of queen Lakshmī's sister and
was brought up by the queen. Her image was now
reflected on the mirror of the king's heart. He was for a
long time held by ties of respect to Lakshmī, but those
ties were snapped by the passion inflamed by the beauty
of Lāsā. The goddess of Fortune had, with the image
of Kṛishṇa, taken her seat in the bosom of the king, and
the fortunate Lāsā was now allowed a place by her side.
The shadow is not cast in the direction of the sun, for
the sun enjoys the glory of the day, and the shadow
brings darkness and destroys the beauty of the sun. It
has been well said that women have four times the in-
tellect of men, and none can frame crooked and pene-
trating devices better than they. The chaste Lakshmī,
though she was the daughter of a common Bhalla named
Avatāra, became displeased with the king who had
become attached to Lā ā ; and she went in anger to the
king of Sindhu who was her countryman. But the king
of Kashmīra, out of shame, though not out of deep affec-

tion, brought her back. The she-elephant of the wilder-
ness, when her agony caused by heat is relieved by the
water of a lotus-tank, nevertheless troubles the water, and
rudely shakes the mosses and the lotuses in the tank. Even
so Lāsā, the beloved of the king, behaved ungratefully
towards Lakshmī, the sister of her mother, and who had
nourished her like a mother ;—as the full moon which
is nourished by the bright fortnight terminates and
destroys that fortnight. The kumuda flower is des-
tined to bloom by night ; otherwise the night, like a
wicked woman could have destroyed it by the help
of the moon which destroys the wakefulness of the
world.
Once upon a time Lāśā, in the enjoyment of her pros-
perity, thus spoke to the king with the wile of a serpent :
and the king listened with anxiety, and his breath dulled
the splendour of his lips. "If the sun had not by its rays
expanded the lotus, who would have cared to destroy
it through jealousy ? Who cares to destroy the moss ?
Unable to bear the favours bestowed on me, your queen
is devising for my destruction. The queen watches me
through her spies, and out of her enmity, has directed
Udayashrī, who has become her favourite by his services,
to employ magic against me." But the wise king replied
to her that Udayashrī was inimical to the gods, and
could not therefore perform magic. Lāsā repeated the
charge ; and in order to convince her of her mistake, the
king thus addressed Udayashrī : "O ! Udayashrī ! The