Simhasanadvatrimshika 10.p4

10.p4

anyac ca: yas tu yogīśvaraḥ sa kālavañcanaṃ vidhāya bahukālaṃ prajīvati. bho rājan, bhavataḥ sādhayituṃ śaktir asti ced ahaṃ mantropadeśaṃ dāsyāmi. rājño 'ktam: tava mantropadeśena kiṃ labhyate? yogino 'ktam: tena mantrasādhanena jarāmaraṇarahito bhaviṣyasi. rājño 'ktam: tarhi mantraṃ mamo 'padiśa; ahaṃ taṃ mantraṃ sādhayāmi. tato yogī mantram upadiśya bhaṇati: bho rājan, amuṃ mantraṃ brahmacaryeṇa varṣam ekaṃ paṭhitvā dūrvāṅkurair daśāṃśahavanaṃ kuru. tataḥ pūrṇāhutisamaye homakuṇḍāt kaścit puruṣaḥ phalahasto nirgatya tat phalaṃ tava dāsyati. tatphalabhakṣaṇena tvaṃ jarāmaraṇarahito vajrakāyaś ca bhaviṣyasī 'ti rājñe mantram upadiśya sa yogī nijasthānaṃ gataḥ. rājā 'pi varṣam ekaṃ brahmacaryeṇa nagarād bahir mantraṃ paṭhitvā dūrvādalair daśāṃśahomam agnau kṛtvā yāvat pūrṇāhutiṃ karoti, tāvad dhomakuṇḍāt kaścit puruṣo nirgatya divyam ekaṃ phalaṃ rājñe dadau. rājā 'pi tat phalaṃ gṛhītvā puraṃ praviśya yadā rājamārge samāyāti, tadā kuṣṭhavyādhinā viśīrṇasarvāvayavaḥ kaścid brāhmaṇo rājña āśiṣaṃ prayujyā 'vadat: bho rājan, rājā nāma brāhmaṇalokasya mātṛpitṛsthāne niyojitaḥ. uktaṃ ca:

Moreover, one who lives the life of a great ascetic outwits Time [Death] and lives a long time. O king, if your majesty has the power to perform it, I will tell you how to learn a charm." The king said: "What does one obtain by learning your charm?" The ascetic answered: "By performing it you shall obtain freedom from old age and death." The king said: "Then teach me the charm; I will perform it." Then the ascetic taught him the charm, saying: "O king, recite that charm for one year, maintaining continence, and make a ten-fold offering with dūrvā-grass. Then at the full-offering-time a man will come forth from the sacrificial fireplace with a fruit in his hand, and will give you the fruit. By eating that fruit you shall be freed from old age and death, and your body shall be invulnerable." Thus, having taught the charm to the king, the ascetic went to his own place. But the king spent a year in continence outside the city, reciting the charm; and when he had made the tenfold-offering with dūrvā-grass in the fire, as he came to make the full-offering, a certain man came forth from the sacrificial fireplace and gave the king a divine fruit. And the king took the fruit and returned to the city. But as he came along the highway a certain brahman, whose members were all wasted away with the plague of leprosy, said to the king after reciting a blessing: "O king, the king verily is appointed to take the place of mother and father to the brahmanhood. And it is said: 4. The king is a kinsman to those who have no kin, an eye to those who have no eyes; the king is both a father and a mother, and the king is a savior from distress and a guru [or, 'a guru to save from distress']. Thus you save all people from distress. Now my body is being wasted away with this plague, and because of the wasting of my body my religious practices have also been ended. For in every religious performance the body is the first requisite of all. And it is said: 5. The firewood and the sacred kuça-grass for the sacrifice are easy to obtain; the waters also are sufficient for you to perform the ritual bath; by your own power you may easily engage in ascetic practices; but the body, I say, is the prime requisite for religious performances. So do you bring it about that this my body shall be free from disease and that it may be useful for religious acts." Hearing the brahman's words the king gave him that fruit. Then the brahman was greatly pleased, and went to his own abode; and the king went to his palace.