Simhasanadvatrimshika 9.p1

9.p1

punar api rājā yāvat siṃhāsana upaviśati, tāvad anyā puttalikā 'bhaṇat: bho rājan, yasya vikramasyau 'dāryaṃ dhairyaṃ bhavati, sa tasmin siṃhāsana upaveṣṭuṃ yogyo bhavati. bhojeno 'ktam: kathaya tasyau 'dāryavṛttāntam. sā 'bravīt: vikrame rājyaṃ kurvati bhaṭṭir mantrī babhūva, upamantrī govindaḥ, candraḥ senāpatiḥ, trivikramaḥ purohitah. tasya trivikramasya putraḥ kamalākarah. sa pituḥ prasādād ghṛtaudanaṃ bhuktvā vastrabhūṣaṇatāmbūlādīnā śarīraṃ saṃskṛtya viṣayasukham anubhavaṃs tiṣṭati. ekadā pitro 'ktam. re kamalākara, brāhmaṇajanma prāpyā 'pi tvayā katham evaṃ sthīyate svecchāvṛtayā? ayam ātmā janmaśataṃ nānāyoniṃ prāpnoti, kadācit sukṛtavaśān manuṣyayoniṃ prāpnoti, tatrā 'pi brāhmaṇakule janma mahatā puṇyena labhyate. tal labdhvā 'pi tvam durvṛtto jāto 'si. sarvadā bahir eva carasi, bhojanakāle gṛhaṃ pratyāgacchasi. anucitam eva tvayā kriyate. anyac ca: tavā 'yaṃ vidyābhyāsakālaḥ; asmin kāle vidyābhyāsaṃ na karoṣi cet, uttaratra mahān saṃtāpo bhaviṣyati. uktaṃ ca:

When the king again was ascending the throne, another statue said: “O king, he is worthy to mount upon this throne who has the magnanimity and heroism of Vikrama.” Bhoja said: “Tell me a tale of his magnanimity.” And she said:

While Vikrama was king his vizier was Bhaṭṭi, his sub-vizier Govinda, his general Candra, his house-priest Trivikrama. This Trivikrama had a son Kamalākara, who lived by the indulgence of his father, eating gruel with ghee, adorning his body with garments, jewelry, betel, and the like, and devoting himself to sensuous pleasures. One day his father said to him: “For shame, Kamalākara! How is it that you, tho you have obtained birth in the brahman caste, have thus become the slave of your desires? This soul obtains very many births in different stations, and finally thru the power of good deeds is born in a human womb; but even in that case only by exceptional virtue is it born in a brahmanical family. And tho you have obtained all this, you have turned to evil courses. You are always staying away from home, and return to the house only at meal-time. Truly your behavior is unseemly. Moreover, this is the time for you to study and acquire knowledge; if you do not acquire knowledge at this time, later you will suffer great grief. And it is said: 1. Those who are afflicted by passion and whose good sense is destroyed by youthful follies, so that they do not study the sciences while they are young, are despised in their old age, and afflicted in body, as a lotus in the cold season. And so: 2.