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Simhasanadvatrimshika 23

English (machine translation) 23

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English

23.p1

Once again, as the king went to sit upon the throne, another statuette said: "O King, he alone is capable of mounting this throne who possesses the virtues of generosity and the like that belonged to Vikrama." The king said: "O statuette, tell the story of his generosity." She said: "Listen, O King. Once Vikramārka, having wandered the earth, returned to his own city. All the citizens were filled with joy. The king entered his palace. At midday, an oil bath was taken; thereafter, adorned with sandalwood, garments, and the like, and having performed the sixteen modes of worship of the deity, he offered praise to the deity:

23.1

"You alone are mother and you alone are father, / you alone are kinsman and you alone are friend; / you alone are knowledge, you alone are wealth, / you alone are my all, O God of gods! || 1

23.2

Salutations again and again to the primordial Dwarf, / to Nārāyaṇa of boundless valour; / to the wielder of the bow Śārṅga, discus, sword, and mace, / salutations be to you, O Puruṣottama! || 2

23.p2

Having praised and bowed to the deity in this way, giving the daily gifts of tawny cows, land, sesame seeds, and the like to brahmins, and thereafter giving abundant gifts to the poor, the blind, the deaf, hunchbacks, the lame, the destitute, and the like, he entered the dining hall, fed the children, married women living in their father's house, the elderly, and others, and then ate himself along with his other kinsmen. And it is well said:

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Having fed the children, married women living in their father's house, the elderly, / pregnant women, the sick, and young maidens, / as well as guests and servants, the couple should eat what remains. || 3

23.p3

And furthermore:

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One should not eat all alone if one desires good for oneself; / a man should take his meal together with two or three kinsmen. || 4

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Success in attaining desired fruit, contentment, and abundant wished-for riches
arise from dining with two, three, or many companions. || 5

23.p4

Then, after eating, he rested for a short while and got up. And it is said:

23.6

To one who sits after eating comes a belly; to one who lies down after eating comes ease;
to one who walks comes long life; death runs after one who runs. || 6

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And again:

23.7

From drinking too much water, from irregular eating, from sleeping by day, from staying awake at night,
and from holding back urine and feces—by these six ways diseases arise. || 7

23.p6

Thereafter, in the evening, having performed the twilight ritual and eaten, he went to his bedroom. There he slept upon a couch strewn with kunda and mallikā jasmine flowers, covered with a bedsheet radiant like a flood of moonbeams. At daybreak in a dream, the king saw himself mounted upon a buffalo, heading in the southern direction; waking abruptly and remembering Viṣṇu, he arose. Having performed his morning twilight rituals and the like, he sat down upon the throne and related the story of his dream before the brahmins. Hearing that, Sarvajñabhaṭṭa said: "O King, dreams are of two kinds: some are auspicious, and some are inauspicious. Among them, the auspicious are:

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Mounting cows, bulls, or elephants; ascending palaces, mountain peaks, or large trees;
anointing oneself with feces; [seeing] blood or a dead body; and intercourse with forbidden women in dreams are auspicious. || 8

23.p7

And the inauspicious are mounting a buffalo, mounting a donkey, mounting a thorny tree, and the sight of ashes, cotton, smoke, tigers, serpents, boars, monkeys, and the like. And it is said:

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He who in a dream mounts
a donkey, a camel, a buffalo, or a tiger,
within six months his death
shall certainly occur. || 9

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And again:

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A dream during the first watch comes to fruition within a year;
in the second, in eight months; in the third, in three months. || 10

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At the hour of dawn one obtains its fruit in ten days;
at the time when cows are released [for grazing], it is held to bear fruit immediately. || 11

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What more [is there to say]? O King, this is a bad dream; it portends misfortune for you." The king said: "O brahmin, what should be done to avert this bad dream?" Sarvajñabhaṭṭa said: "O King, dressed in garments and ornaments, gaze upon clarified butter, and then give those garments and ornaments to a brahmin; then, having put on new clothes, having the deity bathed, and performing worship with the nine jewels, give the ten gifts to the brahmins, and give bountiful gifts to the lame, the blind, the destitute, and others. Through this observance and the brahmins' blessing, the evil fruit born of the bad dream will be destroyed." The king too, hearing these words of Sarvajñabhaṭṭa and carrying them out as directed, threw open his treasury for three days for bountiful giving. Then, with as much wealth as satisfied anyone, so much wealth was taken away by him. Having told this story, the statuette said to the king: "O King, if such generosity exists in you, then sit upon this throne." The king remained silent. Thus ends the twenty-third tale.

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