Simhasanadvatrimshika f7

English (machine translation) f7

Language: English

f7.p1

Thereafter, one day the prince went out to the forest to hunt. At the time of departure, there was an ill omen, as follows:

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An unseasonable rain, an earthquake, / a thunderstroke, and likewise the fall of a meteor— / these and other portents then occurred, / to dissuade him, as did the words of a friend. || 1

On that occasion, the minister's son Buddhisāgara said: 'O Jayapāla, do not go hunting today; a great ill omen is seen.' Then Jayapāla said: 'Let it be; the proof of this ill omen should be witnessed today.' He replied: 'O prince, an intelligent man should not test the reality of an inauspicious ill omen. And it is said:

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A wise man should not swallow poison, nor play with serpents; / he should not revile assemblies of ascetics, nor harbor hostility toward brahmins. || 2

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Though dissuaded by him, the prince departed, disregarding his words. Again, at the time of departure, he said: 'O Jayapāla, your time of destruction has arrived; otherwise, such perverted judgment would not arise. And thus it is said:

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Never made by anyone, never seen before, / never heard of is a golden doe; / yet still Rāma desired it: / at the time of destruction, the intellect turns perverted. || 3

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Or rather, without the experiencing of acquired karma, how could there be destruction? And thus it is said:

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There is no sincerity in courtesans, no stability in riches, / no discernment in fools, and no destruction of karma. || 4

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Then the prince went to the forest, killed many wild beasts, and, spotting a black antelope, pursued it and entered a great wilderness. When he looked around, he found that all his troops had turned back along the road to his city. The black antelope also vanished right there. Alone on horseback, he saw a lake ahead of him. There he dismounted from his horse, tied it to a tree branch, and drank water; but just as he sat down in the shade of the tree, a terrifying tiger appeared. Seeing the tiger, the horse bolted and fled along the road to the city. The prince, his limbs trembling with fear, caught hold of a branch and climbed the tree. Seeing a bear that had already climbed up before him, he was seized with extreme terror once again. Then that bear said: "Prince, do not fear! Today you have sought refuge with me, so I will do you no harm whatsoever. Trusting in me, you need not even fear the tiger." The prince said: "O king of bears, I have sought refuge with you, especially as I am terrified by fear; therefore, great merit arises from protecting one who has sought refuge. And it is said:

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"On the one side are all sacrificial rites with full and generous sacrificial fees; / on the other side is the saving of the life of a living being struck with fear." || 5

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Thus the bear reassured the prince. The tiger also came beneath the tree. Then the sun set. At night, as the exhausted prince was about to fall asleep, the bear said: "Prince, sleep is coming over you; you will fall from the tree. So come forward and sleep in my lap." Thus addressed, he went to sleep in the bear's lap. Then the tiger said: "O bear, this village-dweller has come once again to hunt and kill us; why have you placed an enemy in your lap? For he is a human; and it is said:

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"No gratitude exists among humans for what is done for them, as it does among beasts; / I did not heed the words of the tiger, the monkey, and the snake." || 6

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"Even though you have done him a favor, he will do you harm. Therefore, throw him down. I will eat him and go away happily, and you too may return to your own dwelling." Then the bear said: "Whatever he may be, he has sought refuge with me; I will not throw him down. Killing one who has sought refuge is a great sin. And thus it is said:

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"Betrayers of trust and killers of those who seek refuge / dwell in a terrible hell until the dissolution of the universe." || 7

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After that, the prince awoke. The bear said: "Prince, I will sleep for a moment; you remain vigilant." He said: "So be it." Then the bear went to sleep beside the prince. The tiger said: "Prince, do not put your trust in him, for he has claws for weapons. And thus it is said:

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"Trust must never be placed in rivers, in clawed beasts, in horned animals, and in men with weapons in hand, / nor in women, nor in royal families." || 8

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"Moreover: he appears fickle-minded; therefore, even his favor is dangerous:

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"Pleased in a moment, angered in a moment, displeased again at every instant— / even the favor of those whose minds are unstable is dangerous." || 9

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"He wants to protect you from me only to eat you himself. Therefore, throw the bear down yourself; I will eat him and leave, and you too may go to your own city." Hearing that, just as the prince threw him down, the bear, falling from the tree, caught hold of an inner branch. Seeing him again, the prince was seized with fear. Then the bear said: "O wretched sinner, why do you fear? You must reap the fruit of the deeds you performed before. Therefore, go wander about there turned into a fiend, uttering 'sa-se-mi-re'!" Then dawn broke; the tiger departed from that place. The bear too, having cursed the prince, went to his own abode. The prince also wandered in the forest, having become a fiend, uttering "sa-se-mi-re". Then the prince's horse returned to the city without the prince. Seeing the horse without the prince, the people reported to the king that the horse had returned alone. Then the king summoned his minister and said: "O minister, when the prince set out for the forest on a hunt, there was indeed a great bad omen; nonetheless, he disregarded it and departed. The proof of it has indeed arrived: the horse he rode has returned riderless from the forest. Therefore, let us go to the forest to search for him." The minister said: "Your Majesty, so it must be done." Then the king, accompanied by his ministers and retinue, went to the forest along the very path he had taken. Seeing his son in the forest, wandering about, transformed into a fiend, and uttering "sa-se-mi-re", the king plunged into an ocean of immense grief, took him, and returned to his city. Then he summoned those skilled in gems, mantras, and herbs, but though treated by them, he did not recover. On that occasion, the king said to the minister: "O minister, if Śāradānandana were here at this moment, he would cure him in a mere instant.

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He was put to death by me in vain. Moreover, whatever deed a man undertakes, he should do it only after careful deliberation; otherwise, it becomes the highest abode of misfortunes. And it is said:

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"One should not perform an action rashly; lack of discernment is the highest abode of misfortunes. / For fortunes, eager for virtues, choose of their own accord one who acts with deliberation." || 10

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And likewise:

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"One should not act without examination; action should be taken only after thorough examination. / Regret follows later, as in the case of the brahmin woman and the mongoose." || 11

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Moreover: at that moment there was no one to restrain him. The minister said: 'That circumstance remained just so; such as was destiny, such too became the intellect. And it is said:

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Such and such intellect arises, such thought and such intention; / such companions are to be known [to appear], as is destiny. || 12

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What is not destined does not happen, and what is destined happens even without effort; / even what has reached the palm of one's hand is lost for him for whom there is no destiny. || 13 ||'

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The king said: 'That happened in accordance with past deeds. Now great effort must be made regarding him.' The minister said: 'How?' The king said: 'A proclamation should be made in the town: "Whoever shall cure the prince, to him half the kingdom is given."' The minister too, having caused that to be done, went to his own house and recounted the entire event before Śāradānandana. Having heard all that, Śāradānandana said: 'O minister, state this before the king: "I have a maiden daughter; she should be shown to him; she will employ some means."' Hearing that, the minister told the king in just that way. Then the king, accompanied by his entire court, came to the minister's palace and sat down. Thereupon the prince too sat down, saying: 'sa-se-mi-re.' Hearing that, Śāradānandana, standing behind a curtain, spoke a verse: 'What cleverness is there in deceiving those who have attained good faith?

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What valour, indeed, is there in the killer of those who sleep having climbed into his lap? || 14 ||'

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Having heard that verse, the prince dropped one syllable from among the four syllables. [Śāradānandana] recited a second verse again:

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Having gone to the ocean's bridge at the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the sea, / one may be freed from killing a brahmin, [but] a betrayer of a friend is not freed. || 15

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Hearing that verse, he said: 'mi-re'; two syllables were dropped. Then [Śāradānandana] recited a third verse:

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The betrayer of a friend, the ungrateful man, and whoever is a betrayer of trust— / these three go to hell as long as the moon and the sun endure. || 16

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Then he recited a single syllable. Thereupon [Śāradānandana] recited the fourth verse:

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O King, if you desire welfare for your son, / give gifts to the twice-born; the brahmin is the guru of the castes. || 17

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When Śāradānandana had spoken thus, the prince became healthy and attentive. Then he recounted the incident of the bear before his father. Hearing that, the king said to Śāradānandana:

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You dwell in the village, auspicious one; you never go into the forest; / how do you know the speech of bears, tigers, and men? || 18

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Then, behind the curtain, Śāradānandana said:

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By the grace of the gods and the twice-born, Śāradā dwells on my tongue; / by that I understand, just as [astrology] by Bhānumatī's horoscope. || 19

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Hearing that speech, the king was filled with wonder, and as he drew aside the curtain, Śāradānandana was seen in person; he was bowed to by all, beginning with the king. Then the minister related the previous story. Thereupon the king said to the learned minister: 'O minister, through association with you my misfortune and distress have vanished. Therefore a man should cultivate association with the good; through that, both purposes are achieved. For indeed: Service to the good wards off present and future misfortune, and the water of the Gaṅgā, when drunk, removes thirst and distress. 20 And furthermore: My son has been protected from great calamity. A king should make an alliance with good men of high birth like you. And it is said: He who associates with one not of noble birth [is] as [one who associates] with a snake; only that king is praised who is like a proper master of snake-lore. 21' Having thus praised the minister with various collections of praises and honoured him with garments and other gifts, the king ruled his kingdom.

Linked texts (1)

Siṃhāsanadvātriṃśikā — Sanskrit