Argument. The undaunted valour of the Prince, the Rákshasi’s Questions
and the Minister’s solution of them.
Vasishtha continued:—Afterwards the Rákshasi, who was an offshoot of
the great garden of Rákshasa race, made a loud and tremendous yell like
the deep roarings of a cloud.
2. After her deep roar she muttered in a clattering voice, like the
rattling of a thunder clap following the rumbling of clouds.
3. She said:—Ho, ho? what are ye, that venture abroad in this dread and
dreary desert, dark as the great delusion of Máyá, and which without the
light of the sun and moon, is as gloomy as the gloom of ignorance. What
are ye crawling here for like insects bred in stones?
4. What men of great minds are ye, to have come here as the weak minded
aberrants that have lost their way? You have become an easy prey to me,
and must meet your fate in my hands in a moment.
5. The Prince replied:—O thou demon, what art thou and where is thy
stand: If thou beest an embodied being, show thyself unto us, or who is
to be terrified by thy bodiless form buzzing like a bee?
6. It is the business of the brave to pounce at once like a lion upon
his prey (and not to bark as a dog at a distance). Therefore leave off
thy bragging and show us thy prowess at once.
7. Tell me what thou dost want of us, and whether thou dost terrify us
by thy vain vauntings, or utterest these words from thy own fear of us.
8. Now measure thy body according to thy speech, (_i.e._ let them conform
with one another), and confront thyself to us without delay; because the
dilatory gain no good, save the loss of their time.
9. On hearing the prince’s speech she thought it was well said, and
immediately showed herself to them, uttering her loud shout with a
grinning laughter.
10. The prince heard her voice to fill the air, and resound in the
woods, and saw her huge and hideous person, by the light of her open
mouth and ivory teeth, in the act of her loud laughter.
11. Her body was as a huge cliff, hurled down by the thunder bolt of the
last doomsday (when high mountains were rent and thrown into the sea to
form their hidden rocks). The flashes of her eyeballs blazed in the sky
like a pair of bangles or conch shells.
12. The darkness of her appearance, cast into shade, the deep dark
waters of the deep at the universal deluge; which hid the flame of the
submarine fire under them; and her voice was as hoarse as the growling
of clouds on the high heads of hills.
13. Her statue was like that of a monumental pillar standing between the
heaven and earth; while the gnashing of her teeth struck the
night-rovers with the terror of being grinded under them to death.
14. Her figure inspired like those of the nocturnal goblins, yakshas,
Rákshas and Pisáchas, with the dread of dire disaster, by its erect
hairs, muscular limbs, dingy eyes and coal black colour of the body.
15. The air she breathed in the lungs, snored as the horrible snorting
of the nostrils of horses; while the tip of her nose was as big as a
mallet, and its sides as flat as a pair of bellows or winnowing fans.
16. She stood with her jet black body like a rock of dark agate, and
that joined with her loud laugh, gave her the appearance of the all
subduing night of dissolution. (Kálarátri—the night of universal doom,
is an attribute of Kálí—the goddess of destruction).
17. Her bulky body resembling a thick cloudy night, approached to them
like an autumnal cloud, moving in the forest of the sky.
18. The huge body appeared as a demon rising from underneath the ground,
and approaching to devour them as the eclipse ingulfs the orbs of the
sun and moon.
19. Her ebon breasts were hanging down, like two pendant clouds of
sombre sapphires, or more like the two mortars or water pots, with her
necklaces hanging on them.
20. Her two arms were suspended to her bulky body, like a couple of
stout branches to the sturdy oak, or like two logs of burnt wood to her
coal like body.
21. Seeing her thus, the two valiant men remained as steadfast, as those
standing on the firm ground of certainty, are never led away by doubts.
22. The Minister said:—O great friend! what causes this rage and fury in
thy great soul? It is the mean and base only, that are ever violent even
in trifling matters.
23. Lay aside this great ado for nothing, which does not become thee;
because the wise pursue their business with coolness to crown it with
success.
24. Know the soft and slow breath of our moderation, has driven away in
the air, swarms of such flies like thyself; as the slight breath of the
wind scatters about the dry leaves and straws.
25. Setting aside all hauteur and ardour of spirit, the wiseman
conducts his business with the calm coolness of the mind, assisted by
reason and practical wisdom.
26. One must manage his affairs with slowness, whether it prove
effectual or not; because the overruling destiny has the disposal of all
events, which human ardour has no power to prevent.
27. Now let us know thy desire and what is thy object with us; because
no suitor of ours, has been refused of his prayer, nor let to return in
disappointment.
28. Hearing these words, the Rákshasí pondered in her mind and said:—O
the serene composure of these lion-like men and the affability of their
conduct with others?
29. I do not think them to be men of the ordinary kind, and the more
wonderful it is, that their inward soul is exprest in the outward
gestures of their faces and eyes, and in the tone and tenor of their
speech. (This is a truth of the Samudrika science of physiognomy).
30. The words, the face and eyes, are expressive of the inward thoughts
of the wise, and these go together like the salt and water of the sea
(which are inseparable from one another. So Chanakya).—मनस्येकं वचस्येकं
कर्म्मस्येकं महात्मनां । मनस्यन्यत् वचस्यन्यत् कर्म्मस्यन्यत् दुरात्मनां ॥
The mind, the word and act of the wise all agree. But those of fools
disagree in all the three.
31. My intention is already known to them, as is theirs also to me: they
cannot be destroyed by me when they are indestructible themselves by
their moral excellence. (So the Sástra:—The virtuous may endure or live
for ever—_chiranjívati dharmátmá_.)
32. I understand them to be acquainted with spiritual knowledge also,
without which there cannot be a good understanding. Because it is the
knowledge of the indestructibility of the spirit, that takes away the
fear of death which is wanting in these men.
33. I shall therefore ask them, about something wherein I am doubtful;
because they that fail to ask the wise what they know not, must remain
dunces throughout their lives.
34. Having thought so, she opened her mouth to make her queries, by
suppressing her roaring voice and her loud laughter for a while.
35. Tell me, O ye sinless men, that are so brave and valiant, who you
are and whence ye come: because your very sight has raised my regard for
you, as the good hearted become friends with one another, even at their
first sight.
36. The minister said:—This is the king of the Kirátas, and I his
counsellor; we have come out tonight in our nightly round, for
apprehending malicious beings like thyself.
37. It is the duty of princes to punish the wicked, both by day and
night; for such as trespass the bounds of their duty, must be made as
fuel to the fire of destruction.
38. The Rákshasí said:—Prince! thou hast a good minister, but a bad one
unbecomes a prince; all good princes have wise counsellors, and they
make the good prince.
39. The wise minister is the prince’s guide to justice, and it is he who
elevates both the prince and his people. Justice is the first of the
four cardinal virtues (justice, temperance, prudence and frugality), and
it is the only virtue of a ruler; who is thence called the _Dharma
avatára_ or personification of justice.
40. But kings must have spiritual knowledge also, because it is the
highest of human knowledge. The king having this knowledge, becomes the
best of kings; and the minister who knows the soul, can give the best
counsel for the guidance of other souls. (For it is said:—Nándhenaiva
níyamána yathándhah; the blind cannot lead the blind. So the Gospel: one
blind man cannot lead another).
41. It is the fellow feeling for others that makes a ruler, whoever is
unacquainted with this rule, is not fit to be either a ruler or his
minister. (The rule is: Rule others as ye rule yourselves. _Sadhi swátmá
vadanyán_).
42. If ye know this polity, it is good and ye shall prosper, or else ye
wrong yourselves and your subjects; in which case ye must be made a prey
to me. (Because if you have no regard for your own souls and those of
others, why should I have any regard for yours?)
43. There is but one expedient for you two lads, to escape from my
clutches; and it is by your solution of my intricate questions;
according to your best wits and judgment. (The queries are said to be
_prasna pinjara_ or the cage or prison-house of dilemmas; in which sense
the text should read _vidárayasi_ for _vichárayasi_, to mean that, if
you cannot break the knots, I will not stop to break your necks).
44. Now do you, O prince and you his counsellor, give me the solution of
the questions that I require of you. If you fail to give the proper
answers as you have agreed to do, you must then fall under my hands, as
any body that fails to keep his words. (The breach of a promise was
punishable with death by the old Hindu law. Hence the first question;
“Why am I obliged in keeping my word” in Paley’s Moral philosophy).