PILGRIMAGE OF PRINCE SIKHIDHWAJA.
Argument:--Sikhidhwaja's abandonment of the world, and remaining as
religious Recluse on the Mandara mountain; followed by the visit of the
Princess and her admonition to him.
Vasishtha related:--The prince Sikhidhwaja continued in utter darkness,
without the sight of his spiritual knowledge; and groped his way amidst
the gloom of the world, as a childless man passes his woeful days, in
utter despair of any glimpse of hope. (As son is the hope of a man both
in this world as well as in the next).
2. His heart burned disconsolate in the flame of his anxieties, without
the consolation of his salvation; and the great affluence of his
fortune, served as full to feed the fire of his hopelessness, for want
of the cooling shower of religion.
3. He found his consolation in lonely retreats, in the caves of
mountains and beside their falling waters; where he strayed at large,
like the beasts of prey flying from the arrows of huntsmen.
4. Ráma, he became as distracted as you had been before; and discharged
his daily rituals, at the humble request and repeated solicitations of
his attending servants.
5. He was as inexcitable and cold blooded, as a religious recluse; he
desisted from the enjoyments of his princely pleasures, and abstained
also from his usual food.
6. He gave his homage with large largesses of lands and gifts of gold
and kine to the gods, Brahmans and his relatives also.
7. He went on performing the austerities of the religious rites, and
the rigorous ceremonies of the chandáryana and others; he travelled
through wilds and deserts and inhabited tracts, to his pilgrimages far
and near.
8. Yet he found nowhere the consolation of his mind, which he kept
seeking all-abouts; as a miner digs the sterile soil in quest of some
mineral, where there is no such thing to be found.
9. He was pining away under the ardour of his anxiety, as it were under
the fiery heat of the sun; in search of some remedy for his worldly
cares, which hunted him incessantly both by day and night.
10. Being absorbed in his thoughts, he sought not for aught of the
poisonous pleasures of his realm; and with the meekness of his spirit
and mind, he did not look at the grand estate which lay before him.
11. It happened one day, as he was sitting with his beloved princess
reclining on his lap; that he spoke to her as follows, in his
mellifluent speech.
12. Sikhidhwaja said:--I have long tasted the pleasures of my realm,
and enjoyed the sweet and bitter of my large property and landed
possessions. I am now grown as weary of them, as they are both the same
and stale to me.
13. Know my delighted lady, that the silent sage is exempt from
pleasure and pain; and no prosperity nor adversity, can ever betide the
lonely hermit of the forest.
14. Neither the fear of the loss of lives in battle, nor the dread of
losing the territory in the reverse of victory, can ever betake the
lonely hermit of the forest; wherefore I ween his helpless state, to be
happier far than the dignity of royalty.
15. The woodland parterres are as pleasing to me, as thyself with the
clusters of their blossoms in spring, and with their ruddy leaves
resembling thy rosy palms; their twisted filaments are as the fillets
of thy curling hairs, and the hoary and flimsy clouds in the air, are
as their white and clean vests and raiments.
16. The blooming flowers resemble their ornaments, and their pollen is
the scented powder on their persons; and the seats of reddish stones,
bear resemblance to the protruberances on their posteriors.
17. The ambient and pearly rills flowing amidst them, resemble the
pendant strings of pearls on their necks; and their foaming waves seen
as clusters of pearls, tied as the knots of their vestures. The tender
creepers are as their playful daughters, and the frisking fawns are as
their playsome darlings.
18. Perfumed with the natural fragrance of flowers, and having the
swarming bees for their eye-lids and eyebrows; and wearing the flowery
garment of flowers, they are offering an abundance of fruits for the
food of the passengers.
19. The pure waters of the falling cascades are sweet to taste, and
cool the body as thy company gratifies my senses. I foster therefore
an equal fondness for these woodland scenes, as I bear for thy company
also.
20. But the calm composures which these solitudes seem to afford to the
soul, are in my estimation far superior to the delight, that I derive
from the cooling moon light, and the bliss that I might enjoy in the
paradise of India and in the heaven of Brahmá himself.
21. Now my dear one, you ought to put no obstacle to these designs of
mine; because no faithful wife ever presents any obstructions to the
desire of her lord.
22. Chúdálá replied:--The work done in its proper time, is commendable
as seasonable and not that which is unseasonable or intempestive; it is
as delightful to see the blossoming of flowers in the vernal season, as
it is pleasant to find the ripened fruits and grains in autumn.
23. It is for the old and decrepit and those broken down in their
bodies by age, to resort in their retirement in the woods; and does not
befit a young man as yourself to fly from the world, wherefore I do not
approve your choice. (So says the poet, "O that my weary age may find a
peaceful hermitage").
24. Let us remain at home, O young prince, so long as we have not
passed our youth, and flourish here as flowers which do not forsake the
parent tree, until the flowering time is over.
25. Let us like flowery creepers grow hoary with grey hairs on our
heads, and then get out together from our home; as a pair of fond
herons fly from the dried lake for ever.
26. Mind also my noble lord, the great sin that awaits on the person
of that disgraceful prince of the royal race, who forsakes to seek
after the welfare of his people during the time of his rule and reign.
(Abdication of the crown was not allowable without an apparent heir).
27. More over mind the opposition you will have to meet with from your
subjects, who are authorized to check your unseasonable and unworthy
act, as you are empowered to put a check to theirs. (The Hindu law is
opposed to the spirit of despotism and lawlessness of the ruling power).
28. Sikhidhwaja rejoined:--Know my royal dame, that thy application is
all in vain to my determination of going away from here; and know me
as already gone from thee and thy realm to the retreat woods afar from
hence.
29. Thou art young and handsome, and aught not accompany me to dreary
deserts and forests; which are in many respects dreadful to and
impassable by men.
30. Women however hardy they may be, are never able to endure the
hardships of forest life; as it is impossible for the tender tendril to
withstand the stroke of the felling axe.
31. Do thou remain here, O excellent lady, to rule over this realm in
my absence; and take upon thee the burden of supporting thy dependants,
which is the highest and best duty of women.
32. Vasishtha related:--Saying so to the moon-faced princess, the self
governed prince rose from his seat; to make his daily ablution and
discharge his multitudinous duties of the day.
33. Afterwards the prince took leave of his subjects, notwithstanding
all their entreaties to detain him; and departed like the setting sun
towards his sylvan journey, which was unknown to and impassable by
every one.
34. He set out like the setting sun shorn of his glory, and disappeared
like the sun from the sight of every body; veil of melancholy covered
the face of the princess, as she saw the egress of her lord from the
recess of her chamber; as the face of nature is obscured from the
shadow of darkness, upon the disappearance of day light below the
horizon. (Here is a continued simile between the parting sun and the
departing prince, and the face of nature and that of the princess).
35. Now the dark night advanced, veiling the world under her mantle of
the ash-coloured dusk; as when the God Hara forsakes the fair Gangá,
and takes the nigrescent Yamuná to his embrace. (The day and night
representing the two consorts of the sun).
36. The sides of heaven seemed to smile all around, with the
denticulated clumps of evening clouds; and with the brightness of the
moon beams, glittering on the shoots of Támala trees. (_i.e._ The skies
seemed to smile with their glittering teeth of the evening clouds, and
smiling moon beams all around).
37. And as the lord of the day departed towards the setting mountain
of Sumeru on the other side of the horizon, in order to rove over the
elysian garden or paradise of the gods on the north; so the brightness
of the day began to fail, as the shade of evening prevailed over the
face of the forsaken world.
38. Now sable night accompanied by her lord the nocturnal luminary,
advanced on this side of the southern hemisphere; to sport as a loving
couple with this cooling light and shade.
39. Then were the clusters of stars seen spangled in the etherial
sphere under the canopy of heaven, and appeared as handfuls of _lájas_
or fried rice scattered by the hands of celestial maiden on the
auspicious occasion.
40. The sable night gradually advanced to her puberty, with the buds of
lotuses as her budding breasts; she then smiled with her moony face,
and littered in the opening of the nightly flowers.
41. The prince returned to his beloved princess after performing his
evening services, and was drowned in deep sleep; as the mount Mainaka
has drowned in the depth of the sea. (Mainaka is a hidden rock in the
sea).
42. It was now the time of midnight, when all was still and quiet all
about; and the people were all as fast asleep, as if they were pent up
in the bosom of stones.
43. He finding her fast asleep in her soft and downy bed, and lolling
in the lap of indolence like the female bee in the cup of the lotus.
44. The prince started from his sleep, and parted the sleeping partner
of his bed from his cold embrace; as the ascending node of ráhu slowly
lets off from its mouth, the eclipsed moon in the east.
45. He got up from one-half of the bed cloth, while the supine princess
lay on the other-half of it; as when the God Hari rises from his bed of
the waters of the milky ocean, leaving the lonely Lakshmí roll in the
waves after him.
46. He walked out of the palace, and bade the guards to stand at their
places; while he was going, he said to arrest a gang of robbers beyond
the skirts of the city, with his full confidence in himself.
47. Farewell my royalty, said he, and then passed onward out of his
princedom; and passed through inhabited tracts and forest lands, as the
course of a river runs to the sea.
48. He passed amidst the gloom of night and through the thickets of the
forest beset by thorny bushes; and full of heinous beasts and reptiles,
with his firm fortitude.
49. In the morning he arrived at an open tract of land which was
free from woods and jungles, and ran the course of the day with his
peregrination on foot from sun rise to the setting sun; when he took
refuge under the bower of the grove.
50. The sun departing from sight left him to the darkness of night,
when he performed his bathing and the daily rite; and having eaten some
root or fruit which he could get, he passed the night resting on the
barren ground under him. (The custom of evening bath, is now falling
into disuse).
51. Again and again the morning appeared and brought to light many new
cities and districts, and many hills and rivers; which he passed over
bravely for twelve repeated days and nights.
52. He then reached at the foot of the Mandara mountain, which was
covered by a dense and immense forest which no human foot could
penetrate; and lay (stood) afar from the reach of man and the
boundaries of human habitation.
53. There appeared a spot beset by sounding rills amidst it, and set
with rows of trees with aqueducts under them; here the relics of a
dilapidated dwelling came to sight, and seemed to bear the appearance
of the deserted mansion of some holy hermit.
54. It was clear of all heinous reptiles and small insects, and was
planted with sacred plants and creepers for the sacerdotal purposes of
the holy siddhas; while it was full of fruit trees which supplied its
occupant with ample food.
55. There was seen a level and pure spot of ground with a water course,
and presenting the green verdure and verdant trees; loaded with
luxuriant fruits and stretching a cooling shade all over it.
56. The prince built here a bower of verdant creepers and leafy
branches, which with their blooming blossoms glistened; as the blue
vault of heaven under the lightnings of the rainy season.
57. He made for himself a staff of bamboo and some vessels for his
food and drink, as also some plates to put his offerings of fruits
and flowers in them; and a jar for the presentation of holy water. He
likewise strung some seeds together for the purpose of his saintly
rosary.
58. He procured the hides of dead animals and the deerskin for his seat
and cover let in cold, and placed them carefully in his holy hermit's
cell.
59. He also collected all other things, which were of use in the
discharge of his sacerdotal functions; and preserved in his sacred
cell, as the Lord of creatures has stored the earth, with every
provisions requisite for living beings.
60. He made his morning devotion, and turned his beads with the
muttering of his mantras in the hours of his forenoon; and then
performed his sacred ablution, and offered the flowers in the service
of the Gods in the afternoon.
61. He afterwards took some wild fruits and ground roots, and the soft
lotus stalks for his food in the evening, and then passed the night
with his lonely self-possession, and in the meditation of his Maker.
62. Thus did the prince of Malwa pass his days with perfect cheer of
his heart in the cottage cell, which he had constructed at the foot of
the Mandara mountain; and thought no more of his princely pleasures
which were utterly lost under the influence of the resignation, which
had now taken full possession of his entire soul and mind.