So then, led by the lover of Ahalyá, the gods went off in a body to the
bottom of the sea, to look for Kalánidhi, in such a hurry that they
even forgot to worship me. And they found her father's residence, but
not himself, for he happened to be away from home. And roaming here
and there among his hundred daughters, all at once they came upon
Kalánidhi, lying dreaming, curled in a bed formed by her own hair, in a
giant oyster shell. And very suitable indeed seemed that shell to be
her cradle, for her bosom resembled an enormous double pearl, not dead
but living, keeping time slowly to the echo of the sea. And her body,
that resembled a foaming wave, was hung all over with gems, picked up
at random from the ocean floor, and her lips resembled sprigs that had
fallen from the coral tree whose branches spread above her head in and
out of the green water that moved her weedy tresses quietly to and fro.
And as she opened her eyes and looked towards them, Indra said within
himself: Maheshwara was right, and she is hideous, for all her beauty;
for her eyes are like sea caves, out of which other eyes like those of
an _ajagara_ seem to freeze you with their chill, and the smile on her
thin lips resembles the sinister and silent laughter of a skull.
So as they came towards her, Kalánidhi gazed at them sleepily in
wonder, and murmured softly to herself: What in the world can the gods
want, so badly, as to bring them here, all together in a lump? For
these must be the gods, since their eyelids do not wink. Something
must surely have gone amiss in heaven, and beyond a doubt, sore indeed
must be the need that drives them, for instead of sending Mátali, they
have actually come themselves. And now it is very fortunate that my
father is away. For he is far too simple[23] to drive a bargain with
the gods, or anybody else, and would make no use of his opportunity.
And then she arose politely, and listened in silence, while Indra told
her the whole story. And when he ended, she looked at him for a while
ironically, and then she said: For centuries have we lived here, my
father and my sisters and myself, and yet not even one of the gods ever
visited us before. What honour, for a daughter of the Daityas! But
what could be the services of such a thing as me, where even heavenly
maidens fail? Moreover, I do not like cemeteries, seeing that every
cemetery is the home of mouldering and evil-smelling bones and skulls,
and flesh-eating Rákshasas and Wetálas and ghosts. But inasmuch as you
have come here, not as friends or guests, but as merchants seeking to
engage me in an enterprise for your own advantage, this is after all a
matter on a mere commercial footing. And what then is to be the price
of my assistance, and if I am successful, what is to be my appropriate
reward?
Then said Maghawan:[24] I will give thee a crore of elephants, black as
ink, with golden tusks; or if thou wilt, raiment woven out of the beams
of the rising or the setting sun, or crystal vats of camphor strained
from the midnight moon, or endless strings of jewels, or anything thou
wilt. Then said Kalánidhi: What is the use of elephants, even black as
ink with golden tusks, at the very bottom of the sea? And as for
jewels, the sea floor is their very home, and I find them strewn at my
very feet. And as for clothing, what do I want but my own hair? Then
said Indra: Choose, then, for thyself, what I shall give thee. And
Kalánidhi smiled. And she said: What if I were to require of thee a
cushion, stuffed with the down that grows on the breast of Brahma's
swan, or a fan, to cool me, made of the feathers of Saraswati's
peacock's tail? And Indra said: Both shall be thine, and the bargain
is complete. Then said Kalánidhi: Nay, there is no hurry. For what if
I asked for a crore of crystal jars, filled to the very brim with
_amrita_, which, never having tasted, I am curious to taste? And Indra
said: That also shall be thine, and so the bargain is complete. Then
said Kalánidhi: Nay, for there might still be something lacking. What
if I should say, that I long for a single blossom of Wishnu's
_párijáta_ tree? For when I am in the cemetery, how should I endure to
stay, even for a single moment, without its odour as an antidote to the
reek of burning bodies and the stench of dying pyres? And Indra said:
For that also I will answer, and now the bargain is complete. Then
said Kalánidhi: Nay, be not hasty, in a matter of such importance. And
now that I come to think of it, this Brahman must be very old and ugly,
and exceedingly repulsive by reason of his long austerity. And what if
I should ask thee for a lamp, that I might examine him from a distance,
made of a single splinter chipped from Wishnu's _kaustubha_, and filled
not with oil, but the ooze of Shiwa's moon, squeezed from the
moonstones hanging on the trellises in Alaká, so that setting it in
imitation of Maheshwara, like a diadem in my hair, I might be suitably
equipped for reconnoitring your Brahman, in that gloomy home of ghosts?
And Indra said: I will guarantee it thine, and the bargain is complete.
And then, Kalánidhi looked craftily at the eager god, out of the very
corner of her eye. And all at once she began to laugh, and she
exclaimed: Ha! lover of Ahalyá, thy need must surely be extreme, seeing
that thou art as it seems ready to strip the very deities of their
necessary attributes, to lure me to thy task. But now, learn that I
did but play with thee and thy anxiety, to measure the degree of thy
extremity; nor do I stand in need of any of those things that I have
mentioned, nor of anything at all. For my assistance will be
determined, not by bribes, but my own good pleasure and caprice. And
it may be I will go and try my skill against this old malignant
mutterer, merely because I choose, and for no reward at all, and to
show that I can be of use, when all the nymphs of heaven are more
worthless than a straw. But in the meantime something more is
necessary, without which I cannot even tell whether there is anything
whatever to be done at all, even by myself. Tell me, then, the whole
story of this Brahman, beginning from his very birth, omitting
absolutely nothing; so that I may first of all discover, what is the
strength or weakness of this enemy, whom thou wouldst have me engage
and overthrow.
And Indra told her as she asked, beginning from the beginning,
everything there was to know. And when he ended, Kalánidhi remained a
while, buried in meditation. And suddenly she laughed, and said: O
Maghawan, thy nymphs are surely very stupid, resembling beautiful
bodies that are destitute of souls. Is it really possible that with
such weapons in their hands, they could not so much as make the shadow
of an impression on this Brahman? Come now, we will go together, for I
shall need thee to assist me, and overthrow this mutterer, together
with the mountain of his merit, by the favour of the Elephant-headed
deity; for I think, that there will be very little difficulty in
diverting his attention from his penance, after all: so little, that as
I will show thee by experiment, it is not I that will upset him, but,
aided by me, he will simply overturn himself. And when I have
succeeded, I will ask thee for absolutely nothing in return; but thou
shall cause me to be worshipped by all the nymphs in heaven in a body,
performing a _pradakshina_ around me in due form.
And Indra said within himself: Well said the Moony-crested, that
jealousy alone would induce her to comply. And he exclaimed aloud, in
an ecstasy of delight: O daughter of Aparapaksha, do but succeed in
corrupting this ascetic, and I vow to thee, I will myself perform a
_pradakshina_ about thee, at the head of all my nymphs!
[1] _i.e._ Maheshwara.
[2] That is, so as to touch the ground _with all eight parts of the
body_ at once.
[3] Legendary dwarfs. Agastya was a very little man.
[4] _i.e._ an animal, a brute; a synonym for the absence of all culture
and intelligence.
[5] The Lord of Animals, _i.e._ Shiwa, is the ascetic _par excellence_.
[6] _i.e._ an ocean of thirst. This thirst, _trishá_, is the technical
name for what Schopenhauer calls the _will to live_ (_vitai semper
hiantes_).
[7] _Watsa_ is a term of endearment, equivalent to our "darling"; the
whole word means "a heifer." [Pronounce each _a_ like the _u_ in hut.]
[8] _i.e._ Krishna; who solved Plato's old difficulty of the One and
the Many, by "keeping company" with each of his love-sick milkmaids at
once.
[9] _Sthiti_, the established world-order, is one of the three terms of
the universe, as opposed to _sarga_, its creation, and _pralaya_, its
destruction and end.
[10] The _smashána_ is rather a burning-ground than a cemetery. But it
is often called _pitrigriha_--"the home of the fathers," and thus
cemetery may stand, as an equivalent.
[11] _i.e._ goblins and vampires.
[12] Maheshwara, who is speaking, wears a necklace of skulls.
[13] _i.e._ a naked mendicant ascetic.
[14] _Nemo potest supra seipsum_, said the Schoolmen--a profound
observation exactly in harmony with old Hindoo ideas on moral force.
[15] _i.e._ Indra. Mátali is his messenger, the Hindoo Mercury.
[16] This singular idea, familiar now to Europe, in the form of the
prayer-wheels of Tibet, is not wholly without parallels in the West.
The only difference is, that the Hindoos are a very logical people, and
carry the absurd to its extreme.
[17] The wife of the sage Gautama, with whom Indra had an intrigue that
covered him with shame, in more ways than one.
[18] _Chaturmukha_.
[19] _i.e._ Maheshwara himself, who burned Love with fire from his eye.
[20] Max Müller, to whom students of the Rig-Weda owe so much, was
nevertheless essentially mistaken in saying that the word weda means
_knowledge_. It does not mean knowledge, in our sense of the word,
scientific, Baconian, Aristotelian; an idea quite alien to that of the
old _hotris_. By _weda_ they meant _magical knowledge_, _spells_;
which being sung or muttered had power to compel the deities: thus the
Brahman who possessed the "knowledge" (in the phrase of the Brahmanas,
_yah ewam weda_) was the master of the world.
[21] _i.e._ the dark half of the lunar month.
[22] There is a pun in her name, which as applied to the moon, means _a
store of digits_, but also signifies _an ocean of wiles_.
[23] It is singular that Rákshasas in Hindoo story, like Ogres in the
West, are always represented as simpletons and ninnies.
[24] _i.e._ Indra.