Rajatarangini of Kalhana:Kings of Kashmira/Appendix B
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Being A Translation of the Sanskrit Work
Rajatarangini of Kalhana Pandita
By Jogesh Chunder Dutt
1887
London: Trubner & Co.[p.ii]: The story of the Brahmana and his Naga wife is thus related :
There was a tank in a garden which had clear and sweet water, and in it lived a Naga, named Sushrava. Now a certain young Brahmana named Visikha, being weary of long travelling, once rested in the shade of a tree beside the tank in the garden. And when he was relieved of weariness by the pleasant air he fetched some water from the tank and was going to eat oat-flour when he heard the music of small bells, and saw two beautiful girls with sweet white eyes dressed in blue were
[p.iii]: issuing out of the grove before him. Their eyes were lined with fine lines of collyrium, and the gentle wind was moving lite banners the ends of their garments over their shoulders. The girls were eating some pulse. The Brahmana stopped taking his meal out of shame, and was grieved to see creatures so beautiful taking such coarse food. He therefore invited them to what he had for meal, and brought them water from the tank, and expressed his love for them at the same time. And. when they had washed their faces and were seated, the Brahmana began to fan them with the fan made of leaves, and said that it must be in consequence of some virtuous actions done by him in times past that he had met them. With the curiosity of a Brahmana, he also asked them as to what race they graced by their birth, and how came they to be so hungry that they were eating such coarse, food. One of them replied that they were the daughters of Naga Sushrava and that they saw no reason why they should not eat coarse food when better food was wanting.
"My name," continued she, "is Iravati, and my father intends to marry me to Vidyadharendra; and this is my youngest sister named Chandralekha." The Brahmana again asked them the reason of their poverty, to which they replied that he might put that question to their father, for he only knew the cause. "He will come," said they, "on the month of Jaishta on the twelfth dark lunar day, during the festival of Takshakayatra. You will be able to know him by his crystal crown, and we will also be near him." Thus saying they went away.
Now, when the festival approached, and the dancers and singers and spectators gathered, the Brahmana too wandered about there,drawn by his curiosity, and recognized the father of the damsels by the signs they told him. The father too had been informed by his daughters about their meeting with the Brahnana, and now came forward to welcome him. In the course of conversation, the Brahmana asked the Naga the reason of his poverty. " The proud and wise man who has the sense to distinguish right from wrong," replied the Naga, with a sigh, " will rather prefer to hide his sorrow which cannot be remedied, than loudly complain of it. A good man when he hears of the misery of others will be sorry if he can not remove it. An ordinary man places much value on everything that he does, and laments family at every misfortune that he suffers. He praises him self, and thinks himself wronged
[p.iv]: when he has to bear any misfortune, and suggests to himself unfair means to get rid of it. He thinks that his miseries, will last for ever, and grieves from the very bottom of his heart, and talks loudly of his grief and suffers eternally. Who can know, however, the sorrow of those who are reserved, if their children and servants do not give them out ; but since mine has been betrayed to you by my girls, I will not hide it any longer. See if you can do anything to alleviate it. Yonder you see a hermit under the tree, r who watches the fields rich with harvest. It is through fear of him that we have fled. We cannot eat anything of the new harvests because he eats nothing, so we are well nigh starved. If you can do anything to destroy his austerity, and to make him eat of the new harvest, we know how to reward the service of him who does us a benefit." Be it so, said the Brahmana as he went away, and began to think day and night as to how he could accomplish the task. Once when the hermit was sitting while his food was being cooked, the Brahmana stole into the place and dropped some new rice into the cooking pot. And when the food was ready the hermit ate it. Thus relieved of the religious prohibition, the Naga greedily ate of the new fruits which he brought down from the trees by pelting at them, and his misery was removed. He then invited the Brahmana to his house, and told his daughters to entertain the host and benefactor. After a few days had passed, the Brahmana expressed his wish to return home asking at the same time his youngest daughter, Chandralekha, in marriage as the favorite was promised. Though the parties were not marriageale (he being a Brahmana and she a Naga girl), the father consented, and also loaded him with riches. He returned to Narapura where he was passing his days in happiness and mutual affection when the event narrated in the text happened.