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Chanakya
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 6/9/21


Chanakya
Chanakya, artistic depiction
Born 375 BCE, Chanaka village in Golla region (Jain legends);[1]
or in Takshashila (Buddhist legends)[2]
Died 283 BCE, Pataliputra, Maurya Empire
Occupation Teacher, Philosopher, Economist, Jurist, advisor of Chandragupta Maurya
Known for Prominent role in the foundation of the Maurya Empire & Arthashastra, Chanakyaniti

Chanakya (IAST: Cāṇakya, About this soundpronunciation (help·info)) was an ancient Indian teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the Arthashastra,[3] a text dated to roughly between the 4th century BCE and the 3rd century CE.[4] As such, he is considered the pioneer of the field of political science and economics in India, and his work is thought of as an important precursor to classical economics.[5][6][7][8] His works were lost near the end of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century CE and not rediscovered until the early 20th century.[6]

Chanakya assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power. He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both emperors Chandragupta and his son Bindusara.

Background

Sources of information

There is little documented historical information about Chanakya: most of what is known about him comes from semi-legendary accounts. Thomas Trautmann identifies four distinct accounts of the ancient Chanakya-Chandragupta katha (legend):[9]

Version of the legend / Example texts

Buddhist version / Mahavamsa and its commentary Vamsatthappakasini (Pali language)
Jain version / Parishishtaparvan by Hemachandra
Kashmiri version / Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, Brihat-Katha-Manjari by Ksemendra
Vishakhadatta's version / Mudrarakshasa, a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta

The Mahavamsa first came to the attention of Western readers around 1809 CE, when Sir Alexander Johnston, Chief Justice of the British colony in Ceylon, sent manuscripts of it and other Sri Lankan chronicles to Europe for publication. Eugène Burnouf produced a Romanized transliteration and translation into Latin in 1826... Working from Johnston's manuscripts, Edward Upham published an English translation in 1833, but it was marked by a number of errors in translation and interpretation, among them suggesting that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka and built a monastery atop Adam's Peak. The first printed edition and widely read English translation was published in 1837 by George Turnour, an historian and officer of the Ceylon Civil Service…

Historiographical sources are rare in much of South Asia…

The Mahavamsa has, especially in modern Sri Lanka, acquired a significance as a document with a political message. The Sinhalese majority often use Manavamsa as a proof of their claim that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist nation from historical time…

Early Western scholars like Otto Franke dismissed the possibility that the Mahavamsa contained reliable historical content…

Wilhelm Geiger was one of the first Western scholars to suggest that it was possible to separate useful historical information from the mythic and poetic elaborations of the chronicle…. Geiger hypothesized that the Mahavamsa had been based on earlier Sinhala sources that originated on the island of Ceylon. While Geiger did not believe that the details provided with every story and name were reliable, he broke from earlier scholars in believing that the Mahavamsa faithfully reflected an earlier tradition that had preserved the names and deeds of various royal and religious leaders, rather than being a pure work of heroic literary fiction. He regarded the early chapters of the Culavamsa as the most accurate, with the early chapters of the Mahavamsa being too remote historically and the later sections of the Culavamsa marked by excessive elaboration.

Geiger's Sinhala student G. C. Mendis was more openly skeptical about certain portions of the text, specifically citing the story of the Sinhala ancestor Vijaya as being too remote historically from its source and too similar to an epic poem or other literary creation to be seriously regarded as history. The date of Vijaya's arrival is thought to have been artificially fixed to coincide with the date for the death of Gautama Buddha around 543 BCE. The Chinese pilgrims Fa Hsien and Hsuan Tsang both recorded myths of the origins of the Sinhala people in their travels that varied significantly from the versions recorded in the Mahavamsa…

The story of the Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka are not recorded in any source outside of the Mahavamsa tradition. Moreover, the genealogy of the Buddha recorded in the Mahavamsa describes him as being the product of four cross cousin marriages. Cross-cousin marriage is associated historically with the Dravidian people of southern India -- both Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhala practiced cross-cousin marriage historically -- but exogamous marriage was the norm in the regions of northern India associated with the life of the Buddha. No mention of cross-cousin marriage is found in earlier Buddhist sources…

The historical accuracy of Mahinda converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism is also debated. Hermann Oldenberg, a German scholar of Indology who has published studies on the Buddha and translated many Pali texts, considers this story a "pure invention". V. A. Smith (Author of Ashoka and Early history of India) also refers to this story as "a tissue of absurdities". V. A. Smith and Professor Hermann came to this conclusion due to Ashoka not mentioning the handing over of his son, Mahinda, to the temple to become a Buddhist missionary and Mahinda's role in converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism, in his 13th year Rock Edicts, particularly Rock-Edict XIII. Sources outside of Sri Lanka and the Mahavamsa tradition do not mention Mahinda as Ashoka's son….

The Mahavamsa is believed to have originated from an earlier chronicle known as the Dipavamsa... The Dipavamsa is much simpler and contains less information than the Mahavamsa and probably served as the nucleus of an oral tradition that was eventually incorporated into the written Mahavamsa. The Dipavamsa is believed to have been the first Pali text composed entirely in Ceylon.

-- Mahavamsa, by Wikipedia

His [Hemachandra's] date of birth differs according to sources but 1088 is generally accepted...

Probably around 1125, he was introduced to the Jayasimha Siddharaja (fl. 1092–1141) and soon rose to prominence in the Chaulukya royal court. According to the Prabhavakacarita of Prabhācandra, the earliest biography of Hemachandra,...

Prabhācandra (c. 11th century CE) was a Digambara monk,grammarian,philosopher and author of several philosophical books on Jainism.

Prabhachandra was a Digambara monk who flourished in 11th century CE. He denied the possibility of any genuine intensity of action, whether good or bad, on the part of women.

According to him, Kumarapala converted to Jainism and started worshipping Ajitanatha after conquering Ajmer.

-- Prabhācandra, by Wikipedia

Multiple legendary biographies by medieval Jain chroniclers present him [Kumarapala] as the last great royal patron of Jainism.

Sources of information

Kumarapala was well known for his patronage of Jainism, and several medieval Jain scholars wrote chronicles about him. These scholars include Hemachandra (Dvyashraya and Mahaviracharita), Prabhachandra, Somaprabha (Kumarapala-Pratibodha), Merutunga (Prabandha-Chintamani), Jayasimha Suri, Rajashekhara and Jina-Mandana Suri, among others. Of all the Indian kings, the largest number of chronicles have been written about Kumarapala. However, these chronicles differ substantially in important details about his life...

According to Merutugna, Kumarapala was a descendant of Bhima I through Haripala and Tribhuvanapala. Haripala was a son of Bhima and a concubine named Bakuladevi. Merutunga's genealogy seems to be historically inaccurate, as the fragmentary Chittorgarh inscription corroborates Hemachandra's genealogy. However, historian A. K. Majumdar notes that the voluntary rejections of thrones are very rare, and therefore, Hemachandra's claim of Kshemaraja having voluntary give up his throne is doubtful. Hemachandra, who was a royal courtier, probably invented a fictional narrative to avoid mentioning the illegitimate son Haripala. This also explains why Karna's son Jayasimha Siddharaja hated Kumarapala....

Kumarapala's contemporary chronicler Hemachandra does not mention anything about the king's life before his ascension to the throne. This is unusual, because Hemachandra's narratives about other kings of the dynasty describe their early lives. Historian Ashoke Majumdar theorizes that this might be because Hemachandra played a significant role in Kumarapala's early life, as mentioned by later chroniclers. Yashahpala, another contemporary writer, provides a hint about the king's early life in his drama Maharaja-Parajaya. In this play, a character states that Kumarapala "wandered alone through the whole world", suggesting that the king spent his early life wandering away from the royal court.

Prabhachandra provides the following account of Kumarapala's early life: One day, Jayasimha Siddharaja learned through divination that Kumarapala would be his successor. This made Jayasimha very angry, because he hated Kumarapala. Fearing for his life, Kumarapala fled the kingdom in form of a mendicant. Sometime later, Jayasimha's spies told him that Kumarapala had returned to the capital disguised as an ascetic. Jayasimha then invited 300 ascetics to a feast, and washed their feet in order to identify Kumarapala (who had royal marks on his feet). Kumarapala was recognized, but fled to Hemachandra's house before he could be arrested. Jayasimha's men followed him, but Hemachandra hid him under palm leaves. After leaving Hemachandra's house, Kumarapala was similarly saved by a farmer named Āli. He then went to Khambhat, accompanied by a Brahmin named Bosari. There, he sought shelter with a rich man named Udayana, who turned him away to avoid enmity with the king Jayasimha. Fortunately for Kumarapala, Hemachandra had also arrived at a Jain monastery in Khambhat. Hemachandra gave him food and shelter, and predicted that he would become the king after 7 years. The Jain scholar also took 3,200 drammas (gold coins) from a Jain layman, and gave them to Kumarapala. Subsequently, Kumarapala spent years traveling as a Kapalika ascetic, before being joined by his wife Bhopaladevi and their children. When Jayasimha died, Kumarapala returned to the capital and met Hemachandra. The next day, he arrived at the royal palace, accompanied by his brother-in-law Krishna-deva, who commanded 10,000 horses. There, he was proclaimed as the new king after two other claimants were rejected.

Merutunga mentions a similar legend...

The historicity of these legendary narratives is debatable...the greater part of the legendary narratives appears to be fanciful...

The Jain chroniclers provide highly exaggerated accounts of the territorial extent of Kumarapala's kingdom. For example, Udayaprabha claims that Kumarapala's empire included Andhra, Anga, Chauda, Gauda, Kalinga, Karnata, Kuru, Lata, Medapata, Maru, and Vanga. Such claims are of little historical value....

Kumarapala waged war against a ruler of Saurashtra. Later chroniclers such as Merutunga, Jayasimha Suri and Jina-Mandana state that Kumarapala's army was led by Udayana, who was mortally wounded during this campaign. However, this claim appears to be incorrect, as the earlier writer Prabachandra states that Udayana died fighting Navaghana of Saurashtra during the reign of Jayasimha Siddharaja.

The later writers seem to have confused Jayasimha's Saurashtra campaign with that of Kumarapala. Kumarapala's Saurashtra campaign was probably against the Abhiras....

The historicity of these legends is doubtful, as they claim that Hemachandra had the supernatural power to...

However, these accounts do not appear to be historically accurate. Ajayapala was a follower of Brahmanism, because of which the later Jain chroniclers portrayed him in a negative light....

While several legendary chronicles state that he met the Jain scholar Hemachandra early in his life, the historical accuracy of this claim is doubtful...

The later legendary accounts of Kumarapala's conversion to Jainism are too fanciful to be true. For example, Merutunga claims that Hemachandra made the god Shiva appear before Kumarapala at the Somanatha temple. Shiva told Kumarapala that Hemachandra was an incarnation of all the gods....

The Jain chronicles state that Kumarapala banned animal slaughter, alcohol, gambling and adultery after his conversion to Jainism. However, no extant inscriptions issued by the king announce any such ban....

Although Jain accounts unanimously state that Kumarapala converted to Jainism, none of the king's extant inscriptions invoke Jain deities....

-- Kumarapala (Chaulukya dynasty), by Wikipedia

Jayasimha spotted Hemachandra while passing through the streets of his capital. The king was impressed with an impromptu verse uttered by the young monk.

In 1135, when the Siddharaja conquered Malwa, he brought the works of Bhoja from Dhar along with other things. One day Siddhraja came across the manuscript of Sarasvati-Kanthabharana (also known as the Lakshana Prakash), a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. He was so impressed by it that he told the scholars in his court to produce a grammar that was as easy and lucid. Hemachandra requested Siddharaja to find the eight best grammatical treatises from Kashmir. He studied them and produced a new grammar work in the style of Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī. He named his work Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana after himself and the king. Siddharaja was so pleased with the work that he ordered it to be placed on the back of an elephant and paraded through the streets of Anhilwad Patan. Hemachandra also composed the Dvyashraya Kavya, an epic on the history of the Chaulukya dynasty, to illustrate his grammar.

-- Hemachandra, by Wikipedia

Somadeva was an 11th century CE writer from Kashmir. He was the author of a famous compendium of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales - the Kathasaritsagara.

Not much is known about him except that his father's name was Rama and he composed his work (probably during the years 1063-81 CE) for the entertainment of the queen Suryamati, a princess of Jalandhara and wife of King Ananta of Kashmir.

Ananta or King Ananta, also known as Anantadeva, was a king of Kashmir who reigned for 40 years from 1028 to 1068 CE. He belonged to the Lohara dynasty.

At a young age, Ananta succeeded his close relative — who possibly ruled the region for less than a month — on the throne of Kashmir. According to the Kashmiri historian Kalhana...

-- Ananta (king), by Wikipedia

Kalhana (sometimes spelled Kalhan or Kalhan'a) (c. 12th century), a Kashmiri, was the author of Rajatarangini (River of Kings), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is Mark Aurel Stein. Robin Donkin has argued that with the exception of Kalhana, "there are no [native Indian] literary works with a developed sense of chronology, or indeed much sense of place, before the thirteenth century".

Kalhana was born to a Kashmiri minister, Chanpaka, who probably served king Harsa of the Lohara dynasty. It is possible that his birthplace was Parihaspore and his birth would have been very early in the 12th century. It is extremely likely that he was of the Hindu Brahmin caste, suggested in particular by his knowledge of Sanskrit. The introductory verses to each of the eight Books in his Rajatarangini are prefaced with prayers to Shiva, a Hindu deity. In common with many Hindus in Kashmir at that time, he was also sympathetic to Buddhism, and Buddhists tended to reciprocate this feeling towards Hindus. Even in relatively modern times, Buddha's birthday has been a notable event for Kashmiri Brahmins and well before Kalhana's time Buddha had been accepted by Hindus as an avatar of Vishnu.

Kalhana was familiar with earlier epics such as the Vikramankadevacharita of Bilhana, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, to all of which he alludes in his own writings. However, his own writings did not employ what Stein has described as "the very redundant praise and flattery which by custom and literary tradition Indian authors feel obliged to bestow on their patrons". From this comes Stein's deduction that Kalhana was not a part of the circle surrounding Jayasimha, the ruling monarch at the time when he was writing the Rajatarangini.

-- Kalhana, by Wikipedia

Rajatarangini (Rājataraṃgiṇī, "The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE....

Although inaccurate in its chronology, the book still provides...

Kalhana's work is also full of legends and inconsistencies...

Historical reliability

Despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhana's work, there is little evidence of authenticity in the earlier books of Rajatarangini. For example, Ranaditya is given a reign of 300 years. Toramana is clearly the Huna king of that name, but his father Mihirakula is given a date 700 years earlier. Even where the kings mentioned in the first three books are historically attested, Kalhana's account suffers from chronological errors.

-- Rajatarangini, by Wikipedia

The queen was quite distraught as it was a time when the political situation in Kashmir was 'one of discontent, intrigue, bloodshed and despair'.

-- Somadeva, by Wikipedia

The Kathāsaritsāgara ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva.

Kathāsaritsāgara contains multiple layers of story within a story and is said to have been adopted from Guṇāḍhya's Bṛhatkathā, which was written in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśācī. The work is no longer extant but several later adaptations still exist — the Kathāsaritsāgara, Bṛhatkathamanjari and Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha. However, none of these recensions necessarily derives directly from Gunadhya, and each may have intermediate versions.

-- Kathasaritsagara, by Wikipedia

The Mudrarakshasa, The Signet of the Minister) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya (r. c. 324 – c. 297 BCE) to power in India. The play is an example of creative writing, but not entirely fictional. It is dated variously from the late 4th century to the 8th century CE.

-- Mudrarakshasa, by Wikipedia

Vishakhadatta (Sanskrit: विशाखदत्त) was an Indian Sanskrit poet and playwright. Although Vishakhadatta furnishes the names of his father and grandfather as Maharaja Bhaskaradatta and Maharaja Vateshvaradatta in his political drama Mudrārākṣasa, we know little else about him. Only two of his plays, the Mudrārākṣasa and the Devichandraguptam are known to us. His period is not certain but he probably flourished in or after the 6th century CE. Some scholars such as A. S. Altekar, K. P. Jayaswal and Sten Konow theorized that Vishakhadatta was a contemporary of Chandragupta II, and lived in late 4th century to early 5th century. But this view has been challenged by other scholars, including Moriz Winternitz and R. C. Majumdar....

Alternative theories

The name Vishakhadatta is also given as Vishakhadeva from which Ranajit Pal concludes that his name may have been Devadatta which, according to him, was a name of both Ashoka and Chandragupta.

-- Vishakhadatta, by Wikipedia

In all the four versions, Chanakya feels insulted by the Nanda king, and vows to destroy him. After dethroning the Nanda, he installs Chandragupta as the new king.

Buddhist version

The legend of Chanakya and Chandragupta is detailed in the Pali-language Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka. It is not mentioned in Dipavamsa, the oldest of these chronicles.[10] The earliest Buddhist source to mention the
legend is Mahavamsa, which is generally dated between 5th and 6th centuries CE. Vamsatthappakasini (also known as Mahavamsa Tika), a commentary on Mahavamsa, provides some more details about the legend. Its author is unknown, and it is dated variously from 6th century CE to 13th century CE.[11] Some other texts provide additional details about the legend; for example, the Maha-Bodhi-Vamsa and the Atthakatha give the names of the nine Nanda kings said to have preceded Chandragupta.[10][12]

Jain version

The Chandragupta-Chanakya legend is mentioned in several commentaries of the Shvetambara canon. The most well-known version of the Jain legend is contained in the Sthaviravali-Charita or Parishishta-Parvan, written by the 12th-century writer Hemachandra.[1] Hemachandra's account is based on the Prakrit kathanaka literature (legends and anecdotes) composed between the late 1st century CE and mid-8th century CE. These legends are contained in the commentaries (churnis and tikas) on canonical texts such as Uttaradhyayana and Avashyaka Niryukti.[13]

Thomas Trautmann believes that the Jain version is older and more consistent than the Buddhist version of the legend.[13]

Kashmiri version

Brihatkatha-Manjari by Kshemendra and Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva are two 11th-century Kashmiri Sanskrit collections of legends. Both are based on a now-lost Prakrit-language Brihatkatha-Sarit-Sagara. It was based on the now-lost Paishachi-language Brihatkatha by Gunadhya. The Chanakya-Chandragupta legend in these collections features another character, named Shakatala (IAST: Śakaṭāla).[14]

Mudrarakshasa version

Mudrarakshasa ("The signet ring of Rakshasa") is a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta. Its date is uncertain, but it mentions the Huna, who invaded northern India during the Gupta period. Therefore, it could not have been composed before the Gupta era.[15] It is dated variously from the late 4th century[16] to the 8th century.[17] The Mudrarakshasa legend contains narratives not found in other versions of the Chanakya-Chandragupta legend. Because of this difference, Trautmann suggests that most of it is fictional or legendary, without any historical basis.[18]

Identification with Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta

See also: Arthashastra § Authorship

The ancient Arthashastra has been traditionally attributed to Chanakya by a number of scholars. The Arthashastra identifies its author as Kauṭilya, a gotra or clan name, except for one verse that refers to him by the personal name of Vishnugupta.[19] Kauṭilya is presumably the name of the author's gotra (clan).[20]

One of the earliest Sanskrit literatures to identify Chanakya with Vishnugupta explicitly was the Panchatantra.[21]

The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story. The surviving work is dated to roughly 200 BCE – 300 CE, based on older oral tradition. The text's author has been attributed to Vishnu Sharma [Vishnugupta Sharma] in some recensions and Vasubhaga in others, both of which may be pen names. It is classical literature in a Hindu text, and based on older oral traditions with "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine".

It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India", and these stories are among the most widely known in the world. It goes by many names in many cultures. There is a version of Panchatantra in nearly every major language of India, and in addition there are 200 versions of the text in more than 50 languages around the world. One version reached Europe in the 11th century. To quote Edgerton (1924):

...before 1600 it existed in Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, English, Old Slavonic, Czech, and perhaps other Slavonic languages. Its range has extended from Java to Iceland... [In India,] it has been worked over and over again, expanded, abstracted, turned into verse, retold in prose, translated into medieval and modern vernaculars, and retranslated into Sanskrit. And most of the stories contained in it have "gone down" into the folklore of the story-loving Hindus, whence they reappear in the collections of oral tales gathered by modern students of folk-stories.

The earliest known translation into a non-Indian language is in Middle Persian (Pahlavi, 550 CE) by Burzoe. This became the basis for a Syriac translation as Kalilag and Damnag and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as Kalīlah wa Dimnah. A New Persian version by Rudaki, from the 3rd century Hijri, became known as Kalīleh o Demneh. Rendered in prose by Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah Monshi in 1143 CE, this was the basis of Kashefi's 15th-century Anvār-i Suhaylī (The Lights of Canopus), which in turn was translated into Humayun-namah in Turkish. The book is also known as The Fables of Bidpai (or Pilpai in various European languages, Vidyapati in Sanskrit) or The Morall Philosophie of Doni (English, 1570). Most European versions of the text are derivative works of the 12th-century Hebrew version of Panchatantra by Rabbi Joel. In Germany, its translation in 1480 by Anton von Pforr has been widely read. Several versions of the text are also found in Indonesia, where it is titled as Tantri Kamandaka, Tantravakya or Candapingala and consists of 360 fables. In Laos, a version is called Nandaka-prakarana, while in Thailand it has been referred to as Nang Tantrai.

Author and chronology

The prelude section of the Panchatantra identifies an octogenarian Brahmin named Vishnusharma (IAST: Viṣṇuśarman) as its author. He is stated to be teaching the principles of good government to three princes of Amarasakti. It is unclear, states Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions, if Vishnusharma was a real person or himself a literary invention. Some South Indian recensions of the text, as well as Southeast Asian versions of Panchatantra attribute the text to Vasubhaga, states Olivelle. Based on the content and mention of the same name in other texts dated to ancient and medieval era centuries, most scholars agree that Vishnusharma is a fictitious name. Olivelle and other scholars state that regardless of who the author was, it is likely "the author was a Hindu, and not a Buddhist, nor Jain", but it is unlikely that the author was a devotee of Hindu god Vishnu because the text neither expresses any sentiments against other Hindu deities such as Shiva, Indra and others, nor does it avoid invoking them with reverence.

Various locations where the text was composed have been proposed but this has been controversial. Some of the proposed locations include Kashmir, Southwestern or South India. The text's original language was likely Sanskrit. Though the text is now known as Panchatantra, the title found in old manuscript versions varies regionally, and includes names such as Tantrakhyayika, Panchakhyanaka, Panchakhyana and Tantropakhyana. The suffix akhyayika and akhyanaka mean "little story" or "little story book" in Sanskrit.

The text was translated into Pahlavi in 550 CE, which forms the latest limit of the text's existence. The earliest limit is uncertain. It quotes identical verses from Arthasastra, which is broadly accepted to have been completed by the early centuries of the common era...

Content

The Panchatantra is a series of inter-woven fables, many of which deploy metaphors of anthropomorphized animals with human virtues and vices. Its narrative illustrates, for the benefit of three ignorant princes, the central Hindu principles of nīti. While nīti is hard to translate, it roughly means prudent worldly conduct, or "the wise conduct of life"...

Modern era

It was the Panchatantra that served as the basis for the studies of Theodor Benfey, the pioneer in the field of comparative literature. His efforts began to clear up some confusion surrounding the history of the Panchatantra, culminating in the work of Hertel (Hertel 1908, Hertel 1912a, Hertel 1912b, Hertel 1915) and Edgerton (1924). Hertel discovered several recensions in India, in particular the oldest available Sanskrit recension, the Tantrakhyayika in Kashmir, and the so-called North Western Family Sanskrit text by the Jain monk Purnabhadra [???] in 1199 CE that blends and rearranges at least three earlier versions. Edgerton undertook a minute study of all texts which seemed "to provide useful evidence on the lost Sanskrit text to which, it must be assumed, they all go back", and believed he had reconstructed the original Sanskrit Panchatantra; this version is known as the Southern Family text.

-- Panchatantra, by Wikipedia

K. C. Ojha proposes that the traditional identification of Vishnugupta with Kauṭilya was caused by a confusion of the text's editor and its originator. He suggests that Vishnugupta was a redactor of the original work of Kauṭilya.[3] Thomas Burrow suggests that Chanakya and Kauṭilya may have been two different people.[22]

Identity

He is generally called Chanakya, but in his capacity as author of the Arthaśhāstra, is generally referred to as Kautilya. The Arthaśhāstra identifies its author by the name Kautilya, except for one verse which refers to him by the name Vishnugupta. One of the earliest Sanskrit literary texts to explicitly identify Chanakya with Vishnugupta was Vishnu Sarma's Panchatantra in the third century B.C.E.

A prior time-limit for the Tantrakhyayika may be determined by a reference which it makes to Chanakya. Its author, at stanza 2, pays homage to six authors of hand-books for princes, among them to "Chanakya, the great," whose Artha-sastra, very recently found and published, was known to the author of our text and used by him. Chanakya, otherwise known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was the prime-minister of the first king of the Mauryan dynasty, king Chandragupta or [x] of Pataliputra or [x] 821-297 B.C., at whose court Megasthenes lived as ambassador of Seleukos Nikator. The earliest time-limit for the Tantrakhyayika would accordingly be about 800 b.c.

-- The Panchatantra: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Tales In Its Oldest Recension, The Kashmirian, Entitled Tantrakhyayika, by Dr. Johannes Hertel, 1915

"0" references to "Chanakya", "Chana", "Artha," or "Kautilya.

-- The Panchatantra of Vishnu Sharma, English Translation, by Arthur W. Ryder, 1925

Not every historian accepts that Kautilya, Chanakya, and Vishnugupta are the same person. K.C. Ojha suggests that Viṣṇugupta was a redactor of the original work of Kauṭilya, and that the traditional identification of Viṣṇugupta with Kauṭilya was caused by a confusion of the editor with the original author. Thomas Burrow suggests that Cāṇakya and Kauṭilya may have been two different people. The date of origin of the Arthahastra remains problematic, with suggested dates ranging from the fourth century B.C.E. to the third century C.E. [700 years] Most authorities agree that the essence of the book was originally written during the early Mauryan Period (321–296 B.C.E.), but that much of the existing text is post-Mauryan.

-- Kautilya, by New World Encyclopedia

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Part 2 of 2

Legends


Dhana Nanda's empire, circa 323 BCE

Buddhist version

According to the Buddhist legend, the Nanda kings who preceded Chandragupta were robbers-turned-rulers.[10] Chanakya (IAST: Cāṇakka in Mahavamsa) was a Brahmin from Takkāsila (Takshashila). He was well-versed in three Vedas and politics. He had canine teeth, which were believed to be a mark of royalty. His mother feared that he would neglect her after becoming a king.[2] To pacify her, Chanakya broke his teeth.[23]

Chanakya was said to be ugly, accentuated by his broken teeth and crooked feet. One day, the king Dhana Nanda organized an alms-giving ceremony for Brahmins. Chanakya went to Pupphapura (Pushpapura) to attend this ceremony. Disgusted by his appearance, the king ordered him to be thrown out of the assembly. Chanakya broke his sacred thread in anger, and cursed the king. The king ordered his arrest, but Chanakya escaped in the disguise of an Ājīvika. He befriended Dhananada's son Pabbata, and instigated him to seize the throne. With help of a signet ring given by the prince, Chanakya fled the palace through a secret door.[23]

Chanakya escaped to the Vinjha forest. There, he made 800 million gold coins (kahapanas), using a secret technique that allowed him to turn 1 coin into 8 coins. After hiding this money, he started searching for a person worthy of replacing Dhana Nanda.[23] One day, he saw a group of children playing: the young Chandragupta (called Chandagutta in Mahavamsa) played the role of a king, while other boys pretended to be vassals, ministers, or robbers. The "robbers" were brought before Chandragupta, who ordered their limbs to be cut off, but then miraculously re-attached them. Chandragupta had been born in a royal family, but was brought up by a hunter after his father was killed by an usurper, and the devatas [deities] caused his mother to abandon him. Astonished by the boy's miraculous powers, Chanakya paid 1000 gold coins to his foster-father, and took Chandragupta away, promising to teach him a trade.[24]

Chanakya had two potential successors to Dhana Nanda: Pabbata and Chandragupta. He gave each of them an amulet to be worn around the neck with a woolen thread. One day, he decided to test them. While Chandragupta was asleep, he asked Pabbata to remove Chandragupta's woolen thread without breaking it and without waking up Chandragupta. Pabbata failed to accomplish this task. Some time later, when Pabbata was sleeping, Chanakya challenged Chandragupta to complete the same task. Chandragupta retrieved the woolen thread by cutting off Pabbata's head. For the next seven years, Chanakya trained Chandragupta for royal duties. When Chandragupta became an adult, Chanakya dug up his hidden treasure of gold coins, and assembled an army.[24]

The army of Chanadragupta and Chanakya invaded Dhana Nanda's kingdom, but disbanded after facing a severe defeat. While wandering in disguise, the two men once listened to the conversation between a woman and her son. The child had eaten the middle of a cake, and thrown away the edges. The woman scolded him, saying that he was eating food like Chandragupta, who attacked the central part of the kingdom instead of conquering the border villages first. Chanakya and Chandragupta realized their mistake. They assembled a new army, and started conquering the border villages. Gradually, they advanced to the kingdom's capital Pataliputra (Pāṭaliputta in Mahavamsa), where they killed the king Dhana Nanda. Chanakya ordered a fisherman to find the place where Dhana Nanda had hidden his treasure. As soon as the fishermen informed Chanakya about its location, Chanakya had him killed. Chanakya anointed Chandragupta as the new king, and tasked a man named Paṇiyatappa with eliminating rebels and robbers from the kingdom.[25]

Chanakya started mixing small doses of poison in the new king's food to make him immune to poisoning attempts by the enemies. Chandragupta, who was not aware of this, once shared the food with his pregnant queen, who was seven days away from delivery. Chanakya arrived just as the queen ate the poisoned morsel. Realizing that she was going to die, Chanakya decided to save the unborn child. He cut off the queen's head and cut open her belly with a sword to take out the foetus. Over the next seven days, he placed the foetus in the belly of a goat freshly killed each day. After seven days, Chandragupta's son was "born". He was named Bindusara, because his body was spotted with drops (bindu) of goat's blood.[25]

The earliest Buddhist legends do not mention Chanakya in their description of the Mauryan dynasty after this point.[24] Dhammapala's commentary on Theragatha, however, mentions a legend about Chanakya and a Brahmin named Subandhu. According to this account, Chanakya was afraid that the wise Subandhu would surpass him at Chandragupta's court. So, he got Chandragupta to imprison Subandhu, whose son Tekicchakani escaped and became a Buddhist monk.[26] The 16th-century Tibetan Buddhist author Taranatha mentions Chanakya as one of Bindusara's "great lords". According to him, Chanakya destroyed the nobles and kings of 16 towns and made Bindusara the master of all the territory between the eastern and the western seas (Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal).[27]

The German translation of Lama Taranatha's first book on India called The Mine of Previous Stones (Edelsteinmine) was made by Prof. Gruenwedel the reputed Orientalist and Archaeologist on Buddhist culture in Berlin. The translation came out in 1914 A.D. from Petrograd (Leningrad).

The German translator confessed his difficulty in translating the Tibetan words on matters relating to witchcraft and sorcery. So he has used the European terms from the literature of witchcraft and magic of the middle ages viz. 'Frozen' and 'Seven miles boots.'

He said that history in the modern sense could not be expected from Taranatha. The important matter with him was the reference to the traditional endorsement of certain teaching staff. Under the spiritual protection of his teacher Buddhaguptanatha, he wrote enthusiastically the biography of the predecessor of the same with all their extravagances, as well as the madness of the old Siddhas.

The book contains a rigmarole of miracles and magic….

"He acquired all Siddhis: the globule Siddhi, the eye-ointment, the sword-Siddhi, further all power to destroy and again to revive to life, and got complete power over all superhuman Yaksas and Nagas and especially received a Vajra-body which was created for him by the elixir of life. He became a giant on magic power and supernatural knowledge….

The king received the elixir of age and the Yaksas as his servants. He built five hundred temple-cloisters as the resting-place of the preachers. Later, he (acarya) dwelt on the Sriparvata for two hundred years long, surrounded by the Yaksis and remained there practising the Tantras till his subsequent beheading by the grandson of the king Udayana called Susukti or the mighty prince...

He was shown a mirror in which he saw himself roasting in hell-fire…

Then he asked a ferryman on the shore of the Ganges to take him to the other side; but it happened so that, he having no fare for the ferry, showed his pointing finger to the Ganga and the Ganga stood up straight. Thus he came to the other side. Then in Odica, he demanded brandy from a wine-selling woman and as this one said he must pay the bill, he began to chase the shadows of a sun-dial from the fields but which did not go away from there, so he pointed his finger towards the sun and held it as with a nail and drunk brandy. As he did not want to set it free, the clocks and the guards made mistake. The king who knowing that the Yogi wanted to show his power, gave the price for the brandy and prayed to him to let the sun loose…

As now the self-erected stone image of the Chandika slightly shaking began to move, there with a blow on the head, he went with head on her breast to the womb. People say that he is still there, kneeling in straight position, but his pair of ears are only to be seen…

This Yogi could not be destroyed in water, fire, by weapons and by poison…

Once seeing him in the company of a common woman of the temple, the king ordered them to be burned. But out of the ashes, he reappeared as Heruka with gakti in a halo of brilliant rays.…

The boy and the girl changed themselves into Vajra and Ghanta, he took hold of them and flew to heaven…

There was a certain Mantravati experienced in the Mantras of Sahajasiddhi and magic-powers, she was a Hexe (witch). She wanted to destroy the acarya and his followers and attempted to seize him; but could find nothing but a piece of woollen-cloth (Kambala) on the spot where the acarya sat. The witch saw that this was a magic work of the acarya that he had transformed his own body into a woollen-cloth! ‘That must be torn off and everybody must eat a piece of it.' With these words she tore off the cloth and everybody (of her following) ate off a piece. Thereupon the acarya made himself again visible and cursed them all, and five hundred witches with Mantravati became five hundred sheep-headed Matrkas."…

But the Tirthikas scolded the king, who ordered his men to cut off his head. But they could not do damage to the acarya inspite of their all sorts of weapons. Then, as the acarya clapped both of his hands, the palace broke into pieces, and he with his exorcising look made the people of the king benumbed and stiff…

One morning his mother saw the acarya in the king's fruit-garden. He was sitting at the foot of the trees and uttered the words: ‘Narikela Bhiksavo' and the fruits of the tree came by themselves to him. After having drunk the cocoanut water, he spoke: ‘Narikela Uparajahi’ and the fruits went up as before…

The king dug a groove in the earth and filled it with thorn-bushes, elephant and horse dung and threw the acarya there and covered him up. So the acarya showed a double function of his body: in Jalandhara he was wandering to work for the salvation of beings, and at the same time taught in Bengal…

Once during swimming he was eaten up by a fish, but having meditated the Mandala of Heruka he came out without any harm…

A Tirthika Yogi let two meteors fall from heaven. Both were black, and in the shapes of houses but with human heads. Acarya knowing these to be eye-illusions muttered Dharanis to annul them and both of them transformed themselves in little pieces of coals; then some of the Tirthikas showed a piece of art — as flames from the fire coming out of the body. But he put water on it and extinguished the fire. Thus all the attacks were parried each time and juggling works were defeated by the juggling works. In the end, the four leading teachers of the Tirthikas, by the magic-power of the acarya, were transformed into cats. Now the Buddhists increased very much in this country….

He lived two hundred years…

With the words: 'Go to Udayana' went up magically the acarya in heaven…

He disappeared again through the door of benediction of acarya Nandapala and emerged up in two and a half hundred years in the south…

Then the Castellan smote him with a batan. The acarya blew a horn, thereby the stone statues of the temple of Jagannatha lost their extremities and organs and their former wonder powers…

There appeared the acarya magically doubling his body four times and consecrating simultaneously in all four temples.…

He needed CandaIa girl ([x]) for the support of his magic, and got one by giving her parents gold procured miraculously as high as her stature. He reached the highest state of Mahamudra-siddhi. After he had written many text-books, bodily he flew up to the heaven like a Garuda-prince to the Ksetra of the Buddha-Aksobhya…

He was threatened by a Tirthika king who wanted to break his head. His head was cut off, but he put on a buffalo-head on his shoulders. He went to Harikela to preach. There exorcised a cat, hence he was called Bhiradi or Birali…

'He lived with Vajrayogini who looked like a she-dog before the world. Hence he was called Kukuri. This acarya took as a Yogi of Srivajrabhairava, the pose of a destroyer, and there was a history that a king of the Tajiks (Persian) with his elephants were reduced to dust…

In dream AvaIokitesvara said as he had broken the order of his Guru, he would die within three years of an infectious disease and would go to hell, he got very much frightened, cut himself off from his family and took vows. But the prophesy was fulfilled, after three years he got the contagion and died. There his acarya saw in his mind, how he was taken away by the beadles of the Yama, but five gods and Hayagriva with Aryavalokitesvara at their head struck the hell-beadles and Aryavalokitesvara shed tears and ran towards him to bring his body back. And while he was brought back visibly to the Parivara of the Arya, he came back to life again.…

Nagarjuna holding himself on the Dharanis of the 'air-wanderers' (Dakinis), brought two shoes from the tree-leaves which enabled him to go through the air. The one he concealed, he put on the other and flew to Vyali through the air. As he now demanded that the acarya must give him the gold-essence, Vyali answered thereupon: 'Give me thy shoe, that will be the worth of the gold-essence that I give to you!' Then many Upadesas for Quicksilver-essence, many hundred thousands, aye many millions of methods of Elixir and beyond it, the power of exorcism to make gold, he gave to Nagarjuna, and he gave him for it a shoe. Then he put on the hidden shoe and went to India through the air and furthered there very much the Upadesas of Life-elixir. In the country of Gandhara in the north was a mountain called Dhinkota in the district called Munindra. He wanted to change it into gold and silver, but Aryatara who knew that would bring the future generations to fight amongst themselves, prevented it and by her blessing changed it to salt. And today it is known by the Gandhara country Lati.1 [Perhaps the salt-range of western Punjab is meant here.] …

As the fisher was in deep contemplation, he had thrown out his angle and drew it, but the fish drew him in its interior and swallowed him. As he was meditating deeply over the power of Karma, he did not die. As the river Rohita that today in Tibetan called gTsan-po, had reached Kamarupa, there lay a small hill called Umagiri, while there Devesvara zealously gave the Upadesas to the penitent Uma, and the fish swam in that water. The fisher, lying in the belly of the fish, heard that, meditated over that Upadesa and had great benefit. As a fisher again caught that fish and killed it, a man was there. Earlier he died there as a king; thirteen years had just past that formerly a son was born to him. In the belly of the fish he had spent the rest twelve years….

At one time the acarya ordered that he had got appetite for flesh and spirituous things. As the disciple went to the town to buy flesh and brandy, a woman had exhibited six pieces of pork and six flasks of brandy. She said: 'As price I demand your right eye, I will not be drawn into any other bargain.' Then the disciple in order to bring the offering to his acarya, took out the right eye and gave it to her. Thereupon he brought the flesh and the brandy to his acarya. On query he narrated the matter to the acarya. The acarya then demanded the left eye which was given. Thereupon the acarya blessed him and in three years he got back his eyes like before. And in the same period he became a Mahasiddha….

As regards the Siddha Nago, he was called the naked because he did not have a thread as cloth on his body. When he stayed in the south, he came in the social-circle of the first wife of the king and gave her the Upadesas. The king was angry, cut off the five limbs of the acarya, and threw them off towards the sky. But these limbs came back again and were fitted in the body. As this happened seven times, the acarya in the end gave out a curse and the king's five limbs fell off by themselves, and then he died. But after a prayer for it he came back to life. Thus he showed his power. Then he disappeared towards the mountain Bhindapala and there he is still living without throwing off his mortal body…

By making a vow on Mahabodhi, they received the answer that the time was proper to act, in order to accomplish the tasks of terror. This was met by the acarya and his four companions at Jarikhanda. They revolved the wheel of Yamantaka; then within six months the Pathans and the Mogols were innerly shaken and in the east all the followers of the religion of the Turuskas were slain in battle. The Hindu king Manasing was taken prisoner…

In the interior of the palace there was a Linga terrible to look at, and it was established from the time of Arjuna. He treaded and danced on it and so his foot-prints were stamped on it. At this the king out of anger let six elephants be excited. In spite of the number of the elephants being six, who seized him with their trunks, he was not to be moved. As he threateningly raised his finger the stone image of the Chandika, which once was of great miraculous power, melt away just like a lump of butter in the heat of the sun. Still now this figure remains there without becoming a mass. Then the king recognised, that he had acquired the Siddhi, and threw himself on the ground….

His body was changed into rainbow colours and his Jnanakaya clasped the heaven….

But this great Acarya brought in fourfold forms his tasks to end magically: Only through the word what he said took place, through the four glances of exorcism, in the midst of little refined congregations astonishment, and wonder-signs appeared on their faces and that he (in the Ganacakra) by the power of magic created thither flesh-balls, liquids, brandy and blood and the fruits of the woods…

Man appointed time which was the fruit of the previous birth, lotus flowers and wheels (Cakras) came out in her hands and feet and thus as she was furnished with Laksanas, a prophesy came about her that when she could dwell, she would acquire Mahatmya. She heard that in a city of Marahata near Cavala dwelt the Mahacarya Santigupta. As soon as she heard his name, she felt a need for Samadhi and as soon as she saw his face, plunged into the complete Samadhi….By the Yoga, her power over the air became unparalleled. She could ascend up the sky for miles….

Here is written only on the basis of that which anywhere to be perceived from the histories prepared in India, and at that which is given in Tibet by the believing people, that was present from old times."

-- Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism, by Lama Taranatha, Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.

Jain version

According to the Jain account, Chanakya was born to two lay Jains (shravaka) named Chanin and Chaneshvari. His birthplace was the Chanaka village in Golla vishaya (region).[1] The identity of "Golla" is not certain, but Hemachandra states that Chanakya was a Dramila, implying that he was a native of South India.[28]

Chanakya was born with a full set of teeth. According to the monks, this was a sign that he would become a king in the future. Chanin did not want his son to become haughty, so he broke Chanakya's teeth. The monks prophesied that the baby would go on to become a power behind the throne.[1] Chanakya grew up to be a learned shravaka, and married a Brahmin woman. Her relatives mocked her for being married to a poor man. This motivated Chanakya to visit Pataliputra, and seek donations from the king Nanda, who was famous for his generosity towards Brahmins. While waiting for the king at the royal court, Chanakya sat on the king's throne. A dasi (servant girl) courteously offered Chanakya the next seat, but Chanakya kept his kamandal (water pot) on it, while remaining seated on the throne. The servant offered him a choice of four more seats, but each time, he kept his various items on the seats, refusing to budge from the throne. Finally, the annoyed servant kicked him off the throne. Enraged, Chanakya vowed to uproot Nanda and his entire establishment, like "a great wind uproots a tree".[29]

Chanakya knew that he was prophesied to become a power behind the throne. So, he started searching for a person worthy of being a king. While wandering, he did a favour for the pregnant daughter of a village chief, on the condition that her child would belong to him. Chandragupta was born to this lady. When Chandragupta grew up, Chanakya came to his village and saw him playing "king" among a group of boys. To test him, Chanakya asked him for a donation. The boy told Chanakya to take the cows nearby, declaring that nobody would disobey his order. This display of power convinced Chanakya that Chandragupta was the one worthy of being a king.[1]

Chanakya took Chandragupta to conquer Pataliputra, the capital of Nanda. He assembled an army using the wealth he had acquired through alchemy (dhatuvada-visaradan). The army suffered a severe defeat, forcing Chanakya and Chandragupta to flee the battlefield. They reached a lake while being pursued by an enemy officer. Chanakya asked Chandragupta to jump into the lake, and disguised himself as a meditating ascetic. When the enemy soldier reached the lake, he asked the 'ascetic' if he had seen Chandragupta. Chanakya pointed at the lake. As the soldier removed his armour to jump into the lake, Chanakya took his sword and killed him. When Chandragupta came out of the water, Chanakya asked him, "What went through your mind, when I disclosed your location to the enemy?" Chandragupta replied that he trusted his master to make the best decision. This convinced Chanakya that Chandragupta would remain under his influence even after becoming the king. On another occasion, Chanakya similarly escaped the enemy by chasing away a washerman, and disguising himself as one. Once, he cut open the belly of a Brahmin who had just eaten food, and took out the food to feed a hungry Chandragupta.[30]

One day, Chanakya and Chandragupta overheard a woman scolding her son. The child had burnt his finger by putting it in the middle of a bowl of hot gruel. The woman told her son that by not starting from the cooler edges, he was being foolish like Chanakya, who attacked the capital before conquering the bordering regions. Chanakya realized his mistake, and made a new plan to defeat Nanda. He formed an alliance with Parvataka, the king of a mountain kingdom called Himavatkuta, offering him half of Nanda's kingdom.[30]

After securing Parvataka's help, Chanakya and Chandragupta started besieging the towns other than Pataliputra. One particular town offered a strong resistance. Chanakya entered this town disguised as a Shaivite mendicant, and declared that the siege would end if the idols of the seven mothers were removed from the town's temple. As soon as the superstitious defenders removed the idols from the temple, Chanakya ordered his army to end the siege. When the defenders started celebrating their victory, Chanakya's army launched a surprise attack and captured the town.[30]

Gradually, Chanakya and Chandragupta subdued all the regions outside the capital. Finally, they captured Pataliputra and Chandragupta became the king. They allowed the king Nanda to go into exile, with all the goods he could take on a cart. As Nanda and his family were leaving the city on a cart, his daughter saw Chandragupta, and fell in love with the new king. She chose him as her husband by svayamvara tradition. As she was getting off the cart, 9 spokes of the cart's wheel broke. Interpreting this as an omen, Chanakya declared that Chandragupta's dynasty would last for 9 generations.[30]

Meanwhile, Parvataka fell in love with one of Nanda's visha kanyas (poison girl). Chanakya approved the marriage, and Parvataka collapsed when he touched the girl during the wedding. Chanakya asked Chandragupta not to call a physician. Thus, Parvataka died and Chandragupta became the sole ruler of Nanda's territories.[31]

Chanakya then started consolidating the power by eliminating Nanda's loyalists, who had been harassing people in various parts of the kingdom. Chanakya learned about a weaver who would burn any part of his house infested with cockroaches. Chanakya assigned the responsibility of crushing the rebels to this weaver. Soon, the kingdom was free of insurgents. Chanakya also burned a village that had refused him food in the past. He filled the royal treasury by inviting rich merchants to his home, getting them drunk and gambling with a loaded dice.[31]

Once, the kingdom suffered a 12-year long famine. Two young Jain monks started eating from the king's plate, after making themselves invisible with a magic ointment. Chanakya sensed their presence by covering the palace floor with a powder, and tracing their footprints. At the next meal, he caught them by filling the dining room with thick smoke, which caused the monks' eyes to water, washing off the ointment. Chanakya complained about the young monks behavior to the head monk Acharya Susthita. The Acharya blamed people for not being charitable towards monks, so Chanakya started giving generous alms to the monks.[31]

Meanwhile, Chandragupta had been patronizing the non-Jain monks. Chanakya decided to prove to him that these men were not worthy of his patronage. He covered the floor of the palace area near the women's rooms with a powder, and left the non-Jain monks there. Their footprints showed that they had sneaked up to the windows of the women's rooms to peep inside. The Jain monks, who were assessed using the same method, stayed away from the women's rooms. After seeing this, Chandragupta appointed the Jain monks as his spiritual counsellors.[32]

Chanakya used to mix small doses of poison in Chandragupta's food to make him immune to poisoning attempts. The king, unaware of this, once shared his food with Queen Durdhara. Chanakya entered the room at the instant she died. He cut open the dead queen's belly and took out the baby. The baby, who had been touched by a drop ("bindu") of the poison, was named Bindusara.[32]

After Chandragupta abdicated the throne to become a Jain monk, Chanakya anointed Bindusara as the new king.[32] Chanakya asked Bindusara to appoint a man named Subandhu as one of his ministers. However, Subandhu wanted to become a higher minister and grew jealous of Chanakya. So, he told Bindusara that Chanakya was responsible for the death of his mother. Bindusara confirmed the allegations with the nurses, who told him that Chanakya had cut open the belly of his mother. And enraged Bindusara started hating Chanakya. As a result, Chanakya, who had grown very old by this time, retired and decided to starve himself to death. Meanwhile, Bindusara came to know about the detailed circumstances of his birth, and implored Chanakya to resume his ministerial duties. After failing to pacify Chanakya, the emperor ordered Subandhu to convince Chanakya to give up his suicide plan. Subandhu, while pretending to appease Chanakya, burned him to death. Subandhu then took possession of Chanakya's home. Chanakya had anticipated this, and before retiring, he had set up a cursed trap for Subandhu. He had left behind a chest with a hundred locks. Subandhu broke the locks, hoping to find precious jewels. He found a sweet-smelling perfume and immediately inhaled it. But then his eyes fell on a birch bark note with a curse written on it. The note declared that anybody who smelled this perfume will have to either become a monk or face death. Subandhu tested the perfume on another man, and then fed him luxurious food (something that the monks abstain from). The man died, and then Subandhu was forced to become a monk to avoid death.[33][34]

According to another Jain text – the Rajavali-Katha – Chanakya accompanied Chandragupta to forest for retirement, once Bindusara became the king.[35]

Kashmiri version

The Kashmiri version of the legend goes like this: Vararuchi (identified with Katyayana), Indradatta and Vyadi were three disciples of the sage Varsha. Once, on behalf of their guru Varsha, they traveled to Ayodhya to seek a gurudakshina (guru's fee) from king Nanda. As they arrived to meet Nanda, the king died. Using his yogic powers, Indradatta entered Nanda's body, and granted Vararuchi's request for 10 million dinars (gold coins). The royal minister Shakatala realized what was happening, and had Indradatta's body burnt. But before he could take any action against the fake king (Indradatta in Nanda's body, also called Yogananda), the king had him arrested. Shakatala and his 100 sons were imprisoned, and were given food sufficient only for one person. Shakatala's 100 sons starved to death, so that their father could live to take revenge.[36]

Meanwhile, the fake king appointed Vararuchi as his minister. As the king's character kept deteriorating, a disgusted Vararuchi retired to a forest as an ascetic. Shakatala was then restored as the minister, but kept planning his revenge. One day, Shakatala came across Chanakya, a Brahmin who was uprooting all the grass in his path, because one blade of the grass had pricked his foot. Shakatala realized that he could use a man so vengeful to destroy the fake king. He invited Chanakya to the king's assembly, promising him 100,000 gold coins for presiding over a ritual ceremony.[36]

Shakatala hosted Chanakya in his own house, and treated him with great respect. But the day Chanakya arrived at the king's court, Shakatala got another Brahmin named Subandhu to preside over the ceremony. Chanakya felt insulted, but Shakatala blamed the king for this dishonour. Chanakya then untied his topknot (sikha), and vowed not to re-tie it until the king was destroyed. The king ordered his arrest, but he escaped to Shakatala's house. There, using materials supplied by Shakatala, he performed a magic ritual which made the king sick. The king died of fever after 7 days.[37]

Shakatala then executed Hiranyagupta, the son of the fake king. He anointed Chandragupta, the son of the real king Nanda, as the new king (in Kshemendra's version, it is Chanakya who installs Chandragupta as the new king). Shakatala also appointed Chanakya as the royal priest (purohita). Having achieved his revenge, he then retired to the forest as an ascetic.[37]

Mudrarakshasa version

According to the Mudrarakshasa version, the king Nanda once removed Chanakya from the "first seat of the kingdom" (this possibly refers to Chanakya's expulsion from the king's assembly). For this reason, Chanakya vowed not to tie his top knot (shikha) until the complete destruction of Nanda. Chanakya made a plan to dethrone Nanda, and replace him with Chandragupta, his son by a lesser queen. Chanakya engineered Chandragupta's alliance with another powerful king Parvateshvara (or Parvata), and the two rulers agreed to divide Nanda's territory after subjugating him. Their allied army included Bahlika, Kirata, Parasika, Kamboja, Shaka, and Yavana soldiers. The army invaded Pataliputra (Kusumapura) and defeated the Nandas.[38] Parvata is identified with King Porus by some scholars.[39]

Nanda's prime minister Rakshasa escaped Pataliputra, and continued resisting the invaders. He sent a vishakanya (poison girl) to assassinate Chandragupta. Chanakya had this girl assassinate Parvata instead, with the blame going to Rakshasa. However, Parvata's son Malayaketu learned the truth about his father's death, and defected to Rakshasa's camp. Chanakya's spy Bhagurayana accompanied Malayaketu, pretending to be his friend.[40]

Rakshasa continued to plot Chandragupta's death, but all his plans were foiled by Chanakya. For example, once Rakshasa arranged for assassins to be transported to Chandragupta's bedroom via a tunnel. Chanakya became aware of them by noticing a trail of ants carrying the leftovers of their food. He then arranged for the assassins to be burned to death.[41]

Meanwhile, Parvata's brother Vairodhaka became the ruler of his kingdom. Chanakya convinced him that Rakshasa was responsible for killing his brother, and agreed to share half of Nanda's kingdom with him. Secretly, however, Chanakya hatched a plan to get Vairodhaka killed. He knew that the chief architect of Pataliputra was a Rakshasa loyalist. He asked this architect to build a triumphal arch for Chandragupta's procession to the royal palace. He arranged the procession to be held at midnight citing astrological reasons, but actually to ensure poor visibility. He then invited Vairodhaka to lead the procession on Chandragupta's elephant, and accompanied by Chandragupta's bodyguards. As expected, Rakshasa's loyalists arranged for the arch to fall on who they thought was Chandragupta. Vairodhaka was killed, and once again, the assassination was blamed on Rakshasa.[40]

Malayaketu and Rakshasa then formed an alliance with five kings: Chiravarman of Kauluta (Kulu), Meghaksha of Parasika, Narasimha of Malaya, Pushkaraksha of Kashmira, and Sindhusena of Saindhava. This allied army also included soldiers from Chedi, Gandhara, Hunas, Khasa, Magadha, Shaka, and Yavana territories.[41]

In Pataliputra, Chanakya's agent informed him that three Rakshasa loyalists remained in the capital: the Jain monk Jiva-siddhi, the scribe Shakata-dasa and the jewelers' guild chief Chandana-dasa. Of these, Jiva-siddhi was actually a spy of Chanakya, unknown to his other spies. Chandana-dasa sheltered Rakshasa's wife, who once unknowingly dropped her husband's signet-ring (mudra). Chanakya's agent got hold of this signet-ring, and brought it to Chanakya. Using this signet ring, Chanakya sent a letter to Malayaketu warning him that his allies were treacherous. Chanakya also asked some of Chandragupta's princes to fake defection to Malayaketu's camp. In addition, Chanakya ordered Shakata-dasa's murder, but had him 'rescued' by Siddharthaka, a spy pretending to be an agent of Chandana-dasa. Chanakya's spy then took Shakata-dasa to Rakshasa.[41]

When Shakata-dasa and his 'rescuer' Siddharthaka reached Rakshasa, Siddharthaka presented him the signet-ring, claiming to have found it at Chandana-dasa's home. As a reward, Rakshasa gave him some jewels that Malayaketu had gifted him. Sometime after this, another of Chanakya's agents, disguised as a jeweler, sold Parvata's jewels to Rakshasa.[42]

Sometime later, Rakshasa sent his spies disguised as musicians to Chandragupta's court. But Chanakya knew all about Rakshasa's plans thanks to his spies. In front of Rakshasa's spies, Chanakya and Chandragupta feigned an angry argument. Chandragupta pretended to dismiss Chanakya, and declared that Rakshasa would make a better minister. Meanwhile, Malayaketu had a conversation with Chanakya's spy Bhagurayana while approaching Rakshasa's house. Bhagurayana made Malayaketu distrustful of Rakshasa, by saying that Rakshasa hated only Chanakya, and would be willing to serve Nanda's son Chandragupta. Shortly after this, a messenger came to Rakshasa's house, and informed him that Chandragupta had dismissed Chanakya while praising him. This convinced Malayaketu that Rakashasa could not be trusted.[42]

Malayaketu then decided to invade Pataliputra without Rakshasa by his side. He consulted the Jain monk Jiva-siddhi to decide an auspicious time for beginning the march. Jiva-siddhi, a spy of Chanakya, told him that he could start immediately.[42] Jiva-siddhi also convinced him that Rakshasa was responsible for his father's death, but Bhagurayana persuaded him not to harm Rakshasa. Shortly after, Chanakya's spy Siddharthaka pretended to get caught with a fake letter addressed to Chandragupta by Rakshasa. Wearing the jewels given by Rakshasa, he pretended to be an agent of Rakshasa. The letter, sealed with Rakshasa's signet-ring, informed Chandragupta that Rakshasa only wished to replace Chanakya as the prime minister. It also stated that five of Malayaketu's allies were willing to defect to Chandragupta in return for land and wealth. An angry Malayaketu summoned Rakshasa, who arrived wearing Parvata's jewels that Chanakya's agent had sold him. When Malayaketu saw Rakshasa wearing his father's jewels, he was convinced that there was indeed a treacherous plan against him. He executed his five allies in a brutal manner.[43]

The rest of Malayaketu's allies deserted him, disgusted at his treatment of the five slayed allies. Rakshasa managed to escape, tracked by Chanakya's spies. One of Chanakya's spies, disguised as a friend of Chandana-dasa, got in touch with him. He told Rakshasa that Chandana-dasa was about to be executed for refusing to divulge the location of Rakshasa's family. On hearing this, Rakshasa rushed to Pataliputra to surrender and save the life of his loyal friend Chandana-dasa. When he reached Pataliputra, Chanakya, pleased with his loyalty to Chandana-dasa, offered him clemency. Rakshasa pledged allegiance to Chandragupta and agreed to be his prime minister, in return for release of Chandana-dasa and a pardon for Malayaketu. Chanakya then bound his top knot, having achieved his objective, and retired.[43]

Literary works

Two books are attributed to Chanakya: Arthashastra,[44] and Chanakya Niti, also known as Chanakya Neeti-shastra.[45] The Arthashastra was discovered in 1905 by librarian Rudrapatna Shamasastry in an uncatalogued group of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts donated by an unknown pandit to the Oriental Research Institute Mysore.[46]

Formerly known as the Oriental Library, the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) at Mysore, India, is a research institute which collects, exhibits, edits, and publishes rare manuscripts written in various scripts like Devanagari (Sanskrit), Brahmic (Kannada), Nandinagari (Sanskrit), Grantha, Malayalam, Tigalari, etc.

The Oriental Library was started in 1891 under the patronage of Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X... It was a part of the Department of Education until 1916, in which year it became part of the newly established University of Mysore. The Oriental Library was renamed as the Oriental Research Institute in 1943.

From the year 1893 to date the ORI has published nearly two hundred titles. The library features rare collections such as the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics by James Hastings, A Vedic Concordance by Maurice Bloomfield, and critical editions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It was the first public library in Mysore city for research and editing of manuscripts. The prime focus was on Indology. The institute publishes an annual journal called Mysore Orientalist. Its most famous publications include Kautilya's Arthashastra, written in the 4th century BC, edited by Dr. R. Shamashastri, which brought international fame to the institute when published in 1909.

One day a man from Tanjore handed over a manuscript of Arthashastra written on dried palm leaves to Dr Rudrapatnam Shamashastry, the librarian of Mysore Government Oriental Library now ORI. Shamashastry's job was to look after the library's ancient manuscripts. He had never seen anything like these palm leaves before. Here was a book that would revolutionise the knowledge of India's great past. This palm leaf manuscript is preserved in the library, now named Oriental Research Institute. The pages of the book are filled with 1500-year-old Grantha script. It looks like as if they have been printed but the words have been inscribed by hand. Other copies of Arthashastra were later discovered later in other parts of India.[1]

In this context, my mind remembering a day which was the His Excellency Krishnaraja Wodeyar went to Germany at the time of Dr. R. Shamashastry were working as a curator of Oriental Library, Mysore, The King sat in a meeting held in Germany and introduced himself as the King of Mysore State. Immediately a man stood up and asked, "Are you from our Dr. R. Shamashastry's Mysore?" Because the Arthashastra edited by him took a fame worldwide. The King wondered and came back to Mysore immediately to see Dr. R. Shamashastry, and also Dr. R. Shamashastry appointed as Asthana Vidwan. Sritattvanidhi, is a compilation of slokas by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Three edited manuscripts Navaratnamani-mahatmyam (a work on gemology), Tantrasara-sangraha (a work on sculptures and architecture), and Vaidashastra-dipika (an ayurvedic text), Rasa-kaumudi (on mercurial medicine) all of them with English and Kannada translation, are already in advanced stages of printing.

Oriental Research Institute

The ORI houses over 45,000 Palm leaf manuscript bundles and the 75,000 works on those leaves. The manuscripts are palm leaves cut to a standard size of 150 by 35 mm (5.9 by 1.4 in). Brittle palm leaves are sometimes softened by scrubbing a paste made of ragi and then used by the ancients for writing, similar to the use of papyrus in ancient Egypt. Manuscripts are organic materials that run the risk of decay and are prone to be destroyed by silverfish. To preserve them the ORI applies lemon grass oil on the manuscripts which acts like a pesticide. The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity.

The conventional method followed at the ORI was to preserve manuscripts by capturing them in microfilm, which then necessitated the use of a microfilm reader for viewing or studying. Once the ORI has digitized the manuscripts, the text can be viewed and manipulated by a computer. Software is then used to put together disjointed pieces of manuscripts and to correct or fill in any missing text. In this manner, the manuscripts are restored and enhanced. The original palm leaf manuscripts are also on reference at the ORI for those interested.

-- Oriental Research Institute Mysore, by Wikipedia

• The Arthashastra, which discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail. The text also outlines the duties of a ruler.[47][unreliable source?] Some scholars believe that Arthashastra is actually a compilation of a number of earlier texts written by various authors, and Chanakya might have been one of these authors (see above).[9]
• Chanakya Niti, which is a collection of aphorisms, said to be selected by Chanakya from the various shastras.[45]

Legacy

Arthashastra is serious manual on statecraft, on how to run a state, informed by a higher purpose, clear and precise in its prescriptions, the result of practical experience of running a state. It is not just a normative text but a realist description of the art of running a state.

- Shiv Shankar Menon, National Security Advisor[48]

Chanakya is regarded as a great thinker and diplomat in India. Many Indian nationalists regard him as one of the earliest people who envisioned a united India spanning the entire subcontinent. India's former National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon praised Chanakya's Arthashastra for its precise and timeless descriptions of power. Furthermore, he recommended reading of the book for broadening the vision on strategic issues.[48]

The diplomatic enclave in New Delhi is named Chanakyapuri in honour of Chanakya. Institutes named after him include Training Ship Chanakya, Chanakya National Law University and Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership. Chanakya circle in Mysore has been named after him.[49]

In Popular Culture

Plays

Several modern adaptations of the legend of Chanakya narrate his story in a semi-fictional form, extending these legends. In Chandragupta (1911), a play by Dwijendralal Ray, the Nanda king exiles his half-brother Chandragupta, who joins the army of Alexander the Great. Later, with help from Chanakya and Katyayan (the former Prime Minister of Magadha), Chandragupta defeats Nanda, who is put to death by Chanakya.[50]

Film and television

• The story of Chanakya and Chandragupta was portrayed in the 1977 Telugu film entitled Chanakya Chandragupta. Akkineni Nageswara Rao played the role of Chanakya, while N. T. Rama Rao portrayed as Chandragupta.[51]
• The 1991 TV series Chanakya is an archetypal account of the life and times of Chanakya, based on the Mudrarakshasa. The titular role of the same name was portrayed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi
• Chandragupta Maurya, a 2011 TV series on NDTV Imagine is a biographical series on the life of Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya, and is produced by Sagar Arts. Manish Wadhwa portrays the character of Chanakya in this series.
• The 2015 Colors TV drama, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, features Chanakya during the reign of Chandragupta's son, Bindusara.
• Chanakya was played by Chetan Pandit and Tarun Khanna, in the historical-drama television series Porus in 2017–2018.
• Chanakya was played by Tarun Khanna, in the historical drama TV series Chandragupta Maurya in 2018–2019.

Books and academia

• An English-language book titled Chanakya on Management contains 216 sutras on raja-neeti, each of which has been translated and commented upon.
• A book written by Ratan Lal Basu and Rajkumar Sen deals with the economic concepts mentioned in Arthashastra and their relevance for the modern world.[52]
• Chanakya (2001) by B. K. Chaturvedi[53]
• In 2009, many eminent experts discussed the various aspects of Kauṭilya's thought in an International Conference held at the Oriental Research Institute in Mysore (India) to celebrate the centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry. Most of the papers presented in the Conference have been compiled in an edited volume by Raj Kumar Sen and Ratan Lal Basu.[54][55]
• Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi is a fictional account of Chanakya's life as a political strategist in ancient India. The novel relates two parallel stories, the first of Chanakya and his machinations to bring Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha; the second, that of a modern-day character called Gangasagar Mishra who makes it his ambition to position a slum child as Prime Minister of India.
• The Emperor's Riddles by Satyarth Nayak features popular episodes from Chanakya's life.
• Kauṭilya's role in the formation of the Maurya Empire is the essence of a historical/spiritual novel Courtesan and the Sadhu by Mysore N. Prakash.[56]
• Chanakya's contribution to the cultural heritage of Bharat (in Kannada) by Shatavadhani Ganesh with the title Bharatada Samskrutige Chanakyana Kodugegalu.[57]
• Pavan Choudary (2 February 2009). Chanakya's Political Wisdom. Wisdom Village Publications Division. ISBN 978-81-906555-0-7., a political commentary on Chanakya
• Sihag, Balbir Singh (2014), Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics, Vitasta Publishing Pvt.Ltd, ISBN 978-81-925354-9-4
• Radhakrishnan Pillai has written a number of books related to Chanakya — "Chanakya in the Classroom: Life Lessons for Students",[58] "Chanakya Neeti: Strategies for Success", "Chanakya in You", "Chanakya and the Art of War", "Corporate Chanakya",[59] "Corporate Chanakya on Management" and "Corporate Chanakya on Leadership".[60]

See also

• Rajamandala

References

1. Trautmann 1971, p. 21.
2. Trautmann 1971, p. 12.
3. Mabbett, I. W. (1964). "The Date of the Arthaśāstra". Journal of the American Oriental Society. American Oriental Society. 84 (2): 162–169. doi:10.2307/597102. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 597102.
4. Transaction and Hierarchy. Routledge. 9 August 2017. p. 56. ISBN 978-1351393966.
5. L. K. Jha, K. N. Jha (1998). "Chanakya: the pioneer economist of the world", International Journal of Social Economics 25 (2–4), p. 267–282.
6. Waldauer, C., Zahka, W.J. and Pal, S. 1996. Kauṭilya's Arthashastra: A neglected precursor to classical economics. Indian Economic Review, Vol. XXXI, No. 1, pp. 101–108.
7. Tisdell, C. 2003. A Western perspective of Kauṭilya's Arthashastra: does it provide a basis for economic science? Economic Theory, Applications and Issues Working Paper No. 18. Brisbane: School of Economics, The University of Queensland.
8. Sihag, B.S. 2007. Kauṭilya on institutions, governance, knowledge, ethics and prosperity. Humanomics 23 (1): 5–28.
9. Namita Sanjay Sugandhi (2008). Between the Patterns of History: Rethinking Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-549-74441-2. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
10. Trautmann 1971, p. 11.
11. Trautmann 1971, p. 16.
12. Trautmann 1971, pp. 18.
13. Trautmann 1971, p. 29.
14. Trautmann 1971, p. 31–33.
15. Trautmann 1971, pp. 41–43.
16. Varadpande 2005, p. 223.
17. Upinder Singh 2016, p. 30.
18. Trautmann 1971, p. 43.
19. Trautmann 1971, p. 5:"the very last verse of the work... is the unique instance of the personal name Vishnugupta rather than the gotra name Kautilya in the Arthashastra."
20. Trautmann 1971, p. 10:"while in his character as author of an Arthashastra he is generally referred to by his gotra name, Kautilya."
21. Mabbett 1964: "References to the work in other Sanskrit literature attribute it variously to Vishnugupta, Chanakya and Kautilya. The same individual is meant in each case. The Panchatantra explicitly identifies Chanakya with Vishnugupta."
22. Trautmann 1971, p. 67:"T. Burrow ("Cāṇakya and Kauṭalya", Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 48–49, 1968, p. 17 ff.) has now shown that Cāṇakya is also a gotra name, which in conjunction with other evidence makes it clear that we are dealing with two distinct persons, the minister Cāṇakya of legend and Kauṭilya the compiler of the Arthashastra. Furthermore, this throws the balance of evidence in favor of the view that the second name was originally spelt Kauṭalya, and that after the compiler of the Arth came to be identified with the Mauryan minister, it was altered to Kauṭilya (as it appears in Āryaśūra, Viśākhadatta and Bāna) for the sake of the pun. We must then assume that the later spelling subsequently replaced the earlier in the gotra lists and elsewhere.'"
23. Trautmann 1971, p. 13.
24. rautmann 1971, p. 14.
25. Trautmann 1971, p. 15.
26. Trautmann 1971, p. 28.
27. Upinder Singh 2016, p. 331.
28. Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (1988). Age of the Nandas and Mauryas. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 148. ISBN 978-81-208-0466-1.
29. Trautmann 1971, p. 22.
30. Trautmann 1971, p. 23.
31. Trautmann 1971, p. 24.
32. Trautmann 1971, p. 25.
33. Motilal Banarsidass (1993). "The Minister Cāṇakya, from the Pariśiṣtaparvan of Hemacandra". In Phyllis Granoff (ed.). The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jaina Literature. Translated by Rosalind Lefeber. pp. 204–206. ISBN 9788120811508.
34. Hemachandra (1891). Sthavir̂aval̂i charita, or, Pariśishtaparvan. Translated by Hermann Jacobi. Calcutta: Asiatic Society. pp. 67–68.
35. Rice 1889, p. 9.
36. Trautmann 1971, p. 31.
37. Trautmann 1971, p. 32.
38. Trautmann 1971, pp. 36–37.
39. Varadpande 2005, pp. 227–230.
40. Trautmann 1971, p. 37.
41. Trautmann 1971, p. 38.
42. Trautmann 1971, p. 39.
43. Trautmann 1971, p. 40.
44. Kautilya's Arthashastra (PDF). Translated by Shamasastry, R. 1905. Retrieved 23 August2020.
45. Sri Chanakya Niti-shastra; the Political Ethics of Chanakya Pandit Hardcover. Translated by Miles Davis and V. Badarayana Murthy. Ram Kumar Press. 1981. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
46. Srinivasaraju, Sugata (27 July 2009). "Year of the Guru". Outlook India. Retrieved 17 March2018.
47. Paul Halsall. Indian History Sourcebook: Kautilya: from the Arthashastra c. 250 BC Retrieved 19 June 2012
48. "India needs to develop its own doctrine for strategic autonomy: NSA". The Economic Times. NEW DELHI. Press Trust of India. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
49. Yelegaonkar, Dr Shrikant. Chanakya's Views on Administration. Lulu.com. p. 8. ISBN 9781329082809.
50. Ray, Dwijendralal (1969). "Bhumika: Aitihasikata" [Preface: Historic References]. In Bandyopadhyay, Sukumar (ed.). Dwijendralaler Chandragupta [Chandragupta by Dwindralal] (in Bengali) (4th ed.). Kolkata: Modern Book Agency. pp. Preface–10–14.
51. Chanakya Chandragupta (1977), 25 August 1977, retrieved 24 May 2017
52. Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen: Ancient Indian Economic Thought, Relevance for Today, ISBN 81-316-0125-0, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 2008
53. B. K. Chaturvedi (2001). Chanakya. Diamond Pocket Books. ISBN 978-81-7182-143-3. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
54. Raj Kumar Sen & Ratan Lal Basu (eds): Economics in Arthashastra, ISBN 81-7629-819-0, Deep& Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2006
55. Srinivasaraju, Sugata (27 July 2009). "Year of the Guru". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
56. The Courtesan and the Sadhu, A Novel about Maya, Dharma, and God, October 2008, Dharma Vision, ISBN 978-0-9818237-0-6, Library of Congress Control Number: 2008934274
57. "Bharatiya Samskrutige Chanakyana Kodugegalu Part 1 – Shatavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh — Spiritual Bangalore". spiritualbangalore.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
58. "Chanakya in the Classroom: Life Lessons for Students". Rupa Publications. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
59. Sethi, Vinay (December 2015). "Corporate Citizen". corporatecitizen.in. Retrieved 6 February2021.
60. "Books - Radhakrishnan Pillai". http://www.crossword.in. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

Bibliography

• Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1988) [first published in 1966], Chandragupta Maurya and his times (4th ed.), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0433-3
• Rice, B. Lewis (1889), Epigraphia Carnatica, II: Inscriptions and Sravana Belgola, Bangalore: Mysore Government Central Press
• Singh, Upinder (2016), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Education, ISBN 978-93-325-6996-6
• Trautmann, Thomas R. (1971), Kauṭilya and the Arthaśāstra: a statistical investigation of the authorship and evolution of the text, Brill
• Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (2005), History of Indian Theatre, Abhinav, ISBN 978-81-7017-430-1

External links

• Kautilya Arthashastra English translation by R. Shamasastry 1956 (revised edition with IAST diacritics and interwoven glossary)
• Chanakya Nitishastra: English translation by Miles Davis.

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Part 1 of 4

Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism
by Lama Taranatha
Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.
1944
Ramakrishna Vedanta Math

Highlights:

The German translation of Lama Taranatha's first book on India called The Mine of Previous Stones (Edelsteinmine) was made by Prof. Gruenwedel the reputed Orientalist and Archaeologist on Buddhist culture in Berlin. The translation came out in 1914 A.D. from Petrograd (Leningrad).

The German translator confessed his difficulty in translating the Tibetan words on matters relating to witchcraft and sorcery. So he has used the European terms from the literature of witchcraft and magic of the middle ages viz. 'Frozen' and 'Seven miles boots.'

He said that history in the modern sense could not be expected from Taranatha. The important matter with him was the reference to the traditional endorsement of certain teaching staff. Under the spiritual protection of his teacher Buddhaguptanatha, he wrote enthusiastically the biography of the predecessor of the same with all their extravagances, as well as the madness of the old Siddhas.

The book contains a rigmarole of miracles and magic….

"He acquired all Siddhis: the globule Siddhi, the eye-ointment, the sword-Siddhi, further all power to destroy and again to revive to life, and got complete power over all superhuman Yaksas and Nagas and especially received a Vajra-body which was created for him by the elixir of life. He became a giant on magic power and supernatural knowledge….

The king received the elixir of age and the Yaksas as his servants. He built five hundred temple-cloisters as the resting-place of the preachers. Later, he (acarya) dwelt on the Sriparvata for two hundred years long, surrounded by the Yaksis and remained there practising the Tantras till his subsequent beheading by the grandson of the king Udayana called Susukti or the mighty prince. As it is related, it took place, in his seventy years of age, when the 71st year was not complete as it was only half-year. The mother of the prince asked his son to beg of the head of the acarya as his father and acarya possessed magic by which his age would be as long as the acarya, and as the acarya had a Vajra-body he would not die. The mother wanted it for the good of the son. The prince went to Srlparvata and begged of the acarya for it. The head was cut off by a Kusa-stalk. A word was heard: 'I go from here towards Sukhavati, but will come back again and will rejoin the body.' Thereupon there were earthquake and famine for twelve years…

He was shown a mirror in which he saw himself roasting in hell-fire…

Then he asked a ferryman on the shore of the Ganges to take him to the other side; but it happened so that, he having no fare for the ferry, showed his pointing finger to the Ganga and the Ganga stood up straight. Thus he came to the other side. Then in Odica, he demanded brandy from a wine-selling woman and as this one said he must pay the bill, he began to chase the shadows of a sun-dial from the fields but which did not go away from there, so he pointed his finger towards the sun and held it as with a nail and drunk brandy. As he did not want to set it free, the clocks and the guards made mistake. The king who knowing that the Yogi wanted to show his power, gave the price for the brandy and prayed to him to let the sun loose…

As now the self-erected stone image of the Chandika slightly shaking began to move, there with a blow on the head, he went with head on her breast to the womb. People say that he is still there, kneeling in straight position, but his pair of ears are only to be seen…

This Yogi could not be destroyed in water, fire, by weapons and by poison…

He gave Siddhi to all men, and from animals to worms and disappeared in the Rainbow-body…

Once seeing him in the company of a common woman of the temple, the king ordered them to be burned. But out of the ashes, he reappeared as Heruka with gakti in a halo of brilliant rays. Thus, the people were surprised and became converts to Vajrayana…

He meditated and attained deep Samadhi on the bright Ray, built a hut near a door of a city in Udayana and worked jugglery with the king. He disappeared in celestial region by magic…

The boy and the girl changed themselves into Vajra and Ghanta, he took hold of them and flew to heaven…

There was a certain Mantravati experienced in the Mantras of Sahajasiddhi and magic-powers, she was a Hexe (witch). She wanted to destroy the acarya and his followers and attempted to seize him; but could find nothing but a piece of woollen-cloth (Kambala) on the spot where the acarya sat. The witch saw that this was a magic work of the acarya that he had transformed his own body into a woollen-cloth! ‘That must be torn off and everybody must eat a piece of it.' With these words she tore off the cloth and everybody (of her following) ate off a piece. Thereupon the acarya made himself again visible and cursed them all, and five hundred witches with Mantravati became five hundred sheep-headed Matrkas."…

As he showed his index-finger to the Linga, its head fell down to the foot, and as he looked at it, the body broke up in many pieces. Then, the whole world recognized that he had acquired Siddhi; and they trampled the idol on foot…

But the Tirthikas scolded the king, who ordered his men to cut off his head. But they could not do damage to the acarya inspite of their all sorts of weapons. Then, as the acarya clapped both of his hands, the palace broke into pieces, and he with his exorcising look made the people of the king benumbed and stiff…

Later he with five hundred peoples went to heaven…

One morning his mother saw the acarya in the king's fruit-garden. He was sitting at the foot of the trees and uttered the words: ‘Narikela Bhiksavo' and the fruits of the tree came by themselves to him. After having drunk the cocoanut water, he spoke: ‘Narikela Uparajahi’ and the fruits went up as before…

The king dug a groove in the earth and filled it with thorn-bushes, elephant and horse dung and threw the acarya there and covered him up. So the acarya showed a double function of his body: in Jalandhara he was wandering to work for the salvation of beings, and at the same time taught in Bengal…

In midnight appeared the man-eating Dakinis and Raksasas, everyone bound the body of a man and taking him away, put him before the shrine of the Matrkas, and made themselves ready to devour them. But as the monastery steward uttered the word: ‘Phat’ ([x]) and made dancing movements, the Dakinis and Raksasas became senseless and fell to the ground. The shrine of the Matrkas fell down into three pieces….

After religious discourses Jalandhari gave him a skullcup full of light…Finally he told them: 'Keep everything in the secrecy of your memory for three years, after it bring all the Tantra powers in function and you according to your wish will have holy life! And all will acquire the Siddhis.' Saying this he became invisible…The six Yogis received the Siddhi of immortality. …

All men were in doubt when once in a city of Bengal assembled hundred thousand men to see him, the acarya appeared with the Sakti pounding Sesame in the air above the ground about a man’s height. And as people asked him different questions, he gave answers in a song of his experience. It is narrated that the assembled people understood the sense and acquired the Siddhi. Thus he became famous as Siddha Tilli. After working for the salvation of all creatures for a long time, he went bodily to heaven….

Once during swimming he was eaten up by a fish, but having meditated the Mandala of Heruka he came out without any harm…

A Tirthika Yogi let two meteors fall from heaven. Both were black, and in the shapes of houses but with human heads. Acarya knowing these to be eye-illusions muttered Dharanis to annul them and both of them transformed themselves in little pieces of coals; then some of the Tirthikas showed a piece of art — as flames from the fire coming out of the body. But he put water on it and extinguished the fire. Thus all the attacks were parried each time and juggling works were defeated by the juggling works. In the end, the four leading teachers of the Tirthikas, by the magic-power of the acarya, were transformed into cats. Now the Buddhists increased very much in this country….

He mastered Tantras and collections over Sambara, Hevajra, Bhairava and four thrones. He lived two hundred years…

With the words: 'Go to Udayana' went up magically the acarya in heaven…

He disappeared again through the door of benediction of acarya Nandapala and emerged up in two and a half hundred years in the south. There he met acarya Asitaghana. This one was on the border of his second hundredth years when he met the acarya. Thereupon began the acarya to work with activity…

Then the Castellan smote him with a batan. The acarya blew a horn, thereby the stone statues of the temple of Jagannatha lost their extremities and organs and their former wonder powers…

There appeared the acarya magically doubling his body four times and consecrating simultaneously in all four temples. The Tirthikas came to confuse them (inmates of the convents), but they were defeated by greater exorcism…

He needed CandaIa girl ([x]) for the support of his magic, and got one by giving her parents gold procured miraculously as high as her stature. He reached the highest state of Mahamudra-siddhi. After he had written many text-books, bodily he flew up to the heaven like a Garuda-prince to the Ksetra of the Buddha-Aksobhya…

He was threatened by a Tirthika king who wanted to break his head. His head was cut off, but he put on a buffalo-head on his shoulders. He went to Harikela to preach. There exorcised a cat, hence he was called Bhiradi or Birali…

'He lived with Vajrayogini who looked like a she-dog before the world. Hence he was called Kukuri. This acarya took as a Yogi of Srivajrabhairava, the pose of a destroyer, and there was a history that a king of the Tajiks (Persian) with his elephants were reduced to dust…

On his way back to Jambudvipa the sea became stormy and thieves came there. Muttering the Dharanis [incantations] he threw down a handful of sand offering, brought the robbers and thieves in his power and the sea became calm…

Vikrtideva was a well-informed Bengali-Pandita. He went to Nalanda and busied himself much about Dharma and all the Upadesas. Though, when he left his motherland, he promised his original Guru to be a monk, he did it later, as he had desire of the flesh, took a wife and had three children: One boy and two girls. But in dream AvaIokitesvara said as he had broken the order of his Guru, he would die within three years of an infectious disease and would go to hell, he got very much frightened, cut himself off from his family and took vows. But the prophesy was fulfilled, after three years he got the contagion and died. There his acarya saw in his mind, how he was taken away by the beadles of the Yama, but five gods and Hayagriva with Aryavalokitesvara at their head struck the hell-beadles and Aryavalokitesvara shed tears and ran towards him to bring his body back. And while he was brought back visibly to the Parivara of the Arya, he came back to life again. As he had seen the face of Avalokitesvara, he had greater power, gained success in his spiritual dignity and the Siddhi…

Nagarjuna holding himself on the Dharanis of the 'air-wanderers' (Dakinis), brought two shoes from the tree-leaves which enabled him to go through the air. The one he concealed, he put on the other and flew to Vyali through the air. As he now demanded that the acarya must give him the gold-essence, Vyali answered thereupon: 'Give me thy shoe, that will be the worth of the gold-essence that I give to you!' Then many Upadesas for Quicksilver-essence, many hundred thousands, aye many millions of methods of Elixir and beyond it, the power of exorcism to make gold, he gave to Nagarjuna, and he gave him for it a shoe. Then he put on the hidden shoe and went to India through the air and furthered there very much the Upadesas of Life-elixir. In the country of Gandhara in the north was a mountain called Dhinkota in the district called Munindra. He wanted to change it into gold and silver, but Aryatara who knew that would bring the future generations to fight amongst themselves, prevented it and by her blessing changed it to salt. And today it is known by the Gandhara country Lati.1 [Perhaps the salt-range of western Punjab is meant here.] …

When the others had gone, the acarya came there to beg of his food. She brought all food to him and the acarya said: 'When thy relatives do not get irritated then give me much food till tomorrow morning, so that you can remain; but if you are angry, then tarry now while I put fire in the surrounding woods, then fly and come to me!' She took her little child and flew. As she arrived at the place of the acarya, he gave her the Elixir of life. Thereby she received a Vidyadhari-body and doubled motherhood. Thus she received in quick succession a large number of children. The acarya gave the Elixir to them also, and there arose three hundred descendants with Vidyadhara-bodies…

As the fisher was in deep contemplation, he had thrown out his angle and drew it, but the fish drew him in its interior and swallowed him. As he was meditating deeply over the power of Karma, he did not die. As the river Rohita1 [Is it the same as the river Lauhitya which now-a-days is called Brahmaputra?] that today in Tibetan called gTsan-po, had reached Kamarupa, there lay a small hill called Umagiri, while there Devesvara zealously gave the Upadesas to the penitent Uma, and the fish swam in that water. The fisher, lying in the belly of the fish, heard that, meditated over that Upadesa and had great benefit. As a fisher again caught that fish and killed it, a man was there. Earlier he died there as a king; thirteen years had just past that formerly a son was born to him. In the belly of the fish he had spent the rest twelve years….

As concerns the Siddha Karnari, he had been the king in the country of Mewar. Some years had passed that he took a beautiful wife with the name of Pingali. She was very dear to the heart of the king. In order to examine her, once he went alone to a wood and let the false news to be spread, that he had been eaten up by a tiger and thus had met his death. The queen Pingali died from grief, and her dead body was brought to the burning-place. The king did not go back to the city, but standing by the side of the dead queen he constantly wept: 'Alas, alas Pingala!' Thus eight years, thus twelve years had passed. Then came there Siddha Goraksa. Inadvertently he let an earthen vessel (Dipi) fall down from his hand and he broke it. Then he began to lament and remained standing with the complaint: ‘Alas, alas Dipi.' Then spoke the king: 'What for this foolish Yogi makes such a lament when his water-vessel is broken?' Then to make it clear that it deals about a stroke that contains an allusion upon the other, spoke the acarya: ‘There thou art a fool, as regards my broken pot, it remains to me indeed as my property. Stop your lament over Pingala who is no longer present as she is reduced to dust.' Then he recognized him as the acarya Goraksa and prayed to make him his disciple. He spoke to him: 'Throw away the kingship from you!' As he put away his kingship, he followed him as a disciple. At one time the acarya ordered that he had got appetite for flesh and spirituous things. As the disciple went to the town to buy flesh and brandy, a woman had exhibited six pieces of pork and six flasks of brandy. She said: 'As price I demand your right eye, I will not be drawn into any other bargain.' Then the disciple in order to bring the offering to his acarya, took out the right eye and gave it to her. Thereupon he brought the flesh and the brandy to his acarya. On query he narrated the matter to the acarya. The acarya then demanded the left eye which was given. Thereupon the acarya blessed him and in three years he got back his eyes like before. And in the same period he became a Mahasiddha….

As regards the Siddha Nago, he was called the naked because he did not have a thread as cloth on his body. When he stayed in the south, he came in the social-circle of the first wife of the king and gave her the Upadesas. The king was angry, cut off the five limbs of the acarya, and threw them off towards the sky. But these limbs came back again and were fitted in the body. As this happened seven times, the acarya in the end gave out a curse and the king's five limbs fell off by themselves, and then he died. But after a prayer for it he came back to life. Thus he showed his power. Then he disappeared towards the mountain Bhindapala and there he is still living without throwing off his mortal body…

Later on, during the occasion of his stay in the south there lying the mountain Khagendra, the king named Ramacanda of the country of Bhirva came out for a hunt. He saw a Gazelle staying on the corner of the mountain. He followed its tracks and when he had arrived at it, the Gazelle changed itself into a tiger. As he was startled a little, the animal emitting forth sparks ran away to a hut of leaves. As the king went there to search about it, there was a bright splendour of a shining Bhiksu. On the question: 'Who art thou?' and being asked twice, the acarya did not give any reply. In answer to the third time he said: 'Thou king of bad character, what sayest thou? I am a Yogi.’ Now he overcame him with three magical-looks. The king became an extraordinary believer and fell to his feet. Then the king’s companions came and they also fell to the feet of the acarya. He made them glad by preaching Dharma, and after he had allowed a young Brahmana to have a look in his heart, who produced many songs and dances and then became invisible… The disciple meditated and within a short time won the Siddhi of 'seven miles-boot.'..

By making a vow on Mahabodhi, they received the answer that the time was proper to act, in order to accomplish the tasks of terror. This was met by the acarya and his four companions at Jarikhanda. They revolved the wheel of Yamantaka; then within six months the Pathans and the Mogols were innerly shaken and in the east all the followers of the religion of the Turuskas were slain in battle. The Hindu king Manasing was taken prisoner…

In the interior of the palace there was a Linga terrible to look at, and it was established from the time of Arjuna. He treaded and danced on it and so his foot-prints were stamped on it. At this the king out of anger let six elephants be excited. In spite of the number of the elephants being six, who seized him with their trunks, he was not to be moved. As he threateningly raised his finger the stone image of the Chandika, which once was of great miraculous power, melt away just like a lump of butter in the heat of the sun. Still now this figure remains there without becoming a mass. Then the king recognised, that he had acquired the Siddhi, and threw himself on the ground….

Further was the Turuska king from the country of Canka. He went on the street near the place where the acarya sat. As he used many abusive language to the acarya and this was heard by one of his disciples, he gave out the curse: ‘You all be dumb.' And the king and his people became dumb on the very spot. Then they were frightfully afraid and prayingly applied themselves to the acarya. Then he said: ‘To testify the power of the Bauddhas, all without exception you can speak again.' And thus it happened…

his body was changed into rainbow colours and his Jnanakaya clasped the heaven….

But this great Acarya brought in fourfold forms his tasks to end magically: Only through the word what he said took place, through the four glances of exorcism, in the midst of little refined congregations astonishment, and wonder-signs appeared on their faces and that he (in the Ganacakra) by the power of magic created thither flesh-balls, liquids, brandy and blood and the fruits of the woods…

At first he saw the face of Avalokitesvara and of that Hayagriva, then that of Manjusrl and Yamantaka, thereafter of Hevajra and of Kurukulli. He made Mahakali completely his servant, and he received everything what he ordered from the Six great Yoginis….

Man appointed time which was the fruit of the previous birth, lotus flowers and wheels (Cakras) came out in her hands and feet and thus as she was furnished with Laksanas, a prophesy came about her that when she could dwell, she would acquire Mahatmya. She heard that in a city of Marahata near Cavala dwelt the Mahacarya Santigupta. As soon as she heard his name, she felt a need for Samadhi and as soon as she saw his face, plunged into the complete Samadhi….By the Yoga, her power over the air became unparalleled. She could ascend up the sky for miles. She also acquired the four magical looks….

Here is written only on the basis of that which anywhere to be perceived from the histories prepared in India, and at that which is given in Tibet by the believing people, that was present from old times."

-- Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism, by Lama Taranatha, Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.

Lama Taranatha:

Tarantha, son of Namgyal P'un-ts'ogs. was born in Tsang on the 8th day of the pig-male-tree year, corresponding to 1573 A.D. and was called Kun-dgah SNyinpo, or "The essence of happiness". He studied in the Jonang monastery, north of Sakya under the religious name Taranath, an din his forty-first year built himself a monastery in the neighbourhood, which he named rTag-brten, and filled it with many images, books, and caityas. He laterly proceeded to Mongolia at the invitation of the people of that country, and founded there several monasteries under the auspices of the Chinese Emperor. He died in Mongolia, and was canonized under the title of "The Reverence Holiness," Je-tsun-dam-pa." -- From L. Austine Waddell: The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (1899), p. 70

Contents:

• SUBSTANCE OF INTRODUCTION
• PREFACE BY THE ENGLISH TRANSLATOR
• FOREWORD
• PUBLISHERS NOTE
• INSPIRATION I
• INSPIRATION II
• INSPIRATION III
• INSPIRATION IV
• INSPIRATION V
• HISTORY OF THE CONSECRATION OF VIKRAMASILA
• HISTORY OF CONVERSION IN NALANDA
• INSPIRATION VI
• INSPIRATION VII
• APPENDIX I
• INDEX

SUBSTANCE OF INTRODUCTION
by Gruenwedel

The German translation of Lama Taranatha's first book on India called The Mine of Previous Stones (Edelsteinmine) was made by Prof. Gruenwedel the reputed Orientalist and Archaeologist on Buddhist culture in Berlin. The translation came out in 1914 A.D. from Petrograd (Leningrad).

The German translator confessed his difficulty in translating the Tibetan words on matters relating to witchcraft and sorcery. So he has used the European terms from the literature of witchcraft and magic of the middle ages viz. 'Frozen' and 'Seven miles boots.'

He said that history in the modern sense could not be expected from Taranatha. The important matter with him was the reference to the traditional endorsement of certain teaching staff. Under the spiritual protection of his teacher Buddhaguptanatha, he wrote enthusiastically the biography of the predecessor of the same with all their extravagances, as well as the madness of the old Siddhas.

Prof. Gruenwedel said that the folklore exploited for this work is not small; it is especially noticeable in the text of the occasional news about the old ruins, temples and religion, about the destruction wrought by the followers of Islam, further the occasional informations about the relations between the Brahmanical gods and the Buddhist Bodhisattvas and divinities. Also, there are some informative mentioning about Further-India and the manifestation of Virupas in China. Perhaps here lies before us the ioonographic agreement of the Indian Siddhas with the Sen-nin representations.

As sources of Taranatha, he mentioned the Magadha-Panditas Indrabhadra, Indradatta and Bhataghadri instead of Bhataghati, the last two he mentioned at the end of History of Buddhism where Indrabhadra corresponds with his Ksemendrabhadra.

It seems Taranatha was much dependent on the Tibetan recipients regarding language, it is especially noticeable in connection with the proper names.

The English Translator

***

PREFACE BY THE ENGLISH TRANSLATOR

The book of Gruenwedel contains 212 pages of which 146 pages only cover the text. The English translation is an abstract of the text with the informative notes taken from the German translator. None of the names of the Siddhas mentioned in the text has been left out. The book contains a rigmarole of miracles and magic. Hence the important parts of the stories about the Siddhas have only been selected, else there is a repetition of the same nature. The English translator has tried to be literal, only in a few places where abstract and free translations have been made he has marked it within brackets as —('Translator)'.

The book is translated into English in an abstract form as in these days of reawakening of Indian culture, the Indian historian and the sociologist may find information in Taranatha's books regarding Buddhist India. By perusing the Tibetan books translated into English and German it seems to the translator that all the Tibetan writers on India have used common source for their informations regarding Indian history. And in some of these books, the authority of the Indian book Aryamanjusrl-Mulakalpa (translated by K. P. Jayaswal as An Imperial History of India) is quoted viz. the age of Panini is given as contemporaneous with Mahapadmananda of Magadha.

FOREWORD

In going through Taranatha's books it becomes evident that he never came to India. His knowledge of Indian geography was not clear, he made mistakes about the names of persons, geographical positions of different places etc. Further, it is clear from his writings that much of what he called Siddhis were knowledge of alchemy, witchcraft and Blackmagic.

Again in perusing this book one will find out the process by which Mahayana Buddhism has gradually amalgamated itself with the Brahmanism of later days which will account for the disappearance of the former from India. Indeed the Siddhis, the Sadhanas and the beliefs mentioned in his writings are still extant amongst the Hindus of present day.

The abstract translation is presented to the public sp that the research student may gather some informations which may throw some further light on the history and sociology of India of that time. Again, the book containing some Indian words expressed by the Siddhas may help the philologist in his investigation regarding the languages of the period. As regards the sociological and other information culled out from this book the following are pointed out:

(1) That India had connection with the outside world at the period dealt by Taranatha.

(2) The sorcery practised in India and Europe had common forms.

(3) The nature of the story of seeing in magic-mirror was common in both the places.

(4) Pa is the Tibetan contraction of the Sanskrit word Pad or Pada.

(5) Karmaru is the Tibetan contraction of the Indian name Kamarupa.

(6) Odivisa is Orissa, Otantapuri is Odantapuri. Udyana or Udayana is Udyana (today's Cabul and Swat valley).

(7) Some of the Buddhist Siddhas carried Jata (long matted hair) on their heads.

(8) Taranatha spoke of the existence of Citizens'—‘Gild’ of that period.

(9) The use of sun-dial existed in that period.

(10) Women used to sell brandy in those days.

(11) The book contains instances of inter-caste marriages.

(12) The wretched condition of the field-worker (peasant) in India was notorious even in those days and known to the outside world.

(13) The word 'Dinar' the Indian form of the Roman coin 'Dinarius', which was used in Sanskrit literature, still persisted in the time when Taranatha wrote this book.

(14) The book mentions a Ksatriya-Pandita as a purohita (priest) of a king. This reminds us of the practice of the Vedic age. It lends further strength to the proof that the priesthood has not always been the sole monopoly of the Brahmanas.1 [(1) The investigators say that in some parts of India non-Brahmanas still act as priest (vide N. N. Vasu: The Ethnology of the Kayasthas)]

(15) The book mentions the employment of Tajik (Persian) soldiers in the service of a Raja of Maru (Rajputana).

(16) From the list of the names of the Siddhas it will be found out that some of them were of so-called low castes.

BHUPENDRANATH DATTA
3, Gour Mohan Mukherjee Street,
Calcutta, April 1944

THE PUBLISHER'S NOTE

For the first time this book is now translated into and published in English from German. Originally this book was written in Tibetan by Lama Taranatha and translated into German by the great scholar Prof. A. Gruenwedel. Dr. Bhupendranath Datta, the eminent research scholar in the fields of the Comparative History and Anthropology, has spared no pains to present to the reading public an English rendering from its German version. Besides being wonderfully proficient in the World History and Anthropology, his intimate knowledge in German, French and some other languages of the Continent is well-known to the learned section in India and abroad. We have no hesitation to believe that this faithful English translation from the gifted pen of Dr. Datta will be appreciated by all readers. This book opens a sealed chapter on the religio-sociological history of Buddhist India. We offer our sincere thanks to Dr. Datta for giving us kind permission to publish this important volume.

We would express our gratitude to Swami Sadananda Giri for allowing us to print the pictures of Bodhisattva, Bhairava, Ganesa and Prajnaparamita in this book. These were published in his valuable book: Javadwipa. We are also greatly indebted to Sj. Ajita Ghose for lending us two other blocks of Vajra-Sarasvati and Atisa Dipankara. The pictures are arranged in the first page in this order” (1) Vajra-Sarasvati (A Tibetan painting) and (2) Atisa Dipankara, and in the second page (1) Boddhisattva, (2) Bhairava, (3) Ganesa (Tantric), and (4) Prajnaparamita.

15-8-44
Ramakrishna Vedanta Math
19B, Raja Rajkrishna Street,
Calcutta

MYSTIC TALES OF LAMA TARANATHA: INSPIRATION I

"Here follows a narration, which is equal to a precious jewel as it is rich in wonders, and which is endowed with seven holy inspirations, while the Jatakas contains the list of former teachers.

I bow to the feet of my holy teachers. After testifying my reverence to the bands of the Gurus who following one after another exercised the life-bringing path of Vajradhara to all living beings, it was my task to glorify their lives-career as far as possible in a Sutra. For although itself a perfect one, the tongue of which had the power to work wonders, it would be impossible to execute the fame of these men in hundred ages, yet at the command of my Guru this book is written.

As I through the presence of our teacher, the holy one, who carried the name of Buddhaguptanatha, and in remembering the Bauddhas of three ages, was entrusted with the task to unite properly all words from prose and verse in the sea of theme-building; while I tried to keep myself everywhere within the jurisdiction of his power, where it was only possible on the power of his holy words, and there also preceded the presence of my great Siddha Guru himself, who through his holiness is a root-Guru, thus the people will be properly informed of the power, also of incorporeal power of commission of even of this man who himself has the fame to be graced with the seven inspirations of beatitudes. (P. 9).

What concerns the first inspiration was the Mahanmudra-Revelation. Its adept was Mahacarya Brahmana-Rahulabhadra born in the country of Odivisa. By caste he was a Bhahmana and from childhood was confided with the Vedas and with Vedangas. Going to Madhyadesa, he professed the doctrine of Buddha and gradually became a great Tripitaka-knowing Bhiksu. The teacher of this acarya was Sthavirakala, whose teacher was named the honoured Asvaghosa. Though the Gurus say that the teacher of the last had been Upagupta, yet it is difficult to make a judgment over the correctness of the ancient teacher-generations. But it is extolled in the context of Tibetan lists that he was the corporal student of the son (of Gautama) of Rahulabhadra. So it is sufficient to note here without further examination. Later, he became an abbot in Nalanda. Lastly he went to the south. Thus, in the country of Mahratta he saw the Yogini of the sphere of his work in the form of the daughter of an arrowsmith, who could extinguish the essence of his ego-existence. He knew Dharma thoroughly, gave at once the Mudra to the daughter of the arrow-smith and prosecuted the work of arrow-making while wandering in many countries. When his wisdom began to grow more, he received the name of Saroha, i.e., who is met with the arrow. Thus, came innumerable men with the king at the head, to see him, and they derided him. There in the posture of a Brahmana, the acarya sang 'ah hurra, indeed I am a Brahmana, I live with the daughter of an arrowsmith—caste or no caste, there I do not see any difference; I have taken the sworn vow of a Bhiksu, I go a-begging together with a woman—sin or no sin, I do not see any distinction.' 'Here is an impurity', thus doubted men amongst themselves, but could not recognize that the man is poisonous as a serpent. But after he had sung the Doha-Vajra songs the five times hundred thousand men with the king acknowledged excellently the aim of his action. As he now acquired a Vidyadhara-body, magically he went to heaven and finally became invisible." (pp. 10-12).

Here, the author states that this Brahmana Kahula and Sthavira Rahula are two different persons.—(Translator).

"His pupil was the acarya Nagarjuna. He was born in the south in Vidharbha, by caste he was a Brahmana. Finally he came to Nalanda. As his teacher Rahulabhadra advised him to mutter incessantly the Dharanis of the Amitayus so it was possible for him to live in peace. He became a monk there. There was nothing for him to learn, as neither Mahayana nor Hinayana-pitakas remained strange to him. Therefore, he exercised the Mahamayuri, the Kurukulli, the nine Yaksinis and the Mahakalas; he acquired all Siddhis: the globule Siddhi, the eye-ointment, the sword-Siddhi, further all power to destroy and again to revive to life, and got complete power over all superhuman Yaksas and Nagas and especially received a Vajra-body which was created for him by the elixir of life. He became a giant on magic power and supernatural knowledge. In various places he performed Siddhis of the sword and quicksilver-Siddhis. For the Sangha he created food materials as well, when the abbot Rahulabhadra was busying himself with the exorcism of Aryatara, Nagarjuna came to the abbey at that time. During this period there was a famine in Magadha for twelve years. Acarya performed a gold-tincture (Siddhi), and as far as this gold-tincture reached, the cornfields changed and there was no famine, hence the Sangha was not without bread.

Then he worked on many heretical handbooks viz. those which belonged to Veda-class; and fought with all enemies of Mahayana viz. Samkara, with the Bhiksus etc. refuted them, and as well as many dialectical polemical literature written by the Saindhava Sravakas. He collected all the copies and buried them under the ground. Later, once he fought with five hundred Tirthikas in the city of Jatasamjaya, lying in the south, he defeated them and won them over to the religion. Thus he made the Mahayana as brilliant as the sun. Then he wished to change the Ghantasaila and many mountains lying on the north viz. Dhinkota etc. into gold. Aryatara dissuaded him from it as it would bring quarrel over it in future. But it is said that many gold-mines are present there, and at least the stones show the colour of gold. Later, while journeying northward he seeing many boys playing, prophesied that a boy would be a king. Twelve years later, coming back to Jambudvipa from Uttarakuru he saw one of the boys as a king named Udayana who made reverences to him. As a consequence the king received the elixir of age and the Yaksas as his servants. He built five hundred temple-cloisters as the resting-place of the preachers. Later, he (acarya) dwelt on the Sriparvata for two hundred years long, surrounded by the Yaksis and remained there practising the Tantras till his subsequent beheading by the grandson of the king Udayana called Susukti or the mighty prince. As it is related, it took place, in his seventy years of age, when the 71st year was not complete as it was only half-year. The mother of the prince asked his son to beg of the head of the acarya as his father and acarya possessed magic by which his age would be as long as the acarya, and as the acarya had a Vajra-body he would not die. The mother wanted it for the good of the son. The prince went to Srlparvata and begged of the acarya for it. The head was cut off by a Kusa-stalk. A word was heard: 'I go from here towards Sukhavati, but will come back again and will rejoin the body.' Thereupon there were earthquake and famine for twelve years. As the prince was afraid of the rejoining of the body he threw the head many miles distant from the place of beheading. A Yaksi took up the head, and the Yaksi Ksitipati built a temple over the head and body. My Lama has seen and narrated the following: This temple whose walls are formless and seem to be like rocks is a wonderwork. The outside of it is steep and there is no way to it. (pp. 14-19).

His disciple was Mahasiddha Savaii. When Nagarjuna was staying in Bengal, a dancing-master brought there children (brother and sisters) from the east. He called them and showed the figure of Bodhisattva Maharatnamati. As the dancing-master wanted to see also, he was shown a mirror in which he saw himself roasting in hell-fire. He wanted to be saved and was asked to meditate on Sambara. After his meditation, he recognized the original cause of his soul and recognized the face the Bodhisattva Maharatnamuni. Then Nagarjuna told him that as he now got power he should go to the south (Sriparvata), live the life of a hunter and create the good of the creatures. The both sisters Logi and Guni got their Mudra names as Dakini Padmavati and Jnanavati. He lived with them outwardly a sinner. He got the grace of Vidyadhara and became famous as Savarl.

This acarya is also called the younger Saroha. The disciple of this acarya was Lui-pa (Luipada) whose disciple was Dombi, whose was Tilly, his Naro, his younger Dombi, his Kusalibhadra (pp. 19-20). There were series of schools, Luipa, Darika and Antara built also another series which began with Tilo.

Luipa was a writer of the king of Udayana in the west named Samanta Subha. Once he met Mahasiddha Savari who together with him sang a song, and received Abhiseka and Tantras from the latter. Once he went to a cremation place (lit. field of corpses), sat himself in the rows of the Dakinis and made himself master of the inn (lit. a publican) and therefrom he distributed the flesh of seven corpses. As he had now received Vajravarahi in exorcism-Mandala of Abhiseka, he said: 'Kicking with outstretched foot I destroy the slavery of Samshara, Vajrasattva is a greater king, more and more again one should set himself to business.' Later, he perceived that it would be necessary to meditate without disturbance. On that account, he went to the east, to Bengal, and when he saw on the bank of the Ganges, a hill made of heaps of fish-entrails, he meditated there for twelve years, ate the fish-entrails and acquired the Mahamudrasiddhi.

He also converted miraculously the king and minister of Orissa. Thereupon, the king got the name of Darika or Dari, the servant of Hetaera, the minister, the name of Denki (rice-husking mill). He worked on the Denki of a brandy-selling woman, (pp. 19-23).

Another disciple of Savari was Maitri or Maitrigupta. He was a Tirthika-Pandita and a Brahinana. Later he met Naro and himself joined with the Bauddhas, received Abhiseka and Upadesa and became a monk of Nalanda. Getting instructions from many great and learned Gurus like Ratnakarasanti, he became a great Pandita and dwelt in the monastery of Vikramasila. Though he carried on the profession of a Pandita and practised no exorcism, he beheld Vajrayogini personally. Once as he did not properly recognize his own nature he got a prophesy. Consequently he went to Siparvata to see Savari. In his journey towards the south he met the prince Sagara. Both went, towards Sriparvata and asked everybody where was the old Siddha Savari. They travelled for a half-year in this way. But as the head hair (Jata) of Savari was lousy and possessed by nits, both the Saktis were busying in removing these things. Maitri for a moment was staggered, but the prince fell down at his feet. As the words resounded: 'Aya Jara Valahu,’ Maitri became at once free, received a rainbow body and faith arose in his heart. But as again he saw that both the women were killing swines, roes and peacocks, he again became a little unbeliever; but with the snapping of the fingers everything disappeared. Now he was given Abhiseka, all the Upadesas and commenting advices being bestowed, the wisdom of knowing the region of his work dawned to him. He became the master of a number of Suras and Dakinis, won the eight Siddhis, the sword-Siddhi etc. But as Savari again demonstrated to him some jugglery, he cried out; 'why must you make these jugglery, rather explain to me the basis of the region of my work' and went at once back to Madhyadesa.

People say that he came to Tibet. It is clear that the Tibetans are not oriented over the mainpoints of his life."

Here follows discussion over the Tibetan tradition—(Translator).

"In his seventieth year of age he left his body after receiving the Mahamudra in the meantime. In the time when acarya Naro had left the body, he had appeared as the leader of the healer of the souls. People owe him still greater advancement than equalling him with the greatest. As in Aryadesa at that time there was no aim which the people could follow, he worked in the northern countries of Nepal and Tibet with greater success. He had four great disciples: Sahajavajra or Natekana, Sunyatasamadhi or Devakara Candra, Ramapala, and Vajrapani known also as 'Indian Pani'. The first two and the fourth received corporeal Vidyadharis. Ramapala of the school of Nandapala who made commentaries on the books on Abhisekas was born in Karnata as a Brahmana. He knew the Vedas. Maitri taught him for twelve years. He had in his possession a goddess or a Yoginl who possessed the power of a Sakti. To him prayed acarya Kusalibhadra the younger and Asitaghna for Mahamudra instructions.

Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone the first chapter over the occasion of Mahamudra-Tradition." (pp. 23-28).

INSPIRATION II

"Now comes the second inspiration which comes from the goddess Chandika, but as there was no Upadesakas of Chandika, the inspiration worked magicaliy.

One of the Siddhas was Virupa. There is no proof to show that he had a Guru by a separate person. He applied himself one day personally to Vajrayogini when this acarya Panditabhisu was in Nalanda. He allowed himself the pleasure of drinking brandy, cohabited with a woman and was driven out of the monastery by the Sangha. Then he asked a ferryman on the shore of the Ganges to take him to the other side; but it happened so that, he having no fare for the ferry, showed his pointing finger to the Ganga and the Ganga stood up straight. Thus he came to the other side. Then in Odica, he demanded brandy from a wine-selling woman and as this one said he must pay the bill, he began to chase the shadows of a sun-dial from the fields but which did not go away from there, so he pointed his finger towards the sun and held it as with a nail and drunk brandy. As he did not want to set it free, the clocks and the guards made mistake. The king who knowing that the Yogi wanted to show his power, gave the price for the brandy and prayed to him to let the sun loose. Three days after he went away in the morning.

After that, as the sacrifice festival of a king of Trilinga was being made, he consumed the first offerings of the Tirthikas, but he made no reverence thereby. As the king and his people protested to him, he bowed but all the statues of the gods of the Tirthikas broke into pieces. There the prince of the gods was a Linga form, a limb consisting of four faces called Visvanatha, established by the people of the citizen-gild, and this one was also broken into four pieces. After that, he went to Dakinipatha in the house of the Tirthika-Ganas. Though lots of persons were there, the Trisula was held by him as the main-article for slaughter and the witches already built Ganas to the flesh (offering?) of Siva, there the acarya clapped his hands and the Trisula broke. As now the self-erected stone image of the Chandika slightly shaking began to move, there with a blow on the head, he went with head on her breast to the womb. People say that he is still there, kneeling in straight position, but his pair of ears are only to be seen. He ordered her, not to bring any living being to destruction.

Now it is onesided opinion of the Tibetans, that this Dakinipatha lay in the south, but it seems that, it was in eastern India. Further it is also said that the converter of the goddess had been Goraksa.

"As after that he went to Sorasta, there was a self-erected (Sayambhu?) stone image of Mahesvara called Somanatha, very strong in miracles. As he thereby did not wish to break it, he with his pointing finger proved that the figure of Avalokitesvara had appeared on the statue. Some say that it has been the figure of Marichi." Then followed further miracles.—(Translator).

"Sometime later as he lived in the time of king Ramapala and carried the name of Siro, he rendered all possible help to the living creatures in Madhyadesa. As he washed his own feet, Vanvadala, the elephant of king Ramapala drank the water, then went to the battle and was victorious over a hundred Mleccha-princes."

Later, once in the country of Gaur stood a Yogi over the pillows of a Tajik prince, when he awoke. This Yogi could not be destroyed in water, fire, by weapons and by poison. Then the king recognized that he had acquired the Siddhi and asked him: 'Who art thou?" He answered: 'I am Virupa'. Then he gave instructions to some who acquired lower Siddhis. In Bengal he stayed for four months enjoying all Siddhis; but where he went afterwards no body knows. There is an especial instance when he appeared magically in China. People say that Virupa appeared thrice in the human world. This acarya was named by the people, as Sri-dharmapala. but he was not identical with Sthavira Dharmapala who was an abbot of Nalanda. (pp. 28-31).

His disciple was the man who appeared in Odiyana as Kalavirupa. He was scarcely born in the Brahmana caste, when the Brahmana astrologers told his parents that he would commit four mortal sins. Later, he committed four sins: murder of a Brahmana, killing a cow, sleeping with mother, drink which degrades a Brahmana. Then he wandered in all Brahmana and Buddhist temples and cloisters, but could not be absolved of sin. Then he met Jalandhari, and getting precept from Vajravarahi was absolved of his sin. (pp. 31-33).

With Virupa the younger was Vyadhali. He was originally of the bird catching family (Vyadhali). He received Mudrasiddhi in twelve years, (pp. 33-34).

He taught Kusalibhadra, he was Chandrika Tantrika, Further Virupa gave instructions to Dombi-Heruka. It is known in Tibet that he is identical with the acarya of this name. But, it seems he was a king in the eastern laying country of Tripura (p. 34). The acarya went and gave Abhiseka and Upadesa to the king who meditated on his Tattva and got the second grade of knowledge. He recognized that he could make exorcism and as a proof worked on a Mudrika who was of the Hetaera class. She become his Padmini. This became known to the public who said the king's family was disgraced. He was driven out of his kingdom by the minister and subjects. As he practised Vidya-asceticism, wandered in woods and fields and therefore got the name of Dornbi. Thus, Dombi is one who goes with a Hetaera. Later, there was famine in the kingdom, and the virtuous king with her Sakti riding as a tigress standing on a She-Yak and himself sewed with poisonous snakes came there. The people recognized that he had become a Siddha. They became his disciples. They became Tantrikas and acquired Siddhis (pp. 34-35).

Further, in a country called Radha commonly called Rada, there lived a king who did lots of injury to the religion of Buddha, but was very much afraid of tigers and serpents. The acarya worked wonders and told him: 'If you do not yourself accept the religion of Buddha, then I will bring to you these poisonous snakes.' And all accepted the religion of Buddha. Thus he made an end of the continuation of the Tirthika-religion in the country of Rara.[ Lastly, he went to sleep in his corporal form in heaven. (pp. 36-37).

His disciples were the Yoginis of the Dombi-system. Acarya Alalavajra, Hemalavajra and Ratavajra were from Madhyadesa. There were also others: Krsnacari, acarya Garvari, Jayasri, and Durjayacandra. (pp. 37-38).

Rahubhadra and others touched the feet of this acarya and acquired subtleties of Siddhi. Thus Mahasiddha Dombi taught a Hetaera, and this one to Ratavajra, and he to Krsnacari, and this is a Tantra school. (pp. 38).

Rahulavajra was a Ksatriya and Vikramabhiksu Pandita. He meditated on the Guhya (esoteric) Tantras. (p. 39).

Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone, the second chapter: the occasion of Inspiration series of Candika." (p. 40).

INSPIRATION III

'Here follows the third Inspiration, the Karma-Mudra. The great king Indrabhuti was master in Guhya-Tantra.1 [1. Mahapandita Rahula Saukrtyana who is a great scholar of Buddhism tells the translator that there had been only one king Indrabhuti who was of Orissa (Odivisa). In that case Taranatha must have made a mistake in calling him the king of Udayana.] He was the king of Udayana who saw the materialized face of Buddha. He saw the Rsis, who formed the surroundings of the master, going and coming but forming no halting places. In answer from his minister he heard that they were the Sravakas of the great Rsi Buddha the Tathagata. The king wishing to realize Buddha, gave up the enjoyment of his five senses with his wives. Miraculously before him appeared an endless Mandala and the king received the Abhiseka. Tathagata gave him all the Tantras. He taught all population of Udayana and wrote the Tantras in book forms. He left the company of his wife and his own over-sensuous body and travelled from one Buddhaksetra to another. He gave Siddhi to all men, and from animals to worms and disappeared in the Rainbow-body, (pp. 40-42).

There was a dancing-girl from Srimat Sukha, who later became a Dakini, saw her (materialized) face again. She was called the Sahajasiddhi dancing-girl. (This Sahajasiddhi dancing-girl is identical with Sukhilalita in Taranatha's History of Buddhism pp. 210, 17). According to the commentary of Sahajasiddhi, she was the daughter of a king of a part of Udayana. When she grew up, once she went with a group of five hundred girls to a garden. There appeared Bodhisattva Vajrapani in a magic form of a Rsi. As he was seen by the girls, they raised a cry and ran away, taking him to be a demon on account of his Rsi's hair-dress (matted hair). But the dancing-girl said: 'Don't you fear' and she having a look at him went into Samadhi. Then she and her five hundred maidens bowed to his feet and he blessed them by putting his hand on their vertex. Then he preached to them with the words: 'May you all be Yoginis.' They, according to their Tattvas, attained the ten Sarvadarsana-dharmas. (pp. 42-43).

After she preached to Mahapadmavajra, this one to Anangavajra, and to the swine-keeping woman, this one to the Padmavajra Saroruha the junior, this one to Indrabhuti the junior, this one to Krsncari, this one to Kalyananatha, this one to Amitavajra, this one to Kusalibhadra. (p. 43).

Mahapadmavajra was born in a Brahmana caste in the western country of Maru. After knowing the Tripitakas and all the teaching books he went to Udayana, and saw the (materialized) personal face of Vajrasattva. In order to get Abhiseka he went to the divine dancing-girl. There he wrote many Tantras for the mystery of Guhya collections and informations on four Mudras. He also wrote a manual called Guhyasiddhi. (pp. 43-44).

Now follows Anangavajra. He belonged to a caste of a low occupational order. He meditated for twelve years on the Kotamba mountain according to the advice of his teacher Padmavajra. The advice he got from his Guru was: Put yourself in touch with the swinekeeping woman by keeping swine and then step by step you will be a Vajrasattva.' He began to keep swine in a city of north Udayana, healed many persons and became famous as the holy swine-keeper. (p. 44).

His disciple was the acarya Saroruha belonging to the Kstriya caste. As he was a great Pandita and knew the sciences and many Guhya-Tantras, he became the sacrificing priest (Purohita) of the king. Once seeing him in the company of a common woman of the temple, the king ordered them to be burned. But out of the ashes, he reappeared as Heruka with gakti in a halo of brilliant rays. Thus, the people were surprised and became converts to Vajrayana (cult). The king also with five hundred people acquired the Siddhi. Later the acarya went in the neighbourhood of Maru. Seeing the miraculous power of the acarya, the king professing the Tirthika religion accepted the religion of Buddha. A temple of Heruka was built, and it was solemnly predicted of him that if he gave up his vows and wanted to see the veiled figure, he would die by spitting blood. But when later, he wanted to destroy it with his Tajik (Iranian) soldiers, twelve Tajik cavalrymen fell down at the same time and he became insane. But the acarya brought immense blessing to all creatures and acquired the Siddhi of Hevajra. (pp. 45-49).

His disciple was king Indrabhuti the junior. But as he himself ordered to narrate the burning of the acarya, his life-history was not completely described. It was written as an occasional comment on the margin of the history of Kambala."

Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone, the third chapter on the occasion of information of hundred Karma-series." (p. 49).

[admin]

Part 2 of 4

INSPIRATION IV

As regards the Inspiration of bright Rays, it was acarya Vajraghanta who in Udayana worshipped personally Vajrayogini and her suit. And concerning the old series of teachers, it was Mahacarya Asvapada who reached the Mahamudrasiddhi.

He meditated and attained deep Samadhi on the bright Ray, built a hut near a door of a city in Udayana and worked jugglery with the king. He disappeared in celestial region by magic. (pp. 49-50).

Now prayed the king and his people to his disciple Vinapada for Upadesas. This acarya originally was of royal descent. He acquired immense Siddhi. (p. 50).

His disciple was the brandy-selling woman Vilasyavajra. As the king was a believer in Tirthika-doctrine, she advised the acarya Dombi-Heruka to convert the king by threatening him with snakes. The serpent surrounded the palace of the king, and said to the king: "As the Tirthika acarya cannot protect thee, thou seekest the help of Dombi-Heruka." The acarya drove away the poisonous snakes under the earth. The king and his surrounding people began to believe on the Buddhas. As Dombi and Vinapada both saw that the brandy-selling woman was a worthy subject to be a disciple, they gave her Abhiseka and Upadesas. She acquired powers and honour of a Yogini. The Queen Laksmikara gave her Mahasukha-Upadesas. As she served the living beings in innumerable ways, she became famous under the name of Yogini Cinta. (pp. 50-51).

Vajraghanta also got learning from her. This acarya was of royal blood from a country name Odivisa and became a monk in Nalanda. He received the name of Srimatigarbha. Later he became a great, scholar, destroyed the opposition of the Tirthikas and became famous as 'Deva who triumphs over the enemies.' Once he had a high rank as an abbot of Nalanda, there he met Siddhi Darika.

After acquiring Siddhi he went to Udayana where he met the Yogini Vilasyavajra who had taken the form of a swine-keeper. She showed him the incomprehensible way of Mahamudrasiddhi. He inculcated all Tattvas and meditated in a thick forest near Odivisa. For a time, he took as his Mudrika a brandy-selling woman who possessed all the signs of a Padmini. After twelve years of meditation, the acarya received the honour of an adept of the highest Mahamudrasiddhi.

In order to keep the unbelievers at a distance and to determine the sphere of virtuous merit for the future creatures he put up a stone image of Avalokitesvara and to circulate further the Guhya-Tantras, he exorcised once a son and a daughter. Hearing this, the king ordered the brandy-selling woman to bring the acarya, As the acarya entered through the east door of the city, magically the acarya with Sakti appeared as Heruka with Sakti. The boy and the girl changed themselves into Vajra and Ghanta, he took hold of them and flew to heaven. This acarya had spread Vajrayana in all institutions of every country and had innumerable disciples who acquired Siddhi. (Pp. 51-53).

He gave lesson to Kambala. This acarya was a son of a king. His mother-country was in Udayana region, some say he had been from Odivisa. When he grew up, he became a monk in a temple-monastery and became learned in Tripitakas. Later, once he went towards the east, there he met acarya Vajraghanta. There he received the Abhiseka in Cakrasambhara and the Mandala of his accompanying gods. Then he reached the highest Prajna. As he went in the west in the country of the Dakinis, the Tirthika-Dakinis gave a flower-garland in his hand. As he took it, the Bauddha-Dakinis said: ‘O son, it was not good that thou hast taken the garland, they are Tirthika-Dakinis; as thou hast taken the flower-garland, thou must belong to them.’ Thereupon he said: Then you must give attention to it'. Then a settlement was made between the Tirthika and Bauddha-Yoginis that from whose flowers anybody would be hit first, to them would belong the concerning person.”

Then followed lots of magic wonders. — (translator).

“The attention of the Dakinis could not damage him. After that, the time came for the acarya to practise on the field of dead bodies; he went in the Smasana of five hundred Mantra-holding (Dakini-) princesses in the country of Udayana. There was a certain Mantravati experienced in the Mantras of Sahajasiddhi and magic-powers, she was a Hexe (witch). She wanted to destroy the acarya and his followers and attempted to seize him; but could find nothing but a piece of woollen-cloth (Kambala) on the spot where the acarya sat. The witch saw that this was a magic work of the acarya that he had transformed his own body into a woollen-cloth! ‘That must be torn off and everybody must eat a piece of it.' With these words she tore off the cloth and everybody (of her following) ate off a piece. Thereupon the acarya made himself again visible and cursed them all, and five hundred witches with Mantravati became five hundred sheep-headed Matrkas."

The transformed witches complained to the king, but the acarya made them disgorge the woollen-cloth. — (translator).

“As they ate up his body, he became known under the honourable name of Kambala. Then he gave Abhiseka to king Indrabhuti, who acquired Siddhi. Here closes from the history which is equal to a mine of precious stone, the fourth chapter on the narration of the working of brilliant Rays.” (Pp. 53-58).

Acarya Indrabhuti and Acarya Kambala both prayed with Siddha Jalandhari for the beatitude of the brilliant Rays.

As regards his country, he was born in a low-class in the city called Thatha, in Sindhu, in the country of the west. By the power of the reward of his virtues, he was rich in earthly pleasures. Later, he became a Bhiksu of a temple-monastery. Once as he was in contemplation over the Upadesas which he had received from acarya Kambala from his prayer, came a voice from the heaven: ‘Go thou to Udayana and meditate there; there willest thou acquire the eagerly desired Siddhi.’ Thereupon he went to Udayana, got lessons from the king Indrabhuti, the godly-lady Laksmikara and from the acarya Kacapada instructions in all Tantras; then for the period of meditation extending to ten days, he went to the Smasana, received open entrance to the Mandala of Sri-Heruka and Abhiseka from four Dakinis, and arrived at once at the grade of Mahamudrasiddhi. Thereafter, he engaged himself in every way for the salvation of living creatures whilst he was living in this country for a long time.

After this, the acarya lived in the country of Jalandhara, at the place where fire comes out between water and stones (Jvalamukhi in Kangri valley). As he lived there for a long time he received also the name of the country and was called as Siddha Jalandhari.

Once he was in the neighbourhood of Nepal, near a place where from a self-sprung Stupa a very miraculous Linga of Isvara has arisen; he built a hut and prayed there. This Isvara was possessed with supernatural eyes, and worked magically for the exhibition of his power by many small strokes and through acts of brutal cruelty, also he Kucalanatha, king Lilacandra further Amitavajra, prince Lavaji and others became indescribable lordly Yogisvaras and as they met later the Brahmana Sridhara and his followers, they acquired the Siddhi. Acarya Bhadra gave his teachings to Antara, he to the man who enjoyed the fame to be he appeared as the destroyer of the religion of the Bauddhas. To make him tractable, the acarya went there. At that time, three kings had assembled there for the worship of this Linga. The acarya went in the middle of hundred thousand men, and as he showed his index-finger to the Linga, its head fell down to the foot, and as he looked at it, the body broke up in many pieces. Then, the whole world recognized that he had acquired Siddhi; and they trampled the idol on foot.

Then, he went once to the country of Camparna. There was a king who wanted to destroy the monasteries. There appeared a Vina-player at the gate of the palace who wished to see the king. He was let in and he commenced to play in Vina and sang. As the king and his surrounding were amused at it, the Vina-player transformed himself into a Yogi. As the king noticed that he would be a Buddha who appeared as such (as he wanted) to cheat with his magic, the acarya spoke out the Bauddha-Tantras. But the Tirthikas scolded the king, who ordered his men to cut off his head. But they could not do damage to the acarya inspite of their all sorts of weapons. Then, as the acarya clapped both of his hands, the palace broke into pieces, and he with his exorcising look made the people of the king benumbed and stiff. The king fell at the feet and asked him praying: ‘What shall I do?’ The acarya answered: ‘In order to be free from your former sins, you must do something more, so that where there was one monastery, two must be established and must allow the local monks’ community to be doubled. And as long as you live, make an endowment to the Sanghas which would be sure for seven generations and make a copper plate grant to this purpose. The king acted accordingly.

Again, in the country of Malava was a king called Bhartahari, nowadays in people's language called Bharthari. He possessed eighteen thousand horses and ruled over wide territories; he also had a thousand wives. The acarya knew that the time has come to convert the king, he put him up in a place not far from the city."

Then followed a miracle. — (translator).

"The king asked the acarya to make him his disciple. He answered: ‘You leave your kingdom, make Avadhuti, then I can give instruction to you.' The king gave up everything, followed the acarya and received Upadesas, and shortly became a Yogesvara. Later he with five hundred peoples went to heaven.

As regards the former emanations the acarya had procured a boyish spirit, therefore, he was also called Balapada. As he wished once to convert the countries in the east, he took the figure of a Hadi — of a man who sweeps the streets in the city of Catigrama in Bengal. In this country the young king Gopicandra sat (on the throne) not very long ago. As he was very handsome, he was given himself much to the women. One morning his mother saw the acarya in the king's fruit-garden. He was sitting at the foot of the trees and uttered the words: ‘Narikela Bhiksavo' and the fruits of the tree came by themselves to him. After having drunk the cocoanut water, he spoke: ‘Narikela Uparajahi’ and the fruits went up as before.

As the mother of the king saw him doing this, she recognized that he has acquired the Siddhi. Then she considered that this would be the time to convert the king. Once in the presence of her son, tears came into her eyes. The king said: 'Oh mother! is there anything that can be done to thee?' She answered: 'When thou hast acquired ten times the umbrella ([x]) the power and clever understanding of your father, yet thou hast not got the law for escaping from death, that makes you clear that thou art self perishable'. Then the king answered: 'Is there no remedy for death?' Thereupon the mother said: 'Our street-sweeper possesses it.' Then went the king to the street-sweeper: 'Thou must give me the instruction so that no one must die.’ Then what he answered was: ‘When thou dost not give up thine throne, thou can never reach it.' Thereupon the king answered: 'As I have first prayed for instruction, later I will give up the kingdom.’ Then both of them went to a wood. There the acarya gave the king an empty earthen pitcher and said: ‘Put thine hand into it,' and as he put his hand into it, the acarya said: ‘Now tell me quickly what is there?' As the king answered that nothing was there, the answer he got was that the road to immortality was just like that. As the king asked three times and every time the acarya gave him the same information, the king was put out of temper and took him to be a cheat. The king dug a groove in the earth and filled it with thorn-bushes, elephant and horse dung and threw the acarya there and covered him up. So the acarya showed a double function of his body: in Jalandhara he was wandering to work for the salvation of beings, and at the same time taught in Bengal. Later, thereupon came the acarya Krsnacari to Kadaliksetra which in people’s mouth is called Kacali; as amongst the disciples of the acarya Krsnacari there were many who were Yogis, they gave opportunity to all with the words: ‘Awake, awake, it is the time to become the Siddha-disciples of Krsnacari'. Many acquired Siddhi there, but the Siddha Goraksa has already achieved his Siddhi. As the acarya came there, he begun a conversation with Goraksa. Occasionally in answer to Goraksa he said that his Guru was Jalandhari. But now twelve years have passed since Jalandhari has been put into a grave under ground, he went himself there, surrounded by four times hundred thousand Mimansakas towards the east. Full of rancour he sat himself on the palace door of Gopicand. There, the music did not have tune any more. Horses and elephants did not eat, little babies did not suck milk. Then the king recognized that thing was due to the power of the acarya, and being overcome, he spent a little in alms and invited the acarya and his followers to dinner. As the acarya said that he had four times hundred thousand men with him, he could not possibly satiate them; but the king answered that when he was in a position to supply constantly the food of many ten thousands of soldiers, why he could not feed the acarya and his followers. Thereupon, the acarya said: 'I have two disciples: Mahila and Bhadali, first you feed them with satisfaction.' Following this conversation, the king let cook rice for five hundred people. Then came both Mahila and Bhadali, poured the whole food in a gourd made into two shells (Kamandalu?), and as it was not filled the king was surprised. Therefore, the king went to the acarya and prayed: 'I pray for the means to avoid death.' Then the acarya received all belongings for a Mandala, and he gave Abhiseka to the king. And as he gave him the same lesson as the former street-sweeper, the king said that he had heard all these before and narrated to him the former affair. Thereupon, the acarya said: 'How can you now acquire Siddhi to avoid death as this one was my teacher Jalandhari’? ‘Out of fear that he would get a curse from the Siddha' the king begged of the acarya to find out a means. Three statues of the king were made of copper mixed with eight precious metals. Then Krsnacari and his disciples removed all dirt, earth etc. and brought a statue of the king on the edge of the hole and put it on the feet of the Siddha Hadi. Then came out of the mouth of the Guru the words: 'Who art thou?' and the answer came: 'I am king Gopicandra', the Guru said: 'Thou art the carcase for a jackal to make multure, become dust', and the figure fell down as dust."

The other statues underwent the same fate. — (translator).

“Thereupon the heart of the king and his followers was almost broken. Again, came the acarya to the king and induced him to apologize. Then came a word from Siddha Jalandhari: 'Mine son Kahna, thou willst take him as thine disciple', but as this one put himself before the acarya, already one thousand four hundreds were there, the acarya said: 'You are there, therewith I have innumerable grand-children, but as I have not eaten and drunk for twelve years, I am hungry and thirsty, in the meantime when the dinner will be ready, two must take care of me as I bathe.' In the meantime the seventy new disciples prepared the bath and others were allowed to leave the bath, and as only Dhamma and Dhuma remained, they were asked to attend Jalandhari; there he cut with a curved knife the flesh from the limbs of them and entwined it in his body. As they said: 'As the Guru has wished it, he is making himself strong with it’, then broke out the Siddha Jalandhari into endless laughter: ‘Ha, Ha! as I hold fast to my vow, wherefore I eat human flesh?' Then all disappeared as an illusion of the eyes. As both Dhamma and Dhuma had put their hands on their heads, they acquired the highest Siddhi. As the king and the acarya were long time together as disciple and teacher all the spots were gradually cleansed from the king's character. After the end of six month's Ganacakra Jalandhari taught Doha-songs to the king and as the king began to live in peace of soul with a thousand following, he became a greater Yogi. The king Bhartahari was the uncle of the king Gopicandra.

Further in a later period in a wood near Ramesvara in the south was a self-made shrine of the Matrkas. There assembled many Dakinis and Pisacas and used to fall upon all people who came to the south in that road. Once five hundred merchants and a Yogi travelled in this region; some Brahmans with their wives put themselves up there and said: 'As you must stay here in the woods, there is an abundance of trees and roots; besides, there is nothing to fear from the wild beasts.' As these people put up themselves there, two strange women appeared and said: ‘You remain here? You do not know what will put (come) in here?' Answering that they do not know, they said: 'There are the Dakinis and Raksasas, you will be bound by them; they would come to eat you up to night, therefore think of remedy against it.’

The accompanying Yogi belonged to the school of Jalandhari; this one directed his prayer to his acarya Jaiandhari, and there he (Jalandhari) put himself up as a monastery steward in the first watch of the night without saying a word to the Yogi. In midnight appeared the man-eating Dakinis and Raksasas, everyone bound the body of a man and taking him away, put him before the shrine of the Matrkas, and made themselves ready to devour them. But as the monastery steward uttered the word: ‘Phat’ ([x]) and made dancing movements, the Dakinis and Raksasas became senseless and fell to the ground. The shrine of the Matrkas fell down into three pieces. The acarya gave them the order not to injure any living being any longer; then it followed that the steward was the Siddha Jalandhari himself. And the five hundred merchants became Yogis and meditated and all acquired the Siddhi. Thus it is narrated. The acarya stayed in the south for three years and worked for the salvation of living creatures. And it is evident that there were a lot of Upadesas which he gave in that time.

Again, in another time there lived in the western country of Maru an acarya named Jnanagupta. As he once was preaching a great sermon, there came in a wonderful Yogi at that time. In answer to the question who he was, he said that he was Jalandhari. After religious discourses Jalandhari gave him a skullcup full of light. Acarya Jnanagupta took it without consideration and in the same time extinguished the light. As the members of the Sangha repeatedly prayed him to remain, he gave Upadedas for three months to them. Finally he told them: 'Keep everything in the secrecy of your memory for three years, after it bring all the Tantra powers in function and you according to your wish will have holy life! And all will acquire the Siddhis.' Saying this he became invisible. Once in the eastern country he received the cry from six Yogis: ‘Jalandhari come here and teach us the Dhamma!' As they went to the temple, acarya indeed came, but he did not show himself up there. After they had built a prayer-house and prayed there, he showed his face six months later and gave them essential instructions. In the course of a week there came a Saindhava-Sravaka. He is said to have told him: 'You shall learn nothing of Tattva, who rejoices himself on some dialectic has became an inveterate Bhiksu and to him it has became old' and he disappeared. In this cloister now came many Saindhava-Sravakas and lived there. The six Yogis received the Siddhi of immortality. The oldest of them seemed to have been Vibhuticandra. He came to Tibet and Bu-Ston-Rin-Po-Che prayed him for instruction. Now, the acarya appeared in the world for four times. Among the disciples of the teacher, the first place belonged to Krsnacari, the second Buddhajnanapada, besides Mahasiddha Tanti, the younger Virupa, the kings Bhartahari and Gopicandra etc. Under these circumstances, who was the best disciple, the prophesy said that he could carry the name 'Black'; he would consequently after Khatvaga (Satavanga) follow Kalacakra, and carried ornaments of bones and a Damaru in the form of a brandy glass. (Pp. 58-69).

As regards the life-history of Krsnacari the tradition of the old Tibetans is that he was born in the country of Karna, while the oral tradition that exists amongst the present day Indian Yogis is that he was born in the city of Padyanagara which is also called Vidyanagara (Vijayanagara). When it is narrated that he was of the Brahmana caste that agrees with the old tradition of the Indians, and when the old Tibetans say that he was of Arya family that accords with the Doha of the acarya himself: 'Wrestling and striving forward-going is the son of the Brahmana.’ Thus he was a man who shining in the Brahmana-caste, advanced the aim of the Bauddhas, but remained outwardly harmonising with the heterodox people. There existed already a prophesy from Buddha for the country of Uruvica, which is according to my Guru is meant Odivica, which touches Bengal, and this prophesy refers to the appearance of Krsnacari. According to the translation of Sesrab from Rva-Sgren, which reports freely over the manifestations of the Natha, this identity with Odivica is evident. 'The son born there will be provided with great bravery and grown to the order of Ramana will receive all Siddhantra, as the only Yogesvara will carry a name, which touches a little on N to the fourth (consonant) of the seventh line, provided with the first vocal with first (consonant) of the first line, he did not appear in Jambudvipa, therefore he will not appear here also. His six disciples will throw away the existence of their bodies and attain Mahamudrasiddhi.' Thus, his motherland, his mame, his Siddhi and his disciples are previously pointed out. As regards the life-history of this acarya, one should examine the especially published rNam-t’ar. The six of the disciples of this acarya prophesied by Buddha were: Bhadrapada, Mahila, Bhadala, the cramanera called Tailor, Dhamma and Dhuma. Others say that Bhadala, Bhadra or Bhadrapada were identical and do not count him separately; in his place they take Eyala or also the Yogini Mekhala and Kanakhala or Bandhe etc. At the time when the acarya lived himself the following persons received the highest Siddhi: minister Kusalanatha, king Lilacandra further Amitavajra, prince Lavaji and others became indescribable lordly Yogisvaras and as they met later the Brahmana Sridhara and his followers, they acquired the Siddhi. Acarya Bhadra gave his teachings to Antara, he to the man who enjoyed the fame to be the younger Krsnacari, this to Bhuvari, this one to Tibetan-born Bhuva bLo-ldan and he preached to Kusalibhadra, thus this is a school. Further, preached Krsnacari also to Bhadrapada who is famous under the name of Guhya. He must have preached to acarya Tilli. In Tibet they say that the above-mentioned Guhya (Bhadrapada) preached to Antara, and this one to TilIi.

This Mimansaka preached also to Kusalanatha. As this one gave up the post of a minister, meditated and gained somewhat clairvoyance power. (Pp. 69-72).

As regards acarya Tilli, he was born in the Brahmana caste in the eastern city of Catighavo, when he grew up, he learnt all the text-books of the Brahmana religion, while wandering as a mendicant, he came finally to a temple-monastery and seeing the members of the Sangha leading an unattached life, he became a believer, put on the monk's robes and learnt the Tripitaka. He received the Abhiseka to Mandalas, grasped the Upadesas etc., meditated and became participant of all knowledge. He saw the immeasurable face of Magic-Purusa. He also saw constantly the face of Sri-heruka and of the Dakiniganas. As he united himself with a maiden Yogini of his Ksetra who founded Sesame, he was driven out of the cloister by the members of the Sangha. Then, he busied himself with the founding of Sesame in the city, and as he, a former Brahmana-Pandita Bhiksu did not succeed to became a man of honour and rank, he received the name Tilli, i.e. who pounds Sesame, and he was the husband of such a woman. After he had worked in different Ksetras, he received all instructions from the Dakinis of the countries beginning from Udayana. As he now pushed the teachings of his Guru bodily also to the highest point, he succeeded to get the knowledge of Sahajavidya by experience, and thus reached the highest Siddhi. With the intention of showing his knowledge to others, once he sang the songs of his knowledge to the assembled people of the market of the city. All men were in doubt when once in a city of Bengal assembled hundred thousand men to see him, the acarya appeared with the Sakti pounding Sesame in the air above the ground about a man’s height. And as people asked him different questions, he gave answers in a song of his experience. It is narrated that the assembled people understood the sense and acquired the Siddhi. Thus he became famous as Siddha Tilli. After working for the salvation of all creatures for a long time, he went bodily to heaven. (Pp. 72-73).

His disciples were Lalitavajra and Naro. A report on the first person does not exist. It is clear that what appeared Maitriyogidharmacakra ([x] ) is connected with him and in the legend of the younger Lotsaba-collection of Mar-do and Pu-rang on Sambara and in the legend on Hevajra from dPyal, he as a Gautama-Sisya was made as the best disciple. (Pp. 73-74).

As regards Naro, he was born in a Brahmana family in Kasmira. As in his youth he was a Tirthika-Pandita, he practised all the Tantras of the Tirthikas. As an ascetic of the Brahmana caste he made Avadhuti. Once, he came in the house of a brandy-selling woman, there was an unimportant Bauddha-Pandita. This one could not bear the magnificence of Naro, then he ran away from there. As Naro found there the beginning work of a Sutra-copy he rejoiced himself very much on the religion of the Buddhas. Then, he went to Madhyadesa, declared himself for the teaching of the Bauddhas and became a greater Pandita. Then he became the northern door-keeper of Nalanda and Vikramasila. Later, to enfeeble the Tirthikas he delivered many sermons and afterwards meditated on Cakrasamvara. During this time when a large number of Dakinis showed him their faces he received the exhortation: 'Go to Tilli, who now dwells in the east, there you will acquire the Siddhi."

After a miraculous meeting Naro met Tilli and became his disciple. — (translator).

‘But he having nearly violated the order of the teacher, did not attain the highest Siddhi in his lifetime. He died a natural death. (Pp. 74-78).

As regards the disciples of this acarya they were the door-keepers: Pandita as Santi, experienced in disputes; superior Atisa and also other disciples for uncommon things — of them four were acquainted with the preached Dharanis for the Pitr-Tantras, and four for the Matr-Tantras. The first four were: Krsnabhayavajra, Pi-to-ha-nu, Jayakara, the Kasmiri Akarasiddhi; the second four: Manakasri, Dharmamati, the great Guru from P‘am-tin and Prajnaraksita. Thus they were people who had acquired magic-powers. Some count Pi-to-ha-nu and Dharmamati to be the same person, whereby then Jnanagarbha comes in the group of first four. Again, there were other four disciples who had acquired magic-powers: Sridombi, Riri, Kanta and Kasori; these all had acquired the Siddhi. (Pp. 78-79).

Sridombi was originally a shepherd, keeping a flock of cattle of a king. He had no schooling. He got the Abhiseka to Hevajra-Mandala from Naro. Once during swimming he was eaten up by a fish, but having meditated the Mandala of Heruka he came out without any harm. As it appeared to him to be necessary to write many text-books, he again entered schools and refuted the criticism of the Tirthikas and Bauddha-Panditas through words of Dharma. The neighbouring world was filled with his fame. He was Atisa's Guru. As regards his personal collaboration with Atisa, according to the Tibetans, the latter put down the true and unchangeable sense in four texts-books with commentary from Atisa. I myself have seen in the hands of my teacher Nirguna a Sanskrit-copy divided in chapters which harmonises with that of the Indian savant. ( Pp. 79-80 ).

To the acarya Dombi the younger prayingly solicited also the younger Kusalibhadra (for discipleship). This acarya born in Mewar which is in western India. From his youth he knew many Vedas. As he prayed to a great Tirthika-teacher that he might convert (take him to discipleship) him, this one declined it.

As he conceived that he must criticise the Tirthikas he went to Vajrasana, (Bodh-Gaya) became a monk and studied and knew all the Pitakas. Later, dressed as a Brahmana he went to Kamaru (Kamarupa), studied with at least six Brahmanas and Tirthikas all their magic-books and he was trusted by them. Then he appropriated to himself all the magic-tricks of Kamaru, many Tantras of Vijigiri sect, many had Tantras of the Dakinis, and many methods of exorcism of Syan-nari and he practised them. Then he returned to the above Tirthika-Pandita. There was king Karna who gathered two thousands of Bauddha Yogis and Panditas and eight thousands of Tirthikas and held a discussion. Then came the disputes. A Tirthika Yogi let two meteors fall from heaven. Both were black, and in the shapes of houses but with human heads. Acarya knowing these to be eye-illusions muttered Dharanis to annul them and both of them transformed themselves in little pieces of coals; then some of the Tirthikas showed a piece of art — as flames from the fire coming out of the body. But he put water on it and extinguished the fire. Thus all the attacks were parried each time and juggling works were defeated by the juggling works. In the end, the four leading teachers of the Tirthikas, by the magic-power of the acarya, were transformed into cats. Now the Buddhists increased very much in this country.

But he knowing this to be unreal and jugglery, became an a-begging Yogi and applied himself to Sridombi. He was given the Abhiseka with the Mandala of Sambara and Hevajra. Then he went to Devikote in the east and meditated without food and drinking only water; a Bhut (an evil spirit) was his servant. (Pp. 80-83).

His disciple was Asitaghana. He was originally a Tirthika Yogi and was born in Prayaga. He got from god Mahesvara enchanted quicksilver. As he practised his jugglery on an a-begging Yogi, he lost his magic-powers of quicksilver; then he became a believer of Buddha and applied himself to Pandita Prabhavarman, Mahacarya Ratnaraksita, Vibhuticandra, Devakara and other Upadesakas. He mastered Tantras and collections over Sambara, Hevajra, Bhairava and four thrones. He lived two hundred years. He wrote small books on Tantra and he taught Jnanamitra. (Pp. 83-84).

Jnanamrita was a low caste man from Tripura. He became a monk of Jagaddali; then he became a much respected head of monastery. The Vinaya was his method, also he knew the Abhidharmapitaka; he understood well the text of Mahayana; further, he had many acaryas with him who were especially entrusted with the Guhya-Tantras; he learned profoundly the collections on Yamantaka, Sambara and Hevajra, Guhya-Candratilaka, Mahapanitilaka and the Kalacakra. He belonged also to the succession of the school of Dharma and with him who was also an a-begging monk, he prayed on ‘four thrones’ and Mahamaya. As he meditated on these teachings, he met Siddha Asitaghana. This one gave him the Upadesas on the three Inspirations. As he became completely gifted with the knowledge of Sampannakrama and as he stood praying, the Guru said: "Now in twelve years an acarya with Gnana endowment will come to Candradvipa, go a-begging with my Upadesas, take my Upadesas as basis, then you will acquire the Mahamudra-siddhi. With the words: 'Go to Udayana' went up magically the acarya in heaven. Then, in the middle of twelve years he became a man of sublime spiritual acquisition. With the idea that he must be active as the preponderance of the Tirthikas and may harm the religion, he withdrew himself from it. As he wanted to go to Candradvipa emerged up acarya Nandapala from the earth by the door of benediction. He came to this Dvipa (island) and met him. Then he prayed to him for the four Mudra-Upadesas, on an occasion of the other three Mudras Nandapala preached to him the Upadesa: 'I see myself great in spirit' and thereupon the Mahamudra that he saw on the Vidyadhara-body of this Guru, annulled all doubts and reached the ground of all Dharmas.

He disappeared again through the door of benediction of acarya Nandapala and emerged up in two and a half hundred years in the south. There he met acarya Asitaghana. This one was on the border of his second hundredth years when he met the acarya. Thereupon began the acarya to work with activity.

Once he was in Odivisa (Orissa) country where is the self-built stone image of the god Visnu in the Tirthika-temple named Jagannatha, which is extremely rich in miracles. There the Acarya sat at the foot of the door with four Yoginis and asked for entry to the Castellan. As this one spoke with a Tirthika Guru who said he wouId be fit to be the master of the temple, the Castellan answered it is doubtless that 'This Bauddha does not believe in all our gods, but it appears that he is a house-holder Arya, he may be allowed to visit knowing that he has before him the god of the country.’ Then the acarya entered the temple and stood long in respectful position. Then the Castellan smote him with a batan. The acarya blew a horn, thereby the stone statues of the temple of Jagannatha lost their extremities and organs and their former wonder powers. As there was no member of the old Buddhist convents, there was a new spreading of Buddhism in the course of hundred years while there kings reigned. Even now there are few Bauddhas. He acquired the Sunyata ([x]). Finally, he acquired the highest Siddhi. Acarya Dharmakara who acquired the rainbow-body in Amradvipa, the Yogini Candraprabha and the Yogini Bhajaduru were his three older disciples and later Mahasiddha Santigupta the fourth disciple.

Here closes the fifth chapter on the combined narration of four Inspiration" (Pp. 88).

INSPIRATION V

The fifth Inspiration follows now.

In Madhyadesa in the district of Khabi was the city of Taksasila (Tavila). There was a Brahmana acarya, who became a monk in Nalanda of Mahasanghika school and received the name of Buddhasrijnana. Some say, he was of Ksatriya caste and reader of the king. He learned Mahayana and Hinayana Pitakas, texts and commentaries with acarya Sinhabhadra, and as one Gunamitra asked him, he wrote many text-books, especially a complicated commentary on Prajnaparamita, This Gunamitra’s name is to be found in Tibetan Paramita-tradition, and seeing the commentary it is proved that he was no Bhiksu.

As Buddhasrijnana went to west towards Udayana he prayed with acarya Lilivajra and Yoginl Guneru about many heterodox and Buddhist Dhirani-learnings. In the north of Udayana there was a Candalla girl by the name of Jatijala. With this holy queen, for eight months he gave himself up to some Tantras and as he had received a prophesy from Jambala, he got Vidya-Tantra immediately with it. (Pp. 87-89). As regards the history of offerings at Vajrasana, it is thus: As once the acarya sat in his hut which he has built near Vajrasana, there came king Dharmapala to give alms to Vajrasana. All the Bauddha-acaryas came to the gift. As he saw the acarya not taking part in it, the king thought that he wanted to humiliate him. Now as he entered the hut of the acarya, he saw that the acarya was not there, but a statue of Manjusri. Then he looked around and asked his companions. With their answer: 'But he is here' he re-entered and the acarya became visible."

Then followed a miracle.— (translator).

'The king became a believer and prayed for Abhiseka and as he had no more gift to give, he bound himself and his wife to be his servants; in the meantime he brought gold from his palace as high as his stature and that of his wife as ransom money. (P. 92).

Here follows the history of the consecration of Vikramasila:

There were four temple-monasteries, these were separated by spaces covering distances of many days. Now, as regards Vikramasila, it was newly built, Somapuri restored, and while many new temple-buildings were in the courses of construction, the king ordered their consecration. There appeared the acarya magically doubling his body four times and consecrating simultaneously in all four temples. The Tirthikas came to confuse them (inmates of the convents), but they were defeated by greater exorcism. They came every year even in those days and could do no harm. (Pp. 92-93).

History of conversions in Nalanda:

The great acarya was the president of Nalanda and Vikramasila, At that time when the acarya was dwelling in Nalanda, the Saindhava Sravakas in Otantpuri (Odantapuri) who were monks, had gone astray through doubt and had become degraded, declared and maintained Buddhajnana without discipline as becoming improper to the abbot of the Sangha, and disgraced the Tantras. In Vajrasana, many Saindhava and Singhala-Bhiksus destroyed the silver-moulded image of Heruka and made profit out of it. And for that reason the king1 [The king must have been Dharmapala.— (translator).] killed many of the Sinahala Bhiksus, but the great Acarya out of his great mercy sheltered them from their extinction by the king. He (acarya) lived for more than eighty years. (Pp. 93-94).

He had eighteen disciples, the prominent of them were: Dipankara-Sribhadra, Prasantamitra Mahasukha, Padmakara and Ksatriya-Rahula. (P. 94).

Dipankarabhadra was born in western India. After learning the Vedas, he became later either a monk of a temple-monastery or the president of Mahasanghika Sangha. He met the great acarya Buddhajnana in Nalanda. He was killed by a Tirthika king in Sindhu who always used to harm the disciples of the acarya. Some histories mention him as the Turuska king Bhusana, but there were no Turuskas in Madhyadesa at that time. (Pp. 95-96).

In Malwa, the Tirthika king worshipped Mahavisnu and destroyed many temples of the Buddhists. He drove out the Bhiksus from Madhyadesa and injured the Upasakas. The acarya worked exorcism, the king and the queen fell sick and the king died. The threatening minister was made cold by Dharanis. (Pp. 96-97).

Sagaracandra was an acarya of the Tirthikas. He practised exorcism of the Hexen and damaged the Bauddhas. One day he met the acarya in a street and said: 'If you do not die tomorrow morning, then our religion is false’ and made exorcism. But the Tirthika died at midnight. (P. 97).

Vaidyapada was a disciple of this acarya. He was a Brahmana, born in a frontier place. He needed CandaIa girl ([x]) for the support of his magic, and got one by giving her parents gold procured miraculously as high as her stature. He reached the highest state of Mahamudra-siddhi. After he had written many text-books, bodily he flew up to the heaven like a Garuda-prince to the Ksetra of the Buddha-Aksobhya.

Acarya Hunkara, as mentioned in rNin-ma-pa, was identical with him. If it be so, then Nepal should be his birth-place and people know that he came to Tibet in the time of king Sad-na-legs.

Acarya Avadhuti got instruction from him; from him Ratnakara Santi, from him Vajrasana the senior. Further, from him Kusali and thus it is said was a succession. Further, when Vaidyapada became the prince of Inspirations the Udayana-acarya Buddhasrisanti prostrating himself prayed to him; from him again Vajrasana the big, from him either Vajrasana from the country of Sauri or also Ratnakaragupta: Vajrasana the younger. Further, Mahacarya Buddhajnanapada preached to the acarya Padma-'byuri-gnas. He was also called as the later Padmavajra or the small one. The name 'the big senior and the junior Padma' was related only to their earlier or later appearance.

Acarya Vaidyapada taught Avadhuti Yogi Ratnasila of Kamaru. The Kayastha-Vrddha or the 'old-writer' of Dharmapala learnt from him too. He was eighty years old, and became a monk at Nalanda."

By showing a miracle— (translator) "he became the Guru of king Mahapala. This acarya built many temple-cloisters for the Guhya-Tantrikas. It was he who wrote the Hevajra-commentary Suvicadasamputa about which, it is said that Tankadasa had written it. But as in this commentary 'the former foolish Yogi' prayed, therefore, according to the inscription-page of the translation of Glan-Dharmamati, the author would be the Kayastha-Vrddha. In the translation of bLo'brtan of Son, the composition-element contained, the name of the one and the same acarya. As regards the commentary, one must considered that it might be written by a disciple in succession of teaching of this acarya, which in this case acarya Bhavaskandha would be understood. (Pp. 97-100).

This acarya taught Durhari, this one to the former Vajrasana. The younger Vajrasana prayed for instruction from him. Now as regards Mahavajrasana he was born in the country of Malwa. He completed the Veda-schooling of the Brahmana caste, later he became a monk in Nalanda. Also, he knew profoundly all the Brahmanas and Bauddha-Tantras; he was great especially in Upadesas. At the time, when Atisa appeared, he exercised his power as the abbot of Vajrasana, later he became also the abbot of Vikramasila. His disciple was Vajrasana the younger or Ratnakaragupta. (Pp. 100-101).

This one was born in the eastern country of Gaura in the Brahmana caste. From his youth he knew the Sutras and Tantras profoundly, took five vows on himself, and took Vajrasana as his acarya, but he remained as a believing Upasaka. As many Bhiksus crossed the country and preached in Madhyadesa, a believing minister of a king told him that he might become a Bhiksu, otherwise the religion would be injured when Tripitaka-holding Bhiksu would be denied by a Upasaka. Thereupon he answered that he had got to support an old mother, as a Bhiksu he could not do it; then the minister gave him sixty gold coins for the support of his mother. Then he became a monk in Vikramasila. Therewith the Upadesas of the Pandita and Yogi reached a high degree. Later on, the acarya in consideration of his great heart remained in Sauri; thereupon he received the name of 'the man from Sauri.'

Subsequently, he reached the goal of the Utpattikrama, viewed the faces of many protecting gods and made the Upadesas very successful in the country of India. The Upadesas he gave to the acarya Abhayakara, this one to Subhakaragupta, this one to Dasabala, this one to Yogi Vajrasri. This one to Dharmabhadrasri famous as the most clever amongst all the acaryas in the case of disputes; this one to Buddhakirti, this one to Ratnakirti, this one to Ratigupta. For a long time, legends of the above-mentioned persons, were not handed down.

Here closes from the history which is compared to ‘a Mine of Precious Stone' the sixth chapter of the presentation of Utpattikrama-tradition." (Pp. 101-102).

INSPIRATION VI

"As regards the sixth Inspiration which refers to the tradition of the texts, therewith the Tantrikas were meant who explained the Tantras when they represented the tradition of the texts.

It was a difficult task with Naro and Maitri to comment a great mass of Tantras, some had been delivered by Nagarjuna to Aryadeva, who to Rahula, and he to Candrakirti, who to Prabhakara, and this one to Jnanasakti, and he to Santi.

Further, lots of Tantra-commentaries had been handed over by Manjusrimitra to Brahmana Jnanavajra, and this traditional materials with that of Bodhivajra-Srijnanapada had subsequently to Prasantamitra.

The latter taught four disciples: Srisena, Silu, Krsnajata Vaidyapada. Manjusrijnana learnt with the latter, from him the great Amoghavajra, Siddhivira with the latter, from him Atisa Mitraguhya also sought teaching of him.” (Pp. 103-104).

While the series runs further there was a large number. In opposition to them, acarya Lalitavajra brought a large number of Tantras from Udayana and delivered them to acarya Lilavajra. This one delivered them to Manjusrijnana. Also the ascetic and Brahmana acarya Sridhara acquired the Mahamudrasiddhi. He was a good-lecturing and Tripitaka-knowing Bhiksu of Vidharbha in the southern country. He was threatened by a Tirthika king who wanted to break his head. His head was cut off, but he put on a buffalo-head on his shoulders. He went to Harikela to preach. There exorcised a cat, hence he was called Bhiradi or Birali. (P. 104).

Further, there were some Tantras written by Kukuri. He was born in the east in the country of Bengal. He became a Bhiksu-Pandita in Nalanda."

A miraculous story is narrated here. — (Translator).

''He lived with Vajrayogini who looked like a she-dog before the world. Hence he was called Kukuri. This acarya took as a Yogi of Srivajrabhairava, the pose of a destroyer, and there was a history that a king of the Tajiks (Persian) with his elephants were reduced to dust. He was the same person who gave teaching to Amoghavajra. (P. 104).

He brought many Tantras from the world of the Dakinis and taught them to Padmavajra, this one to Tilli, this one to Naro, and this one to Santi. (P. 105).

Santi was born of Brahmana caste in Magadha. He studied profoundly the Vedas and the Vedangas from his youth. Some say that he was a Ksatriya. He became a monk in Otantapuri, comprehended in his spirit the whole Tripitakas of the Sravakas, then he went to Vikramasila, heard many Mahayana-Sutras and text-books with many learned men as the great Jetari, and became a great Sthavira-acarya. He was ordained as the abbot of Somapuri and stayed there for many years. There he attached himself to many Gurus viz. Ratnakirti, Kalasamayavajra and Thagana and heard hundred Tantras and impressed them upon his spirit. Then he went to Malwa where he observed a vow for seven years, finally he saw the face of Manjughosa, Tara and Ajitanatha (Maitreya) and enjoyed the Amrta (nectar) of the holy religion. The acarya received in dream the order of Arya-Tara: 'Go to Sinhaladvipa', and the king of Sinhala also received the order in dream; 'In Jambudvipa there is an acarya Ratnakarasanti, bring him here, he shall spread Mahayana (doctrine) in thy country.' In the same time the acarya and the messenger of the king came to Bengal. He brought two hundred Mahavanasutras with him and preached for seven years in Sinhala. There arose five hundred Mahayana Sanghas, and the Sutra-schools spread extraordinarily. When it is also sure that old Sinhala has given many Siddhas, so it is clear that still there are Sravaka-Sanghas.

On his way back to Jambudvipa the sea became stormy and thieves came there. Muttering the Dharanis [incantations] he threw down a handful of sand offering, brought the robbers and thieves in his power and the sea became calm. Then he passed through some countries of south India and reached Vajrasana (Boda-Gaya). As the acarya came in the morning, the king prayed him to stay in Vikramasila. That time, he became the eastern door-keeper of Vikramasila. In some histories it is said, that this king was Mahipala, in others it is said that this was his relative king Canaka. Of these two views the last is surely correct.

There, sooner or later he fought with two hundred Tirthika-Panditas and overcame them; his fame spread in all countries. He had no rival amongst the Bauddhas, he was respected as the Guru of the king. In the time of a dispute he received the by-name Sarvajna. After becoming hundred and eight years old, he left the body. As his disciples were busy in burning his dead body in Citavaha, the body became invisible as soon as fire was lighted. (Pp. 105-109).

Further was there the king Indrabhuti the junior. In the name of Kukuraraja he preached Dharma in the day to a thousand dogs and in the night he lived thoroughly according to his vows. It is sure that there are many Tantras from him, and he taught some of them as acarya Padma'byuri prayed for it, but these texts are no longer in use. And many books that will be narrated in the history of Atisa, have not been preserved. (P. 109).

There are a large number of Tantrik-books of KaIacakra and books connected with it. Pito received a commission from Vajrapani, to acquire virtue, went to Cambhala magically, brought many Tantras with him, and in Ratnagiri taught many students. Pito himself acquired first the Siddhi of invisibility. Out of his six disciples, three received Vajra-body and became invisible. Bhiksu Avadhuti, Bodhisri and Naro propagated further. Thus, Avadhuti delivered to Sauri. To him Pito, who came in the time of king Mahipala, gave up the superiority of the Tantras of Abhiyuktakas and all their whole tradition. Thus, the whole tradition of the learned texts of the different Gurus came in the possession of the great acarya, the Buddha of the setting time Abhayakaragupta. (P 109).

Acarya Abhayakaragupta was born in Jarikhanda, which lies near to the country of Odivica in the south. His father was a Ksatriya, his mother a Brahmani. From his youth he was well-read in the Veda and Vedangas, well-built in language and dialectic; as adult, he learnt all the text-books and Tantras of the Tirthikas. As he sat in a garden uttering Tantras, there sat a beautiful maiden by his side. She said: ‘I am a Chandala-maiden, and would like to remain with you.' But he said: 'How that can be possible? I belong to a higher caste, it would be a dishonour to me.' Therewith he obtained vision that she had disappeared. Then he understood that she could be only a goddess or Yaksini, therefore he asked his brother of the order, a Bauddha Yogi. He said: ‘That is Vajrayogini and it is not good that you have not taken the Siddhi from her; you are destined to the religion of the Bauddhas, go to the east and become a Bauddha.' And he did that accordingly. He studied in Bengal to become versed in all the Sutra-Tantras and he prayed to many acaryas for the Abhiseka. As he became a great Pitaka-knowing person, he became famous as acarya of all Vinayadharas.

Once, as he was sitting in the court of a temple-cloister, there appeared a young maiden who dragged on a piece of beef near to him which was dripping in blood, shoved it to the acarya and said: 'I am a Candala-maiden, but eat what is slaughtered for you.’ But he answered: 'I am a Bhiksu of purer order, how shall I eat meat which is extraordinarily offered to me?' But she sank back and disappeared in the court below. That was again Vajrayogini who gave him the Siddhi, but he did not take it. In order to learn further, he stayed at Nalanda."

Later when Vajrayogini told him that thrice she offered him the Siddhi and he did not receive it, the best he had not acquired in his life. Now he should write books, teach the Dharma and before death would reach the highest.— (translator).

"From there he began to wander in different burning-places (Sasmana) to meditate, but as the wife of the king Ramapala built and presented the temple-cloister of Edapura, he dwelt there in contemplation.”

After performing some miraculous acts — (translator), "he became the abbot of Vajrasana. Later, he became the abbot of Nalanda and Vikramasila and the king honoured him as his Guru. Induced by the prayers of his disciples he began to write the commentary on Prajnaparamita containing the eight thousand verses ([x]). As he worked on three Mala-divisions of Vajravalinamamandala, fell a shower of flowers-rain, and in the time when he worked on the Upadesamanjari, Sambara, Hevajra and Kalacakra who lived in three highest regions, glorified him in bliss, and his fame and glory filled all the world. Besides these, he wrote the Sakyamatalankara for the Prajnaparamita, the Lokasanksepa for the Abhidharma, the Bhiksuvidyatika for the Vinaya with the explanation of the Vinaya the Madhyamamanjuri for the Madhyama-teaching; for the Yoga and for these Tantras no commentaries were present. He made some Tikas: the four famous books of exorcism-methods, the Buddhakapalatika, commentaries of many Matrka-Tantras in the form of a Sutra of Abhayamarga-krama, the Pancakramatika, the Ganavatara and commentaries on and explanations to Kalacakra. He wrote also many small text-books and gave many subtle, innumerable exorcism-methods, and arranged the compilations of different exorcism-methods.

In India and in Tibet there are large numbers of his disciples. All the Indian teachers of Mahayana who came after him, openly accepted him as the standard, and so did Subhakaragupta. He taught Dasabala, and Dasabala taught Vikrtideva. (Pp. 109-114).

Vikrtideva was a well-informed Bengali-Pandita. He went to Nalanda and busied himself much about Dharma and all the Upadesas. Though, when he left his motherland, he promised his original Guru to be a monk, he did it later, as he had desire of the flesh, took a wife and had three children: One boy and two girls. But in dream AvaIokitesvara said as he had broken the order of his Guru, he would die within three years of an infectious disease and would go to hell, he got very much frightened, cut himself off from his family and took vows. But the prophesy was fulfilled, after three years he got the contagion and died. There his acarya saw in his mind, how he was taken away by the beadles of the Yama, but five gods and Hayagriva with Aryavalokitesvara at their head struck the hell-beadles and Aryavalokitesvara shed tears and ran towards him to bring his body back. And while he was brought back visibly to the Parivara of the Arya, he came back to life again. As he had seen the face of Avalokitesvara, he had greater power, gained success in his spiritual dignity and the Siddhi.

He taught the Kashmira-Pandita Sakyasribhadra, Buddhasribhadra, Ratnaraksita. Munisribhadra prayed to him; to him Karunasribhadra for teaching. This one taught Sakyaraksita, this one to Sujatavarman, this one to Kimpila Pandita Mukta-deva, this one to Jnanagupta, this one to Ratigupta, this one to Santigupta who was free of rivals in this present-day world. (Pp. 114-115).

Here closes from the history, which is a equal to a ‘Mine of Precious Stone’ the seventh chapter, which narrates the origin of the Tantra-commentaries." (P. 115).

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Part 3 of 4

INSPIRATION VII

''Now the eighth chapter follows the Inspiration of various sorts of individual Upadesas. The Mahasiddha Goraksa-Inspiration of the Upadesas concerns the narration of the Yogis of twelve schools. Mina had held himself to Mahesvaradeva, acquired lower Siddhis from him, got the Upadesas of the highest step of breathing exercises ([x]) prayed to Goraksa, and then meditated. He advanced further as he entered the self-growing Jnana of Mahamudra.

As there are lots of such and unfounded histories, some are here omitted. What is narrated of such things, the authority of the Panditas like Mahasiddha-Santigupta has not agreed; that is the same with our Guru Buddhagupta, who has met personally many Siddhas and is a true treasure of unlimited teachings of Goraksa; as correct — while also the three disciples following Goraksa; Tirthanatha, Kalanatha and Brahmanatha thoroughly harmonize with his claims. (P. 116).

In western India was an acarya Vyali. He mixed a large number of drugs together and sought for twelve years long to win Quicksilver-Elixir; but as there was no sign of success and his materials ran out, he threw the book on Quicksilver-method in the Ganges and went out a-begging. At an opportune moment, when he came to Odivica, he found the same book while bathing in a river, absolutely unspoiled. He recognized thereby that it was a sign to win the Siddhi, and returned to his mother-country. There the Quicksilver rolled towards the right and a distinguished tune was brought out. As now the members of the house saw a rain of flowers falling, they asked, what was that? But nobody knew anything about it. Now a somewhat dull-brained girl seemed to have said; 'Here in the room I am strewn over with a powder.’ As she was told that she might wash herself, it followed consequently this also: The remark on the uncertainty of the question — what was that, gave rise to introspection; as he did not know the character of the red Myrabolan, which proved to be the same in the case of the dust fallen on the girl, he attained at nothing, besides he added a simple red Myrabolan in it, but when blood-drops appeared at the time of washing, the success of the Quicksilver-essence was there. Thereafter, for six months he made an abundance of Quicksilver-preparation. Then Vyali and his wife, his son and daughter and daughter-in-law ate of it; thus five persons and the sixth creature his horse, came in the possession of the ingredients.

As he did not impart the Siddhi to anybody, he sat himself on a big stone and began to think to give to others the Quicksilver-essence and the stuff of making gold, and as he now had acquired the Siddhi, made exorcisms by supporting himself on the Tantras of the Mahakala.

But acarya Nagarjuna heard about it. Nagarjuna holding himself on the Dharanis of the 'air-wanderers' (Dakinis), brought two shoes from the tree-leaves which enabled him to go through the air. The one he concealed, he put on the other and flew to Vyali through the air. As he now demanded that the acarya must give him the gold-essence, Vyali answered thereupon: 'Give me thy shoe, that will be the worth of the gold-essence that I give to you!' Then many Upadesas for Quicksilver-essence, many hundred thousands, aye many millions of methods of Elixir and beyond it, the power of exorcism to make gold, he gave to Nagarjuna, and he gave him for it a shoe. Then he put on the hidden shoe and went to India through the air and furthered there very much the Upadesas of Life-elixir. In the country of Gandhara in the north was a mountain called Dhinkota in the district called Munindra. He wanted to change it into gold and silver, but Aryatara who knew that would bring the future generations to fight amongst themselves, prevented it and by her blessing changed it to salt. And today it is known by the Gandhara country Lati.1 [Perhaps the salt-range of western Punjab is meant here.] But Vyali knowing that his envy had no meaning any longer returned to India. He became bodily a Vidyadhara though he did not have the lowest rank of Bauddha-knowledge; it was he, whom the acarya Carpati who reached the highest Mahamudrasiddhi, prayed for the Upadesa. Vyali gave Carpati all the Upadesas of his Elixir of life in the form of a thank-certificate.

After this Guru had made a little experiment of Quicksilver-elixir of life, it succeeded at once. As he wanted it to be enjoyed by many beings, he came where there was a large number of nomads. There was a substantially propertied nomad who possessed many thousand buffaloes, buffalo-calves, cattle, horses and sheep. He had provided a wife to his son to whom a small child was born. Occasionally in this neighbourhood there was a festival where the daughter-in-law with her child were present. When the others had gone, the acarya came there to beg of his food. She brought all food to him and the acarya said: 'When thy relatives do not get irritated then give me much food till tomorrow morning, so that you can remain; but if you are angry, then tarry now while I put fire in the surrounding woods, then fly and come to me!' She took her little child and flew. As she arrived at the place of the acarya, he gave her the Elixir of life. Thereby she received a Vidyadhari-body and doubled motherhood. Thus she received in quick succession a large number of children. The acarya gave the Elixir to them also, and there arose three hundred descendants with Vidyadhara-bodies. The king of Campa heard it and the acarya came with these descendants."

There was a miraculous story in connection with the visit of the acarya to the king — (translator), (Pp, 116- 120).

"His disciple had been the Siddha Kakkuti. When it is said that he received the Brahmanical Abhisekas from the Mahacarya Lui-pa, yet it is not sure that he lived in the same time with Lui-pa. Later, after receiving the Upadesas and the connected learning from the Siddha Carpati, he completed the practice in burning-places (Sasmanas); but he went home and became a house-father; when he came in a town where twelve castes had their seats. He was known as Kukkuti. A Kukkuta is not identical with him, there were two persons. (Pp. 116-120).

"His disciple was Mina. He was a fisher in the east of India, in Kamarupa. As the fisher was in deep contemplation, he had thrown out his angle and drew it, but the fish drew him in its interior and swallowed him. As he was meditating deeply over the power of Karma, he did not die. As the river Rohita1 [Is it the same as the river Lauhitya which now-a-days is called Brahmaputra?] that today in Tibetan called gTsan-po, had reached Kamarupa, there lay a small hill called Umagiri, while there Devesvara zealously gave the Upadesas to the penitent Uma, and the fish swam in that water. The fisher, lying in the belly of the fish, heard that, meditated over that Upadesa and had great benefit. As a fisher again caught that fish and killed it, a man was there. Earlier he died there as a king; thirteen years had just past that formerly a son was born to him. In the belly of the fish he had spent the rest twelve years. Now, the father and the son took themselves to Carpati, prayed for the Upadesas and performed meditation. And both acquired the Siddhi. The father became famous as the Siddha Mina, the son as the Siddha Macchindra. The disciples of Siddha Mina were: Hali (a peasant), Mali (a gardener), Tambuli (a tooth-painter).1 [Perhaps a mistake is there. In present day Bengal, a Tambuli is called a Betel-leaf seller.] These were the three Siddhas. The disciples of Macchindra were Caurangi and Goraksanatha. (Pp. 120-121).

Of these both the first was a son of a king. Once as the king went to another country, the second wife of the king passionately loved the handsome prince. She always waited on the prince, and as he (the prince) did not join in her desire, she became enraged, and as the king came back, she tore off her clothes, put ashes on her head and lay there as if blood would be coming out of her limbs. Then asked the king: 'What has been done to you?' She said:' That has been done by the son of the king, he came to me to satisfy his desire, and as I did not agree to it, he has thus treated me.’ Then without further examinations let the king his guiltless son’s arms and legs be cut off and he be thrown in a deep lying place at the foot of a tree in the midst of a much frequented street. Macchindra came there. As the prince narrated his history, this one answered: 'When I am in the position now to furnish you with food, would you be in the position to make twelve years long meditation?’ As the prince said that he could do it, there the acarya Macchindra who himself had a cow-herd as a disciple told this one: 'Under the tree that covers him, lies a man with limbs cut off, furnish him with food for twelve years.' And this one did likewise. After twelve years have passed, at night came many merchants on the street. Caurangi asked them, who they were. Fearing that he would be the tax-gatherer of the king, they gave out that they were the coal merchants. Then he said: ‘All your wares would be coals.’ When the merchants came to the market and put out their wares, all wares have became coals. Then they asked here and there what had passed, and when they considered, thereby they recognized the power of the word of Caurangi. All the merchants came there, prayed for pardon from Caurangi and offered him alms. Then said Caurangi: ‘Now all shall again become as before.' As the merchants after going back home saw the wares in their former condition, they now recognised that it had happened through the grace of the acarya, they wanted to distribute a sacrifice-gift for their life. The acarya did not accept it, but gave it back to them. And after he had said there; ‘Also these limbs may become as before!' this also happened. Later, after doing all possible good to the living beings, and wandering he went up to heaven. (Pp. 121-122).

Women falsely accuse men of sex crimes. That’s why it’s a “very scary time for young men in America,” President Trump has said.

Women misidentify the men who attack them. So said Senators Joe Manchin, Lindsey Graham, and Susan Collins as they tried to have it both ways: claiming they believed Christine Blasey Ford was assaulted — but certainly not by Brett Kavanaugh, the man their votes put on the Supreme Court...

“I don’t think I ever had a case where I even suspected a woman was making a false accusation,” said former Suffolk County sheriff and prosecutor Andrea Cabral.

According to Suffolk County District Attorney John P. Pappas, the problem with sexual assaults is underreporting, “because victims fear they won’t be believed. The overwhelming majority of such allegations are grounded in truth.”…

Bottom line: There’s no epidemic of false charges or mistaken identities but, rather, of attacks on women. Just in the few days surrounding the Kavanaugh hearings, the Globe reported on a Harvard diving coach allegedly sending pictures of his penis to female athletes; a Salisbury man accused of raping and plotting to murder two teenage girls; an Acton man arrested for stabbing his girlfriend and killing his father when he tried to intervene; and an Allston man held for choking and attempting to rape a woman he dragged into a Brookline alley.

-- The myth of ‘false accusations’ of sexual assault, by Margery Eagan

The Siddha Goraksa was that cow-herd who brought the food. He had received the Upadesa-Yoga of Macchindra; after performing all outward duties, he meditated and acquired all the magic-skills and Siddhis. Then he reflected that he must give out his spiritual acquisitions to others, and in this matter he gave lessons to many men in all countries, and saved them. He made the solemn vow that he would not go to heaven before he had saved ten millions of living beings. And thus he brought the salvation of innumerable men.

A complete all-embracing history of this man was not written. As he had doubtless twelve prominent disciples, so the Inspiration had been effective there. (Pp. 122-123).

As concerns the Siddha Karnari, he had been the king in the country of Mewar. Some years had passed that he took a beautiful wife with the name of Pingali. She was very dear to the heart of the king. In order to examine her, once he went alone to a wood and let the false news to be spread, that he had been eaten up by a tiger and thus had met his death. The queen Pingali died from grief, and her dead body was brought to the burning-place. The king did not go back to the city, but standing by the side of the dead queen he constantly wept: 'Alas, alas Pingala!' Thus eight years, thus twelve years had passed. Then came there Siddha Goraksa. Inadvertently he let an earthen vessel (Dipi) fall down from his hand and he broke it. Then he began to lament and remained standing with the complaint: ‘Alas, alas Dipi.' Then spoke the king: 'What for this foolish Yogi makes such a lament when his water-vessel is broken?' Then to make it clear that it deals about a stroke that contains an allusion upon the other, spoke the acarya: ‘There thou art a fool, as regards my broken pot, it remains to me indeed as my property. Stop your lament over Pingala who is no longer present as she is reduced to dust.' Then he recognized him as the acarya Goraksa and prayed to make him his disciple. He spoke to him: 'Throw away the kingship from you!' As he put away his kingship, he followed him as a disciple. At one time the acarya ordered that he had got appetite for flesh and spirituous things. As the disciple went to the town to buy flesh and brandy, a woman had exhibited six pieces of pork and six flasks of brandy. She said: 'As price I demand your right eye, I will not be drawn into any other bargain.' Then the disciple in order to bring the offering to his acarya, took out the right eye and gave it to her. Thereupon he brought the flesh and the brandy to his acarya. On query he narrated the matter to the acarya. The acarya then demanded the left eye which was given. Thereupon the acarya blessed him and in three years he got back his eyes like before. And in the same period he became a Mahasiddha. He is called also Vairaginatha. (Pp. 123-124).

His disciple was Nago. Many Yogis regarded Karnari as identical with the king Bhanari. But they made a great mistake. As regards the Siddha Nago, he was called the naked because he did not have a thread as cloth on his body. When he stayed in the south, he came in the social-circle of the first wife of the king and gave her the Upadesas. The king was angry, cut off the five limbs of the acarya, and threw them off towards the sky. But these limbs came back again and were fitted in the body. As this happened seven times, the acarya in the end gave out a curse and the king's five limbs fell off by themselves, and then he died. But after a prayer for it he came back to life. Thus he showed his power. Then he disappeared towards the mountain Bhindapala and there he is still living without throwing off his mortal body. (P. 124).

His disciple was the representative of the school of younger Virupa Golennatha. As in the beginning he was confused on account of many Vinaya-laws, he withdrew himself and put himself in a big earthen pot. As it was not enough for him to acquire the Siddhi, he practised meditation by putting himself in one position (Asana) and acquired the Siddhi in twelve years. Then he preached all sorts of Upadesas to all who could understand them and went where Guru Nago dwelt and disappeared. (Pp. 124-125).

His disciple was Onkaranatha, a son of a Ksatriya from the country of Madhyadesa. In his childhood he lost his father, and was brought up in the house of an elder brother. There Golennatha gave him a method to exorcise a Yogini. Besides this, he did not learn in eighteen years anything of science. Therefore, his brother and his wife drove him out with the words: ‘You stupid, for what are you at all useful?’ Being embittered he went in a strange country, lived on begging and began to exorcise the Vajrayogini. He passed sixteen years on it, and a blessed voice arose in him and thus he came in the western country in the temple of Hingataksidevi Uma. As he sat for six months contemplating on the stone-image of the Devi, and spread out a bright light from his body, the goddess became frightened and said: ‘Oh Yogi, the fire of thy magical body is burning.’ But he replied 'What shall I do with the magical powers or with the finding of a treasure? Surely I will take it when the Siddhi of the Vidya is given to me; but it is not in the power of the goddess to give me the Siddhi, therefore, I must receive it from Goraksa.’ Then he sought out Goraksa in the south and got the Siddhi. He gave his Upadesas to the Mahapandita Ratigupta. (Pp. 125-126).

Ratigupta was born in south India. By caste he was a son of a merchant. As he grew up he was converted to the teaching of the Bauddhas. He learnt with the representatives of all the schools and also was well-acquainted with the heterodox sciences. As he wanted to learn the Dharma of the Vajrayana of the Guhya-Tantras, he visited the eastern countries and the islands of the sea, also he went in many western places. He prayed to Mahacarya Ratnakirti, to Mahacarya Jnanagupta in the country of Ra-K'ang and to the Nepali Pandita Dadabala Lavinha for the Abhiseka.

Once in a locality in eastern India there was a great festivity. There appeared a person carrying the hair-ropes like a Tirthika-Yogi and speaking suitably, he asked who he would be. The answer was: 'I am Asitaghana.' From him he learned the magic-Upadesa for a month. Also he heard the numerous Upadesas from the Siddha Onkaranatha. Then he dwelt permanently in the three temple-cloisters in the south Viten, the country of Tarlarati. He was firmly based on the Utpattikrama and knew the fifteen Tantra-schools. (Pp. 126-127).

Here closes from the history, which is compared to a 'Mine of Precious Stones' the eighth chapter which narrates the tradition of various secret learnings." (P. 127).

"As regards the great Mudra-possessor Santigupta, who was a master of the magic-powers of these discoveries, was born in the city of Jalamandala which is in the south. As belonging to the Ksatriya caste, from his youth he learned all the arts of his caste. He studied the dialectic with its complementary subjects (Angas) and the language and was familiar with magic, as already his father had seen in dream the face of Bhattarika-Tara. He received also the Abhiseka of Tara and learned the methods of exorcism. When he was twenty-two years old, there was in the country of Konkuna (Kankana?) on the bank of the sea, a cloister-institution called Suvarnadhvaja, which in former times was a good place for the religious people, and the religious schools were extended, but there were only fifty Bhiksus. The laity in total was perhaps one thousand, when exactly the largest member met together. The foundation for Ratigupta was inaugurated by them. First, he studied that the Pitakas of the Sravakas, then with the aim of being versed in the original sources in the sense of Madhyama-doctrine, further he preached in the sense of holy texts. Then he gave presents to his abbot, and as he began to be a respected and honoured man, he went to Sinhaladvipa. There he acquired innumerable honour and respectability. There he preached the Dharma and prosecuted a little study of the Tantras in the method of Mahakala. Then he took seven kinds of precious metals for his Guru and presented them to him. After he had prayed to him for the Abhiseka-instructions, he received all lower magic-powers and detailed statement over fifty Dharanis, but he did not receive the extraordinary Abhidekas and instructions. As he then worked as a house-servant of his Guru, he presented to his Guru all his belongings with the exception of three monk's clothings, and got his food by begging from the street. Then after six years he received from the Guru the extraordinary higher Abhisekas, various sorts of distribution of benedictions and instructions. While he thus meditated, his Guru left his corporeal body and he was made the head of all belongings of the temple. Thus for nine years he was the Sthavira of the Sangha. He used to sit whole night in meditation and in day used to perform his Sangha-duties. But the acarya recognised that the Jnana could not be grown. He took brandy, and later he tried to get it through the Sangha, but did not get it. On the streets of the city he began to sing songs with different bon-mots of his making and continued to dance from door to door. Then the members of the Sangha said: ‘It is not becoming to punish an abbot who knows so many religious books, so we put you out to live where it may please you.' Then he reflected that he must try to attain all methods. He crossed many countries, and then made exorcisms in a house by the side of a city in the country of Cevala for three years. Then he went to Udayana and lived there for three years. Once on the banks of a river were bathing what seemed to him three Hataera. By chance they went under a wall. Then he thought: ‘What may these maidens speak?' and he began to hear. There in the form of discourses one was giving six Upadesas to the other as if these were answers to the questions. As they all disappeared in a wonderful way, Vajrayogini and her companions made him a partner of it, and his Jnana rose higher and higher. The place of his Tattva he did not know as yet; but the disposition of his soul was towards such an acarya, so that Tattva could appear to him. Therefore, he came at the door of a brandy-selling woman. But she took the form of a Vajrayogini and said: 'In the southern country there lives an acarya Jnanamitra by name; he will grant you the desired Siddhi.'

So the acarya went to the south on foot and asked everybody but nobody could answer him.— (translator).

"Once he met a man with the appearance of a householder Arya who said that he himself was on the way to him; that he lived in the city of Tipura which lay east from there. He asked him to lead him there. He said: ‘If you have got the strength to tow all my belongings that are in the wood I will take you there.’ He took the heavy load and the householder Arya showed him the way. On the way Santigupta was captured by the robbers. As they wanted to divide the load, it became stone. Thereby the robbers became angry and repeatedly stroke him so that he might fall on the ground like a dead man. Then appeared the Acarya again. He washed him with water and entered into conversations with him. Then he was refreshed and started again. As he came to Tipura, he prayed him to show the Guru, and when he was taken to the Guru to the bank of a small lake, his own picture appeared and said: ‘That is Jnanamitra.' As he stood before him he got into a splendid Samadhi. When he prayed that Jnanamitra might take him as his disciple, this one answered: ‘Thou art a shameless fellow that without money and honour, thou askest me to take thee as a disciple!' And becoming angry, he stroke him many times. As the former one said: ‘If I work with a rich man for thee then how much will I have thee.' Then he said: ‘Give one gold-dinar everyday!' Thus he worked for a year long. People say that the field-worker in India is treated in especially wretched condition. Then followed various miraculous sufferings of the disciple Santigupta and deliverance. Both of them sailed for Ra-khine (Arakan?), and later came back by ship.— (translator).

"As the Guru from the beginning gave him no Upadesas, he now prayed to give them to him and said: 'Gold and honour have I not, but let me follow you!' But the other said: 'Before a man, who poses as a rival and considers himself to be more than or at least equal to his Guru, Mahasrivajrasattva himself was terrified. Thus one must express himself!’ Saying this, he showed much anger and went away.”

Despairingly Santigupta sought death and threw himself from a stone but got no injury. Then he went to the place where the Sakti was bodily present. — (translator).

"She said: ‘The Guru came to my house, stopped here for a few days and has just gone to Nepal.' With these words the woman completely disappeared. Then he brought himself to Nepal. At last the sacrificing priest of the temple of Mahakala in Jambu said that he had been here; he had made stone stupid things and then had gone towards Kamarupa. At once he started his journey towards Kamarupa. Finally, in the city of Garudaghata in Kamarupa he came to the place, where the acarya had been with great joy. He made some hundred thousand prostrations by throwing himself on the floor. Then said the Guru: 'As you are desirous for the Upadesas, here is the place from where my Guru Asitaghana went up to heaven; there is the peak of the rock named Heramba, you make a Stupa of bricks there as high as five men's height".

Then followed further miraculous trials till he found himself as a prisoner in the country of king Mukundadeva by his order. There were further trials till he found himself in a prison. — (translator).

"Then Jnanamitra went to the door of the prison, threw dust on the warders and thereby all became lame. The door was opened by itself, Santigupta and more than five thousand prisoners became free. Then he followed the acarya and came in a country called Trilinga (Trikalinga?). Scarcely had he come in the city when the Guru gave him lots of the Upadesas. After two years said the Guru: 'Now is the time to give you the Abhiseka. In the house lying on the other side of the river, there lives a lady who is fit to be prepared for all methods of the Tantras; bring her to me.' Swimming in the evening he came to that house. It was the elephant-house of a Ksatriya king, in the city of Langakara. The girl belonged to the master of the house, as she was well-protected she could not be overpowered. The acarya bound her by the magic-Dharanis, so that the woman might not speak a word. He put her on his shoulders and came away, and brought her before the Guru. The Guru said; 'Now it is the time,’ and on the morning he gave him the Abhiseka. For seven days long he gave him blessings and the uncommon oral Upadesas. At that time their dwelling place was on a small hill. Formerly, the acarya Nagarjuna lived there. The people of the elephant-house who followed him, believed that both of them had been carried away by the water and did not come further. There he became the Mahesvara of the Yogis. And this woman became a Yogini. She followed the school of the Mimansakas and became famous as Yogini Menaka. Her knowledge was as high as heaven, and later she acquired the Siddhi.

Then said the Guru Jnanamitra: 'Oh Santigupta, I have made you know all the Upadesas, you have the great ideal before you. Now you go to Sorasta and work in the beginning without activity; then in hiding, then in coming out, try to make it with activity so that an event may take place. In this time you work actively. Exactly in this time you will acquire the rank of Mahavajradhara."

After a further talk the Guru became invisible. (translator).

"He served the Guru for ten years long. Then he (Santigupta) slowly went to Sorasta in western India, bringing out deep thought in his longing songs, finally, sat in a place in deep meditation by giving up speech. It happened that the Tajiks and the Mongols during their march were throwing the stone and wooden idols in the fire, after they had burnt the cut-off hands and feet. He preserved as if without any feeling, and when a Hindu cavalryman, who was a believer, threw a mass of gold and silver-flowers, he remained as before as if without any feeling. Out of the mouth of my teacher came to me the information: 'It is not worthwhile to be seated stationary without any movement, but it is worthwhile to contemplate the Sunyata ([x]). when the question was far two years, that have been passed, so it will be two and half years; the practices that are still necessary, I must make them up in six months'. Thus he practised that vigorously without activity. After he had absolved that, he went through the cities and wards and there he secretly worked a little, for six months he carried the work of an Avadhuti, for six months a work of the children of the woods like that of a fool. In the meanwhile he preached Dharma also to the people of the city who regarded him as a man rich in knowledge, brought him gifts of various sorts. But in this country there was a king by race a Tajik; in the beginning he had only worst expropriations for the Bauddhas. But as there were a few Bhiksus in this country, he believed later in the pious conduct of the Bhiksus. But as the acarya exercised the Tantric practices, he did not like it. For that reason, he went to the acarya and said; 'You fellow! do you speak lies or better speak the truth! would you bring the Bauddha-converts in disgrace?' Then the acarya answered: 'On the face of the profits of these that we have perceived, we cannot change our character.' 'That you will just prove', said the king and let the acarya be brought in the palace. There he sat completely alone on a high place, without food and no room to hide the utensils. The men, who watched him there, sat in a circle day and night near him. After seven days had passed without food and drink being given to him, and the condition of his body remained as before. The king let the beautiful girls come there from all over his country, thousands and perhaps more. Others say: Five hundred, came together and handed them over to the acarya: ‘As you know the practices of the Tantras, so try to practise with them for a day.’ Now the acarya comprehended that according to the prophesy of the Guru the opportunity to work the practices of the Tantras with activity has come. He practised all the arts of the Saktis with them and to show his power, he changed them all into dry skeletons. Being endowed with a glance like the sun, as the second sun directly arose from the height of the palace casting forth its rays far and wide, he went magically on the sky and put himself down in a distant park.

As the country became the best field of work, and there were many Hetaera in the country, he practised for six months long with activity, especially in Gana-meetings. In the time of his stay in the hill called Ghirnari (Girnar?), the honours of the Siddhi of the highest Mahamudra came over to him. As these came in the time of early morning, there was a great earthquake, sweet smell filled everywhere, showers of flowers fell down, people heard music and singing from the sky. All men perceived that he saw the face of the Buddha of the tenth worldly region. At the same time, different protecting-gods and all the magicians appeared and sang blessing songs. Seven days long the superhuman beings of the three worlds brought the Viras and Dakas with incomprehensible thoughts and inexhaustible alms. On this he sat further for six months in deep meditation without token.

Later on, during the occasion of his stay in the south there lying the mountain Khagendra, the king named Ramacanda of the country of Bhirva came out for a hunt. He saw a Gazelle staying on the corner of the mountain. He followed its tracks and when he had arrived at it, the Gazelle changed itself into a tiger. As he was startled a little, the animal emitting forth sparks ran away to a hut of leaves. As the king went there to search about it, there was a bright splendour of a shining Bhiksu. On the question: 'Who art thou?' and being asked twice, the acarya did not give any reply. In answer to the third time he said: 'Thou king of bad character, what sayest thou? I am a Yogi.’ Now he overcame him with three magical-looks. The king became an extraordinary believer and fell to his feet. Then the king’s companions came and they also fell to the feet of the acarya. He made them glad by preaching Dharma, and after he had allowed a young Brahmana to have a look in his heart, who produced many songs and dances and then became invisible. The name of this Brahmana was Janmadeva and it was for him the beginning to receive the exorcisms as a disciple of the acarya. There was also a young monk named Gambhiramati. He went to the acarya, and bound himself by duties to him. Again being a staunch believer and a disciple he remained there. As the acarya saw that he was acquainted with the Pitakas, he gave him the Abhiseka and the Upadesa. The disciple meditated and within a short time won the Siddhi of 'seven miles-boot.'

As now the acarya went to the country at Maru, he by his magical look made the Tirthikas, Turuskas, Mohammedans and Tajiks 'frozen,' and like fate fell to the army of the king of the country which he thus overthrew. He treaded the land for a long time so that the knowledge of the people would be increased by the preaching of the Dharma, and as in that country the number of the Bauddhas was very little, he brought into existence the flourishing Sanghas. He had six disciples who received the uncommon Upadesas: Pandita Vimalasahya, Candrakara, Ratnakara, these three were the Bhiksu-Panditas and further three were Upasaka-Pandita Sugata, the Yogini Umapati and the Yogini Tarika. Thereby the first three had in their possession the Sampannakrama. They had the power to give out curses and to create truth-attestations; these three had personally seen the face of Vajrayogini. The Upasaka Sugata acquired without hindrance the magic-powers and the four Karmas.

As the acarya and these four went out together to visit the countries of the east where the people of a Mohammedan Pathan [Aghan] had brought a whole circle of countries in dire misery. The temple-cloisters of the Brahmanas and the Bauddhas all had been destroyed, especially many Bauddha-cloisters on the mountain Devagiri on the sea-coast were turned into ashes. The temple of Khasarpana was set on fire, but it did not burn. As the acarya and his spiritual brothers came there, he let them put in prison with the words: 'In my country such shaven-heads with red coats had not been before, so it is also completely superfluous that you get yourselves settled here.' He let the hangman come as he wanted to kill them. But the other threw white mustard on the hangman and the prison-warders. Who as thereby then became mad and senseless, they flew and came from there. By making a vow on Mahabodhi, they received the answer that the time was proper to act, in order to accomplish the tasks of terror. This was met by the acarya and his four companions at Jarikhanda. They revolved the wheel of Yamantaka; then within six months the Pathans and the Mogols were innerly shaken and in the east all the followers of the religion of the Turuskas were slain in battle. The Hindu king Manasing was taken prisoner.

Umapati attained a rainbow-body. The Yogini Tarika worked with the four exorcism-glances without opposition. Then he cheated the Yogis and the Yoginis who followed the acarya as disciples, all being twenty. After that he stayed in the south in Karnata. The king of this country was a Tirthika. In order to convert him, he took him to his palace. In the interior of the palace there was a Linga terrible to look at, and it was established from the time of Arjuna. He treaded and danced on it and so his foot-prints were stamped on it. At this the king out of anger let six elephants be excited. In spite of the number of the elephants being six, who seized him with their trunks, he was not to be moved. As he threateningly raised his finger the stone image of the Chandika, which once was of great miraculous power, melt away just like a lump of butter in the heat of the sun. Still now this figure remains there without becoming a mass. Then the king recognised, that he had acquired the Siddhi, and threw himself on the ground. After the news were spread on all sides that the acarya possessed the Siddhi, the members of the Sangha of Marahata and Konkuna invited him and there he visited all their temple-cloisters. There he dealt out the Abhisekas and the Upadesas and made the teachings of Vajrayana very bright whilst he analysed the Tantras etc. Thirty Panditas and besides others, sixty in total, joined together as the four Parivaras, had only eleven men from the city not more as the perfect ones; the others were mostly in higher contemplation, and it happened that as soon as they attained the highest Siddhi, they became invisible.

Then the king of Bhandva invited him and gave him alms for a long time. He made also all the Bhiksus assembled there from Suvarnadvipa, Dhanasridvipa, Paigudvipa, Ra-Khan, Pu-Khan and other distant islands, and again from Jambudvipa all the Panditas as many as there were. He gave them all alms for three years. About three thousand Buddhist converts consisted of the Upasakas and the Upasikas, again some hundred thousand of Yogis from the four corners of the world prayed for the exorcism-method; others about the Upadegsas, some others performed the prayers for the Abhisekas and blessings, others again awaited with folded hands before the feet of the acarya for the effect that would arise out of the changes. There were from the south the great Kalinga-Panditas Vaidatiksna Sanghasila, from the country of Matyara the great acarya Virabandhu and Asangabodhi, from the country of Pancadharavali, the acaryas Anantamati and Vedananda, from the country of Re-khan the great savants Dharmaksaghosa and Parahitaghosa and the men from Vajrasana Sumegha and others; these prayed to the Mahacarya himself, with the Yogini Dinakara and with the spiritual sons of the Mahacarya viz. Mahacarya Gambhiramati for the profundity of the Tantra-books. Thus through the grace of the acarya all those who confessed to Buddha from the Sanghas of Aryadesa took part in the grace of the Vajrayana. But as in Vapadvipa, Suvarnadvipa, Tamradvipa etc. the Sanghas contained only the Sravaks and Saindhavas, they did not comprehend the word of the acarya though he gave it.

During the time when the Guru from the eastern region of Nirvanasri found himself with the acarya, the Mahacarya stopping in a big bazar in Trilinga, while some hundred thousands showed him respect. There were many Bhiksus from the islands, who came back from a visit from Mahabodhi. They spoke badly about all the secret Tantras, and they refused to honour the Mahacarya. Now, there was a king in Trilinga, who held it necessary that many men, five thousand buffaloes, several thousands of birds, goats, sheep should be slaughtered as a sacrifice for Natha Vikata. In order to make the preparation, he gathered hundred thousands of the Tirthikas and the Brahmans. As all these living beings were bound, there came the acarya. It is incomprehensible by which way his magic-look was cast over all Brahmanas and Tirthikas and they became benumbed and stiff. Being astonished the king came there. Then the acarya spoke: ‘If you kill all these living beings you will die at once, but after the death you will be born again in hell. So set them free.' Now as soon as they were set free the acarya at once put his hand on his head and he was free from attacking; thereupon the people of the king became not less than the Yogis and were completely endowed with the Vidya.

Further was the Turuska king from the country of Canka. He went on the street near the place where the acarya sat. As he used many abusive language to the acarya and this was heard by one of his disciples, he gave out the curse: ‘You all be dumb.' And the king and his people became dumb on the very spot. Then they were frightfully afraid and prayingly applied themselves to the acarya. Then he said: ‘To testify the power of the Bauddhas, all without exception you can speak again.' And thus it happened.

Further, in Baranasi in Madhyadesa there was a Tirthika-Pandita Madhusudana Vasti who wanted to pass as a possessor of the Jnana. In the midst of a large congregation he sat on a high throne; there the acarya raised the fore-finger towards him and he fell down from the throne.

In the district of Mathura there was a man who was called Mukundavarti. Formerly this one was a little bit of a Bauddha-Yogi. Later he became a Tirthika-Yogi. He exorcised the Ahuthacandali and it was glorified by it. He brought it to finish as he had brought many people within his power. By the glances of exorcism he destroyed them. As once the acarya as a teacher with the disciples came to the city of Mathura, he met together Mukundavarti and his followers who also went there. As thereby innumerable people from the city had assembled, the watchword was: 'But we will once see the magic-experiments of the both.’ This Mukunda who practised the magic-art of mass-hypnosis, had found believing followers in the kings of the Tajiks, Hamehunbaca (Humayun Vadshah?) and his son Akbar. But this time on account of the power of contemplation of the acarya, he could not carry out any hypnosis. As soon as the acarya had seen him with the glances of exorcism, he became mad, ran here and there shouting ha! ha! For seven days he could not become conscious and owing to the prayers of the acarya he found himself normal again.

As the above-mentioned king of Bhandva died by this time, his son Balabhadra built before the door of the cavern, a big temple-cloister in which the acarya had lived from time to time, and he presented it to him. He made a gift to him again with five hundred houses for the temple-slaves and during the time when five hundred Yogis and Yoginis were assembled, Ganacakras in big circumferences were made by them, while the king supplied the necessary things during three months. Few disciples were there at that time, and their spiritual bonds were loosened. From the first greeting with the Guru from the south (Nirvanasri) this fifth assembly was also the last.

Then he as a teacher became accessible to all, and thus passed seven years. While his oldest and best disciples had no connection with him, his body was changed into rainbow colours and his Jnanakaya clasped the heaven.

As regards him there are differences of opinions in general between the Tibetans and the Indians. Now what concerns Tibet the opinion of those who critically work and give him the honourable title of a Siddha, would prove thereupon that he had acquired magical powers and the Karmacakri. Then the magic-power and clear insight (Abhijnas) of all sorts as well as, all possible Dharmapalas as protecting gods he had seen. His spirit had needed a little light, and it was sufficient for his good consideration over the Sampannakrama. And in India, though they confess that he had been a Siddha as far as he confined himself to the Siddha-signs, yet they deny that he possessed Karmasiddhi. Then his Siddhahood was confined to that much, that he had been a moderate Vidyadhara for the lower Siddhis, that he had been a pious Tantrika, but it is confessed that he was no Siddha.

But this great Acarya brought in fourfold forms his tasks to end magically: Only through the word what he said took place, through the four glances of exorcism, in the midst of little refined congregations astonishment, and wonder-signs appeared on their faces and that he (in the Ganacakra) by the power of magic created thither flesh-balls, liquids, brandy and blood and the fruits of the woods. As he, therefore, appeared as the only guide of these things on the earth, they all praised him with the great name Srisattvanatha with the words: 'Arya has my teacher along with the Indians; three in all have heard the Dharma at the same time. Now it is sure that the Guru from the south (Nirvanasri) became the best Dharmaputra, so these especial teachers have received extended prophesies yet with the Mahacarya, the same with the acarya Gambhiramati and with the Mahelvari of all the Yoginis Dinakara; with these both had often got blessings and instructions. (Pp. 127- 148).

As regards the 'Driver of frights', it is doubtless that he was was one of the ten main disciples of the acarya. As now in a Sutra the development of history of this group of disciples is collected, therefore we shall mention him first.

In the country of Gujuratha Ghagha the intelligent son of a Ksatriya was born. He prosecuted the studies of Language, Dialectic with the Angas in the temple-cloister of Abhu. He was converted and received the name of Gambhiramati. He knew completely the religious texts of the Tripitakas. Then as a novice he came to the teacher at the age of nineteen years. When he became accomplished in the Tantras the Guru gave him the Abhiseka and the Upadesas. Two years later he raised himself on the sure ground of the Sampannakrama stage and he received all possible knowledge for the highest stage. In order to earn riches and honour the acarya acquired the Siddhi of 'seven miles-boot’ for immediate exorcism. Entrusted with the methods learnt by the Guru, he received all the Abhisekas and the Upadesas of his acarya. At first he saw the face of Avalokitesvara and of that Hayagriva, then that of Manjusrl and Yamantaka, thereafter of Hevajra and of Kurukulli. He made Mahakali completely his servant, and he received everything what he ordered from the Six great Yoginis. (P. 149).

As regards the Yogini Dinakara, in the city of Cambhadatta in the south, there was a young prince named Harirasmi of the family of Pisila. He had a sister who from her youth was very intelligent and rejoiced herself in serving virtues. After nine years, there appeared at the door a handsome bright Bhiksu to collect alms. As she felt pain, he (the Bhisku) like those who were in want, begged for alms, and then said: 'As I am not unhappy, you are suffering yourself. It is said that anybody in the circle of Sansara is bound to make mistakes, and it is also shown many possibilities of moral deficiencies of the Sansara.’ As she now prayed from him the means of the deliverance, she arrived directly at the main point of the Bodhisattva-conduct, and on the method to make ready the spirit of contemplation. As she comprehended it well and ten years have passed over it, she became the wife of a vassal prince of Ksatriya-blood of the country of Cavala, and for thirteen years she knew the aim and the sense of the Sansara. To her husband and the parents-in-law she always said words like the following: 'Why it is now then possible that I sit meditating on in my wide woods; let it be permitted!' And in order to bring her from this, she was put at the head of household affairs. ‘What for then to be a beggar where all things are staying in plenty at your commands?’ thus said the people of the house and the relatives. But she became an admirer of the people who went about a-begging. After it she showed herself as one crazed in mind, performed various asceticism, and put herself in a lonely place with a lady's maid. She overdid her former stupidities and separated herself from her husband. Man appointed time which was the fruit of the previous birth, lotus flowers and wheels (Cakras) came out in her hands and feet and thus as she was furnished with Laksanas, a prophesy came about her that when she could dwell, she would acquire Mahatmya. She heard that in a city of Marahata near Cavala dwelt the Mahacarya Santigupta. As soon as she heard his name, she felt a need for Samadhi and as soon as she saw his face, plunged into the complete Samadhi. During this time she had completed her twentieth year. Though a woman, she was of sharp intelligence, she knew the Candravyakarana complete, the Abhidhanas the medicine and Dialetic of all forms. Through the inclination coming from such age she retained the seven hundred strophes and three hundred strophes of the Prajnaparamita through the simple recitation of the verse of the compendium. She understood well when she was asked about the aims to which a Bhiksuni and to which a Upasiki arrived at. The acarya gave her the Abhisekas and the Upadesas. For seven years she heard in the presence of the Mahacarya the discourses on Vajrayana. By the Yoga, her power over the air became unparalleled. She could ascend up the sky for miles. She also acquired the four magical looks. Then from the mouth of the Guru came the prophesy: ‘From twenty years hence you will be equal to me.'

Once she went from Khagendra to the place called Ranganatha by magic-powers. There were two temples: one belonged to the Brahmanas and the other to the Bauddhas. There was a Mahesvara-Janghama famous for his exorcism of the Bhairava. He knew the magic-power of the exorcising glances and destroyed the Bauddha-Yogis. His name was Bhingadeva. As he directed his exorcising glance on the YoginI, it did not injure her, but on the other hand when she looked at him, he fell down and became breathless. When his health was restored again by a magic-glance, he became a believer in the religion of the Bauddhas.

Further, she met a Yogi named Ghamalavarma in Odivisa, who formerly could perform something, but later his vow was broken. He belied that he was a Siddha. By her magic-glance he got dysentery and vomited blood. Thus she destroyed the vow-breaker.

As soon as she wished she could see the faces of Sri-Heruka, the ten anger-gods and thirty-seven Vajrayoginis, yet she did not attain the Siddhis of the highest kind.

This is thus the detailed news on acarya Santigupta and on his two main disciples. The third one was his Guru. From him he had acquired the grace to hear the Upadesas on the Vajrayana.

In India at first there had been hundred thousand sources which contained the knowledge of the Guhya-Tantras, but when Sri-Saraha appeared, they became comprehensible. The time till the death of king Dharmapala, there came a period when continually many Siddhas appeared, and the succession of the Siddhi followed without any interruption. Also, the succession of the Siddhas did not stop till the death of Abhayankara. In the time afterwards there came a change as there was no more activity amongst those who came later on. Further, as regards the long period, in which alone and without companions appeared the later Siddhas and there were only Jnanamitra and Onkaranatha; they brought great help to the teaching of Buddha. Eighty years after the passing of Onkaranatha, Santigupta yet acquired the Siddhis. When one ceased looking of the great or small advancement of especial kind that, after the time of appearances of innumerable or smaller number of the Bauddhas, this acarya Santigupta in a special, small or big advancement was equal only with Naro, and therefore had the highest rank.

Here closes from the history which is equal to a 'Mine of Precious Stone', the ninth chapter containing miscellaneous over a question that how the Inspirations have come down." (Pp. 127-153).

"In this book of seven Inspirations only a guiding-line for the blessing through the dealt out Siddhi is given, and only sixth chapter contain the main topic. One can experience in this writing the incomparable genealogy of the Gurus in the spheres of their subtle teachings, when I received the proposal to write on the endless redemption, only a part has been completed herewith, as I have not said about the redemption of many Tantra-Gurus. Here is written only on the basis of that which anywhere to be perceived from the histories prepared in India, and at that which is given in Tibet by the believing people, that was present from old times.

Now, elsewhere will be narrated other sorts of history of redemption in connection with the Mahayana-believers in India.

“If I have acquired reward by praising the Jatakas of the Gurus, many thereby the living beings, the incorporeal beings also became the Bauddhas. I and all families and all, who always are at the service of all Gurus of this succession, may comprehend the secret of the soul.” “There is present the wonderful path of the Vajradhara in seventh Inspiration, and a large number of his serving mankind in all worlds, and as this Yana of the Atman(-spirit) is costly the teaching also may be capable of being redeemed, and the three worlds be freed of its wants.

Blo-Idan Kun-dga rnam-rgyal, is the reviser, who has edited in rNam-rgyal rabtan neighbouring the temple-cloister dPal-sTag-hin-t’an the excellent work completed by Taranatha in his twenty-second year when he was the youngest servant of the order of his holy Lama, the work entitled the 'History Equal to a Jewel-mine'. That contains astonishingly wonderful Jatakas of seven Inspirations following one after another." (P. 153-154).

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Part 4 of 4

APPENDIX I

Notes by A. Gruenwedel

Mountain: Compare: Pancasirsaparvata, Sriparvata, Ghantasaila, Devagiri, Khagendra, Dhinkota, Ghirnari, Umagiri, Phullahari, Kolamba, Heramba, I,loi.

Demons: Com: Amanusya, Raksasa, DakinI, Sura, Bhuta, Ahuthacandali, Vikata.

Fish: Com: Mina, Macchindra, Tilli, Kingara, Sisumara.

Flesh; Com: Beef offered through Dakini, pork flesh; human flesh. Compare Mahamansa, flesh delivered in monasteries, flesh cut off from living body. Com: Dhama, Dhuma.

Gods: Brahmanical: Uma, Hingalaksmi Uma, Candika, Visnu, Mahavisnu, Jagannatha, Somanatha, Siva, lsvara, Linga, Kalidevi, Devesvara, Mahesvara, Vairava, Yama, Vasundhara, Visvanatha.

Tantra-gods: Hevajra, Cakrasamvara, Candika, Vajravarahi, Vajrayogini, Bhattarika-Arya-Tara, Manjuvajra. Karmavajra, Hunkara, Marici, Mahamayuri, Jambhala, Srivajravairava, Hayagriva, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, Heruka, Sri-Heruka, Kurukulli, Mahakala.

Heterodox Brahmans: Drunk brandy, Lui-pa derided the Brahmanas; Brahmanas who became Bauddhas: Saroha, Maitri, Kalavirupa, Mahapadmavajra, Krsnacari, Sridhara, Tilli, Naro, Jnanavajra, Vaidyapada; Brahmana-Tirthikas overcome by Dombi-Heruka, Naro was a Tirthika before.

Witches: Com: Dakini, Vajrayogini, Vajravarahi.

Further-India: Ra-Khan, Pu-Khan, Paigu-Dvipa, Dhanasri-Dvipa.

Caste: No difference between higher and lower castes; twelve castes. Com: Dombi, Candala-girls.

Cloisters: Vikramsila, Nalanda, Edapura, Abhu, Suvarna-dhvaja, Somapuri, Taksasila, Vajrasana, Otantapuri, Dharmankuraranya, Jagaddala, and Devikota.

Monk: Com; Bhiksu, Sravaka, Saindhava, Sangha, Hinayana, Pitaka, Tripitaka, Vinaya, Brahmana-bhiksu, Sramanera.

Statue: Com: Stone figure. Statue of sandal of Tara, Statue of Heruka, of copper, Silver statue of Heruka, of Somanatha, Avalokitesvara over it, of Avalokitesvara, of Visnus, of Manjusrl, of Uma, Statues of gods fetched, Statue of Candika.

Dance: Dombi-dances, dancing-girls of the gods; dancer and singer, mystic dance of the Tantrikas.

Temple: Nagas built temple, dedication of temple, Temple-priests. Heterodox temples: Jagannatha, Somanatha.

Mirror: Rock-mirror, Hell shown in mirror, mirror in Harem, of Antarabhava.

Transformation: In a jackal, in a horse. Com: Asvapada; in stone, in cats, statues transformed themselves in dust. Com; Gopicandra, water in a drink, Gazelle in a tiger, dog in a woman, Brahmanas and Brahmanis in witches, Vajrayogini in Candala-girl, Yoginis in bathing-hetaera, woman in a clock, son and daughter in thunderbolt and clock, heads of the Dakinis in sheep-heads, sesame in melting-butter.

Woman: As: Mudra, Sakti, Vidya, Yogini, Sakti as good, and as the Guru. Women for the function of a Yogi, woman stolen for Guru, Candali-woman to the Ganacakra, sandal-rubbing women as Padminl, Sakti of Manjusri. Com; Padmini, Hetaera, Dinakara, Tarika, Menaka, Guneru, Jatijala, Bhajaduru, Candraprabha, Laksmikara, Vilasyavajra, Cinta, Mekhala, Kanakhala, Sahajasiddhi-girls, Subhoga, Gangadhari, Padmavati or Logi, Jnanavati or Guni.

Magic: Magic-circle (Mandala) of Aryatara, of Vajravarahi, of Cakrasamvara, of Heruka, of Samvara and Hevajra, of Manjuvajra, of Manjuvajrasamaja, all Tantras, Naro's blood-mandala; magic-glances, four glances, magic-body. Com: Vajra burnt a goddess; magic-words, magic-formulae: Dharanis, a woman bound through Dharani, set aside jugglery of the heterodox persons, heterodox and Bauddha- magic, Dharanis of the Dakinis; of Guhya-Tantras, of Mahakala, of Kurukulli, of Mahamayuri, of Pitr- and Matr-Tantras, Matrkadharanis, mass-hypnosis by the heterodox Dharani, heterodox Dharani bring rain, magic-benediction of Nagarjuna and Udayana. Magic-texts; Tantra-magic which do not contradict the Pitakas, Tantra-handbooks, Tantra-commentaries, Tantras of the south, Vijegiri-Tantra, Dakini-Tantra, Vidya-Tantra, Tantras of the Mahakala, of Guhyasamaja, Guhya-Tantras, Tantras of Nagarjuna, of Lui-pa, of Maitri, of Dombi, of Laksmikara etc, of ludrabhuti and Padma, bad Dakini-Tantras, Tirthika-Tantras; Magic-powers, Magic-influence on wood, Magic-sleep, small Siddhis, great Siddhis; magician accomplished Tantrika-Siddha.

Mahasiddha: The names of the following Mahasiddhas are given in Grub t’ob (Tanjur Fol. of the Tantras, which are numbered there, are put down below; the names and legends sometimes differ): Lui-pa (1), Virupa (3), Dombi-pa Taranatha. Dombi-Heruka, (4), Savari-pa (5), Saraha-pa (6), Mina-pa (8), Goraksa (9), Tsanranga-pa (10), Vina-pa (11), Canti-pa (12), Tanti-pa (13), KLu-sgrub; Nagarjuna (16), Nag-po-spyod-pa, Krsnacari (IF), Karnari-pa (18), Thagana (19), Naro-pa (20), Tillo-pa: Tilli (22), Bhadra-pa (24), Kambhala: Kambala (30), Dinka-pa: Dinki (31), Bhande-pa (32), Kukkuri-pa (34), Dharma-pa (36), Indrabhuti (42), Kotali (44), Jalandhara-pa: Jalandhari (46), Ghanta-pa: Vajraghanta (52), Tsaluki-pa: Cilu? (54), Carpati-pa: Tsa-pa-ri-pa (64), Mekhala (66), Kanakhala (67), Dharika-pa; Darika (77), Laksmikara (82), Vyali-pa (84), Nirguna: Naguna? (57), Saroruha: Sagara, Sakara (74).

Lui'pa: Lui-pa is the Tibetan abbreviation of Indian Lui'pada. In the Grub t'ob the legend of Lui'pa is narrated in a different way; the reason why he ate fish-entrails is given there. Originally he was a prince. He had still the caste-pride remaining in him because when a Dakini gave him bad food, he threw it away. He recognized this hesitation and scruple to be hindrances to his Bodhi, therefore, he atoned with such bad food.

Virupa: The goddess Candika rescued him from the Ganas by absorption, who wanted to kill and consume him first out of a mass of human-sacrifices. Compare the similar situation with William Taylor: Oriental Manuscripts in the Government Library, Madras II, (1860, p. 887). According to Grub't'ob where he appears in No. 3. He first rescued a young Brahmana from the flesh-eating Dakinis thereby, as he gave him the blessing.

Bhanvadala: The name of the elephant of king Ramapala is also to be found in Sum-Pa-Khan I-Poh, p. 104.

Tilli: Regarding the appearance of Tilli as a dark-skinned man frying living fishes in the kitchen, it is enough to remember the well-known story in "Thousand and One Night."

-- The Story of the Fisherman, Excerpt From The Thousand and One Nights [The Arabian Nights' Entertainments], by Anonymous, Translated by Edward William Lane

Nagarjuna: Regarding the tree-leaves shoes of Nagarjuna it is to be remembered that Vararuci also possessed such shoes. Vide Translation of Taranatha by Schiefner, P. 55.

Chaurangi: Com: Mollesworth Marathi English Dictionary P. O Chaurangi and the words derived from it. It means as ‘a man who is bundled on a stool' as his hands and feet are cut off. Com. Sanskrit Pitha, Sarpin and Jataka (Ed. Fausboell, VI, 4, 14, 5, 12); a parallel appearance is the 'Schameler' in 'Spielmanusepos' [minstrel epic] of the middle ages of Europe.

And with this I punish my erring arm.













-- Satyricon, directed by Federico Fellini

Jambala: A Yaksa.

Jalandhari: Com: Sarat Ch. Das: 'A Note on the Antiquity of Chittagong, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, LXVII, 1898, No 1, P. 20ff quoting Sum-pa-khan-Po 1, 109, line 9 ff where it is said: 'Jalandhari or Balapada was born in the Sudra caste, in the western country of Sindhu, in a city which was called Nagara Thatha.'

Sarorupa: A Ksatriya and as Pandita who became the Purohita of a king.

INDEX

Abhayakara, 44, 79.
Abhiseka, 11, 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 28,
33, 35, 37, 41, 49, 56, 62, 63,
66, 69, 71, 72, 76, 78.
Ajitanatha, 47.
Akarasidahi. 35.
Akshobhya, 42.
Alavajra, 17.
Amitavajra 19, 33.
Amitayu 9.
Amoghavajra, 46, 47.
Anangavajra, 19.
Anantamati, 72.
Arangabodhi, 72.
Aryadesa, 1, 3.
Aryadeva, 46.
Aryatara, 9, 10, 55.
Asitaghana, 13, 37, 61, 65.
Asvaghosa, 8.
Atisa, 36, 44, 46, 48.
Avadhuti, 26, 43, 49, 67.
Avalokitesvara, 15, 51, 76.

Balapada, 26.
Bhadali, 28.
Bhadrapada, 32, 33.
Bhandva, 71, 74.
Bhartahari, 25, 31.
Bhattarika-Tara, 62.
Bhusana, 42.
Bodhisattva, 11, 77.
Buddhaguptanatha, 9.
Buddhajnana, 41, 42.
Buddha jnanapada, 31, 43.
Buddhakirti. 45.
Buddhasrisanti, 43.
Buddhasrijnana, 40.
Bu.ston'rin-po-che, 31.

Cakrasambhara, 22, 34.
Candrakara, 70.
Candrakirti, 46.
Candika, 14. 15. 17, 71.
Candratilaka, 37.
Carpati, 55.
Cavala, 77.

Dasavala, 44, 51.
Dakini, 11, 13.
Dakinipatha, 14.
Darika, 11, 12.
Dharmabhadrasri, 44.
Dharmaksaghosa, 72.
Dharmamati, 43.
Dharmapala, 16, 40, 41, 43, 79.
Dharani (s), 9, 36, 40, 42, 48, 66.
Dhinkota, 10.
Dinakara, 72, 76.
Dipankara, 42.
Dohavajra, 9.
Durhari, 44.

Gambhiramatl, 69, 72, 75.
Gautama, 8.
Ghagha, 76.
Ghamalavarma, 76.
Ghantasalla, 10.
Golennatha, 60.
Gopicandra, 26, 28, 29, 31.
Goraksa (natha), 15, 29, 53, 59.
Guhyasiddhi, 19.
Gunamltra, 40.
Guneru, 40.
Guni, 11.

Harirasmi, 96.
Hayagriva, 51, 96.
Hemelavajra, 19.
Heruka, 19, 21, 22, 24, 33, 35, 41, 98.
Hetaera, 12, 16, 63, 68.
Hevajra. 20, 35, 38, 43, 53, 96.
Hunkara, 43.

Jalandhari, 16, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31.
Jambala, 40.
Jatasamjaya, 10.
Jatijala, 40.
Jnanagupta, 30, 31, 52, 61.
Jnanamitra, 37, 63, 65, 66, 79.
Jnanasakti, 46.
Jnanavajra, 46.
Jnanavati, 11.

Kacapada, 24.
Kukkuti, 56.
Kalacakra, 31, 37, 48, 50,51.
Kalyananatha, 19.
Kamaru (Kamarupa), 36.
Kambala, 22, 23, 24.
Kanakhala, 33.
Karnari, 58, 59
Khatabhanga, 31.
Kusalibhadra, 11, 13, 16, 19, 33, 36.
Krisnacari, 17, 19, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33.
Krisnajala, 46.
Kstipati. 11.
Kusalanacha, 24, 33.
Kusali, 43.
Kurukulli, 9, 76.

Laksmikara, 21, 24.
Lilacandra, 24, 33.
Lilavajra, 40, 46.
Logi, 11.
Lui-pa (Luipada), 11.

Macchindra, 56, 57, 58.
Madhusndana Vasti, 73.
Madhyadesa, 8, 13, 15, 17, 35, 42,
60, 73.
Mahakala, 9, 54, 65.
Mahakali, 76.
Maharatnamati, 11.
Maharatnamuni, 11.
Mahamudrasiddhi, 12, 22, 24, 32,
42, 46, 55.
Mahapadmavajra, 19.
Mahamaya, 39
Mahala, 28.
Maitri, 12, 46.
Maitrigupta, 12.
Mahamayuri, 9.
Mahavisnu, 42.
Mahasrivajrasattva, 65.
Mahipala, 48.
Maitreya, 47.
Manjughosa, 47.
Manjusri, 40, 76.
Manjusrijnana, 36.
Manajusrimitra, 46.
Mansing, 71.
Marichi, 15.
Matrika, 23, 29, 30.
Mekhala, 33.
Menaka, 66.
Mina, 53, 57.
Mukundavarti, 73, 74.

Nagas, 9.
Nagarjuna, 9, 11, 46, 54.
Nago, 59. 60.
Nandapala, 13.
Natekana, 13.
Naro, 11, 13, 35, 46, 47, 49, 79.
Natha Vikata, 73.
Nirguna, 36.
Nirvanasri, 74.

Odivisa, 18, 21, 32, 53, 78.
Onkaranatha, 7, 61, 79.

Padma-byuri-gnas, 43, 48.
Padmakara, 42.

Padmavajra, 19, 43, 47.
Padmavati, 11.
Parahitaghosa, 72.
Pingala, 58, 59.
Pito, 49.
Prabhakara, 46.
Prabhavatman, 37.
Prajna, 22.
Prajnaiparamita, 40, 50, 78.
Prasantamitra, 42, 46.

Rahula, 9, 42, 46.
Radulabhadra, 8, 9.
Ranulavajra, 17.
Rampala, 13, 15, 50.
Ratnakara, 74.
Ratnakarasanti, 12, 43, 47.
Ratnarakista, 37.
Ratnakaragupta,
Ratnakirti, 45, 47, 61.
Ratnasalla, 43.
Ratavajra, 17.
rNlm-ma-pa, 43.
Ratigupta, 45, 52, 61, 64.

Sad-na-legs, 43.
Sagara, 12.
Sahajasiddhi, 23.
Sahajavajra, 13.
Samanta-Subha, 11.
Sambara, 11.
Samkara, 9.
Samghabhadra, 40.
Santigupta, 39, 52, 58, 61, 64, 65,
66, 67, 77, 78, 79.
Saroha, 11, 79.
Saroruha, 19.
Savari, 11, 12, 13.
Sravakas, Saindhava, 9.
She-yak, 17.
Silu, 46.
Srisena, 46.
Somanatha, 15.
Srimatigarbha, 21.
Sthavirakala, 8,
Sugata, 70.
Sukhakaragupta, 44, 51.
Sukhavati, 10.
Sumegha, 72.
Sunyata, 39. 66.
Sunyata-Samadhi, 13.

Tankadasa, 43.
Tathagata, 18.
Tara, 47.
Tarika, 71.
Tilli, 11, 35, 47.
Tilo, 11.
Tirthika, 12, 14.
Trilinga, 14.

Udayana, 10, 11, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23,
24, 40, 43, 46, 63.
Umapati, 70, 71.
Upadesa, 12, 13, 16, 21, 24, 26, 30,
33, 44, 51, 53. 54, 55, 56, 58,
60, 61, 63, 64, 69, 70, 71, 72,
76, 78, 79.
Upagupta, 8.
Uruvicha, 32.
Uttarakuru, 10.

Vairaginatha, 59.
Vajradhara, 7, 80.
Vairaghanta, 1, 22.
Vajrapani, 13, 18, 49.
Vajrasattva, 12.
Vajrasana, 36, 43, 44, 48, 50, 72.
Vajrasri, 44.
Vajravarahi, 11, 16.
Vajrayogini, 12, 49, 50, 60, 63, 65,
70, 78.
Vedananda, 72.
Vibhuticandra, 33, 37.
Vldharbha, 9.
Vldyadhara, 9, 11.
Vidyadhari, 13.
Vldyapada, 42, 43, 46.
Vilasyavaajra, 22.
Vimalasya, 70.
Vinapada, 21.
Viravandhu, 72.
Virupa, 14, 15, 16, 31, 60.
Vyali, 55.

Yaksas, 9, 10.
Yaksinis, 9.
Yamantaka, 37, 70, 76.
Yogini, 8, 13.

CORRECTIONS

Page / For / Read

9 / Arytara / Aryatara
10 / Arytara / Aryatara
11 / Guni / Guni
11 / Lui'pa (Luipada) / Lui-pa (Luipada)
11 / Darika / Darika
12 / Pandit / Pandita
12 / Naro / Naro
12 / Naro / Naro
13 / Orrisa / Orissa
16 / Virapa / Virupa
24 / Kucalanatha / Kusalanatha
31 / Tantra / Tantra
31 / Khatavaga / Khatavanga
38 / Gnana / Ghana
41 / Sravakas / Sravakas
49 / Odivica / Odivisa
53 / Odivica / Odivisa
63 / Hataera / Hetaera
75 / Ganacakra / Ganacakra
79 Sri-Saraha / Sri-Saroha

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Rudrapatna Shamasastry
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 6/13/21



Rudrapatna Shamasastry FRAS (1868–1944) was a Sanskrit scholar and librarian at the Oriental Research Institute Mysore. He re-discovered and published the Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy.

Early life

Shamasastry was born in 1868 in Rudrapatna, a village on the banks of the Kaveri river in what is today the state of Karnataka. His early education started in Rudrapatna. He later went to the Mysore Samskruta Patasala and obtained his Sanskrit Vidwat degree with high honours. In 1889, Madras University awarded him a BA degree. Impressed by his ability in classical Sanskrit, Sir Sheshadri Iyer, the then Dewan of Mysore Province, nurtured and helped Shamasastry, making it possible for him to join the Government Oriental Library [Oriental Research Institute] in Mysore as librarian. He "had mastered Vedas, Vedanga, classical Sanskrit, Prakrit, English, Kannada, German, French and other languages."[1]

The discovery

The Oriental Research Institute was established as the Mysore Oriental Library in 1891. It housed thousands of Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts. As librarian, Shamasastry examined these fragile manuscripts daily to determine and catalogue their contents.[1]

In 1905, Shamasastry discovered the Arthashastra among a heap of manuscripts.

Formerly known as the Oriental Library, the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) at Mysore, India, is a research institute which collects, exhibits, edits, and publishes rare manuscripts written in various scripts like Devanagari (Sanskrit), Brahmic (Kannada), Nandinagari (Sanskrit), Grantha, Malayalam, Tigalari, etc.

The Oriental Library was started in 1891 under the patronage of Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X... It was a part of the Department of Education until 1916, in which year it became part of the newly established University of Mysore. The Oriental Library was renamed as the Oriental Research Institute in 1943.

From the year 1893 to date the ORI has published nearly two hundred titles. The library features rare collections such as the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics by James Hastings, A Vedic Concordance by Maurice Bloomfield, and critical editions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It was the first public library in Mysore city for research and editing of manuscripts. The prime focus was on Indology. The institute publishes an annual journal called Mysore Orientalist. Its most famous publications include Kautilya's Arthashastra, written in the 4th century BC, edited by Dr. R. Shamashastri, which brought international fame to the institute when published in 1909.

One day a man from Tanjore handed over a manuscript of Arthashastra written on dried palm leaves to Dr Rudrapatnam Shamashastry, the librarian of Mysore Government Oriental Library now ORI. Shamashastry's job was to look after the library's ancient manuscripts. He had never seen anything like these palm leaves before. Here was a book that would revolutionise the knowledge of India's great past. This palm leaf manuscript is preserved in the library, now named Oriental Research Institute. The pages of the book are filled with 1500-year-old Grantha script. It looks like as if they have been printed but the words have been inscribed by hand. Other copies of Arthashastra were later discovered later in other parts of India.[1]

In this context, my mind remembering a day which was the His Excellency Krishnaraja Wodeyar went to Germany at the time of Dr. R. Shamashastry were working as a curator of Oriental Library, Mysore, The King sat in a meeting held in Germany and introduced himself as the King of Mysore State. Immediately a man stood up and asked, "Are you from our Dr. R. Shamashastry's Mysore?" Because the Arthashastra edited by him took a fame worldwide. The King wondered and came back to Mysore immediately to see Dr. R. Shamashastry, and also Dr. R. Shamashastry appointed as Asthana Vidwan. Sritattvanidhi, is a compilation of slokas by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Three edited manuscripts Navaratnamani-mahatmyam (a work on gemology), Tantrasara-sangraha (a work on sculptures and architecture), and Vaidashastra-dipika (an ayurvedic text), Rasa-kaumudi (on mercurial medicine) all of them with English and Kannada translation, are already in advanced stages of printing.

Oriental Research Institute

The ORI houses over 45,000 Palm leaf manuscript bundles and the 75,000 works on those leaves. The manuscripts are palm leaves cut to a standard size of 150 by 35 mm (5.9 by 1.4 in). Brittle palm leaves are sometimes softened by scrubbing a paste made of ragi and then used by the ancients for writing, similar to the use of papyrus in ancient Egypt. Manuscripts are organic materials that run the risk of decay and are prone to be destroyed by silverfish. To preserve them the ORI applies lemon grass oil on the manuscripts which acts like a pesticide. The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity.

The conventional method followed at the ORI was to preserve manuscripts by capturing them in microfilm, which then necessitated the use of a microfilm reader for viewing or studying. Once the ORI has digitized the manuscripts, the text can be viewed and manipulated by a computer. Software is then used to put together disjointed pieces of manuscripts and to correct or fill in any missing text. In this manner, the manuscripts are restored and enhanced. The original palm leaf manuscripts are also on reference at the ORI for those interested.

-- Oriental Research Institute Mysore, by Wikipedia

He transcribed, edited and published the Sanskrit edition in 1909. He proceeded to translate it into English, publishing it in 1915.[2]

The manuscript was in the Early Grantha script. Other copies of the Arthashastra were discovered later in other parts of India.

It was one of the manuscripts in the library that had been handed over by 'a pandit of the Tanjore district' to the Oriental Library.[3]

4 Rao (1958: 1, 3) considers Shamasastry the discoverer of the Arthasastra: ‘With the discovery of Kautilya’s Artha Sastra by Dr. R. Shama Sastri in 1905, and its publication in 1914, much interest has been aroused in the history of ancient Indian political thought; [p. 1]. . . . The Artha Sastra ¯ . . . is a compendium and a commentary on all the sciences of Polity that were existing in the time of Kautilya. It is a guidance to kings. . . . Artha Sastra ¯ contains thirty-two paragraphical divisions [Books]. . . . with one hundred and fifty chapters, and the Sastra is an illustration of a scientific approach to problems of politics, satisfying all the requirements and criteria of an exact science’ [p. 3]. But going back to the preface of the standard work and translation by Shamasastry (1967: vi), it is revealed that the manuscript of Kautilya’s Arthasastra ¯ was actually discovered by a person described merely as ‘a Pandit of the Tanjore District’ who handed it over ‘to the Mysore Government Oriental Library’ of which Shamasastry was the librarian.

-- Review and Extension of Battacharyya's Modern Accounting Concepts in Kautilya's Arthasastra, by Richard Mattessich

Saraswathi Mahal Library, also called Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswathi Mahal Library is a library located in Thanjavur (Tanjore), Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the oldest libraries in Asia established during 16th century by Nayakas of Thanjavur and has on display a rare collection of Palm leaf manuscripts and paper written in Tamil and Sanskrit and a few other languages indigenous to India...

The Saraswathi Mahal library was started by Nayak Kings of Tanjavur as a Royal Library for the private intellectual enrichment of Kings and their family of Thanjavur (see Nayaks of Tanjore) who ruled from 1535 CE till 1676 CE. The Maratha rulers who captured Thanjavur in 1675 promoted local culture and further developed the Royal Palace Library until 1855. Most notable among the Maratha Kings was Serfoji II (1798–1832), who was an eminent scholar in many branches of learning and the arts.

Serfoji II

Thuljaji was succeeded by his teenage son Serfoji II in 1787. Soon afterwards, he was deposed by his uncle and regent Amarsingh who seized the throne for himself. With the help of the British, Serfoji II recovered the throne in 1798. A subsequent treaty forced him to hand over the reins of the kingdom to the British East India Company, becoming part of the Tanjore District (Madras Presidency) [Presidency of Fort St. George]. The district collectorate system was installed thereafter to manage the public revenues. Serfoji II was however left in control of the Fort and the surrounding areas. He reigned till 1832. His reign is noted for the literary, scientific and technological accomplishments of the Tanjore country.

-- Thanjavur Maratha kingdom [Tanjore], by Wikipedia

In his early age Sarfoji studied under the influence of the German Reverent Schwartz [Christian Friedrich Schwarz], and learned many languages including English, French, Italian and Latin. He enthusiastically took special interest in the enrichment of the Library, employing many Pandits to collect, buy and copy a vast number of works from all renowned Centres of Sanskrit learning in Northern India and other far-flung areas.

-- Saraswathi Mahal Library, by Wikipedia

Until this discovery, the Arthashastra was known only through references to it in works, including those by Dandin, Bana, Vishnusarma, Mallinathasuri, Megasthenes, as well as others.

The prelude section of the Panchatantra identifies an octogenarian Brahmin named Vishnusharma (IAST: Viṣṇuśarman) as its author. He is stated to be teaching the principles of good government to three princes of Amarasakti. It is unclear, states Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions, if Vishnusharma was a real person or himself a literary invention. Some South Indian recensions of the text, as well as Southeast Asian versions of Panchatantra attribute the text to Vasubhaga, states Olivelle. Based on the content and mention of the same name in other texts dated to ancient and medieval era centuries, most scholars agree that Vishnusharma is a fictitious name.

-- Panchatantra, by Wikipedia

Megasthenes (/mɪˈɡæsθɪniːz/ mi-GAS-thi-neez; Ancient Greek: Μεγασθένης, c. 350BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book Indika, which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructed from literary fragments found in later authors. Megasthenes was the first person to describe ancient India, and for that reason he has been called "the father of Indian history".

Biography

While Megasthenes's account of India has survived in the later works, little is known about him as a person, except that he spent time at the court of Sibyrtius, who was a satrap of Arachosia under Antigonus I and then Seleucus I. and was an ambassador for Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator and to the court of the Mauryan King Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra (modern Patna). Dating for his journey to the Mauryan court is uncertain.

-- Megasthenes, by Wikipedia

This discovery was "an epoch-making event in the history of the study of ancient Indian polity".[4] It altered the perception of ancient India and changed the course of history studies, notably the false belief of European scholars at the time that Indians learnt the art of administration from the Greeks.[1]

The book was translated into French, German and many other languages.[1]

Other work

He started his career as Librarian, Government Mysore Oriental Library. From 1912–1918, he worked as Principal at the Sri Chamarajendra Samskrita Maha Patashala in Bengaluru. In the year 1918, he returned to the Government Mysore Oriental library and joined as Curator and later Director of Archeological Researches in Mysore, where he would continue to work until his retirement in 1929. Apart from discovering Kautilya's Arthashastra, he pursued his research in the Vedic era and Vedic astronomy, making valuable contributions to Vedic studies. The following are among Shamasastry's works:

1. Vedangajyautishya – A Vedic Manual of Astronomy, 8th Century B.C.
2. Drapsa: The Vedic Cycle of Eclipses – a key to unlock the treasures of the Vedas.[5]
3. Eclipse-Cult in the Vedas, Bible, and Koran – A supplement to the Drapsa. It is this Cult that has given rise to epic and puranic tales in India. The mathematical aspect of eclipse-cycles is treated at great length and eclipse-tables have been appended. Dr. E. Abegg, Professor, University of Zurich, Switzerland, stated- 'I see with admiration that R Shamasatry, a thorough scholar in the difficult problems of Vedic Astronomy and Calendar, things of which European Indianists have very rarely a true Knowledge' [6]
4. Gavam Ayana- The Vedic Era- is an exposition of a forgotten sacrificial calendar of the Vedic poets and includes an account of the origin of the Yugas.[7]
5. Evolution of Indian Polity. This book is a compilation of Ten lectures delivered in Calcutta University. Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, personally invited Sastry to deliver these discourses. In this work, the ancient Indian administrative systems and various levels of administrative set-up are critically examined, on the basis of Vedas, legends, Arthashastra, Mahabharata, Jainagama works etc.[8]
6. The Origin of Devanagari Alphabets.[9]

All his works received great attention from many great Scholars around the world, particularly European Indianists.

R. Shamasastry also edited many Kannada Texts. Some of the important works he published are:

• Rudrabhaṭṭa's Jagannāthavijaya (1923)
• Nayasena's Dharmāmṛta (part I in 1924 & part II 1926)
• Lingannakavi's Keḷadinṛpavijaya (1921)
• Govindavaidya's Kaṇṭhīravanarasarajavijaya (1926)
• The Virāṭa Parvan of Kumāravyāsa's Karnataka Mahābhārata (1920)
• The Udyoga Parvan of Kumārayvāsa's Karnataka Mahābhārata (1922)

Awards

Shamasastry's work was acclaimed by Ashutosh Mukherjee, Rabindranath Tagore, and others. Shamasastry also met Mahatma Gandhi in 1927 at Nandi Hills.[2] The discovery brought international fame to the institute.[10]

Outside India, Shamasastry's discovery was hailed by Indologists and Orientalists such as Julius Jolly, Moriz Winternitz, F. W. Thomas, Paul Pelliot, Arthur Berriedale Keith, Sten Konow and others.[1] J. F. Fleet wrote of Shamasastry: "We are, and shall always remain, under a great obligation to him for a most important addition to our means of studying the general history of ancient India."[2]

Shamasastry was awarded a doctorate in 1919 from the Oriental University in Washington D.C. and in 1921 from Calcutta University.[11] He was made a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and won the Campbell Memorial gold medal.

Several titles were also conferred on him, including Arthashastra Visharada by the Maharaja of Mysore, Mahamahopadhyaya by the Government of India and Vidyalankara and Panditaraja by the Varanasi Sanskrit Mandali.[12]

Recognition in Germany

An often-told anecdote involves the visit of the then-king of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, to Germany. When introduced as the king of Mysore, he was asked by the vice-chancellor of a German university whether he was from the Mysore of Shamasastry. On his return, the king honoured Shamasastry and said "In Mysore we are the Maharaja and you are our subject, but in Germany, you are the master and people recognise us by your name and fame."[1][2]

Later life

Shamasastry continued his research work on Indological problems.[1] He later became the curator of the institute.[2] As Director of Archaeology of Mysore State, he discovered many inscriptions on stone and copper plates.[1]

His house Asutosh, in the Chamundipuram locality of Mysore, was named after Sir Asutosh Mookerjee.[2]

Notes

1. Prof. AV Narasimha Murthy (21 June 2009), "R Shamasastry: Discoverer of Kautilya's Arthasastra", The Organiser
2. Sugata Srinivasaraju (27 July 2009), "Year of the Guru", Outlook India
3. Richard Mattessich (2000), The beginnings of accounting and accounting thought: accounting practice in the Middle East (8000 B.C. to 2000 B.C.) and accounting thought in India (300 B.C. and the Middle Ages), Taylor & Francis, p. 146, ISBN 978-0-8153-3445-3
4. Ram Sharan Sharma (2009), Aspects of political ideas and institutions in ancient India (4 ed.), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 4, ISBN 978-81-208-0827-0
5. R. Shamasastry (1938), Drapsa: The Vedic Cycle of Eclipses : a Key to Unlock the Treasures of the Vedas, Sri Panchacharya Electric Press
6. R. Shamasastry (1940), Eclipse-cult in the Vedas, Bible and Koran: A Supplement to the "Drapsa", Sri Panchacharya Electric Press
7. R. Shamasastry (1908), Gavam Ayana the Vedic Era, R. Shamasastry, 1908
8. R. (Rudrapatna) Shama Sastri (2009), Evolution of Indian Polity, HardPress, 2012, ISBN 9781290797320
9. R. (Rudrapatna) Shama Sastri (2009), The Origin of the Devanagari Alphabets, Bharati-Prakashan, 1973, ISBN 9781290797320
10. A monumental heritage, The Hindu, 27 October 2001.
11. "Annual Convocation". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012.
12. "Annual Convocation". Karnataka Samskruta University.

External links

• Texts from Wikisource
• Data from Wikidata
• Text of 1915 Shamasastry translation

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Part 1 of 3

The Story of the Fisherman, Excerpt From The Thousand and One Nights [The Arabian Nights' Entertainments]
by Anonymous
Translated by Edward William Lane
Illustrator: William Harvey

Tilli: Regarding the appearance of Tilli as a dark-skinned man frying living fishes in the kitchen, it is enough to remember the well-known story in "Thousand and One Night."

-- Mystic Tales of Lama Taranatha: A Religio-Sociological History of Mahayana Buddhism, by Lama Taranatha, Translated into English by Bhupendranath Datta, A.M., Dr. Phil.

Naropa searches for his teacher Tilopa

He traveled to the eastern regions and searched for Tilopa everywhere, but Tilopa was nowhere to be found. One day, Naropa was at a monastery in the eastern region. While in the monastery kitchen, a vile and filthy old man came in and roasted many live fish in the glowing fire. Naropa was unable to persuade him not to roast the fish alive, and the other monks jumped up and began to run towards the old man to stop him from killing. The old man responded: “If you don’t like it, just throw these roasted fish leftovers into the water!” Upon putting the roasted fish remains into water, they came to life and swam away in all directions.

-- Naropa: His Life and Teachings, by kagyuoffice.org

CHAPTER II. COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE THIRD NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE NINTH. THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN.



There was a certain fisherman, advanced in age, who had a wife and three children; and though he was in indigent circumstances, it was his custom to cast his net, every day, no more than four times. One day he went forth at the hour of noon to the shore of the sea, and put down his basket, and cast his net, and waited until it was motionless in the water, when he drew together its strings, and found it to be heavy: he pulled, but could not draw it up: so he took the end of the cord, and knocked a stake into the shore, and tied the cord to it. He then stripped himself, and dived round the net, and continued to pull until he drew it out: whereupon he rejoiced, and put on his clothes; but when he came to examine the net, he found in it the carcass of an ass. At the sight of this he mourned, and70 exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great! This is a strange piece of fortune!—And he repeated the following verse:—

O thou who occupiest thyself in the darkness of night, and in peril! Spare thy trouble; for the support of Providence is not obtained by toil!1

He then disencumbered his net of the dead ass, and wrung it out; after which he spread it, and descended into the sea, and—exclaiming, In the name of God!—cast it again, and waited till it had sunk and was still, when he pulled it, and found it more heavy and more difficult to raise than on the former occasion. He therefore concluded that it was full of fish: so he tied it, and stripped, and plunged and dived, and pulled until he raised it, and drew it upon the shore; when he found in it only a large jar, full of sand and mud; on seeing which, he was troubled in his heart, and repeated the following words of the poet:—

O angry fate, forbear! or, if thou wilt not forbear, relent!
Neither favour from fortune do I gain, nor profit from the work of my hands,
I came forth to seek my sustenance, but have found it to be exhausted.
How many of the ignorant are in splendour! and how many of the wise, in obscurity!

So saying, he threw aside the jar, and wrung out and cleansed his net; and, begging the forgiveness of God for his impatience, returned to the sea the third time, and threw the net, and waited till it had sunk and was motionless: he then drew it out, and found in it a quantity of broken jars and pots.

Upon this, he raised his head towards heaven, and said, O God, Thou knowest that I cast not my net more than four times; and I have now cast it three times! Then—exclaiming, In the name of God!—he cast the net again into the sea, and waited till it was still; when he attempted to draw it up, but could not, for it clung to the bottom. And he exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God!—and stripped himself again, and dived round the net, and pulled it until he raised it upon the shore; when he opened it, and found in it a bottle2 of brass, filled with something, and having its mouth closed with a stopper of lead, bearing the impression of the seal of our lord Suleymán.3 At the sight of this, the fisherman was rejoiced, and said, This I will sell in the copper-market; for it is worth ten pieces of gold. He then shook it, and found it to be heavy, and said, I must open it, and see what is in it, and store it in my bag; and then I will sell the bottle in the copper-market. So he took out a knife, and picked71 at the lead until he extracted it from the bottle. He then laid the bottle on the ground, and shook it, that its contents might pour out; but there came forth from it nothing but smoke, which ascended towards the sky, and spread over the face of the earth; at which he wondered excessively. And after a little while, the smoke collected together, and was condensed, and then became agitated, and was converted into an 'Efreet, whose head was in the clouds, while his feet rested upon the ground:4 his head was like a dome: his hands were like winnowing forks;5 and his legs, like masts: his mouth resembled a cavern: his teeth were like stones; his nostrils, like trumpets;6 and his eyes, like lamps; and he had dishevelled and dust-coloured hair.


The 'Efreet liberated from the Bottle

When the fisherman beheld this 'Efreet, the muscles of his sides quivered, his teeth were locked together, his spittle dried up, and he saw not his way. The 'Efreet, as soon as he perceived him, exclaimed, There is no deity but God: Suleymán is the Prophet of God. O Prophet of God, slay me not; for I will never again oppose thee in word, or rebel against thee in deed!—O Márid,7 said the fisherman, dost thou say, Suleymán is the Prophet of God? Suleymán hath been dead a thousand and eight hundred years; and we are now in the end of time. What is thy history, and what is thy tale, and what was the cause of thy entering this bottle? When the Márid heard these words of the fisherman, he said, There is no deity but God! Receive news, O fisherman!—Of what, said the fisherman, dost thou give me news? He answered, Of thy being instantly put to a most cruel death. The fisherman exclaimed, Thou deservest, for this news, O master of the 'Efreets, the withdrawal of protection from thee, O thou remote!8 Wherefore wouldst thou kill me? and what requires thy killing me, when I have liberated thee from the bottle, and rescued thee from the bottom of the sea, and brought thee up upon the dry land?—The 'Efreet answered, Choose what kind of death thou wilt die, and in what manner thou shalt be killed.—What is my offence, said the fisherman, that this should be my recompense from thee? The 'Efreet replied, Hear my story, O fisherman.—Tell it then, said the fisherman, and be short in thy words; for my soul hath sunk down to my feet.

Know then, said he, that I am one of the heretical Jinn: I rebelled against Suleymán the son of Dáood: I and Ṣakhr the Jinnee;9 and he sent to me his Wezeer, Áṣaf the son of Barkhiyà, who came upon me forcibly, and took me to him in bonds, and placed me before him: and when Suleymán saw me, he offered up a prayer for protection against me, and exhorted me to embrace the faith, and to submit to his authority; but I refused; upon which he called for this bottle, and confined me in it, and closed it upon me with the leaden stopper, which he stamped with the Most Great Name: he then gave orders to the Jinn, who carried me away, and threw me into the midst of the sea. There I remained a hundred years; and I said in my heart, Whosoever shall liberate me, I will enrich him for ever:—but the hundred years passed over me, and no one liberated me: and I entered upon another hundred years; and I said, Whosoever shall liberate me, I will open to him the treasures of the earth;—but no one did so: and four hundred years more passed over me, and I said,73 Whosoever shall liberate me, I will perform for him three wants:—but still no one liberated me. I then fell into a violent rage, and said within myself, Whosoever shall liberate me now, I will kill him; and only suffer him to choose in what manner he will die. And lo, now thou hast liberated me, and I have given thee thy choice of the manner in which thou wilt die.


The Fisherman enclosing the 'Efreet in the Bottle

When the fisherman had heard the story of the 'Efreet, he exclaimed, O Allah! that I should not have liberated thee but in such a time as this! Then said he to the 'Efreet, Pardon me, and kill me not, and so may God pardon thee; and destroy me not, lest God give power over thee to one who will destroy thee. The Márid answered, I must positively kill thee; therefore choose by what manner of death thou wilt die. The fisherman then felt assured of his death; but he again implored the 'Efreet, saying, Pardon me by way of gratitude for my liberating thee.—Why, answered the 'Efreet, I am not going to kill thee but for that very reason, because thou hast liberated me.—O Sheykh of the 'Efreets, said the fisherman, do I act kindly towards thee, and dost thou recompense me with baseness? But the proverb lieth not that saith,—

We did good to them, and they returned us the contrary; and such, by my life, is the conduct of the wicked.
Thus he who acteth kindly to the undeserving is recompensed in the same manner as the aider of Umm-'Ámir.10

The 'Efreet, when he heard these words, answered by saying, Covet not life, for thy death is unavoidable. Then said the fisherman within himself, This is a Jinnee, and I am a man; and God hath given me sound reason; therefore, I will now plot his destruction with my art and reason, like as he hath plotted with his cunning and perfidy. So he said to the 'Efreet, Hast thou determined to kill me? He answered, Yes. Then said he, By the Most Great Name engraved upon the seal of Suleymán, I will ask thee one question; and wilt thou answer it to me truly? On hearing the mention of the Most Great Name, the 'Efreet was agitated, and trembled, and replied, Yes; ask, and be brief. The fisherman then said, How wast thou in this bottle? It will not contain thy hand or thy foot; how then can it contain thy whole body?—Dost thou not believe that I was in it? said the 'Efreet. The fisherman answered, I will never believe thee until I see thee in it. Upon this, the 'Efreet shook, and became converted again into smoke, which rose to the sky, and then became condensed, and entered the bottle by little and little, until it was all enclosed; when the fisherman74 hastily snatched the sealed leaden stopper, and, having replaced it in the mouth of the bottle, called out to the 'Efreet, and said, Choose in what manner of death thou wilt die. I will assuredly throw thee here into the sea, and build me a house on this spot; and whosoever shall come here, I will prevent his fishing in this place, and will say to him, Here is an 'Efreet, who, to any person that liberates him, will propose various kinds of death, and then give him his choice of one of them. On hearing these words of the fisherman, the 'Efreet endeavoured to escape; but could not, finding himself restrained by the impression of the seal of Suleymán, and thus imprisoned by the fisherman as the vilest and filthiest and least of 'Efreets. The fisherman then took the bottle to the brink of the sea. The 'Efreet exclaimed, Nay! nay!—to which the fisherman answered, Yea, without fail! yea, without fail! The Márid then addressing him with a soft voice and humble manner, said, What dost thou intend to do with me, O fisherman? He answered, I will throw thee into the sea; and if thou hast been there a thousand and eight hundred years, I will make thee to remain there until the hour of judgment. Did I not say to thee, Spare me, and so may God spare thee; and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee? But thou didst reject my petition, and wouldest nothing but75 treachery; therefore God hath caused thee to fall into my hand, and I have betrayed thee.—Open to me, said the 'Efreet, that I may confer benefits upon thee. The fisherman replied, Thou liest, thou accursed! I and thou are like the Wezeer of King Yoonán11 and the sage Doobán.12—What, said the 'Efreet, was the case of the Wezeer of King Yoonán and the sage Doobán, and what is their story? The fisherman answered as follows:—

THE STORY OF KING YOONÁN AND THE SAGE DOOBÁN.

Know, O 'Efreet, that there was, in former times, in the country of the Persians,13 a monarch who was called King Yoonán, possessing great treasures and numerous forces, valiant, and having troops of every description; but he was afflicted with leprosy, which the physicians and sages had failed to remove; neither their potions, nor powders, nor ointments were of any benefit to him; and none of the physicians was able to cure him. At length there arrived at the city of this king a great sage, stricken in years, who was called the sage Doobán: he was acquainted with ancient Greek, Persian, modern Greek, Arabic, and Syriac books, and with medicine and astrology, both with respect to their scientific principles and the rules of their practical applications for good and evil; as well as the properties of plants, dried and fresh, the injurious and the useful: he was versed in the wisdom of the philosophers, and embraced a knowledge of all the medical and other sciences.

After this sage had arrived in the city, and remained in it a few days, he heard of the case of the King, of the leprosy with which God had afflicted him, and that the physicians and men of science had failed to cure him. In consequence of this information, he passed the next night in deep study; and when the morning came, and diffused its light, and the sun saluted the Ornament of the Good,14 he attired himself in the richest of his apparel, and presented himself before the King. Having kissed the ground before him, and offered up a prayer for the continuance of his power and happiness, and greeted him in the best manner he was able, he informed him who he was, and said, O King, I have heard of the disease which hath attacked thy person, and that many of the physicians are unacquainted with the means of removing it; and I will cure thee without giving thee to drink any potion, or anointing thee with ointment. When King Yoonán heard76 his words, he wondered, and said to him, How wilt thou do this? By Allah, if thou cure me, I will enrich thee and thy children's children, and I will heap favours upon thee, and whatever thou shalt desire shall be thine, and thou shalt be my companion and my friend.—He then bestowed upon him a robe of honour,15 and other presents, and said to him, Wilt thou cure me of this disease without potion or ointment? He answered, Yes; I will cure thee without any discomfort to thy person. And the King was extremely astonished, and said, O Sage, at what time, and on what day, shall that which thou hast proposed to me be done? Hasten it, O my Son.—He answered, I hear and obey.

He then went out from the presence of the King, and hired a house, in which he deposited his books, and medicines, and drugs. Having done this, he selected certain of his medicines and drugs, and made a goff-stick, with a hollow handle, into which he introduced them; after which he made a ball for it, skilfully adapted; and on the following day, after he had finished these, he went again to the King, and kissed the ground before him, and directed him to repair to the horse-course, and to play with the ball and goff-stick. The King, attended by his Emeers and Chamberlains and Wezeers, went thither, and, as soon as he arrived there, the sage Doobán presented himself before him, and handed to him the goff-stick, saying, Take this goff-stick, and grasp it thus, and ride along the horse-course, and strike the ball with it with all thy force, until the palm of thy hand and thy whole body become moist with perspiration, when the medicine will penetrate into thy hand, and pervade thy whole body; and when thou hast done this, and the medicine remains in thee, return to77 thy palace, and enter the bath,16 and wash thyself, and sleep: then shalt thou find thyself cured: and peace be on thee. So King Yoonán took the goff-stick from the sage, and grasped it in his hand, and mounted his horse; and the ball was thrown before him, and he urged his horse after it until he overtook it, when he struck it with all his force; and when he had continued this exercise as long as was necessary, and bathed and slept, he looked upon his skin, and not a vestige of the leprosy remained: it was clear as white silver. Upon this he rejoiced exceedingly; his heart was dilated, and he was full of happiness.


King Yoonán playing at Goff

On the following morning he entered the council-chamber, and sat upon his throne; and the Chamberlains and great officers of his court came before him. The sage Doobán also presented himself; and when the King saw him, he rose to him in haste, and seated him by his side. Services of food were then spread before them, and the sage ate with the King, and remained as his guest all the day;17 and when the night approached, the King gave him two thousand pieces of gold, besides dresses of honour and other presents, and mounted him on his own horse, and so the sage returned to his house.18 And the King was astonished at his skill; saying, This man hath cured me by an external process, without anointing me with ointment: by Allah, this is consummate science; and it is incumbent on me to bestow favours and honours upon him, and to make him my companion and familiar friend as long as I live. He passed the night happy and joyful on account of his recovery, and when he arose, he went forth again, and sat upon his throne; the officers of his court standing before him, and the Emeers and Wezeers sitting on his right hand and on his left; and he called for the sage Doobán, who came, and kissed the ground before him; and the King rose, and seated him by his side, and ate with him, and greeted him with compliments: he bestowed upon him again a robe of honour and other presents, and, after conversing with him till the approach of night, gave orders that five other robes of honour should be given to him, and a thousand pieces of gold; and the sage departed, and returned to his house.


Doobán in his Dress of Honour

Again, when the next morning came, the King went as usual to his council-chamber, and the Emeers and Wezeers and Chamberlains surrounded him. Now there was, among his Wezeers, one of ill aspect, and of evil star;19 sordid, avaricious, and of an envious and malicious disposition; and when he saw that the King had made the sage Doobán his friend, and bestowed upon him these favours, he78 envied him this distinction, and meditated evil against him; agreeably with the adage which saith, There is no one void of envy;20—and another, which saith, Tyranny lurketh in the soul: power manifesteth it, and weakness concealeth it. So he approached the King, and kissed the ground before him, and said, O King of the age, thou art he whose goodness extendeth to all men, and I have an important piece of advice to give thee: if I were to conceal it from thee, I should be a base-born wretch: therefore, if thou order me to impart it, I will do so. The King, disturbed by these words of the Wezeer, said, What is thy advice? He answered, O glorious King, it hath been said, by the ancients, He who looketh not to results, fortune will not attend him:—now I have seen the King in a way that is not right; since he hath bestowed favours upon his enemy, and upon him who desireth the downfall of his dominion: he hath treated him with kindness, and honoured him with the highest honours, and admitted him to the79 closest intimacy: I therefore fear, for the King, the consequence of this conduct.—At this the King was troubled, and his countenance changed; and he said, Who is he whom thou regardest as mine enemy, and to whom I shew kindness? He replied, O King, if thou hast been asleep, awake! I allude to the sage Doobán.—The King said, He is my intimate companion, and the dearest of men in my estimation; for he restored me by a thing that I merely held in my hand, and cured me of my disease which the physicians were unable to remove, and there is not now to be found one like to him in the whole world, from west to east. Wherefore, then, dost thou utter these words against him? I will, from this day, appoint him a regular salary and maintenance, and give him every month a thousand pieces of gold; and if I gave him a share of my kingdom it were but a small thing to do unto him. I do not think that thou hast said this from any other motive than that of envy. If I did what thou desirest, I should repent after it, as the man repented who killed his parrot.21


The Intelligent Parrot

THE STORY OF THE HUSBAND AND THE PARROT.

There was a certain merchant, of an excessively jealous disposition, having a wife endowed with perfect beauty, who had prevented him from leaving his home; but an event happened which obliged him to make a journey; and when he found his doing so to be indispensable, he went to the market in which birds were sold, and bought a parrot, which he placed in his house to act as a spy, that, on his return, she might inform him of what passed during his absence; for80 this parrot was cunning and intelligent, and remembered whatever she heard.22 So, when he had made his journey, and accomplished his business, he returned, and caused the parrot to be brought to him, and asked her respecting the conduct of his wife. She answered, Thy wife has a lover, who visited her every night during thy absence:—and when the man heard this, he fell into a violent rage, and went to his wife, and gave her a severe beating.

The woman imagined that one of the female slaves had informed him of what had passed between her and her paramour during his absence: she therefore called them together, and made them swear; and they all swore that they had not told their master anything of the matter; but confessed that they had heard the parrot relate to him what had passed. Having thus established, on the testimony of the slaves, the fact of the parrot's having informed her husband of her intrigue, she ordered one of these slaves to grind with a hand-mill under the cage, another to sprinkle water from above, and a third to move a mirror from side to side, during the next night on which her husband was absent; and on the following morning, when the man returned from an entertainment at which he had been present, and inquired again of the parrot what had passed that night during his absence, the bird answered, O my master, I could neither see nor hear anything, on account of the excessive darkness, and thunder, and lightning, and rain. Now this happened during summer: so he said to her, What strange words are these? It is now summer, when nothing of what thou hast described ever happens.—The parrot, however, swore by Allah the Great that what she had said was true; and that it had so happened: upon which the man, not understanding the case, nor knowing the plot, became violently enraged, and took out the bird from the cage, and threw her down upon the ground with such violence that he killed her.

But after some days, one of his female slaves informed him of the truth; yet he would not believe it, until he saw his wife's paramour going out from his house; when he drew his sword,23 and slew the traitor by a blow on the back of his neck: so also did he to his treacherous wife; and thus both of them went, laden with the sin which they had committed, to the fire; and the merchant discovered that the parrot had informed him truly of what she had seen; and he mourned grievously for her loss.

When the Wezeer heard these words of King Yoonán, he said, O King of great dignity, what hath this crafty sage—this man from81 whom nought but mischief proceedeth—done unto me, that I should be his enemy, and speak evil of him, and plot with thee to destroy him? I have informed thee respecting him in compassion for thee, and in fear of his despoiling thee of thy happiness; and if my words be not true, destroy me, as the Wezeer of Es-Sindibád was destroyed.—The King asked, How was that? And the Wezeer thus answered:—

THE STORY OF THE ENVIOUS WEZEER AND THE PRINCE AND THE GHOOLEH.

The King above mentioned had a son who was ardently fond of the chase;24 and he had a Wezeer whom he charged to be always with this son wherever he went. One day the son went forth to hunt, and his father's Wezeer was with him; and as they rode together, they saw a great wild beast; upon which the Wezeer exclaimed to the Prince, Away after this wild beast! The King's son pursued it until he was out of the sight of his attendants, and the beast also escaped from before his eyes in the desert; and while the Prince wandered in perplexity, not knowing whither to direct his course, he met in his way a damsel, who was weeping. He said to her, Who art thou?—and she answered, I am a daughter of one of the kings of India; I was in the desert, and slumber overtook me, and I fell from my horse in a state of insensibility, and being thus separated from my attendants, I lost my way. The Prince, on hearing this, pitied her forlorn state, and placed her behind him on his horse; and as they proceeded, they passed by a ruin,25 and the damsel said to him, O my master, I would alight here for a little while. The Prince therefore lifted her from his horse at this ruin; but she delayed so long to return, that he wondered wherefore she had loitered so, and entering after her, without her knowledge, perceived that she was a Ghooleh,26 and heard her say, My children, I have brought you to-day a fat young man:—on which they exclaimed, Bring him in to us, O mother! that we may fill our stomachs with his flesh. When the Prince heard their words, he felt assured of destruction; the muscles of his sides quivered, and fear overcame him, and he retreated. The Ghooleh then came forth, and, seeing that he appeared alarmed and fearful, and that he was trembling, said to him, Wherefore dost thou fear? He answered, I have an enemy of whom I am in fear. The Ghooleh said, Thou assertest thyself to be the son of the King. He replied, Yes.—Then, said she, wherefore dost thou not82 give some money to thine enemy, and so conciliate him? He answered, He will not be appeased with money, nor with anything but life; and therefore do I fear him: I am an injured man. She then said to him, If thou be an injured man, as thou affirmest, beg aid of God against thine oppressor, and He will avert from thee his mischievous design, and that of every other person whom thou fearest. Upon this, therefore, the Prince raised his head towards heaven, and said, O thou who answerest the distressed when he prayeth to Thee, and dispellest evil, assist me, and cause mine enemy to depart from me; for Thou art able to do whatsoever Thou wilt!—and the Ghooleh no sooner heard his prayer, than she departed from him. The Prince then returned to his father, and informed him of the conduct of the Wezeer; upon which the King gave orders that the minister should be put to death.83


The Prince Meeting the Ghooleh

CONTINUATION OF THE STORY OF KING YOONÁN AND THE SAGE DOOBÁN.

And thou, O King, continued the Wezeer of King Yoonán, if thou trust in this sage, he will kill thee in the foulest manner. If thou continue to bestow favours upon him, and to make him thine intimate companion, he will plot thy destruction. Dost thou not see that he hath cured thee of the disease by external means, by a thing that thou heldest in thy hand? Therefore thou art not secure against his killing thee by a thing that thou shalt hold in the same manner.—King Yoonán answered, Thou hast spoken truth: the case is as thou hast said, O faithful Wezeer: it is probable that this sage came as a spy to accomplish my death; and if he cured me by a thing I held in my hand, he may destroy me by a thing that I may smell: what then, O Wezeer, shall be done respecting him? The Wezeer answered, Send to him immediately, and desire him to come hither; and when he is come, strike off his head, and so shalt thou avert from thee his evil design, and be secure from him. Betray him before he betray thee.—The King said, Thou hast spoken right.

Immediately, therefore, he sent for the sage, who came, full of joy, not knowing what the Compassionate27 had decreed against him, and addressed the King with these words of the poet:—

If I fail any day to render thee due thanks, tell me for whom I have composed my verse and prose.
Thou hast loaded me with favours unsolicited, bestowed without delay on thy part, or excuse.
How then should I abstain from praising thee as thou deservest, and lauding thee both with my heart and voice?
Nay, I will thank thee for thy benefits conferred upon me: they are light upon my tongue, though weighty to my back.

Knowest thou, said the King, wherefore I have summoned thee? The sage answered, None knoweth what is secret but God, whose name be exalted! Then said the King, I have summoned thee that I may take away thy life. The sage, in the utmost astonishment at this announcement, said, O King, wherefore wouldst thou kill me, and what offence hath been committed by me? The King answered, It hath been told me that thou art a spy, and that thou hast come hither to kill me: but I will prevent thee by killing thee first:—and so saying, he called out to the executioner, Strike off the head of this traitor, and relieve me from his wickedness,—Spare me, said the sage, and so may84 God spare thee; and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee.—And he repeated these words several times, like as I did, O 'Efreet; but thou wouldst not let me go, desiring to destroy me.


Doobán and the Executioner

King Yoonán then said to the sage Doobán, I shall not be secure unless I kill thee; for thou curedst me by a thing that I held in my hand, and I have no security against thy killing me by a thing that I may smell, or by some other means.—O King, said the sage, is this my recompense from thee? Dost thou return evil for good?—The King answered, Thou must be slain without delay. When the sage, therefore, was convinced that the King intended to put him to death, and that his fate was inevitable, he lamented the benefit that he had done to the undeserving. The executioner then advanced, and bandaged his eyes, and, having drawn his sword, said, Give permission. Upon this the sage wept, and said again, Spare me, and so may God spare thee; and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee! Wouldst thou return me the recompense of the crocodile?—What, said the King, is the story of the crocodile? The sage answered, I cannot relate it while in this condition;28 but I conjure thee by Allah to spare me, and so may He spare thee. And he wept bitterly. Then one of the chief officers of the King arose, and said, O King, give up to me the blood of this sage; for we have not seen him commit any offence against thee; nor have we seen him do aught but cure thee of thy disease, which wearied the other physicians and sages. The King answered, Ye know not the reason wherefore I would kill the sage: it is this, that if I suffered him to live, I should myself inevitably perish; for he who cured me of the disease under which I suffered by a thing that I held in my85 hand, may kill me by a thing that I may smell; and I fear that he would do so, and would receive an appointment on account of it; seeing that it is probable he is a spy who hath come hither to kill me; I must therefore kill him, and then shall I feel myself safe.—The sage then said again, Spare me, and so may God spare thee; and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee.

But he now felt certain, O 'Efreet, that the King would put him to death, and that there was no escape for him; so he said, O King, if my death is indispensable, grant me some respite, that I may return to my house, and acquit myself of my duties, and give directions to my family and neighbours to bury me, and dispose of my medical books; and among my books is one of most especial value, which I offer as a present to thee, that thou mayest treasure it in thy library.—And what, said the King, is this book? He answered, It contains things not to be enumerated; and the smallest of the secret virtues that it possesses is this; that, when thou hast cut off my head, if thou open this book, and count three leaves, and then read three lines on the page to the left, the head will speak to thee, and answer whatever thou shalt ask. At this the King was excessively astonished, and shook with delight, and said to him, O Sage, when I have cut off thy head will it speak? He answered, Yes, O King; and this is a wonderful thing.

The King then sent him in the custody of guards; and the sage descended to his house, and settled all his affairs on that day; and on the following day he went up to the court: and the Emeers and Wezeers, and Chamberlains and Deputies, and all the great officers of the state, went thither also: and the court resembled a flower-garden.29 And when the sage had entered, he presented himself before the King, bearing an old book, and a small pot containing a powder: and he sat down, and said, Bring me a tray. So they brought him one; and he poured out the powder into it, and spread it. He then said, O King, take this book, and do nothing with it until thou hast cut off my head; and when thou hast done so, place it upon this tray, and order some one to press it down upon the powder; and when this is done, the blood will be stanched: then open the book. As soon as the sage had said this, the King gave orders to strike off his head; and it was done. The King then opened the book, and found that its leaves were stuck together; so he put his finger to his mouth, and moistened it with his spittle, and opened the first leaf, and the second, and the third; but the leaves were not opened without difficulty. He86 opened six leaves, and looked at them; but found upon them no writing. So he said, O Sage, there is nothing written in it. The head of the sage answered, Turn over more leaves. The King did so; and in a little while, the poison penetrated into his system; for the book was poisoned; and the King fell back, and cried out, The poison hath penetrated into me!—and upon this, the head of the sage Doobán repeated these verses:—

They made use of their power, and used it tyrannically; and soon it became as though it never had existed.
Had they acted equitably, they had experienced equity; but they oppressed; wherefore fortune oppressed them with calamities and trials.
Then did the case itself announce to them, This is the reward of your conduct, and fortune is blameless.

And when the head of the sage Doobán had uttered these words, the King immediately fell down dead.30


The Death of King Yoonán

CONTINUATION OF THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN.

Now, O 'Efreet, continued the fisherman, know that if King Yoonán had spared the sage Doobán, God had spared him; but he refused, and desired his destruction; therefore God destroyed him: and thou, O 'Efreet, if thou hadst spared me, God had spared thee, and I had spared thee; but thou desiredst my death; therefore will I put thee to death imprisoned in this bottle, and will throw thee here into the sea. The Márid, upon this, cried out, and said, I conjure thee by Allah, O fisherman, that thou do it not: spare me in generosity, and be not angry with me for what I did; but if I have done evil, do thou87 good, according to the proverb,—O thou benefactor of him who hath done evil, the action that he hath done is sufficient for him:—do not therefore as Umámeh did to 'Átikeh.—And what, said the fisherman, was their case? The 'Efreet answered, This is not a time for telling stories, when I am in this prison; but when thou liberatest me, I will relate to thee their case.31 The fisherman said, Thou must be thrown into the sea, and there shall be no way of escape for thee from it; for I endeavoured to propitiate thee, and humbled myself before thee, yet thou wouldest nothing but my destruction, though I had committed no offence to deserve it, and had done no evil to thee whatever, but only good, delivering thee from thy confinement; and when thou didst thus unto me, I perceived that thou wast radically corrupt: and I would have thee know, that my motive for throwing thee into this sea, is, that I may acquaint with thy story every one that shall take thee out, and caution him against thee, that he may cast thee in again: thus shalt thou remain in this sea to the end of time, and experience varieties of torment.—The 'Efreet then said, Liberate me, for this is an opportunity for thee to display humanity; and I vow to thee that I will never do thee harm; but, on the contrary, will do thee a service that shall enrich thee for ever.

Upon this the fisherman accepted his covenant that he would not hurt him, but that he would do him good; and when he had bound him by oaths and vows, and made him swear by the Most Great Name of God, he opened to him; and the smoke ascended until it had all come forth, and then collected together, and became, as before, an 'Efreet of hideous form. The 'Efreet then kicked the bottle into the sea. When the fisherman saw him do this, he made sure of destruction, and said, This is no sign of good:—but afterwards he fortified his heart, and said, O 'Efreet, God, whose name be exalted, hath said, Perform the covenant, for the covenant shall be inquired into:32—and thou has covenanted with me, and sworn that thou wilt not act treacherously towards me; therefore, if thou so act, God will recompense thee; for He is jealous; He respiteth, but suffereth not to escape; and remember that I said to thee as said the sage Doobán to King Yoonán, Spare me, and so may God spare thee.

The 'Efreet laughed, and, walking on before him, said, O fisherman, follow me. The fisherman did so, not believing in his escape, until they had quitted the neighbourhood of the city, and ascended a mountain, and descended into a wide desert tract, in the midst of which was a lake of water. Here the 'Efreet stopped, and ordered88 the fisherman to cast his net and take some fish; and the fisherman, looking into the lake, saw in it fish of different colours, white and red and blue and yellow; at which he was astonished; and he cast his net, and drew it in, and found in it four fish, each fish of a different colour from the others, at the sight of which he rejoiced. The 'Efreet then said to him, Take them to the Sulṭán,33 and present them to him, and he will give thee what will enrich thee; and for the sake of God accept my excuse, for, at present, I know no other way of rewarding thee, having been in the sea a thousand and eight hundred years, and not seen the surface of the earth until now: but take not fish from the lake more than once each day: and now I commend thee to the care of God.—Having thus said, he struck the earth with his feet, and it clove asunder, and swallowed him.


The Fish of Four Colours

The fisherman then went back to the city, wondering at all that had befallen him with the 'Efreet, and carried the fish to his house; and he took an earthen bowl, and, having filled it with water, put the fish into it; and they struggled in the water: and when he had done this, he placed the bowl upon his head, and repaired to the King's palace, as the 'Efreet had commanded him, and, going up unto the King, presented to him the fish; and the King was excessively astonished at them, for he had never seen any like them in the course of his life; and he said, Give these fish to the slave cook-maid. This maid had been sent as a present to him by the King of the Greeks, three days before; and he had not yet tried her skill. The Wezeer, therefore, ordered her to fry the fish, and said to her, O maid, the King saith unto thee, I have not reserved my tear but for the time of my difficulty:—to-day, then, gratify us by a specimen of thy excellent cookery, for a person hath brought these fish as a present to the Sulṭán. After having thus charged her, the Wezeer returned, and the King ordered him to give the fisherman four hundred pieces of89 gold: so the Wezeer gave them to him; and he took them in his lap, and returned to his home and his wife, joyful and happy, and bought what was needful for his family.


The Fisherman shewing the Fish to the Sulṭán

Such were the events that befell the fisherman: now we must relate what happened to the maid.—She took the fish, and cleaned them, and arranged them in the frying-pan, and left them until one side was cooked, when she turned them upon the other side; and lo, the wall of the kitchen clove asunder, and there came forth from it a damsel of tall stature, smooth-cheeked, of perfect form, with eyes adorned with koḥl,34 beautiful in countenance, and with heavy, swelling hips; wearing a koofeeyeh35 interwoven with blue silk; with rings in her ears, and bracelets on her wrists, and rings set with precious jewels on her fingers; and in her hand was a rod of Indian cane: and she dipped the end of the rod in the frying-pan, and said, O fish, are ye remaining faithful to your covenant? At the sight of this, the cook-maid fainted. The damsel then repeated the same words a second and a third time; after which the fish raised their heads from the frying-pan, and answered, Yes, yes. They then repeated the following verse:—

If thou return, we return; and if thou come, we come; and if thou forsake, we verily do the same.

And upon this the damsel overturned the frying-pan, and departed by the way she had entered, and the wall of the kitchen closed up again. The cook-maid then arose, and beheld the four fish burnt like charcoal; and she exclaimed, In his first encounter his staff broke!—and as she sat reproaching herself, she beheld the Wezeer standing at her head; and he said to her, Bring the fish to the Sulṭán:—and she wept, and informed him of what had happened.3690


The Cook-maid dressing the Fish

The Wezeer was astonished at her words, and exclaimed, This is indeed a wonderful event;—and he sent for the fisherman, and when he was brought, he said to him, O fisherman, thou must bring to us four fish like those which thou broughtest before. The fisherman accordingly went forth to the lake, and threw his net, and when he had drawn it in he found in it four fish as before; and he took them to the Wezeer, who went with them to the maid, and said to her, Rise, and fry them in my presence, that I may witness this occurrence. The maid, therefore, prepared the fish, and put them in the frying-pan, and they had remained but a little while, when the wall clove asunder, and the damsel appeared, clad as before, and holding the rod; and she dipped the end of the rod in the frying-pan, and said, O fish, O fish, are ye remaining faithful to your old covenant? Upon which they raised their heads, and answered as before; and the damsel overturned the frying-pan with the rod, and returned by the way she had entered, and the wall closed up again.

The Wezeer then said, This is an event which cannot be concealed91 from the King:—so he went to him, and informed him of what had happened in his presence; and the King said, I must see this with my own eyes. He sent, therefore, to the fisherman, and commanded him to bring four fish like the former; granting him a delay of three days. And the fisherman repaired to the lake, and brought the fish thence to the King, who ordered again that four hundred pieces of gold should be given to him; and then, turning to the Wezeer, said to him, Cook the fish thyself here before me. The Wezeer answered, I hear and obey. He brought the frying-pan, and, after he had cleaned the fish, threw them into it; and as soon as he had turned them, the wall clove asunder, and there came forth from it a negro, in size like a bull, or like one of the tribe of 'Ád,37 having in his hand a branch of a green tree; and he said, with a clear but terrifying voice, O fish, O fish, are ye remaining faithful to your old covenant? Upon which they raised their heads, and answered as before, Yes, yes:

If thou return, we return; and if thou come, we come; and if thou forsake, we verily do the same.

The black then approached the frying-pan, and overturned it with the branch, and the fish became like charcoal, and he went away as he had come.

When he had thus disappeared from before their eyes, the King said, This is an event respecting which it is impossible to keep silence, and there must, undoubtedly, be some strange circumstance connected with these fish. He then ordered that the fisherman should be brought before him, and when he had come, he said to him, Whence came these fish? The fisherman answered, From a lake between four mountains behind this mountain which is without thy city. The King said to him, How many days' journey38 distant? He answered, O our lord the Sulṭán, a journey of half-an-hour. And the Sulṭán was astonished, and ordered his troops to go out immediately with him and the fisherman, who began to curse the 'Efreet. They proceeded until they had ascended the mountain, and descended into a wide desert tract which they had never before seen in their whole lives; and the Sulṭán and all the troops wondered at the sight of this desert, which was between four mountains, and at the fish, which were of four colours, red and white and yellow and blue. The King paused in astonishment, and said to the troops, and to the other attendants who were with him, Hath any one of you before seen this lake in this place? They all answered, No. Then said the King, By Allah, I will not enter my city, nor will I sit upon my throne, until I know the true history of92 this lake, and of its fish. And upon this he ordered his people to encamp around these mountains; and they did so. He then called for the Wezeer, who was a well-informed, sensible, prudent, and learned man; and when he had presented himself before him, he said to him, I desire to do a thing with which I will acquaint thee; and it is this:—I have resolved to depart alone this night, to seek for information respecting this lake and its fish: therefore, sit thou at the door of my pavilion, and say to the Emeers and Wezeers and Chamberlains, The Sulṭán is sick, and hath commanded me not to allow any person to go in unto him:—and acquaint no one with my intention.


The Black Palace

The Wezeer was unable to oppose his design; so the King disguised himself, and slung on his sword, and withdrew himself from the midst of his troops. He journeyed the whole of the night, until the morning, and proceeded until the heat became oppressive to him: he then paused to rest; after which he again proceeded the remainder of the day and the second night until the morning, when there appeared before him, in the distance, something black, at the sight of which he rejoiced, and said, Perhaps I shall there find some person who will inform me of the history of the lake and its fish. And when he approached this black object, he found it to be a palace built of black stones, and overlaid with iron; and one of the leaves of its doors was open, and the other shut. The King was glad, and he stood at the door, and knocked gently, but heard no answer; he knocked a second and a third time, but again heard no answer: then he knocked a fourth time, and with violence; but no one answered. So he said, It is doubtless empty:—and he took courage, and entered from the door into the passage, and cried out, saying, O inhabitants of the palace, I am a stranger and a traveller! have ye any provision? And he repeated these words a second and a third time; but heard no answer.93 And upon this he fortified his heart, and emboldened himself, and proceeded from the passage into the midst of the palace; but he found no one there, and only saw that it was furnished, and that there was, in the centre of it, a fountain with four lions of red gold, which poured forth the water from their mouths, like pearls and jewels: around this were birds; and over the top of the palace was extended a net which prevented their flying out. At the sight of these objects he was astonished, and he was grieved that he saw no person there whom he could ask for information respecting the lake, and the fish, and the mountains, and the palace. He then sat down between the doors,39 reflecting upon these things; and as he thus sat, he heard a voice of lamentation from a sorrowful heart, chanting these verses:—

O fortune, thou pitiest me not, nor releasest me! See my heart is straitened between affliction and peril!
Will not you [O my wife] have compassion on the mighty whom love hath abased, and the wealthy who is reduced to indigence?
We were jealous even of the zephyr which passed over you: but when the divine decree is issued, the eye becometh blind!
What resource hath the archer when, in the hour of conflict, he desireth to discharge the arrow, but findeth his bow-string broken.
And when troubles are multiplied upon the noble-minded, where shall he find refuge from fate and from destiny?40

When the Sulṭán heard this lamentation, he sprang upon his feet, and, seeking the direction whence it proceeded, found a curtain suspended before the door of a chamber; and he raised it, and beheld behind it a young man sitting on a couch raised to the height of a cubit from the floor. He was a handsome youth, well-shaped, and of eloquent speech, with shining forehead, and rosy cheek, marked with a mole resembling ambergris. The King was rejoiced at seeing him, and saluted him; and the young man (who remained sitting, and was clad with a vest of silk, embroidered with gold, but who exhibited traces of grief) returned his salutation, and said to him, O my master, excuse my not rising.—O youth! said the King, inform me respecting the lake, and its fish of various colours, and respecting this palace, and the reason of thy being alone in it, and of thy lamentation. When the young man heard these words, tears trickled down his cheeks, and he wept bitterly.41 And the King was astonished, and said to him, What causeth thee to weep, O youth? He answered, How can I refrain from weeping, when this is my state?—and so saying, he stretched forth his hand, and lifted up the skirts of his clothing; and lo, half of him, from his waist to the soles of his feet, was stone; and from94 his waist to the hair of his head, he was like other men. He then said, Know, O King, that the story of the fish is extraordinary; if it were engraved upon the intellect, it would be a lesson to him who would be admonished:—and he related as follows:—


The Sultán discovering the Young King of the Black Islands

[admin]

Part 2 of 3

THE STORY OF THE YOUNG KING OF THE BLACK ISLANDS.

My father was king of the city which was here situate: his name was Maḥmood, and he was lord of the Black Islands, and of the four mountains. After a reign of seventy years, he died, and I succeeded to his throne; whereupon I took as my wife the daughter of my uncle; and she loved me excessively, so that when I absented myself from her, she would neither eat nor drink till she saw me again. She remained under my protection five years. After this, she went one day to the bath; and I had commanded the cook to prepare the supper, and entered this palace, and slept in my usual place.42 I had ordered two maids to fan me;43 and one of them sat at my head, and the other at my feet; but I was restless, because my wife was not with me; and I could not sleep. My eyes were closed, but my spirit95 was awake; and I heard the maid at my head say to her at my feet, O Mes'oodeh,44 verily our lord is unfortunate in his youth, and what a pity is it that it should be passed with our depraved, wicked mistress!—Perdition to unfaithful wives! replied the other: but (added she) such a person as our lord, so endowed by nature, is not suited to this profligate woman, who passes every night absent from his bed.—Verily, rejoined she at my head, our lord is careless in not making any inquiry respecting her.—Wo to thee! said the other: hath our lord any knowledge of her conduct, or doth she leave him to his choice? Nay, on the contrary, she contriveth to defraud him by means of the cup of wine45 which he drinketh every night before he sleepeth, putting benj46 into it; in consequence of which he sleepeth so soundly that he knoweth not what happeneth, nor whither she goeth, nor what she doeth; for, after she hath given him the wine to drink, she dresseth herself, and goeth out from him, and is absent until daybreak, when she returneth to him, and burneth a perfume under his nose, upon which he awaketh from his sleep.


The Young King on his Bed, attended by Two Maids

When I heard this conversation of the maids, the light became darkness before my face, and I was hardly conscious of the approach of night, when my cousin returned from the bath. The table was prepared, and we ate, and sat a while drinking our wine as usual. I then called for the wine which I was accustomed to drink before I lay down to sleep, and she handed to me the cup; but I turned away, and, pretending to drink it as I was wont to do, poured it into my bosom, and immediately lay down: upon which she said, Sleep on; I wish96 that thou wouldst never wake again! By Allah, I abhor thee, and abhor thy person, and my soul is weary of thy company!—She then arose, and attired herself in the most magnificent of her apparel, and, having perfumed herself, and slung on a sword, opened the door of the palace, and went out. I got up immediately, and followed her until she had quitted the palace, and passed through the streets of the city, and arrived at the city-gates, when she pronounced some words that I understood not; whereupon the locks fell off, and the gates opened, and she went out, I still following her, without her knowledge. Thence she proceeded to a space among the mounds,47 and arrived at a strong edifice, in which was a ḳubbeh48 constructed of mud, with a door, which she entered. I then climbed upon the roof of the ḳubbeh, and, looking down upon her through an aperture, saw that she was visiting a black slave, whose large lips, one of which overlapped the other, gathered up the sand from the pebbly floor, while he lay, in a filthy and wet condition, upon a few stalks of sugar-cane.

She kissed the ground before this slave; and he raised his head towards her, and said, Wo to thee! Wherefore hast thou remained away until this hour? The other blacks have been here drinking wine, and each of them has gone away with his mistress; and I refused to drink on thy account.—She answered, O my master, and beloved of my heart, knowest thou not that I am married to my cousin, and that I abhor every man who resembles him, and hate myself while I am in his company? If I did not fear to displease thee, I would reduce the city to ruins, so that the owl and the raven should cry in it, and would transport its stones beyond Mount Ḳáf.49—Thou liest, thou infamous woman, replied the slave; and I swear by the generosity of the blacks (and if I speak not truth, may our valour be as the valour of the whites), that if thou loiter as thou hast now done till this hour, I will no longer give thee my company, nor approach thy person, thou faithless one! Dost thou inconvenience me for the sake of thine own pleasure, thou filthy wretch, and vilest of the whites?—When I heard (continued the King) their words, and witnessed what passed between them, the world became dark before my face, and I knew not where I was.—My cousin still stood weeping, and abasing herself before him, and said, O my beloved, and treasure of my heart, there remaineth to me none but thee for whom I care, and if thou cast me off, alas for me! O my beloved! O light of mine eye!—Thus she continued to weep, and to humble herself before him, until he became pacified towards her; upon which she rejoiced, and arose, and, having dis97robed herself, said to him, O my master, hast thou here anything that thy maid may eat? He answered, Uncover the dough-pan; it contains some cooked rats' bones:50 eat of them, and pick them; and take this earthen pot: thou wilt find in it some booẓah51 to drink. So she arose, and ate and drank, and washed her hands; after which she lay down by the side of the slave, upon the stalks of sugar-cane, and covered herself with his tattered clothes and rags.


The Black Slave wounded by the Young King

When I saw her do this, I became unconscious of my existence, and, descending from the roof of the ḳubbeh, entered, and took the sword from the side of my cousin, with the intention of killing them both. I struck the slave upon his neck, and thought that he was killed; but the blow, which I gave with the view of severing his head, only cut the gullet and skin and flesh; and when I thought that I had killed him, he uttered a loud snore, upon which my cousin started up, and as soon as I had gone, took the sword, and returned it to its98 scabbard, and came back to the city and to the palace, and lay down again in my bed, in which she remained until the morning.

On the following day, I observed that my cousin had cut off her hair, and put on the apparel of mourning;52 and she said to me, O my cousin, blame me not for what I do; for I have received news that my mother is dead, and that my father hath been slain in a holy war, and that one of my two brothers hath died of a poisonous sting, and the other by the fall of a house: it is natural, therefore, that I should weep and mourn. On hearing these words, I abstained from upbraiding her, and said, Do what seemeth fit to thee; for I will not oppose thee. Accordingly, she continued mourning and weeping and wailing a whole year; after which she said to me, I have a desire to build for myself, in thy palace, a tomb, with a ḳubbeh, that I may repair thither alone to mourn, and I will call it the House of Lamentations.53 I replied, Do what thou seest fit. So she built for herself a house for mourning, with a ḳubbeh in the middle of it, like the tomb of a saint;54 after which she removed thither the slave, and there she lodged him. He was in a state of excessive weakness, and unable to render her any service, though he drank wine; and from the day on which I had wounded him, he had never spoken; yet he remained alive, because the appointed term of his life had not expired. My cousin every day visited him in this tomb early and late, to weep and mourn over him, and took to him wine to drink, and boiled meats; and thus she continued to do, morning and evening, until the expiration of the second year, while I patiently suffered her, till one day, I entered her apartment unawares, and found her weeping, and slapping her face, and repeating these verses:—

I have lost my existence among mankind since your absence; for my heart loveth none but you.
Take my body, then, in mercy, to the place where you are laid; and there bury me by your side:
And if, at my grave, you utter my name, the moaning of my bones shall answer to your call.

As soon as she had finished the recitation of these verses, I said to her, holding my drawn sword in my hand, This is the language of those faithless women who renounce the ties of affinity, and regard not lawful fellowship!—and I was about to strike her with the sword, and had lifted up my arm to do so, when she rose—for she knew that it was I who had wounded the slave—and, standing before me, pronounced some words which I understood not, and said, May God, by means of my enchantment, make thee to be half of stone, and half of99 the substance of man!—whereupon I became as thou seest, unable to move, neither dead nor alive; and when I had been reduced to this state, she enchanted the city and its markets and fields. The inhabitants of our city were of four classes; Muslims, and Christians, and Jews, and Magians; and she transformed them into fish: the white are the Muslims; the red, the Magians; the blue, the Christians; and the yellow, the Jews.55 She transformed, also, the four islands into four mountains, and placed them around the lake; and from that time she has continued every day to torture me, inflicting upon me a hundred lashes with a leathern whip, until the blood flows from my wounds; after which she puts on my upper half a vest of hair-cloth, beneath these garments.—Having said thus, the young man wept, and ejaculating the following verses:—

Give me patience, O Allah, to bear what Thou decreest! I will be patient, if so I may obtain thine approval.
I am straitened, indeed, by the calamity that hath befallen me: but the Family of the favoured Prophet shall intercede for me!56

Upon this, the King, looking towards the young man, said to him, O youth, thou hast increased my anxiety. And where (he added) is this woman?—The young man answered, She is in the tomb where the slave is lying, in the ḳubbeh; and every day, before she visits him, she strips me of my clothing, and inflicts upon me a hundred lashes with the whip, while I weep and cry out, unable to move so as to repulse her. After thus torturing me, she repairs early to the slave, with the wine and boiled meat.—By Allah, O youth, said the King, I will do thee an act of kindness for which I shall be remembered, and a favour which historians shall record in a biography after me.


The Kubbeh, or Tomb

He then sat and conversed with him until the approach of night, upon which he arose, and waited till the first dawn of day, when he took off his clothes, and slung on his sword, and went to the place where the slave lay. After remarking the candles and lamps, and perfumes and ointments, he approached the slave, and with a blow of his sword slew him: he then carried him on his back, and threw him into a well which he found in the palace, and, returning to the ḳubbeh, clad himself with the slave's clothes, and lay down with the drawn sword by his side. Soon after, the vile enchantress went to her cousin, and, having pulled off his clothes, took the whip, and beat him, while he cried, Ah! it is enough for me to be in this state! Have pity on me then!—Didst thou shew pity to me, she exclaimed, and didst thou100 spare my lover?—She then put on him the hair-cloth vest and his outer garments, and repaired to the slave with a cup of wine, and a bowl of boiled meat. Entering the tomb, she wept and wailed, exclaiming, O my master, answer me! O my master, speak to me!—and poured forth her lamentation in the words of this verse:—

How long shall this aversion and harshness continue? Sufficient is the evil which my passion hath brought upon me!57

Then, weeping as before, she exclaimed again, O my master, answer me, and speak to me! Upon this the King, speaking in a low voice, and adapting his tongue to the pronunciation of the blacks, ejaculated, Ah! Ah! there is no strength nor power but in God! On hearing these words, she screamed with joy, and fell down in a swoon; and when she recovered, she exclaimed, Possibly my master is restored to health! The King, again lowering his voice, as if from weakness, replied, Thou profligate wretch, thou deservest not that I should address thee.—Wherefore? said she. He answered, Because all the day long thou tormentest thy husband, while he calleth out, and imploreth the aid of God, so that thou hast prevented my sleeping from the commencement of darkness until morning: thy husband hath not ceased to humble himself, and to imprecate vengeance upon thee, till he hath distracted me; and had it not been for this, I had recovered my strength: this it is which hath prevented my answering thee.—Then, with thy permission, she replied, I will liberate him from his present sufferings.—Liberate him, said the King, and give us ease.

She replied, I hear and obey;—and immediately arose, and went out from the ḳubbeh to the palace, and, taking a cup, filled it with water, and pronounced certain words over it, upon which it began to boil like a cauldron. She then sprinkled some of it upon her cousin, saying, By virtue of what I have uttered, be changed from thy present state to that in which thou wast at first!—and instantly he shook, and stood upon his feet, rejoicing in his liberation, and exclaimed, I testify101 that there is no deity but God, and that Moḥammad is God's Apostle; God bless and save him! She then said to him, Depart, and return not hither, or I will kill thee:—and she cried out in his face: so he departed from before her, and she returned to the ḳubbeh, and said, O my master, come forth to me that I may behold thee. He replied, with a weak voice, What hast thou done? Thou hast relieved me from the branch, but hast not relieved me from the root.—O my beloved, she said, and what is the root? He answered, The people of this city, and of the four islands: every night, at the middle hour, the fish raise their heads, and imprecate vengeance upon me and upon thee; and this is the cause that preventeth the return of vigour to my body; therefore, liberate them, and come, and take my hand, and raise me; for vigour hath already in part returned to me.

On hearing these words of the King, whom she imagined to be the slave, she said to him with joy, O my master, on my head and my eye! In the name of Allah!58—and she sprang up, full of happiness, and hastened to the lake, where, taking a little of its water, she pronounced over it some unintelligible words, whereupon the fish became agitated, and raised their heads, and immediately became converted into men as before. Thus was the enchantment removed from the inhabitants of the city, and the city became repeopled, and the market-streets re-erected, and every one returned to his occupation: the mountains also became changed into islands as they were at the102 first. The enchantress then returned immediately to the King, whom she still imagined to be the slave, and said to him, O my beloved, stretch forth thy honoured hand, that I may kiss it.—Approach me, said the King in a low voice. So she drew near to him; and he, having his keen-edged sword ready in his hand, thrust it into her bosom, and the point protruded from her back: he then struck her again, and clove her in twain, and went forth.


The Sultán killing the Enchantress

He found the young man who had been enchanted waiting his return, and congratulated him on his safety; and the young prince kissed his hand, and thanked him. The King then said to him, Wilt thou remain in thy city, or come with me to my capital?—O King of the age, said the young man, dost thou know the distance that is between thee and thy city? The King answered, Two days and a half.—O King, replied the young man, if thou hast been asleep, awake: between thee and thy city is a distance of a year's journey to him who travelleth with diligence; and thou camest in two days and a half only because the city was enchanted: but, O King, I will never quit thee for the twinkling of an eye. The King rejoiced at his words, and said, Praise be to God, who hath in his beneficence given thee to me: thou art my son; for during my whole life, I have never been blest with a son:—and they embraced each other, and rejoiced exceedingly. They then went together into the palace, where the King who had been enchanted informed the officers of his court that he was about to perform the holy pilgrimage: so they prepared for him everything that he required; and he departed with the Sulṭán; his heart burning with reflections upon his city, because he had been deprived of the sight of it for the space of a year.

He set forth, accompanied by fifty memlooks,59 and provided with presents, and they continued their journey night and day for a whole year, after which they drew near to the city of the Sulṭán, and the Wezeer and the troops, who had lost all hope of his return, came forth to meet him. The troops, approaching him, kissed the ground before him, and congratulated him on his safe return; and he entered the city, and sat upon the throne. He then acquainted the Wezeer with all that had happened to the young King; on hearing which, the Wezeer congratulated the latter, also, on his safety; and when all things were restored to order, the Sulṭán bestowed presents upon a number of his subjects, and said to the Wezeer, Bring to me the fisherman who presented to me the fish. So he sent to this fisherman, who had been the cause of the restoration of the inhabitants of the enchanted city,103 and brought him; and the King invested him with a dress of honour, and inquired of him respecting his circumstances, and whether he had any children. The fisherman informed him that he had a son and two daughters; and the King, on hearing this, took as his wife one of the daughters, and the young prince married the other.60 The King also conferred upon the son the office of treasurer. He then sent the Wezeer to the city of the young prince, the capital of the Black Islands, and invested him with its sovereignty, despatching with him the fifty memlooks who had accompanied him thence, with numerous robes of honour to all the Emeers: and the Wezeer kissed his hands, and set forth on his journey; while the Sulṭán and the young prince remained. And as to the fisherman, he became the wealthiest of the people of his age; and his daughters continued to be the wives of the Kings until they died.

But this (added Shahrazád) is not more wonderful than what happened to the porter.


Tail-piece to Chapter II.--The Journey home


Head-piece to Notes to Chapter II.--The Fisherman and the dead Ass

NOTES TO CHAPTER SECOND.

Note 1. The sentiment expressed in this verse is one which is often heard from the mouth of a Muslim; but generally when, his toil is ended, and its result seen; though not unfrequently as an excuse for indolence.

Note 2. The bottle is here described (by the term "ḳumḳum") as of a kind commonly used for sprinkling rose-water, &c., having a spherical or wide body, with a long and narrow neck. I remember seeing a gilt brass bottle of this kind, of very beautiful workmanship, for which nearly as much as ten pieces of gold was demanded.

Note 3. The seal of Suleymán, or Solomon, has twice been mentioned in former notes; in No. 21 of the notes appended to the Introduction, and in No. 15 of those to the first chapter.

Note 4. It is necessary to remark, that this and many other descriptions in the present work are not designed to be understood in their literal sense. The reader will often be required to make some allowance for Oriental hyperbole, and to distinguish between expressions characterised by this figure, and such as are purely accordant with Eastern grandeur and magnificence, or with Muslim superstition.

Note 5. The end of the winnowing-fork bears a rude resemblance to a gigantic hand; having several long prongs of wood.

Note 6. Instead of "ibreeḳ" (a ewer), in the Cairo edition, I read "abwáḳ" (trumpets), as in other editions.

Note 7. This appellation has been mentioned in a former note, as signifying an evil Jinnee of the most powerful class.

Note 8. It is a rule observed in decent society, by the Arabs, to avoid, as much as possible, the mention of opprobrious epithets, lest any person present should imagine such epithets to be addressed insidiously to himself. For this reason, when any malediction or offensive language is repeated in a story, it is usual with them to designate the object of such language by this term, which signifies both remote or absent from the person or persons in whose presence the words are repeated, and remote from virtue or good. In the present instance, "remote" is an epithet substituted by Shahrazád for some other of a gross nature, from respect to the king to whom she is relating the story.

Note 9. I read "Ṣakhr el-Jinnee" for "Ṣakhr el-Jinn."—Ṣakhr was an evil Jinnee, and a terrible enemy of Solomon. His last act of treachery to that monarch, and105 his fate, are thus related by commentators on the Ḳur-án.—Solomon having, through negligence, suffered one of his women to practise idolatry under his roof, God saw fit to punish him. It was the custom of this King, on certain occasions, "to intrust his signet, on which his kingdom depended, with a concubine of his, named El-Emeeneh. One day, therefore, when she had the ring in her custody, a devil [or evil Jinnee], named Ṣakhr, came to her in the shape of Solomon, and received the ring from her; by virtue of which he became possessed of the kingdom, and sat on the throne in the shape which he had borrowed, making what alterations in the law he pleased. Solomon, in the meantime, being changed in his outward appearance, and known to none of his subjects, was obliged to wander about, and beg alms for his subsistence; till at length, after the space of forty days, which was the time the image had been worshipped in his house, the devil flew away, and threw the signet into the sea. The signet was immediately swallowed by a fish, which being taken and given to Solomon, he found the ring in its belly; and having by this means recovered the kingdom, he took Ṣakhr, and, tying a great stone to his neck, threw him into the Lake of Tiberias."150

Note 10. "Umm-'Ámir" is an appellation of the hyena. It is scarcely necessary to mention, that the proverb here quoted is said to have originated from the fact of a man's having been devoured by a hyena whom he had aided against an enemy.

Note 11. In some copies, the personage here mentioned is called "Melik el-Yoonán," that is, "King of Ancient Greece," or—"of the Ancient Greeks." I have followed the Cairo edition, and that of the first two hundred nights, printed at Calcutta, in which "Yoonán" is used as the King's proper name. See also Note 13.

Note 12. This is the name of the sage in most copies; but in the Cairo edition he is called "Rooyán."

Note 13. In the Calcutta edition, the king is merely said to have reigned "in the country of the Persians," as in my translation; but in the Cairo edition, he is said to have been "in the city of the Persians, and the country of Roomán;" which may perhaps mean (though this is hardly allowable) the [eastern] Roman, or later Greek, empire; an unnecessary contradiction. (See Note 22 to Chapter x.) It is obviously more agreeable with the story to regard him as a Persian King.

Note 14. "The Ornament of the Good," or—"of the Comely," is an appellation of the Arabian prophet, who is related to have said, "The sun never riseth until it hath saluted me." "The sun's saluting the Ornament of the Good," or "Comely," is, therefore, a phrase not unfrequently used by Muslims merely to signify its rising.

Note 15.—On the Rewards of Men of Literature and Science. It has long been a common custom of Eastern princes to bestow dresses of honour upon men of literature and science, as well as upon their great officers and other servants. These dresses were of different kinds for persons of different classes or professions. The most usual kind was an ample coat. With dresses of this description were often given gold-embroidered turbans; and sometimes, to Emeers (or great military officers), neck-rings or collars (called ṭóḳs), some of which were set with jewels; as also, bracelets, and swords ornamented with precious stones, &c.; and to Wezeers, instead of the ṭóḳ, a necklace of jewels.151—The following striking record will convey an idea of the magnificence of some of these dresses of honour; or, in other words, of the liberality of a Muslim prince, and, at the same time, of the very precarious nature of his favour. A person, chancing to look at a register kept by one of the officers of Hároon Er-Rasheed, saw in it the following entry:—"Four hundred thousand pieces of gold, the price of a dress of honour for Jaạfar, the son of Yaḥyà, the Wezeer."—A few days after, he saw beneath this written,—"Ten ḳeeráṭs, the price of naphtha and reeds, for burning the body of 106Jaạfar, the son of Yaḥyà."152—The ḳeeráṭ of Baghdád was the twentieth part of a deenár, or piece of gold.

Arab princes and other great men have generally been famous for highly respecting, and liberally rewarding, men of literature and science, and especially poets. El-Mamoon and many others are well known to us for their patronage of the learned. Er-Rasheed carried his condescension to them so far as to pour the water on the hands of a blind man, Aboo-Mo'áwiyeh, one of the most learned persons of his time, previously to his eating with him, to shew his respect for science.153 An anecdote of a Khaleefeh ordering the mouth of a learned man to be filled with jewels, I have related in a former note. To cram the mouth with sugar or sweetmeats for a polite or eloquent speech, or piece of poetry, has been more commonly done; but the usual presents to learned men were, and are, dresses of honour and sums of money. Ibn-'Obeyd El-Bakhteree, an illustrious poet and traditionist, who flourished in the reign of El-Musta'een, is said to have received so many presents, that, after his death, there were found, among the property which he left, a hundred complete suits of dress, two hundred shirts, and five hundred turbans.154 A thousand pieces of gold were often given, and sometimes ten, twenty, or thirty, thousand, and even more, for a few verses; nay, for a single couplet.

The prodigality of Arab princes to men of learning may be exemplified by the following anecdote:—Ḥammád, surnamed Er-Ráwiyeh, or the famous reciter, having attached himself to the Khaleefeh El-Weleed, the son of 'Abd-el-Melik, and shewn a contrary feeling towards his brother Hishám, on the accession of the latter fled to El-Koofeh. While there, a letter arrived from Hishám, commanding his presence at Damascus: it was addressed to the governor, who, being ordered to treat him with honour, gave him a purse containing a thousand pieces of gold, and despatched him with the Khaleefeh's messenger. On his arrival at Damascus, he was conducted before Hishám, whom he found in a splendid saloon, seated under a pavilion of red silk, surmounted by a dome of yellow brocade, attended by two female slaves of beauty unsurpassed, each holding a crystal ewer of wine. His admission during the presence of members of the King's ḥareem, the reader will remark as a very unusual and high honour: the mention of the wine may also surprise him; but this is a subject upon which much may be said, and which will be considered on a future occasion. After Ḥammád had given the salutation, and the Khaleefeh had returned it, the latter told him that he had sent for him to ask respecting a couplet of which he (the Khaleefeh) could only remember that it ended with the word "ibreeḳ," which signifies "a ewer." The reciter reflected a while, and the lines occurred to his mind, and he repeated them. Hishám cried out, in delight, that the lines were those he meant; drank a cup of wine, and desired one of the female slaves to hand a cup to Ḥammád. She did so; and the draught, he says, deprived him of one-third of his reason. The Khaleefeh desired him to repeat the lines again, and drank a second cup; and Ḥammád was deprived of another third of his reason in the same manner; and said, "O Prince of the Faithful, two-thirds of my reason have departed from me." Hishám laughed, and desired him to ask what he would before the remaining third should have gone; and the reciter said, "One of these two female slaves." The Khaleefeh laughed again, and said, "Nay, but both of them are thine, and all that is upon them, and all that they possess, and, beside them, fifty thousand pieces of gold."—"I kissed the ground before him," says Ḥammád, "and drank a third cup, and was unconscious of what happened after: I did not awake till the close of the night, when I found myself in a handsome house, surrounded by lighted candles, and the two female slaves were putting in order my clothes and other things: so I took possession of the property, and departed, the happiest of the creatures of God."155

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A whimsical story is told of a king, who denied to poets those rewards to which usage had almost given them a claim. This king, whose name is not recorded, had the faculty of retaining in his memory an ode after having only once heard it; and he had a memlook who could repeat an ode that he had twice heard, and a female slave who could repeat one that she had heard thrice. Whenever a poet came to compliment him with a panegyrical ode, the King used to promise him that, if he found his verses to be his original composition, he would give him a sum of money equal in weight to what they were written upon. The poet, consenting, would recite his ode; and the King would say, "It is not new; for I have known it some years;" and would repeat it as he had heard it; after which he would add, "And this memlook also retains it in his memory;" and would order the memlook to repeat it; which, having heard it twice, from the poet and the king, he would do. The King would then say to the poet, "I have also a female slave who can repeat it;" and on his ordering her to do so, stationed behind the curtains, she would repeat what she had thus thrice heard: so the poet would go away empty-handed. The famous poet El-Aṣma'ee, having heard of this proceeding, and guessing the trick, determined upon outwitting the King; and accordingly composed an ode made up of very difficult words; but this was not his only preparative measure; another will be presently explained; and a third was, to assume the dress of a Bedawee, that he might not be known, covering his face, the eyes only excepted, with a lithám (a piece of drapery) in accordance with a custom of Arabs of the desert. Thus disguised, he went to the palace, and, having asked permission, entered, and saluted the King, who said to him, "Whence art thou, O brother of the Arabs, and what dost thou desire?" The poet answered, "May God increase the power of the King! I am a poet of such a tribe, and have composed an ode in praise of our lord the Sulṭán."—"O brother of the Arabs," said the King, "hast thou heard of our condition?"—"No," answered the poet; "and what is it, O King of the age?"—"It is," replied the King, "that if the ode be not thine, we give thee no reward; and if it be thine, we give thee the weight in money of what it is written upon."—"How," said El-Aṣma'ee, "should I assume to myself that which belongs to another, and knowing, too, that lying before kings is one of the basest of actions? But I agree to this condition, O our lord the Sulṭán." So he repeated his ode. The King, perplexed, and unable to remember any of it, made a sign to the memlook—but he had retained nothing; and called to the female slave, but she also was unable to repeat a word. "O brother of the Arabs," said he, "thou hast spoken truth, and the ode is thine without doubt: I have never heard it before: produce, therefore, what it is written upon, and we will give thee its weight in money, as we have promised."—"Wilt thou," said the poet, "send one of the attendants to carry it?"—"To carry what?" asked the King; "is it not upon a paper here in thy possession?"—"No, O our lord the Sulṭán," replied the poet; "at the time I composed it I could not procure a piece of paper upon which to write it, and could find nothing but a fragment of a marble column left me by my father; so I engraved it upon this; and it lies in the court of the palace." He had brought it, wrapped up, on the back of a camel. The King, to fulfil his promise, was obliged to exhaust his treasury; and to prevent a repetition of this trick (of which he afterwards discovered El-Aṣma'ee to have been the author), in future rewarded the poets according to the usual custom of kings.156

The following case is also related as an exception to the common custom of great men, with regard to the bestowal of rewards on poets:—"A poet praised a governor in some verses, and the latter ordered an ass's barda'ah (or stuffed saddle) and girth to be given to him. The poet went away with them on his shoulder; and, being asked what he had got, answered, 'I have praised our honoured lord in the best of my verses, and he hath bestowed on me some of the most magnificent articles of his apparel.'"157

Note 16.—On the Bath. The ḥammám, or bath, is a favourite resort of both men 108and women of all classes among the Muslims who can afford the trifling expense which it requires; and (it is said) not only of human beings, but also of evil genii; on which account, as well as on that of decency, several precepts respecting it have been dictated by Moḥammad. It is frequented for the purpose of performing certain ablutions required by the religion, or by a regard for cleanliness, and for its salutary effects, and for mere luxury.

The following description of a public bath will convey a sufficient notion of those in private houses, which are on a smaller scale, and generally consist of only two or three chambers. The public bath comprises several apartments, with mosaic or tesselated pavements, composed of white and black marble, and pieces of fine red tile, and sometimes other materials. The inner apartments are covered with domes, having a number of small, round, glazed apertures, for the admission of light. The first apartment is the meslakh, or disrobing room, which has, in the centre, a fountain of cold water, and, next the walls, wide benches or platforms, encased with marble. These are furnished with mattresses and cushions for the higher and middle classes, and with mats for the poorer sort. The inner division of the building, in the more regularly planned baths, occupies nearly a square: the central and chief portion of it is the principal apartment, or ḥarárah, which generally has the form of a cross. In its centre is a fountain of hot water, rising from a base encased with marble, which serves as a seat. One of the angles of the square is occupied by the beyt-owwal, or antechamber of the ḥarárah: in another, is the fire over which is the boiler; and each of the other two angles is generally occupied by two small chambers: in one of these is a tank filled with warm water, which pours down from a spout in the dome: in the other are two taps, side by side; one of hot, and the other of cold water, with a small trough beneath, before which is a seat. The inner apartments are heated by the steam which rises from the fountain and tanks, and by the contiguity of the fire; but the beyt-owwal is not so hot as the ḥarárah, being separated from it by a door. In cold weather, the bather undresses in the former, which has two or three raised seats, like those of the meslakh.

With a pair of wooden clogs to his feet, and having a large napkin round his loins, and generally a second wound round his head like a turban, a third over his chest, and a fourth covering his back, he enters the ḥarárah, the heat of which causes him immediately to perspire profusely. An attendant of the bath removes from him all the napkins excepting the first; and proceeds to crack the joints of his fingers and toes, &c., and several of the vertebræ of the back and neck; kneads his flesh; and rubs the soles of his feet with a coarse earthen rasp, and his limbs and body with a woollen bag which covers his hand as a glove; after which, the bather, if he please, plunges into one of the tanks. He is then thoroughly washed with soap and water, and fibres of the palm-tree, and shaved, if he wish it, in one of the small chambers which contain the taps of hot and cold water; and returns to the beyt-owwal. Here he generally reclines upon a mattress, and takes some light refreshment, while one of the attendants rubs the soles of his feet, and kneads the flesh of his body and limbs, previously to his resuming his dress. It is a common custom, now, to take a pipe and a cup of coffee during this period of rest.

The women are especially fond of the bath, and often have entertainments there; taking with them fruits, sweetmeats, &c., and sometimes hiring female singers to accompany them. An hour or more is occupied by the process of plaiting the hair, and applying the depilatory, &c.; and, generally, an equal time is passed in the enjoyment of rest, or recreation, or refreshment. All necessary decorum is observed on these occasions by most females; but women of the lower orders are often seen in the bath without any covering. Some baths are appropriated solely to men; others, only to women; and others, again, to men during the forenoon, and in the afternoon to women. When the bath is appropriated to women, a napkin, or some other piece of drapery, is suspended over the door, to warn men from entering.

Before the time of Moḥammad, there were no public baths in Arabia; and he was so109 prejudiced against them, for the reasons already alluded to, that he at first forbade both men and women from entering them: afterwards, however, he permitted men to do so, if for the sake of cleanliness, on the condition of their having a cloth round the waist; and women also on account of sickness, child-birth, &c., provided they had not convenient places for bathing in their houses. But, notwithstanding this license, it is held to be a characteristic of a virtuous woman, not to go to a bath even with her husband's permission: for the Prophet said, "Whatever woman enters a bath, the devil is with her." As the bath is a resort of the Jinn, prayer should not be performed in it, nor the Ḳur-án recited. The Prophet said, "All the earth is given to me as a place of prayer, and as pure, except the burial-ground and the bath."158 Hence also, when a person is about to enter a bath, he should offer up an ejaculatory prayer for protection against evil spirits; and should place his left foot first over the threshold.—Infidels have often been obliged to distinguish themselves in the bath, by hanging a signet to the neck, or wearing anklets, &c., lest they should receive those marks of respect which should be paid only to believers.159

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Part 3 of 3

Note 17.—On Meals, and the Manner of Eating. The King (with the sage as his guest) is here described as eating in the presence of his court, agreeably with a common custom of Eastern princes and other great men in the present day; the simple manner in which the meal is served and eaten occasioning but a slight interruption.

The Muslim takes a light breakfast after the morning-prayers, and dinner after the noon-prayers; or a single meal instead of these two, before noon. His principal meal is supper, which is taken after the prayers of sunset. A man of rank or wealth, when he has no guest, generally eats alone; his children eat after him, or with his wife or wives. In all his repasts he is moderate with regard to the quantity which he eats, however numerous the dishes.

In the times to which most of the tales in the present work relate, it appears that the dishes were sometimes, I believe generally, placed upon a round embroidered cloth spread on the floor, and sometimes on a tray, which was either laid on the floor or upon a small stand or stool. The last is the mode now always followed in the houses of the higher and middle classes of the Arabs. The table is usually placed upon a round cloth, spread in the middle of the floor, or in a corner, next two of the deewáns, or low seats which generally extend along three sides of the room. It is composed of a large round tray of silver, or of tinned copper, or of brass, supported by a stool, commonly about fifteen or sixteen inches high, made of wood, and generally inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ebony or other wood, or tortoise-shell, &c. When there are numerous guests, two or more such tables are prepared. The dishes are of silver, or of tinned copper, or of china. Several of these are placed upon the tray; and around them are disposed some round, flat cakes of bread, with spoons of box-wood, ebony, or other material, and, usually, two or three limes, cut in halves, to be squeezed over certain of the dishes. When these preparations have been made, each person who is to partake of the repast receives a napkin; and a servant pours water over his hands. A basin and ewer of either of the metals first mentioned are employed for this purpose; the former has a cover with a receptacle for a piece of soap in its centre, and with numerous perforations through which the water runs during the act of washing, so that it is not seen when the basin is brought from one person to another. It is indispensably requisite to wash at least the right hand before eating with the fingers anything but dry food; and the mouth, also, is often rinsed, the water being taken up into it from the right hand. The company sit upon the floor, or upon cushions, or some of them on the deewán, 110either cross-legged, or with the right knee raised:160 they retain the napkins before mentioned; or a long napkin, sufficient to surround the tray, is placed upon their knees; and each person, before he begins to eat, says, "In the name of God," or "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The master of the house begins first: if he did not so, some persons would suspect that the food was poisoned. The thumb and two fingers of the right hand serve instead of knives and forks; and it is the usual custom for a person to help himself to a portion of the contents of a dish by drawing it towards the edge, or taking it from the edge, with a morsel of bread, which he eats with it: when he takes too large a portion for a single mouthful, he generally places it on his cake of bread. He takes from any dish that pleases him; and sometimes a host hands a delicate morsel with his fingers to one of his guests. It is not allowable to touch food with the left hand (as it is used for unclean purposes), excepting in a few cases, when both hands are required to divide a joint.

Among the more common dishes are the following:—lamb or mutton cut into small pieces, and stewed with various vegetables, and sometimes with peaches, apricots, or jujubes, and sugar; cucumbers or small gourds, or the fruit of the black or white egg-plant, stuffed with rice and minced meat, &c.; vine-leaves or pieces of lettuce-leaf or cabbage-leaf, enclosing a similar composition; small morsels of lamb or mutton, roasted on skewers, and called "kebáb;" fowls simply roasted or boiled, or boned, and stuffed with raisins, pistachio-nuts, crumbled bread, and parsley; and various kinds of pastry, and other sweets. The repast is frequently commenced with soup; and is generally ended with boiled rice, mixed with a little butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper; or after this, is served a water-melon or other fruit, or a bowl of a sweet drink composed of water with raisins, and sometimes other kinds of fruit, boiled in it, and then sugar, and with a little rose-water added to it when cool. The meat, having generally little fat, is cooked with clarified butter, and is so thoroughly done that it is easily divided with the fingers.

A whole lamb, stuffed in the same manner as the fowls above mentioned, is not a very uncommon dish; but one more extraordinary, of which 'Abd-El-Laṭeef gives an account161 as one of the most remarkable that he had seen in Egypt, I am tempted to describe. It was an enormous pie, composed in the following manner:—Thirty pounds of fine flour being kneaded with five pounds and a half of oil of sesame, and divided into two equal portions, one of these was spread upon a round tray of copper, about four spans in diameter. Upon this were placed three lambs, stuffed with pounded meat fried with oil of sesame and ground pistachio-nuts, and various hot aromatics, such as pepper, ginger, cinnamon, mastic, coriander-seed, cumin-seed, cardamom, nut [or nutmeg?], &c. These were then sprinkled with rose-water infused with musk; and upon the lambs, and in the remaining spaces, were placed twenty fowls, twenty chickens, and fifty smaller birds; some of which were baked, and stuffed with eggs; some, stuffed with meat; and some, fried with the juice of sour grapes, or that of limes, or some similar acid. To the above were added a number of small pies; some filled with meat, and others with sugar and sweetmeats; and sometimes, the meat of another lamb, cut into small pieces, and some fried cheese. The whole being piled up in the form of a dome, some rose-water infused with musk and aloes-wood was sprinkled upon it; and the other half of the paste first mentioned was spread over, so as to close the whole: it was then baked, wiped with a sponge, and again sprinkled with rose-water infused with musk.—A dish still more extraordinary will be described in a note on public Royal feasts.

With respect to clean and unclean meats, the Muslim is subject to nearly the same laws as the Jew. Swine's flesh, and blood, are especially forbidden to him; but camel's flesh is allowed. The latter, however, being of a coarse nature, is never eaten when any 111other meat can be obtained, excepting by persons of the lower classes, and by Arabs of the desert. Of fish, almost every kind is eaten (excepting shell-fish), usually fried in oil: of game, little; partly in consequence of frequent doubt whether it have been lawfully killed. The diet consists, in a great measure, of vegetables, and includes a large variety of pastry. A very common kind of pastry is a pancake, which is made very thin, and folded over several times like a napkin; it is saturated with butter, and generally sweetened with honey or sugar; as is also another common kind, which somewhat resembles vermicelli.

The usual beverage at meals is water, which is drunk from cooling, porous, earthen bottles, or from cups of brass or other metal: but in the houses of the wealthy, sherbet is sometimes served instead of this, in covered glass cups, each of which contains about three quarters of a pint. The sherbet is composed of water made very sweet with sugar, or with a hard conserve of violets or roses or mulberries, &c. After every time that a person drinks, he says, "Praise be to God;" and each person of the company says to him, "May it be productive of enjoyment:" to which he replies, "May God cause thee to have enjoyment." The Arabs drink little or no water during a meal, but generally take a large draught immediately after. The repast is quickly finished; and each person, as soon as he has done, says, "Praise be to God," or "Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures." He then washes, in the same manner as before, but more thoroughly; well lathering his beard, and rinsing his mouth.

Note 18. This mode of shewing honour to a meritorious individual, or distinguished guest, which is at least as ancient as the time of Ahasuerus,162 is still observed in Muslim countries.

Note 19. The influence of the stars upon the dispositions and fortunes of mankind is firmly believed by the generality of Muslims, and is often a matter of consideration previously to the uniting of two persons in marriage; though the absurdity of such an opinion is declared in their law.

Note 20.—On the Distribution of Virtues and Vices among Mankind. I have heard Arabs confess that their nation possesses nine-tenths of the envy that exists among all mankind collectively; but I have not seen any written authority for this. Ibn-'Abbás assigns nine-tenths of the intrigue or artifice that exists in the world to the Copts; nine-tenths of the perfidy, to the Jews; nine-tenths of the stupidity, to the Maghrabees; nine-tenths of the hardness, to the Turks; and nine-tenths of the bravery, to the Arabs. According to Kaạb-El-Aḥbár, reason and sedition are most peculiar to Syria; plenty and degradation, to Egypt; and misery and health, to the Desert. In another account, faith and modesty are said to be most peculiar to El-Yemen; fortitude and sedition, to Syria; magnificence, or pride, and hypocrisy, to El-'Eráḳ; wealth and degradation, to Egypt; and poverty and misery, to the Desert.—Of women, it is said, by Kaạb-El-Aḥbár, that the best in the world (excepting those of the tribe of Ḳureysh mentioned by the Prophet) are those of El-Baṣrah; and the worst in the world, those of Egypt."163

Note 21. In the Cairo edition, King Yoonán is made to say, "I should repent after it, as King Sindibád repented of killing the falcon;"—and thus is introduced an indifferent story in the place of that of the Husband and the Parrot; the former story describing a king as having, under an erroneous idea, killed a falcon that had prevented his drinking poison. The latter story I insert in preference, according to the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, and the edition of Breslau.

Note 22.—On Miraculously-gifted Birds. An Arab historian would make it to appear, that the intelligence and talent ascribed to this parrot are not nearly so wonderful as those which some birds have been known to display. He mentions a parrot which recited the Soorat Yá-Seen (or 36th chapter of the Ḳur-án); and a raven which recited the Soorat es-Sijdeh (or 32nd chapter), and which, on arriving at the place of prostra112tion (or verse which should be recited with prostration), would perform that action, and say, "My body prostrateth itself to Thee, and my heart confideth in Thee." But these are not the most remarkable cases of the kind. He affirms that there was a parrot in Cairo which recited the Ḳur-án from beginning to end. The Báshà, he says, desiring to try its talent, caused a man to recite a chapter of the Ḳur-án in its presence, and to pass irregularly from one chapter to another, with the view of leading the bird into error: but, instead of this being the result, the parrot corrected him!164

Note 23. But a few years ago, it was a common custom for an Arab merchant or shopkeeper of the higher class to wear a sword; and this not only during a journey, but also during his ordinary walks or rides. I have seen many persons of this description so armed, and with a pair of pistols stuck in the girdle; though seldom excepting in the former case. A dagger or case-knife is a weapon now more commonly worn by such persons, both at home and abroad.

Note 24.—On Hunting and Hawking. Hunting and hawking, which were common and favourite diversions of the Arabs, and especially of their kings and other great men, have now fallen into comparative disuse among this people. They are, however, still frequently practised by the Persians, and in a manner the same as they are generally described in the present work. Sir John Malcolm was informed that these sports were nowhere found in greater perfection than in the neighbourhood of Aboo-Shahr, where he witnessed and took part in them: I shall, therefore, here avail myself of his observations on this subject.

"The huntsmen," he says, "proceed to a large plain, or rather desert, near the sea-side: they have hawks and greyhounds; the former carried in the usual manner, on the hand of the huntsman; the latter led in a leash by a horseman, generally the same who carries the hawk. When the antelope is seen, they endeavour to get as near as possible; but the animal, the moment it observes them, goes off at a rate that seems swifter than the wind: the horsemen are instantly at full speed, having slipped the dogs. If it is a single deer, they at the same time fly the hawks; but if a herd, they wait till the dogs have fixed on a particular antelope. The hawks, skimming along near the ground, soon reach the deer, at whose head they pounce in succession, and sometimes with a violence that knocks it over. [They are commonly described as pecking at the poor creature's eyes until they blind it.] At all events, they confuse the animal so much as to stop its speed in such a degree that the dogs can come up with it; and, in an instant, men, horses, dogs, and hawks, surround the unfortunate deer, against which their united efforts have been combined. The part of the chase that surprised me most, was the extraordinary combination of the hawks and the dogs, which throughout seemed to look to each other for aid. This, I was told, was the result of long and skilful training.—The antelope is supposed to be the fleetest quadruped on earth; and the rapidity of the first burst of the chase I have described is astonishing. The run seldom exceeds three or four miles, and often is not half so much. A fawn is an easy victory; the doe often runs a good chase; and the buck is seldom taken. The Arabs are, indeed, afraid to fly their hawks at the latter, as these fine birds, in pouncing, frequently impale themselves on its sharp horns.—The hawks used in this sport are of a species that I have never seen in any other country. This breed, which is called Cherkh, is not large, but of great beauty and symmetry.

"Another mode of running down the antelope is practised here, and still more in the interior of Persia. Persons of the highest rank lead their own greyhounds in a long silken leash, which passes through the collar, and is ready to slip the moment the huntsman chooses. The well-trained dog goes alongside the horse, and keeps clear of him when at full speed, and in all kinds of country. When a herd of antelopes is seen, a consultation is held, and the most experienced determine the point towards which 113they are to be driven. The field (as an English sportsman would term it) then disperse, and, while some drive the herd in the desired direction, those with the dogs take their post on the same line, at the distance of about a mile from each other; one of the worst dogs is then slipped at the herd, and from the moment he singles out an antelope the whole body are in motion. The object of the horsemen who have greyhounds is to intercept its course, and to slip fresh dogs, in succession, at the fatigued animal. In rare instances, the second dog kills. It is generally the third or fourth; and even these, when the deer is strong, and the ground favourable, often fail. This sport, which is very exhilarating, was the delight of the late King of Persia, Ághà Moḥammad Khán, whose taste is inherited by the present sovereign.

"The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was pleased, on accompanying a party to a village, about twenty miles from Aboo-Shahr, to see a species of hawking peculiar, I believe, to the sandy plains of Persia, on which the Ḥobárà, a noble species of bustard, is found on almost bare plains, where it has no shelter but a small shrub called 'geetuck.' When we went in quest of them, we had a party of about twenty, all well mounted. Two kinds of hawks are necessary for this sport; the first, the Cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope), attacks them on the ground, but will not follow them on the wing; for this reason, the 'Bhyree,' a hawk well known in India, is flown the moment the Ḥobárà rises.—As we rode along in an extended line, the men who carried the Cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up, that they might look over the plain. The first Ḥobárà we found afforded us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of the hawks: he fluttered to be loose, and the man who held him gave him a whoop as he threw him off his hand, and set off at full speed. We all did the same. At first we only saw our hawk skimming over the plain, but soon perceived, at a distance of more than a mile, the beautiful speckled Ḥobárà, with his head erect and wings outspread, running forward to meet his adversary. The Cherkh made several unsuccessful pounces, which were either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the Ḥobárà, which at last found an opportunity of rising, when a Bhyree was instantly flown, and the whole party were again at full gallop. We had a flight of more than a mile, when the Ḥobárà alighted, and was killed by another Cherkh, who attacked him on the ground. This bird weighed ten pounds. We killed several others, but were not always successful, having seen our hawks twice completely beaten, during the two days we followed this fine sport."165

The hunting of the wild ass is another sport of the Persians and Arabs, but one of a more difficult nature. This animal is found in Syria, and in the Nubian deserts, as well as in Arabia and Persia. The more common kinds of game are gazelles, or antelopes, hares, partridges, the species of grouse called "ḳaṭà," quails, wild geese, ducks, &c. Against all of these, the hawk is generally employed, but assisted in the capture of gazelles and hares by dogs. The usual arms of the sportsmen, in the times to which the present work relates, were the bow and arrow, the cross-bow, the spear, the sword, and the mace. When the game is struck down, but not killed, by any weapon, its throat is immediately cut. If merely stunned, and then left to die, its flesh is unlawful food. Some other laws respecting the killing of game have been mentioned in a former note; but one has been there omitted which is worthy of remark, though it is often disregarded; it is, that hunting is allowable only for the purpose of procuring food, or to obtain the skin of an animal, or for the sake of destroying ferocious and dangerous beasts. Amusement is certainly, in general, the main object of the Muslim huntsman, but he does not, with this view, endeavour to prolong the chase; on the contrary, he strives to take the game as quickly as possible; for this purpose, nets are often employed, and the hunting party, forming what is called the circle of the chase (ḥalḳat eṣ-ṣeyd), surround the spot in which the game is found.

114

"On the eastern frontiers of Syria," says Burckhardt, "are several places allotted for the hunting of gazelles: these places are called 'masiade' [more properly, 'maṣyedehs']. An open space in the plain, of about one mile and a half square, is enclosed on three sides by a wall of loose stones, too high for the gazelles to leap over. In different parts of this wall, gaps are purposely left, and near each gap a deep ditch is made on the outside. The enclosed space is situated near some rivulet or spring to which, in summer, the gazelles resort. When the hunting is to begin, many peasants assemble, and watch till they see a herd of gazelles advancing from a distance towards the enclosure, into which they drive them: the gazelles, frightened by the shouts of these people, and the discharge of fire-arms, endeavour to leap over the wall, but can only effect this at the gaps, where they fall into the ditch outside, and are easily taken, sometimes by hundreds. The chief of the herd always leaps first: the others follow him one by one. The gazelles thus taken are immediately killed, and their flesh is sold to the Arabs and neighbouring Felláḥs."166

Note 25. In the Cairo edition, the word "jezeereh" (an island) is erroneously put for "kharábeh" (a ruin).

Note 26. "Ghooleh" is the feminine of "Ghool." The Ghool is a fabulous being, of which some account has been given in No. 21 of the notes to the Introduction.

Note 27. This epithet of the Deity appears to be used in preference to others in this instance, in order to imply that God always decrees what is best for a virtuous man, even when the reverse would seem to us to be the case. He is here described as appointing that the sage should die a violent death; but this death, being unmerited, raised him, according to Mohammadan notions, to the rank of a martyr.

In the edition from which my translation is chiefly made, four poetical quotations are here inserted on the subject of fate, and the inutility of anxious forebodings. The first of these is as follows:—

"O thou who fearest thy fate, be at ease; commit thine affairs unto Him who spread out the earth.
For what is predestined cannot be cancelled; and thou art secure from every thing that is not predestined."

Note 28.—The Fable of the Crocodile. Perhaps the reader may desire to know what is the story which the sage Doobán declined to relate; I will therefore supply the omission as well as my memory will allow me. I have heard this fable differently told by different persons; and it is sometimes spun out to a considerable length; but the principal points of it are these:—A crocodile, having crawled far from the Nile, over a desert tract, found his strength so exhausted by fatigue and thirst, that he despaired of being able to return to the river. While he was in this unhappy state, an Arab with his camel approached him, proceeding in the desired direction; and he appealed to his compassion, entreating that he would bind him on the back of the camel, and so convey him to the Nile, and promising that he would afterwards, in return for this favour, carry him across to the opposite bank. The Arab answered, that he feared the crocodile would, as soon as he was unbound, turn upon him, and devour him; but the monster swore so solemnly that he would gratefully requite the service he requested, that the man was induced to consent; and, making his camel lie down, bound the crocodile firmly upon his back, and brought him to the bank of the river. No sooner, however, was the horrid creature liberated, than, in spite of his vows, he opened his hideous jaws to destroy his benefactor, who, though he eluded this danger, was unable to rescue his camel. At this moment a fox drew near them. The man, accosting this cunning animal, related his tale; and the crocodile urged in his own excuse, that the man had spitefully bound him on the back of the camel in such a manner that he had almost killed him. The fox replied that he could quickly pursue and capture the man, 115but that he must act fairly, and first see the whole transaction repeated before him. The crocodile, assenting, and submitting to have a noose thrown over his jaws, was again bound on the back of the camel, and taken to the place whence he was brought; and as soon as this was done, the man, by the direction of the fox, holding with one hand the halter of his camel, with the other cut the ropes which secured his burden, and hasted away with his beast, leaving the ungrateful and treacherous monster in the same hopeless state in which he had found him.

Note 29. This comparison is perfectly just. My first visit to Egypt was not too late for me to witness such a scene as that which is here alluded to; but now, throughout the Turkish dominions, the officers of government are obliged, more or less, to assimilate their style of dress to that which commonly prevails in Europe; gaudy colours are out of fashion among them, and silk embroidery is generally preferred to gold: in Egypt, however, the dress worn by this class of persons has not been so much altered as in Turkey, still retaining an Oriental character, though wanting the shawl which was wound round the red cap, and formed the turban; while the dress worn by other classes has undergone no change. [This note still applies to the inhabitants of Egypt, with the exception of the Turks, who have very generally adopted the modern Turkish, or semi-European dress.—Ed.]

Note 30. This story of the head speaking after it was cut off is not without a parallel in the writings of Arab historians. The head of Sa'eed, the son of Jubeyr, is said to have uttered the words, "There is no deity but God," after it had been severed from his body by order of El-Ḥajjáj, who is related to have killed a hundred and twenty thousand persons of note, besides those whom he slew in war.

Note 31. I do not remember to have read or heard the story of Umámeh and 'Átikeh, who, as their names import, were two females.

Note 32. The words here quoted are part of the 36th verse of the 17th chapter of the Ḳur-án.

Note 33. The title of "Sulṭán" is higher than that of "Melik" (or King): a Sulṭán, properly speaking, being a monarch who has kings or viceroys under his authority.

Note 34.—On Koḥl, and the mode of applying it. Koḥl is a black powder, with which most of the Arab, and many other, women blacken the edges of the eyelids. The most common kind is the smoke-black which is produced by burning a kind of frankincense. An inferior kind is the smoke-black produced by burning the shells of almonds. These are believed to be beneficial to the eyes; but are generally used merely for the sake of ornament. Among other kinds which are particularly employed for their beneficial effect upon the eye are several ores of lead, reduced to a fine powder. Antimony is said to have been, in former times, the most esteemed kind of koḥl. The powder is applied by means of a small probe of wood, ivory, or silver, the end of which is moistened, and then dipped in the powder, and drawn along the edges of the eyelids.167

Note 35. The Koofeeyeh is described in a great Arabic Lexicon (Táj el-'Aroos) as "a thing worn on the head; so called because of its roundness:" and this is the only description of it that I have been able to find. I was told in Cairo, that "koofeeyeh" is the correct appellation of the head-kerchief commonly called "keffeeyeh:" but this is a mistake. The latter is a square kerchief, which is worn on the head, measuring about a yard in each direction, and of various colours, generally a dull, brownish red, bright green, and yellow, composing broad and narrow stripes, and having a deep fringe of strings and tassels along two opposite edges. The most common kind is entirely of cotton; another, of cotton interwoven with silk; and a third, of silk interwoven with gold. It is now chiefly worn by the Wahhábees and several tribes of Bedawees; but 116the former wear only the first kind, as they hold articles of dress composed wholly or partly of silk or gold to be unlawful. In former times it was in common use among the inhabitants of the towns. It is mostly worn by men, and is doubled diagonally, and placed over the cap in such a manner that the two corners which are folded together hang down the back; and the other two corners, in front. A piece of woollen rope, or a strip of rag, or a turban, is generally wound round it; and the corners, or those only which usually hang down in front, are sometimes turned up, and tucked within the upper edge of the turban. The inhabitants of the towns usually wear the turban over the keffeeyeh. Burckhardt, who calls this head-kerchief "keffie," mentions, that the Bedawees of Mekkeh and El-Yemen tie over it, instead of the woollen rope which is used by the Northern Bedawees, "a circle made of wax, tar, and butter, strongly kneaded together: this," he adds, "is pressed down to the middle of the head, and looks like the airy crown of a saint. It is about the thickness of a finger; and they take it off very frequently to press it between their hands, so that its shape may be preserved."168 The better kinds of keffeeyeh above mentioned are worn by some of the Turks, but not in the Arab manner; being wound tight round the cap.

Note 36.—Anecdote of a Miraculous Fish. This story of the miraculous fish reminds me of one of a similar kind which is related as authentic. A certain just judge of the Israelites, in the time of Solomon, had a wife who, every time that she brought him his food, used to ejaculate a prayer that disgrace might befall every unfaithful wife. One day, this woman having placed before her husband a fried fish, and repeated her usual ejaculation, the fish leaped from the dish, and fell upon the floor. This happened three times; and, in consequence of a suspicion expressed by a devotee, who was consulted respecting the meaning of this strange event, the judge discovered that a supposed maid, whom he had purchased as a slave, was a disguised man.169

Note 37. This comparison is not intended to be understood in its literal sense, for the smallest of the tribe of 'Ád is said to have been sixty cubits high: the largest, a hundred! The tribe of 'Ád were a race of ancient Arabs, who, according to the Ḳur-án and Arab historians, were destroyed by a suffocating wind, for their infidelity, after their rejection of the admonitions of the prophet Hood.

Note 38. The Arabs generally calculate distances by time. The average distance of a day's journey is from twenty to twenty-five miles; the former being the usual rate of caravan-travelling.

Note 39.—On the Privacy of Arab Dwellings. In a palace, or large house, there is generally a wide bench of stone, or a wooden couch, within the outer door, for the accommodation of the door-keeper and other servants. The entrance-passage leads to an open court, and, for the sake of preventing persons at the entrance, or a little within it, from seeing into the court, it usually has two turnings. We may, therefore, understand the motive of the King in seating himself in the place here described to have been a desire that he might not, if discovered, be supposed to be prying impertinently into the interior of the palace. Respect for the privacy of another's house is a point that is deemed of so much importance that it is insisted upon in the Ḳur-án, in these words:—"O ye who have become believers, enter not any houses, besides your own houses, until ye shall have asked leave, and saluted their inhabitants; this will be better for you: peradventure ye will be admonished. And if ye find not in them any person, enter them not, until leave be granted you; and if it be said unto you, Return, then do ye return; this will be more decent for you; and God knoweth what ye do. But it shall be no crime in you that ye enter uninhabited houses wherein ye may find a convenience.170 When a visiter finds the door open, and no servant below, he usually claps 117his hands as a signal for some person to come to him; striking the palm of his left hand with the fingers of the right: and even when leave has been granted him to enter, it is customary for him, when he has to ascend to an upper apartment, to repeat several times some ejaculation, such as "Permission!" or, "O Protector!" (that is, "O protecting God!"), as he goes up, in order that any female of the family, who may chance to be in the way, may have notice of his approach, and either retire or veil herself. Sometimes the servant who precedes him does this in his stead.

Note 40. These verses are translated from the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, as more apposite than those which are inserted in their place in the edition of Cairo.

Note 41. That the reader may not form wrong conceptions of the characters of many persons portrayed in this work, it is necessary to observe, that weeping is not regarded by the Arabs as an evidence of an effeminate disposition, or inconsistent with even a heroic mind; though the Muslims in general are remarkable for the calmness with which they endure the heaviest afflictions.

Note 42. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to mention, that it is a common custom of the Orientals, as of other natives of warm climates, to take a nap in the afternoon. A tradesman is not unfrequently seen enjoying this luxury in his shop, and seldom, excepting in this case, is it considered allowable to wake a person.

Note 43.—Description of Arab Fans. The kind of fan most commonly used by the Arabs has the form of a small flag. The flap, which is about six or seven inches in width, and somewhat more in length, is composed of split palm-leaves of various colours, or some plain and others coloured, neatly plaited or woven together. The handle is a piece of palm-stick, about twice the length of the flap. This fan is used by men as well as women, and for the double purpose of moderating the heat and repelling the flies, which, in warm weather, are excessively annoying. It is more effective than the ordinary European fan, and requires less exertion. Arabian fans of the kind here described, brought from Mekkeh to Cairo as articles of merchandise, may be purchased in the latter city for a sum less than a penny each; they are mostly made in the H[.]ejáz. Another kind of fan, generally composed of black ostrich-feathers, of large dimensions, and ornamented with a small piece of looking-glass on the lower part of the front, is often used by the Arabs. A kind of fly-whisk made of palm-leaves is also in very general use. A servant or slave is often employed to wave it over the master or mistress during a meal or an afternoon nap.

Note 44. Mes'oodeh is the feminine of Mes'ood, a name before explained, as signifying "happy," or "made happy."

Note 45. The word which I have here rendered "wine" (namely, "sharáb") is applied to any drink, and particularly to a sweet beverage; but, in the present case, the context shews that its signification is that which I have given it. The description of a carousal in the next chapter will present a more fit occasion for my considering at large the custom of drinking wine as existing among the Arabs.

Note 46.—On the Use of Hemp to induce Intoxication. The name of "benj," or "beng," is now, and, I believe, generally, given to henbane; but El-Ḳazweenee states that the leaves of the garden hemp (ḳinneb bustánee, or shahdánaj,) are the benj which, when eaten, disorders the reason. This is an important confirmation of De Sacy's opinion respecting the derivation of the appellation of "Assassins" from Ḥashshásheen (hemp-eaters, or persons who intoxicate themselves with hemp); as the sect which we call "Assassins" are expressly said by the Arabs to have made frequent use of benj.171 118To this subject I shall have occasion to revert. I need only add here, that the custom of using benj, and other narcotics, for purposes similar to that described in this tale, is said to be not very unfrequently practised in the present day; but as many Arab husbands are extremely suspicious of the character of women in general, perhaps there is but little ground for this assertion.

Note 47. Most Eastern cities and towns are partly or wholly surrounded by mounds of rubbish, close to the walls; and upon these mounds are thrown the carcasses of camels, horses, and other beasts, to be devoured by dogs and vultures. Immense mounds of this unsightly description entirely surrounded the city of Cairo; but those which extended along its western side, and, in a great measure, screened it from the view of persons approaching from the Nile, have lately been removed by order of the present Báshà of Egypt. [This note was written in the year 1838, in the time of Moḥammad 'Alee.—Ed.]

Note 48. "Ḳubbeh" generally signifies either a dome or a cupola, or a building or apartment surmounted by a dome. In the present instance it is to be understood in the latter sense. It is also applied to a closet, and to a tent.

Note 49. "Ḳáf" is generally to be understood, as it is in the present case; to signify the chain of mountains believed, by the Muslims, to encircle our earth, as mentioned in a former note. It is also the name of the chain of Caucasus, and hence it has been supposed that the fable respecting the mountains before mentioned, originated from an early idea that the chain of Caucasus was the limit of the habitable earth; but it is possible that the latter mountains may have derived their name from an imaginary resemblance to the former.

Note 50. Rats, though unlawful food to the Muslim, are occasionally eaten by many of the peasants of the province of Lower Egypt called El-Boḥeyreh, on the west of the western branch of the Nile. The extraordinary abundance of these animals, and mice, throughout Egypt, gave rise to an absurd fable, which is related by Diodorus Siculus172 as a matter worthy of serious consideration:—that these creatures are generated from the alluvial soil deposited by the Nile. The inundation drives many of them from the fields to the houses and deserts, and destroys the rest; but soon after the waters have subsided, vast numbers of them are seen again, taking refuge in the deep clefts of the parched soil.

Note 51.—On the Beverage called Booẓah. Booẓah, or boozeh, is a favourite beverage of the boatmen, and other persons of the lower class, in Egypt; and more especially of the Nubians and negroes; as it was, according to Herodotus173 and other writers, of the ancient Egyptians. It is an intoxicating liquor, a kind of beer, most commonly prepared from barley-bread, crumbled, mixed with water, strained, and left to ferment. It is also prepared from wheat and from millet in the same manner. The account of Herodotus has been confirmed by the discovery of large jars, containing the dregs of the barley-beer in ancient tombs at Thebes.

Note 52.—On the Apparel, &c., of Mourning. The wearing of mourning appears to have been a custom of both sexes among the Arabs in earlier times, for the black clothing which distinguished the 'Abbásee Khaleefehs and their officers was originally assumed in testimony of grief for the death of the Imám Ibráheem Ibn-Moḥammad. It has, however, ceased to be worn by men, as indicating a want of resignation to the decrees of Providence, and is only assumed by women on the occasion of the death of a husband or near relation, and not for an elderly person. In the former cases they dye their shirts, head-veils, face-veils, and handkerchiefs, of a blue or almost black colour, with indigo; and sometimes, with the same dye, stain their hands and arms as high as the elbows, and smear the walls of their apartments. They generally abstain from 119wearing any article of dress of a bright colour, leave their hair unbraided, and deck themselves with few or no ornaments. They also cease to make use of perfumes, koḥl, and ḥennà; and often turn upside-down the carpets, mats, cushions, and coverings of the deewáns.

Note 53. "Houses of Lamentations," erected in burial-grounds for the accommodation of ladies on the occasions of their visiting the tombs of their relations, have been mentioned in a former note respecting the two grand annual festivals.

Note 54. The kind of tomb here alluded to is generally a square building crowned by a dome.

Note 55. This passage deserves particular notice, as being one of those which assist us to form some opinion respecting the period when the present work, in the states in which it is known to us, was composed or compiled or remodelled. It is the same in all the copies of the original work that I have seen, and bears strong evidence of having been written subsequently to the commencement of the eighth century of the Flight, or fourteenth of our era, at which period, it appears, the Christians and Jews were first compelled to distinguish themselves by wearing, respectively, blue and yellow turbans, in accordance with an order issued by the Sultán of Egypt, Moḥammad Ibn-Kala-oon.174 Thus the white turban became peculiar to the Muslims.—An eminent German critic has been unfortunate in selecting the incident of the four fish as affording an argument in favour of his opinion that the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights are of Indian origin, on the mere ground that the same word (varna) is used in Sanscrit to signify both "colour" and "caste."

Note 56. The Muslims often implore the intercession of their prophet, and of various members of his family and other holy persons, though their ordinary prayers are addressed solely to God. The regard which they pay to their reputed saints, both living and deceased, as mediators, is one of the heresies which the Wahhábees most vehemently condemn.

Note 57. This verse, translated from my usual prototype, the Cairo edition, is there followed by another, which I omit as being inapposite.

Note 58. In the first of the notes to the Introduction, I have mentioned that it is a general custom of the Muslims to repeat this phrase, "In the name of God!" on commencing every lawful action that is of any importance; it is, therefore, here employed, as it is in many similar cases, to express a readiness to do what is commanded or requested; and is equivalent to saying, "I this instant begin to execute thy orders."

Note 59. The condition and offices of memlooks, who are male white slaves, have been mentioned in the thirteenth note to the first chapter.

Note 60. Eastern histories present numerous instances of marriages as unequal as those here related; the reader, therefore, must not regard this part of the story as inconsistent.

150 Sale's Korán, note to chap. xxxviii.

151 El-Maḳreezee's "Khiṭaṭ;" chapter entitled "Khizánet el-Kisawát."

152 Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i. p. 32 of the Arabic text, 2nd ed.

153 Idem, p. 4 of the Arabic text.

154 D'Herbelot, art. "Bokhteri."

155 Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chapter the seventh (MS. in my possession).

156 Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chapter the eighth.

157 Idem, chapter the seventh.

158 A recent traveller has questioned Mr. Lane's authority, in the "Modern Egyptians," for the remark that Muslims should not pray in the bath. A reference to any well-known collection of traditions of the Prophet will, however, prove, by many sayings besides that quoted above, that Mr. Lane is in this matter strictly accurate—Ed.

159 Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, &c., section the seventh.

160 A pious Muslim generally sits at his meals with the right knee raised, after the example of the Prophet, who adopted this custom in order to avoid too comfortable a posture in eating, as tempting to unnecessary gratification.—Ed.

161 Pp. 180—182, ed. Oxon. 1800.

162 See Esther vi. 8 and 9.

163 El-Maḳreezee's "Khiṭaṭ," and El-Is-ḥáḳee.

164 El-Is-ḥáḳee; reign of the Khaleefeh El-Musta'een, the son of El-Moạtaṣim.

165Sketches of Persia, vol. i. ch. v. [Mr. Lane has written some of the Oriental words in this extract according to his own mode.—Ed.]

166 Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, vol. i. pp. 220 et seq. 8vo. ed.

167 A more full account of this custom is given in my work on the Modern Egyptians, vol. i. ch. l.

168 Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, vol. i. p. 232, 8vo. ed.

169 Kitáb el-'Onwán fee Mekáïd en-Niswán.

170 Ch. xxiv. vv. 27-29.

171 See "Modern Egyptians," vol. ii., close of chap, ix.—Since this was written, I have found that El-Idreesee applies the term "Ḥasheesheeyeh," which is exactly synonymous with "Ḥashshásheen," to the "Assassins:" this, therefore, decides the question.

172 Lib. i. cap. 10.

173 Lib. ii. cap. 77.

174 El-Maḳreezee and El-Is-ḥáḳee.