2023-02-26 04:07:26 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
6
he heard the following conversation from behind a bush
and recognised that it was Sumati and his other ministers
that were talking. Sir, we are here," said one of them,
"under the orders of the king to guard the pregnant queen.
She gave birth to a child with all auspicious marks on the
body. Today is the eleventh day and religious rites were
performed for the welfare of the child. But, what a bad
omen! I dreamt a dream that the child was carried away
by a bird." Soon after, the women cried, "Ah, a man in
the shape of a swan is taking away the child and flying up
the sky." The queen sank in sorrow and the ministers got
alarmed at the sudden disappearance of the child. Then
she addressed the ministers as follows:-"Sirs, by the
command of the king I have been taken here to worship
the goddess Vindhyaväsinī¹ till I give birth to a child. But
unfortunately, my child is lost. Grief is consuming my body.
I shall burn it completely in a forest conflagration. Please
convey my last respects to my Lord."
(Av. Sāra II. 86-98; Av. pp. 114-22)
AVANTISUNDARI KATHA SARA
66
The ministers dissuaded the queen from her rash attempt
and said: "Your child has all the prosperous signs of an
emperor. He is superhuman. He will not be lost, but may
be hiding somewhere." But she was firm in her resolve. At
dead of night, she quietly stole away from the camp, went near
the thicket, where the king happend to lie prostrate, and decid-
ing to hang herself by a noose, uttered the words: "Oh, my
Lord, I am dying." The king recognised her from her voice
and asked her in faint words not to be rash. She was taken
aback when she heard the words of her lord in that
lonely place; she cried for a lamp and a light was brought.
She beheld her lord bleeding all over his body and lying flat
on the ground as if dead, at which she fell down and fainted.
[Recovering consciousness, she saw him in an unconscious
state and decided to follow him in death by falling into fire].
At this moment, the king opened his bright eyes and raised
his hands and the upper part of his body as if he was free
1. The deity of the celebrated temple Vindubāsinī situated
on a part of the hills near Mirzapur. The goddess Vindubāsini
was widely worshipped in the seventh century and her shrine was
considered as one of the most sacred places of prilgrimage. Cf.
also Kathasaritsagara, chs, 52, 54,
he heard the following conversation from behind a bush
and recognised that it was Sumati and his other ministers
that were talking. Sir, we are here," said one of them,
"under the orders of the king to guard the pregnant queen.
She gave birth to a child with all auspicious marks on the
body. Today is the eleventh day and religious rites were
performed for the welfare of the child. But, what a bad
omen! I dreamt a dream that the child was carried away
by a bird." Soon after, the women cried, "Ah, a man in
the shape of a swan is taking away the child and flying up
the sky." The queen sank in sorrow and the ministers got
alarmed at the sudden disappearance of the child. Then
she addressed the ministers as follows:-"Sirs, by the
command of the king I have been taken here to worship
the goddess Vindhyaväsinī¹ till I give birth to a child. But
unfortunately, my child is lost. Grief is consuming my body.
I shall burn it completely in a forest conflagration. Please
convey my last respects to my Lord."
(Av. Sāra II. 86-98; Av. pp. 114-22)
AVANTISUNDARI KATHA SARA
66
The ministers dissuaded the queen from her rash attempt
and said: "Your child has all the prosperous signs of an
emperor. He is superhuman. He will not be lost, but may
be hiding somewhere." But she was firm in her resolve. At
dead of night, she quietly stole away from the camp, went near
the thicket, where the king happend to lie prostrate, and decid-
ing to hang herself by a noose, uttered the words: "Oh, my
Lord, I am dying." The king recognised her from her voice
and asked her in faint words not to be rash. She was taken
aback when she heard the words of her lord in that
lonely place; she cried for a lamp and a light was brought.
She beheld her lord bleeding all over his body and lying flat
on the ground as if dead, at which she fell down and fainted.
[Recovering consciousness, she saw him in an unconscious
state and decided to follow him in death by falling into fire].
At this moment, the king opened his bright eyes and raised
his hands and the upper part of his body as if he was free
1. The deity of the celebrated temple Vindubāsinī situated
on a part of the hills near Mirzapur. The goddess Vindubāsini
was widely worshipped in the seventh century and her shrine was
considered as one of the most sacred places of prilgrimage. Cf.
also Kathasaritsagara, chs, 52, 54,