2023-02-26 04:07:48 by ambuda-bot
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SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
53
"In those days I used to steal the wealth of the rich men
in the city and make them beg the poor who had grown
rich by the wealth I bestowed on them. One night under the
influence of excessive drink, I attempted to steal all the
wealth of the city and was arrested by a party of watchmen.
Coming to my senses I realized that the misfortune that
had overtaken me would also involve the innocent Raga-
mañjari and Dhanamitra. In a moment I made up my mind
what to do and began rebuking nurse Śrgālikā who was
following me : 'Get away, you old hag. You have brought
about a union between Dhanamitra and Rāgamañjarī
and I am happy that I have robbed him of his bag and her of
her jewels.' The clever nurse took the hint from me and
came near me to ask where I had kept the stolen property.
Then I whispered in her ear a plan on which she was to act
when she reached home. I was taken to the prison and
Kaṇṭaka, the jailor, threatened me with torture if I did not
return all that I had stolen.
(Av. Sāra VIII. 78-83)
"Later on, one evening, Sṛgālikā told me that my plan
had borne fruit. Dhanamitra,' she said, 'thus petitioned the
King: My lord! a thief pretending to be my friend stole
my bag and was put in prison; he may be pursuaded to give
it back.' The King,' she added, will take the necessary
measures to restore the bag to Dhanamitra. For my part,
I have secured the favour of the princess through a nurse and
have made Kaṇṭaka believe that the princess had fallen in love
with him. Seeing that he was mad with love, I suggested to
him to enter into the princess' apartments through an under-
ground passage. He finds in you the proper man to dig an
underground passage from the prison to the palace. The
fool has asked me to induce you to do it for him and will
release you for the purpose.' Then the jailor set me free
and I dug a passage. As I was issuing out, he began to
fetter me again and I struck him on the chest and killed him.
Then through the same passage I entered the palace to steal
something there and found the princess sleeping. Her
beauty stole my heart and I painted her on a board in the
posture in which I saw her, with myself kneeling at her feet.
I also wrote below the picture an āryā giving expression to
my love for her. Then I returned to the prison and told my
esteemed friend, a fellow prisoner, that I had killed Kaṇṭaka
6
53
"In those days I used to steal the wealth of the rich men
in the city and make them beg the poor who had grown
rich by the wealth I bestowed on them. One night under the
influence of excessive drink, I attempted to steal all the
wealth of the city and was arrested by a party of watchmen.
Coming to my senses I realized that the misfortune that
had overtaken me would also involve the innocent Raga-
mañjari and Dhanamitra. In a moment I made up my mind
what to do and began rebuking nurse Śrgālikā who was
following me : 'Get away, you old hag. You have brought
about a union between Dhanamitra and Rāgamañjarī
and I am happy that I have robbed him of his bag and her of
her jewels.' The clever nurse took the hint from me and
came near me to ask where I had kept the stolen property.
Then I whispered in her ear a plan on which she was to act
when she reached home. I was taken to the prison and
Kaṇṭaka, the jailor, threatened me with torture if I did not
return all that I had stolen.
(Av. Sāra VIII. 78-83)
"Later on, one evening, Sṛgālikā told me that my plan
had borne fruit. Dhanamitra,' she said, 'thus petitioned the
King: My lord! a thief pretending to be my friend stole
my bag and was put in prison; he may be pursuaded to give
it back.' The King,' she added, will take the necessary
measures to restore the bag to Dhanamitra. For my part,
I have secured the favour of the princess through a nurse and
have made Kaṇṭaka believe that the princess had fallen in love
with him. Seeing that he was mad with love, I suggested to
him to enter into the princess' apartments through an under-
ground passage. He finds in you the proper man to dig an
underground passage from the prison to the palace. The
fool has asked me to induce you to do it for him and will
release you for the purpose.' Then the jailor set me free
and I dug a passage. As I was issuing out, he began to
fetter me again and I struck him on the chest and killed him.
Then through the same passage I entered the palace to steal
something there and found the princess sleeping. Her
beauty stole my heart and I painted her on a board in the
posture in which I saw her, with myself kneeling at her feet.
I also wrote below the picture an āryā giving expression to
my love for her. Then I returned to the prison and told my
esteemed friend, a fellow prisoner, that I had killed Kaṇṭaka
6