brahman’s wife was disagreeable; even so he urged you to find her. He wishes to do the right thing. You, lord of the land, redeem those who renege from their ordained duties. But who can do the same for you?’
These wise words embarrassed the king. ‘It is as you say,’ he acknowledged, but then asked again about the abducted woman. ‘You, sir, are all-knowing,’ he said. ‘Who has taken her, and where?’
The sage told him, ‘She was taken by the demon Balaka who lives in the Utpalavata forest. Go there quickly, and reunite that brahman with his wife thus stopping his descent into sin, unlike you.’
The king went to the forest and saw there a woman who matched the brahman’s description. She was eating a wood-apple. ‘Good lady,’ he asked, ‘are you the wife of Susharma, the son of Vishala? How did you come to this forest? Tell me clearly.’
‘I am the daughter of the brahman Atiratha,’she replied. ‘I am also the wife of Vishala’s son whom you just named. I was abducted by the demon Balaka as I slept at home. May that wretch go to hell. Separating me from my mother and brother, he abandoned me in this dense forest where I am in real distress. Why he neither devoured nor ravished me, I just do not know.’
‘Have you any idea where he may have gone after leaving you? I have been sent here by your husband.’
‘That nocturnal creature lives at the end of this forest. Go there, sir, and see him if you are not afraid.’
The king took the path she pointed out. The demon was with his family. Bowing to the monarch from a distance, he came forward and touched his feet. ‘You have done me a great favour by coming here, my lord,’ he said. ‘Command what I should do, for I live in your realm. Take this seat and accept this offering. Instruct me, master, for we are your servants.’
‘All that is well, demon,’ said the king. ‘Why did you kidnap the brahman Susharma’s wife? Was it to devour her or to ravish her?’
‘We are not man-eating demons, O king. Others may be, but we partake only of the fruit of our good deeds. Not the flesh but the disposition of men and women is what we eat. Their forbearance consumed, they become subject to anger; and their wickedness devoured, they become meritorious. And our demon girls have the beauty of celestial nymphs, so why should we want your women for pleasure?’
‘Well, if this woman was neither for your food nor your pleasure, why did you abduct her from the brahman’s house?’
‘That best of brahmans knows all the magic incantations,’ the demon explained. ‘To whichever sacrificial rite I went, he would expel me with his spells against demons. We were famished. Over time he became the sacrificial priest wherever we went. So we thought of this disqualification: without his wife, a manbecomes unfit for sacred rituals.’
The king was much disturbed to hear of the brahman’s disqualification. ‘Its mention is equally bad for me,’ he reflected. ‘The sage said that I was unfit to receive the offerings due to a guest. The deficiency is similar to the brahman’s, and I now face great problems without my wife.’
Even as he worried thus, the demon saluted once more. ‘Favour me with your orders, my lord,’ he said as he bowed deeply.
‘What you said about devouring people’s dispositions fits with what I would like to have done,’ the king replied. ‘Listen. Consume the unamiable nature of this brahman woman. Then return her to her home, and you would have done all that is due to me as a guest.’
As ordered by the king, the demon entered that woman with his magic and ate up her fierce ill nature. Relieved of it, she declared, ‘It was the consequence of my own deeds that I was separated from that great soul, my husband. This demon was but an instrument for our separation.The fault was not his, nor my husband’s, but only mine, for in a previous life I must have caused someone’s separation which now rebounded on me.’
Having
These wise words embarrassed the king. ‘It is as you say,’ he acknowledged, but then asked again about the abducted woman. ‘You, sir, are all-knowing,’ he said. ‘Who has taken her, and where?’
The sage told him, ‘She was taken by the demon Balaka who lives in the Utpalavata forest. Go there quickly, and reunite that brahman with his wife thus stopping his descent into sin, unlike you.’
The king went to the forest and saw there a woman who matched the brahman’s description. She was eating a wood-apple. ‘Good lady,’ he asked, ‘are you the wife of Susharma, the son of Vishala? How did you come to this forest? Tell me clearly.’
‘I am the daughter of the brahman Atiratha,’she replied. ‘I am also the wife of Vishala’s son whom you just named. I was abducted by the demon Balaka as I slept at home. May that wretch go to hell. Separating me from my mother and brother, he abandoned me in this dense forest where I am in real distress. Why he neither devoured nor ravished me, I just do not know.’
‘Have you any idea where he may have gone after leaving you? I have been sent here by your husband.’
‘That nocturnal creature lives at the end of this forest. Go there, sir, and see him if you are not afraid.’
The king took the path she pointed out. The demon was with his family. Bowing to the monarch from a distance, he came forward and touched his feet. ‘You have done me a great favour by coming here, my lord,’ he said. ‘Command what I should do, for I live in your realm. Take this seat and accept this offering. Instruct me, master, for we are your servants.’
‘All that is well, demon,’ said the king. ‘Why did you kidnap the brahman Susharma’s wife? Was it to devour her or to ravish her?’
‘We are not man-eating demons, O king. Others may be, but we partake only of the fruit of our good deeds. Not the flesh but the disposition of men and women is what we eat. Their forbearance consumed, they become subject to anger; and their wickedness devoured, they become meritorious. And our demon girls have the beauty of celestial nymphs, so why should we want your women for pleasure?’
‘Well, if this woman was neither for your food nor your pleasure, why did you abduct her from the brahman’s house?’
‘That best of brahmans knows all the magic incantations,’ the demon explained. ‘To whichever sacrificial rite I went, he would expel me with his spells against demons. We were famished. Over time he became the sacrificial priest wherever we went. So we thought of this disqualification: without his wife, a manbecomes unfit for sacred rituals.’
The king was much disturbed to hear of the brahman’s disqualification. ‘Its mention is equally bad for me,’ he reflected. ‘The sage said that I was unfit to receive the offerings due to a guest. The deficiency is similar to the brahman’s, and I now face great problems without my wife.’
Even as he worried thus, the demon saluted once more. ‘Favour me with your orders, my lord,’ he said as he bowed deeply.
‘What you said about devouring people’s dispositions fits with what I would like to have done,’ the king replied. ‘Listen. Consume the unamiable nature of this brahman woman. Then return her to her home, and you would have done all that is due to me as a guest.’
As ordered by the king, the demon entered that woman with his magic and ate up her fierce ill nature. Relieved of it, she declared, ‘It was the consequence of my own deeds that I was separated from that great soul, my husband. This demon was but an instrument for our separation.The fault was not his, nor my husband’s, but only mine, for in a previous life I must have caused someone’s separation which now rebounded on me.’
Having
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