Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/188



While Mrigánkadatta was thus residing in the palace of Máyávațu, the king of the Bhillas, accompanied by Vimalabuddhi and his other friends, one day the general of the Bhilla sovereign came to him in a state of great excitement, and said to him in the presence of Mrigánkadatta; " As by your Majesty's orders I was searching for a man to offer as a victim to Durgá, I found one so valiant that he destroyed five hundred of your best warriors, and I have brought him here disabled by many wounds. When the Pulinda chief heard that, he said to the general, " Bring him quickly in here, and shew him to me." Then he was brought in, and all beheld him smeared with the blood that flowed from his wounds, begrimed with the dust of battle, bound with cords, and reeling, like a mad elephant tied up that is stained with the fluid that flows from his temples mixed with the vermilion painting on his cheek. Then Mrigánkadatta recognised him as his minister Gunákara, and ran and threw his arms round his neck, weeping. Then the king of the Bhillas, hearing from Mrigánkadatta's friends that it was Gunákara, bowed before him, and comforted him as he was clinging to the feet of his master, and brought him into his palace, and gave him a bath, and bandaged his wounds, and supplied him attentively with wholesome food and drink, such as was recommended by the physicians. Then Mrigánkadatta, after his minister had been somewhat restored, said to him; " Tell me, my friend, what adventures have you had?" Then Gunákara said in the hearing of all, " Hear, prince, I will tell you my story." The adventures of Gunákara after his separation from the prince.:— At that time when I was separated from you by the curse of the Nága, I was so bewildered that I was conscious of nothing, but went on roaming through that far-extending wilderness. At last I recovered consciousness and thought in my grief, " Alas ! this is a terrible dispensation of unruly destiny. How will Mrigánkadatta, who would suffer even in a palace, exist in this desert of burning sand? And how will his companions exist? Thus reflecting frequently in my mind, I happened, as I was roaming about, to come upon the abode of Durgá. And I entered her temple, in which were offered day and night many and various living creatures, and which therefore resembled the palace of the god of Death. After I had worshipped the goddess there, I saw the corpse of a man who had offered himmself, and who held in his hand a sword that had pierced his