Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/77

 March, 1873.] TIIE KULWADI. G7 Harshachandra came out, and, in reply to the beggar, promised to give him whatever he wanted. The beggar said—“ Give me as much money as will cover a tall man standing on an elephant.” The king emptied his treasury, but to no purpose; the sum was insufficient. He sold everything he had, and yet he found himself short of the measure. For Vishvamitra had, by means of rats, undermined the ground, so that as fast as the money was piled up, that below went to fill up the rat-holes. lie now. sold his wife and only son, but this was of no use, for the money thus realized did not cover the measure. In despair, the king had it published abroad that he would hold himself the slave of any person, who, by fulfilling the promise he had made to the beggar, would extricate him from his dif¬ ficulties. No one came forward. The king was obliged to follow Vishvamitra all over the country. In the course of their wanderings they came across Yir Baraka, the Kulwadi of the capital, who had amassed a large fortune from the burial-fees. Seeing the king’s pitiable state, the Kulwadi offered to pay the money. After some words, the beggar accepted to hold the Kulwadi responsible, and made over the ex-king to him as a slave. Yir Baraka (Baraka was the name by which the Kulwadi was called at the capital Kaliyan- purapattna), asked what were the terms of the promise ; being informed, he filled a bamboo of the required height with money, and made this sum over to Vishvamitra, who had to be satisfied with getting what the strict letter of the promise only entitled him to receive. The Kulwadi now appointed the ex-king his agent for the collection of the fees. The following were the fees payable in the good days of old :— 1. Nela haja, the ground-fee. 2. Hari liaja, a fee for tearing the winding- sheet. 3. One hun (=Rs. 1-12) placed in the mouth of the corpse. 4. One liana (=1 anna 2 pie) placed on the navel. 5. The winding-sheet. 6. A handful of coarse sugar. 7. 12 cocoa-nuts. 8. 12 betel leaves. 9. A half ser of rice. 10. A third of an anna of incense. Vishvamitra, however, had not yet done with the king ; he was determined to test him further. He accordingly transformed himself into a snake, and took up his quarters under a tree which grew in the burial-ground. The leaves of this tree are used by the Brahmans for plates. The Saukar, who had bought the queen and her son, disgusted at getting little or no work out of the boy, ordered him one day to go and collect leaves for the dinner. The lad went into the burial- ground, and began picking leaves from the tree ; while so doing the snake came out, the lad was bitten, and died. The mother, hearing of this, rushed to the burial-ground, and, after the first burst of grief, began busying herself in making preparations for burning the body. Too poor to buy wood, she set about collecting what she could find on the ground. The king, who had from the first recognized his wife and son, would not allow his affections to interfere with his duty to his master, and sternly demanded the proper fees. The unhappy mother, who had not recognized her husband, told him she was a slave, and had no funds. Nothing would appease the strict agent, who cut the wife down with his sword. The gods, pleased with the manner in which Harshachandra had conducted himself, thought it was time to interfere. They appeared on the scene, restored to life both mother and son, and offered to reinstate the king in all his former wealth and power. The king declined, and begged he might, with his wife and child, be allowed to accompany the gods to their paradise. To this they agreed, and were just setting out, when every ghost, goblin, demon, devil, &c., started up, and, since there was no longer a person to look after the fees, threatened to keep the gods company. The gods would not hear of this ; they therefore appointed two persons to collect the fees. Calling the Kulwadi into their presence, they ordered him to pay these Siddharu a yearly fee of a fowl, a “ hana,” and one day’s rice. Vir Baraka, purse-proud and arrogant, laughed when he heard the small amount of the remuneration, and said—“ What is that for me ? I could give them gold untold, and none the worse would I be.” The gods were highly dis¬ pleased, and cursed him in the following lines :— “ Hale kambale ; lake gudige ; Utturmara mane umbo gadige ; Prapti agale.” Which may be translated :— “ An old kambale for clothing ; a stick in your hand ; The leavings of betters you’ll eat in this land.” That the curse has been fulfilled, few who have seen the Kulwadi will dispute.