Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/444

 with one another. But a voice from heaven forbade their attempt, saying, " No harm will befall these daughters of yours, you shall obtain them again, so you must not act rashly, prosperity befall you !" So the kings remained waiting there. In the meantime Chandraprabha was in the temple in Pátála surrounded by all his companions, and there Maya said to him, " King, listen attentively to this wonderful thing; I will shew you the supernatural art of entering another body." He said this, and recited the Sánkhya and the Yoga doctrine with its secrets, and taught him the magic art of entering another body; and that chief of Yogins said— " This is the famous supernatural power, and the independence of knowledge, the dominion over matter that is characterized by lightness and the other mystic properties. The chief of the gods, possessing this power, do not long for liberation; in order to obtain this power others endure the hardship of muttering prayers and performing asceticism. Men of lofty soul do not love the pleasures of heaven even when attained. And listen, I will tell you a story in illustration of this."

story of the Bráhman Kála.:— In a former Kalpa* there was a certain Bráhman, of the name of Kála. He went to the holy bathing-place Pushkara and muttered prayers day and night. While he was muttering, two myriads of years of the gods passed away. Then there appeared a great light inseparable from his head, which, streaming forth in the firmament like ten thousand suns, † impeded the movement of the Siddhas and others there, and set the three worlds on fire. Then Bráhma, Indra and the other gods came to him and said —" Bráhman, these worlds are on fire with your brightness. Receive whatever boon you desire." He answered them— " Let me have no other pleasure than muttering prayers, this is my boon, I choose nothing else." When they importuned him, that mutterer of prayers went far off and remained on the north side of the Himálayas, muttering prayers. When this extraordinary brightness of his gradually became intolerable even there, Indra sent heavenly nymphs to tempt him. That self-restrained man did not care a straw about them, when they endeavoured to seduce him. Then the gods sent him Death as plenipotentiary. He came to him and said " Bráhman, mortals do not live so long, so abandon your life; do not break the law of nature." When the Bráhman heard this, he said— " If the limit of my life is attained, why do you not take me? What are you waiting for? But I will not of myself abandon my life, thou god with