ENTERING ANOTHER'S BODY. 13 



see WZKM. XIX. 63 ff. He also brought to light two briefer 

 versions of the same story, one in Meghavijaya's recension of the 

 Paficatantra, ZDAIG. LII, pp. 649 ff.; the other in the Southern 

 textus simplicior of the Paiicatantra, ZDMG. LXI, p. 27. The 

 story pivots about a proverbial (niti) stanza, to wit: 



" That which belongs to six ears is betrayed." 

 " Not if the hunchback is present." 

 " The hunchback became a king, 

 The king a beggar and vagabond."-*^ 



King Mukunda of Lllavati, returning from a pleasure grove to 

 his city, saw a hunchback clown performing his tricks before a 

 crowd. He took him with him in order to make merry over him, 

 and constantly kept him by his side. The king's Minister desiring 

 to consult with the king, saw the hunchback and recited part of the 

 metrical adage : 



"That which belongs (is known to) to six ears is betrayed." 



But the king continued the stanza : 



" Not if the hunchback is present." 



On a certain day a Yogin turned up ; the king received him 

 under four eyes, and learned from him the art of entering into a 

 dead body. The king kept rehearsing to himself the charm in the 

 presence of the hunchback w^ho, in this way, learned it also. It 

 happened that the king and the hunchback went out to hunt ; the 

 king discovered in a thicket a Brahman who had died of thirst. 

 Eager to test his power, he muttered the charm he had learned and 

 transported his soul into the body of the Brahman. The hunch- 

 back immediately entered the body of the king, mounted his horse, 



2'J The original of this verse as given by Hertel, WZKM. XIX. 64, is : 

 satkarno bhidyate mantrah kubjake naiva bhidyate, kubjako jayate raja raja 

 bhavati bhiksukah. Very similar is the verse quoted from Subhasitarnava, 

 150, by Bohtlingk, " Indische Spriiche," 6601 : satkarno bhidyate mantrag 

 catuskarno na bhidyate, kubjako jayate raja raja bhavati bhiksukah. Hertel 

 cites yet another version from the southern textus simplicior of the Pafica- 

 tantra, ZDMG. LXI, p. 27, note 2, to wit : satkarnam bhidyate mantram 

 tava karyam ca bhidyate, kubjo bhavati rajendro raja bhavati bhiksukah. Cf. 

 also Bohtlingk's "Spriiche," 6602 and 6603 (from various sources) ; they do 

 not mention the kubjaka, "hunchback." 



