ENTERING ANOTHER'S BODY. 23 



present in his hall of audience : " Ah, tell me ! Is there anywhere 

 any accomplishment, science, wealth, or intelligence so marvelous 

 as not to be found in my kingdom ? "*- 



Then a certain visitor, skilled in polite accomplishments, his face 

 blossoming out with joy, saw his opportunity, and declaimed aloud : 

 " Long have I roamed the treasure-laden earth, but I have not 

 beheld a union of the rivers of glory and knowledge like unto thee. 

 In Patala (Hades) rules Vasuki,'*^ O king; in heaven Cakra (Indra). 

 Both these, invisible as they are, are realized by the mind through 

 thy majesty, O Ruler of the Earth! Wise men say, O Lord, that 

 heaven is the goal of noble men. But even there is but one moon ; 

 in thy kingdom they are counted by the thousand !** No wealth is 

 that wealth, worthless is that accomplishment,*^ ignorance is that 

 understanding which does not inhere in thee ! Fragrant with the 

 fulness of thy worth, controlling by thy might the surface of the 

 earth,*® thou doest now stand at the head of kings, as does the sylla- 

 ble om at the head of the syllables. Thou art wise with the mind 

 of Vacaspati ;*^ at thy behest the people enjoy life; gladly to thee 

 bow the chief rulers of the circles of the earth. The warriors of 

 thy enemies cannot endure thy scent any more than that of an 

 elephant in rut. This thy host of dear wives is lovely with their 

 bodies bent with the burden of the God of Love."*^ 



*- For this sort of boastful inquiry cf., e. g., Jacobi, " Ausgewiihlte 

 Erzahlungen aus dem Maharastri," p. 39 ; Leumann, " Die Avagyaka- 

 Erzahlungen," II., 8. 3 (p. 15). 



*3 The beautiful king of the serpents. 



■** The pun of the original cannot be reproduced perfectly: kalavan, 

 " moon," literally " having phases," means also " having accomplishments " ; 

 the implied plural kalavantas means " having accomplishments," and at the 

 same time punningly "moons." Sanskrit poets rarely neglect the opportunity 

 of this double entente; see, c. g., Kathas. 34. 163; 35. 114; the present text, 

 I- 2)72', Calibhadra Carita, i. 100. 



*'5 Sanskrit pun: niskala, lit. "without accomplishment" (kala). 



^'^ Sanskrit pun : vikramakrantabhiitalah, " with Vikrama astride over the 

 surface of the earth." 



*' The Lord of Speech or Wisdom. 



*8 I suspect that anaiigabhara, " carrying the God of Love," is a kenning 

 for " breasts," to wit, " with their bodies bent by the weight of their breasts." 



