128 The Poems of Cfliand Barday. [No. 2, 



heaven, leaving his body in Kalinjar, and by death acquiring nirvana." 

 Said the damsel : " But I have been ravished : my son shall be born 

 a king, but I shall be lost in hell. cruel, treacherous lord of night, 

 I am sunk in an ocean of grief, speedily shall my curse fall upon thee : 

 speak, wretch that thou art." Then said the ruler of night : " What 

 was ordained has come to pass : fate cannot be annulled ; this even 

 the gods admit. Sixteen sons shall be born to thee, great and 

 munificent kings ; the Bhandav sacrifice shall be celebrated with 

 liberal gifts." Then the monarch of the stars instructed her : " lady, 

 obey my advice ; quickly leave this city and go to Kalinjar. And in 

 Kalinjar tarry not many days, but remaining only a short time, 

 proceed to the Karnavati." Then he bestowed on her a charm and 

 comforted her, saying " Whenever thou shalt recite this, then I will 

 be near thee. Brahma has declared that Hemavati's son shall be the 

 greatest of Chhatriya kings ; his sway shall extend to the bounds of 

 the ocean." So saying, the king of the stars vanished, while Hemavati 

 pondered the spell. 



Leaving Kashi she came to Kalinjar, and there rested four months, 

 bathing in the sacred stream, and invoking all the gods on behalf of 

 her son. Then quitting Kalinjar, she came to a village, her fair body 

 glistening bright as the moon. Towards day-break, on Monday the 

 11th of the light fortnight of Baisakk, king Chandra-brahma was 

 born. Joyous strains of mystic purport sounded in the air, and the 

 happy gods from their chariots rained down flowers. The rivers 

 flowed milk ; soft, cool and fragrant breathed the air, when Hemavati's 

 son was born ; the whole world heard of it. The best of omens 

 came to the daughter of Hemraj ; her left side throbbed : then 

 appeared the lord of night. Brihaspati too arrived, midst the songs of 

 the Kinnars : Hemavati fell at his feet : her lord thus addressed her. 

 (The next four lines are obscure and I quote them in the original.) 

 ^t^t %?nrrft jpr wi ■srsr mrfer ^Tf% f^r?n: 



The teacher of the gods wrote the horoscope, while the goddesses 

 sang gladsome strains : then the son of Angira read it aloud. The 

 divine orchestra played as he read ; flowers rained upon the earth ; the 



