Part 18

[305]'"Then, turning his eyes in the direction of the light, he beheld Kadambari, and with her Madalekha and Taralika bearing a pearl necklace on a tray covered with white silk. (384) Thereupon Candrapida decided that it was this necklace that eclipsed [306] moonlight, and was the cause of the brightness, and by rising while she was yet far off, and by all wonted courtesies, he greeted the approach of Madalekha. For a moment she rested on that emerald seat, and then, rising, anointed him with sandal perfume, put on him two white robes, (385) crowned him with malati flowers, and then gave him the necklace, saying, 'This thy gentleness, my Prince, so devoid of pride, must needs subjugate every heart. Thy kindness gives an opening even to one like me; by thy form thou art lord of life to all; by that tenderness shown even where there is no claim on thee, thou throwest on all a bond of love; the innate sweetness of thy bearing makes every man thy friend; these thy virtues, manifested with such natural gentleness, give confidence to all. Thy form must take the blame, for it inspires trust even at first sight; else words addressed to one of such dignity as thou would seem all unmeet. For to speak with thee would be an insult; our very respect would bring on us the charge of forwardness; our very praise would display our boldness; our subservience would manifest lightness, our love self-deception, our speech to thee audacity, our service impertinence, our gift an insult. Nay, more, thou hast conquered our hearts; what is left for us to give thee? Thou art lord of our life; what can we offer thee? Thou hast already bestowed the great favour of thy presence; what return could we make? Thou by thy sight hast made our life worth having; how can we reward thy coming? (386) Therefore Kadambari with this excuse shows her affection rather than her dignity. Noble hearts admit no question of mine and thine. Away with the thought of dignity. Even if she accepted slavery to one like thee, she would do no unworthy act; even if she gave herself to thee, she would not be deceived; if she gave her life, she would not repent. The generosity of a noble heart is always bent on kindness, and does not willingly reject affection, and askers are less shamefaced than givers. But it is true that Kadambari knows she has offended thee in this matter. Now, this necklace, called Çesha, [307] because it was the only jewel left of all that rose at the churning of nectar, was for that reason greatly valued by the Lord of Ocean, and was given by him to Varuna on his return home. By the latter it was given to the Gandharva king, and by him to Kadambari. And she, thinking thy form worthy of this ornament, in that not the earth, but the sky, is the home of the moon, hath sent it to thee. And though men like thee, who bear no ornament but a noble spirit, find it irksome to wear the gems honoured by meaner men, yet here Kadambari's affection is a reason for thee to do so. (387) Did not Vishnu show his reverence by wearing on his breast the kaustubha gem, because it rose with Lakshmi; and yet he was not greater than thee, nor did the kaustubha gem in the least surpass the Çesha in worth; nor, indeed, does Lakshmi approach in the slightest degree to imitating Kadambari's beauty. And in truth, if her love is crushed by thee, she will grieve Mahaçveta [308] with a thousand reproaches, and will slay herself. Mahaçveta therefore sends Taralika with the necklace to thee, and bids me say thus: "Let not Kadambari's first impulse of love be crushed by thee, even in thought, most noble prince."' Thus having said, she fastened on his breast the necklace that rested like a bevy of stars on the slope of the golden mountain. Filled with amazement, Candrapida replied: 'What means this, Madalekha? Thou art clever, and knowest how to win acceptance for thy gifts. By leaving me no chance of a reply, thou hast shown skill in oratory. Nay, foolish maiden, what are we in respect of thee, or of acceptance and refusal; truly this talk is nought. Having received kindness from ladies so rich in courtesy, let me be employed in any matter, whether pleasing or displeasing to me. But truly there lives not the man whom the virtues of the most courteous lady Kadambari do not discourteously [309] enslave.' (388) Thus saying, after some talk about Kadambari, he dismissed Madalekha, and ere she had long gone the daughter of Citraratha dismissed her attendants, rejected the insignia of wand, umbrella, and cowrie, and accompanied only by Tamalika, again mounted to the roof of her palace to behold Candrapida, bright with pearls, silk raiment and sandal, go to the pleasure hill, like the moon to the mount of rising. There, with passionate glances imbued with every grace, she stole his heart. (390) And when it became too dark to see, she descended from the roof, and Candrapida, from the slope of the hill.

'"Then the moon, source of nectar, gladdener of all eyes, arose with his rays gathered in; he seemed to be worshipped by the night-lotuses, to calm the quarters whose faces were dark as if with anger, and to avoid the day-lotuses as if from fear of waking them; under the guise of his mark he wore night on his heart; he bore in the glow of rising the lac that had clung to him from the spurning of Rohini's feet; he pursued the sky, in its dark blue veil, like a mistress; and by reason of his great goodwill, spread beauty everywhere.

'"And when the moon, the umbrella of the supreme rule of Kama, the lord of the lotuses, the ivory earring that decks the night, had risen, and when the world was turned to whiteness, as though overlaid with ivory, Candrapida lay down on a cool moonlit slab, pearl white, pointed out by Kadambari's servants. It was washed with fresh sandal, garlanded with pure sinduvara flowers, and carved round with a leafy tracery of lotus petals. It lay on the shore of a palace lotus tank, that seemed from the full moonlight to be made of night-lotuses, [310] with steps white with bricks washed by the waves, as it wafted a breeze fanned by the ripples; (391) pairs of hamsas lay there asleep, and pairs of cakravakas kept up their dirge of separation thereon. And while the Prince yet rested there Keyuraka approached him, and told him that Princess Kadambari had come to see him. Then Candrapida rose hastily, and beheld Kadambari drawing near. Few of her friends were with her; all her royal insignia were removed; she was as it were a new self, in the single necklace she wore; her slender form was white with the purest sandal-juice; an earring hung from one ear; she wore a lotus-petal in the ear, soft as a budding digit of the moon; she was clad in robes of the kalpa-tree, [311] clear as moonlight; and in the garb that consorted with that hour she stood revealed like the very goddess of moonrise, as she rested on the hand offered by Madalekha. Drawing near, she showed a grace prompted by love, and took her seat on the ground, where servants are wont to sit, like a maiden of low degree; and Candrapida, too, though often entreated by Madalekha to sit on the rocky seat, took his place on the ground by Madalekha; and when all the women were seated he made an effort to speak, saying, 'Princess, to one who is thy slave, and whom even a glance gladdens, there needs not the favour of speech with thee, far less so great a grace as this. (392) For, deeply as I think, I cannot see in myself any worth that this height of favour may befit. Most noble and sweet in its laying aside of pride is this thy courtesy, in that such grace is shown to one but newly thy servant. Perchance thou thinkest me a churl that must be won by gifts. Blessed, truly, is the servant over whom is thy sway! How great honour is bestowed on the servants deemed worthy of the bestowal of thy commands. But the body is a gift at the service of any man, and life is light as grass, so that I am ashamed in my devotion to greet thy coming with such a gift. Here am I, here my body, my life, my senses! Do thou, by accepting one of them, raise it to honour.'

'"Madalekha smilingly replied to this speech of his: 'Enough, Prince. My friend Kadambari is pained by thy too great ceremony. Why speakest thou thus? She accepts thy words without further talk. And why, too, is she brought to suspense by these too flattering speeches?' and then, waiting a short time, she began afresh: 'How is King Tarapida, how Queen Vilasavati, how the noble Çukanasa? What is Ujjayini like, and how far off is it? What is the land of Bharata? And is the world of mortals pleasant?' So she questioned him. (393) After spending some time in such talk, Kadambari rose, and summoning Keyuraka, who was lying near Candrapida, and her attendants, she went up to her sleeping-chamber. There she adorned a couch strewn with a coverlet of white silk. Candrapida, however, on his rock passed the night like a moment in thinking, while his feet were rubbed by Keyuraka, of the humility, beauty, and depth of Kadambari's character, the causeless kindness of Mahaçveta, the courtesy of Madalekha, the dignity of the attendants, the great splendour of the Gandharva world, and the charm of the Kimpurusha land.

'"Then the moon, lord of stars, weary of being kept awake by the sight of Kadambari, descended, as if to sleep, to the forest on the shore, with its palms and tamalas, talis, banyans, and kandalas, [312] cool with the breeze from the hardly stirred [313] ripples. As though with the feverish sighs of a woman grieving for her lover's approaching absence, the moonlight faded away. Lakshmi, having passed the night on the moon lotuses, lay on the sun lotuses, as though love had sprung up in her at the sight of Candrapida. At the close of night, when the palace lamps grew pale, as if dwindling in longing as they remembered the blows of the lotuses in maidens' ears, the breezes of dawn, fragrant with creeper-flowers, were wafted, sportive with the sighs of Love weary from ceaselessly discharging his shafts; the stars were eclipsed by the rising dawn, and took their abode, as through fear, in the thick creeper bowers of Mount Mandara. [314] (394) Then when the sun arose, with its orb crimson as if a glow remained from dwelling in the hearts of the cakravakas, Candrapida, rising from the rock, bathed his lotus face, said his morning prayer, took his betel, and then bade Keyuraka see whether Princess Kadambari was awake or no, and where she was; and when it was announced to him by the latter on his return that she was with Mahaçveta in the bower of the courtyard below the Mandara palace, he started to see the daughter of the Gandharva king. There he beheld Mahaçveta surrounded by wandering ascetic women like visible goddesses of prayer, with marks of white ash on their brow, and hands quickly moving as they turned their rosaries; bearing the vow of Çiva's followers, clad in robes tawny with mineral dyes, bound to wear red cloth, robed in the ruddy bark of ripe cocoanuts, or girdled with thick white cloth; with fans of white cloth; with staves, matted locks, deer-skins, and bark dresses; with the marks of male ascetics; reciting the pure praises of Çiva, Durga, Kartikeya, Viçravasa, [315] Krishna, Avalokiteçvara, the Arhat, Viriñca. [316] Mahaçveta herself was showing honour to the elder kinswomen of the king, the foremost of the zenana, by salutes, courteous speeches, by rising to meet them and placing reed seats for them.

(395) '"He beheld Kadambari also giving her attention to the recitation of the Mahabharata, that transcends all good omens, by Narada's sweet-voiced daughter, with an accompaniment of flutes soft as the murmur of bees, played by a pair of Kinnaras sitting behind her. She was looking in a mirror fixed before her at her lip, pale as beeswax when the honey is gone, bathed in the moonlight of her teeth, though within it was darkened by betel. She was being honoured by a sunwise turn in departing by a tame goose wandering like the moon in a fixed circle, with wide eyes raised to her sirisha earrings in its longing for vallisneria. Here the prince approached, and, saluting her, sat down on a seat placed on the dais. After a short stay he looked at Mahaçveta's face with a gentle smile that dimpled his cheek, and she, at once knowing his wish, said to Kadambari: 'Dear friend, Candrapida is softened by thy virtues as the moonstone by the moon, and cannot speak for himself. He wishes to depart; for the court he has left behind is thrown into distress, not knowing what has happened. Moreover, however far apart you may be from each other, this your love, like that of the sun and the day lotus, or the moon and the night lotus, will last till the day of doom. Therefore let him go.'

(396) '"'Dear Mahaçveta,' replied Kadambari, 'I and my retinue belong as wholly to the prince as his own soul. Why, then, this ceremony?' So saying, and summoning the Gandharva princes, she bade them escort the prince to his own place, and he, rising, bowed before Mahaçveta first, and then Kadambari, and was greeted by her with eyes and heart softened by affection; and with the words, 'Lady, what shall I say? For men distrust the multitude of words. Let me be remembered in the talk of thy retinue,' he went out of the zenana; and all the maidens but Kadambari, drawn by reverence for Candrapida's virtues, followed him on his way like his subjects to the outer gate.

'"On their return, he mounted the steed brought by Keyuraka, and, escorted by the Gandharva princes, turned to leave Hemakuta. His whole thoughts on the way were about Kadambari in all things both within and without. With a mind wholly imbued with her, he beheld her behind him, dwelling within him in his bitter grief for the cruel separation; or before him, stopping him in his path; or cast on the sky, as if by the force of longing in his heart troubled by parting, so that he could perfectly see her face; he beheld her very self resting on his heart, as if her mind were wounded with his loss. When he reached Mahaçveta's hermitage, he there beheld his own camp, which had followed the tracks of Indrayudha.

(397) '"Dismissing the Gandharva princes, he entered his own abode amidst the salutations of his troops full of joy, curiosity, and wonder; and after greeting the rest of the court, he spent the day mostly in talk with Vaiçampayana and Patralekha, saying, 'Thus said Mahaçveta, thus Kadambari, thus Madalekha, thus Tamalika, thus Keyuraka.' No longer did royal Glory, envious at the sight of Kadambari's beauty, find in him her joy; for him night passed in wakefulness as he thought, with a mind in ceaseless longing, of that bright-eyed maiden. Next morning, at sunrise, he went to his pavilion with his mind still fixed on her, and suddenly saw Keyuraka entering with a doorkeeper; and as the latter, while yet far off, cast himself on the ground, so that his crest swept the floor, Candrapida cried, 'Come, come,' greeting him first with a sidelong glance, then with his heart, then with a thrill. Then at last he hastened forward to give him a hearty and frank embrace, and made him sit down by himself. Then, in words brightened by the nectar of a smile, and transfused with overflowing love, he reverently asked: 'Say, Keyuraka, is the lady Kadambari well, and her friends, and her retinue, and the lady Mahaçveta?' With a low bow, Keyuraka, as though he had been bathed, anointed, and refreshed by the smile that the prince's deep affection had prompted, replied respectfully:

'"'She is now well, in that my lord asks for her.' And then he showed a folded lotus-leaf, wrapped in wet cloth, with its opening closed by lotus filaments, and a seal of tender lotus filaments set in a paste of wet sandal. (398) This he opened, and showed the tokens sent by Kadambari, such as milky betel-nuts of emerald hue, with their shells removed and surrounded with fresh sprays, betel-leaves pale as the cheek of a hen-parrot, camphor like a solid piece of Çiva's moon, and sandal ointment pleasant with rich musk scent. 'The lady Kadambari,' said he, 'salutes thee with folded hands that kiss her crest, and that are rosy with the rays of her tender fingers; Mahaçveta with a greeting and embrace; Madalekha with a reverence and a brow bathed in the moonlight of the crest-gem she has let fall; the maidens with the points of the fish-ornaments and the parting of their hair resting on the ground; and Taralika, with a prostration to touch the dust of thy feet. Mahaçveta sends thee this message: "Happy truly are they from whose eyes thou art never absent. For in truth thy virtues, snowy, cold as the moon when thou art by, in thine absence burn like sunlight. Truly all yearn for the past day as though it were that day whereon fate with such toil brought forth amrita. Without thee the royal Gandharva city is languid as at the end of a feast. (399) Thou knowest that I have surrendered all things; yet my heart, in my despite, desires to see thee who art so undeservedly kind. Kadambari, moreover, is far from well. She recalls thee with thy smiling face like Love himself. Thou, by the honour of thy return, canst make her proud of having some virtues of her own. For respect shown by the noble must needs confer honour. And thou must forgive the trouble of knowing such as we. For thine own nobility gives this boldness to our address. And here is this Çesha necklace, which was left by thee on thy couch."' So saying, he loosed it from his band, where it was visible by reason of the long rays that shot through the interstices of the fine thread, and placed it in the fan-bearer's hand.

'"'This, indeed, is the reward of doing homage at Mahaçveta's feet, that the lady Kadambari should lay so great a weight of honour on her slave as to remember him," said Candrapida, as he placed all on his head [317] and accepted it. The necklace he put round his neck, after anointing it with an ointment cool, pleasant, and fragrant, as it were with the beauty of Kadambari's cheeks distilled, or the light of her smile liquefied, or her heart melted, or her virtues throbbing forth. (400) Taking some betel, he rose and stood, with his left arm on Keyuraka's shoulder, and then dismissed the courtiers, who were gladly paying their wonted homage, and at length went to see his elephant Gandhamadana. There he stayed a short time, and after he had himself given to the elephant a handful of grass, that, being jagged with the rays of his nails, was like lotus-fibre, he went to the stable of his favourite steed. On the way he turned his face now on this side, now on that, to glance at his retinue, and the porters, understanding his wish, forbade all to follow him, and dismissed the retinue, so that he entered the stable with Keyuraka alone. The grooms bowed and departed, with eyes bewildered by terror at their dismissal, and the prince set straight Indrayudha's cloth, which had fallen a little on one side, pushed back his mane, tawny as a lion's, which was falling on his eyes and half closing them, and then, negligently resting his foot on the peg of the tethering-rope, and leaning against the stable wall, he eagerly asked:

'"'Tell me, Keyuraka, what has happened in the Gandharva court since my departure? In what occupation has the Gandharva princess spent the time? What were Mahaçveta and Madalekha doing? What talk was there? How were you and the retinue employed? And was there any talk about me?' Then Keyuraka told him all: 'Listen, prince. On thy departure, the lady Kadambari, with her retinue, climbed to the palace roof, making in the maidens' palace with the sound of anklets the beat of farewell drums that rose from a thousand hearts; (401) and she gazed on thy path, gray with the dust of the cavalcade. When thou wert out of sight, she laid her face on Mahaçveta's shoulder, and, in her love, sprinkled the region of thy journey with glances fair as the Milky Ocean, and, warding off the sun's touch, as it were, with the moon assuming in jealousy the guise of a white umbrella, she long remained there. Thence she reluctantly tore herself away and came down, and after but a short rest in the pavilion, she arose and went to the pleasaunce where thou hadst been. She was guided by bees murmuring in the flowers of oblation; startled by the cry of the house peacocks, she checked their note as they looked up at the shower-like rays of her nails, by the circlets which lay loose round her throat; at every step she let her hand rest on creeper-twigs white with flowers, and her mind on thy virtues. When she reached the pleasaunce, her retinue needlessly told her: "Here the prince stayed on the spray-washed rock, with its creeper-bower bedewed by the stream from a pipe that ends in an emerald fish-head; here he bathed in a place covered by bees absorbed in the fragrance of the scented water; here he worshipped Çiva on the bank of the mountain stream, sandy with flower-dust; here he ate on a crystal stone which eclipsed moonlight; and here he slept on a pearly slab with a mark of sandal-juice imprinted on it." (402) And so she passed the day, gazing on the signs of thy presence; and at close of day Mahaçveta prepared for her, though against her will, a meal in that crystal dwelling. And when the sun set and the moon rose, soon, as though she were a moonstone that moonlight would melt, and therefore dreaded the entrance of the moon's reflection, she laid her hands on her cheeks, and, as if in thought, remained for a few minutes with closed eyes; and then rising, went to her sleeping-chamber, scarcely raising her feet as they moved with graceful, languid gait, seemingly heavy with bearing the moon's reflection on their bright nails. Throwing herself on her couch, she was racked by a severe headache, and overcome by a burning fever, and, in company with the palace-lamps, the moon-lotuses, and the cakravakas, she passed the night open-eyed in bitter grief. And at dawn she summoned me, and reproachfully bade me seek for tidings of thee.'