Padmavati

“ When the hermit, possessing divine insight, had said this to Padmávatí, Muktáphalaketu, bending low, addressed this prayer to him, "Holy Sir, may my faith in Śiva be unwavering during my life as a man, and may my mind never be inclined to any lady but Padmávatí." ”

“ The king of Magadha is delighted with the intelligence sent by the queen Padmávatí, and he now sends this message to your Highness— ' What need is there of many words? I have heard all, and I am pleased with thee. Therefore do the thing for the sake of which this beginning has been made; we submit ourselves'" The king of Vatsa joyfully received this clear speech of the messenger's, resembling the blossom of the tree of policy planted by Yaugandharáyana. Then he brought Padmávatí with the queen, and, after he had bestowed a present upon the messenger, he dismissed him with honour. ”

“ The minister induces Vāsavadattā to aid in his scheme, and, taking advantage of a temporary separation, he spreads the rumour that the queen and he have perished in a conflagration. The king is thus induced to consider marriage with Padmāvatī, in whose care the minister has entrusted the queen, giving out that she is his sister. Padmāvatī is willing to accept the love of the king, but, learning that he has never ceased to cherish the memory of his beloved, she is seized by a severe headache, and the king comes to comfort her. He does not find her, and lies down, sleep overcoming him ”

“ Enjoy the present hour, ‘tis thine; be this, O man, thy law; Who e’er resew the yester? Who the morrow e’er foresaw?
And this highly philosophical axiom—
Eat, drink, and love—the rest’s not worth a fillip.
“By means of which he hoped, Raja Vikram!” said the demon, not heeding his royal carrier’s “ughs” and “poohs,” “to become in course of time almost as clever as his mistress.”
Padmavati, being, as you have seen, a maiden of superior mind, was naturally more smitten by her lover’s dulness than by any other of his qualities; she adored it, it was such a contrast to herself. ”

“ When Padmávatí had been thus addressed by her friend on the way, she answered, “My friend, a father is to maidens a divinity procuring all happiness; moreover there has already been chosen for me a bridegroom of unequalled excellence. That Muktáphalaketu, the son who has been born to the Vidyádhara king, in order that he may slay Vidyuddhvaja, has been destined for my husband by Śiva. ”

“ When Padmávatí had said this, she sent that friend on her errand. And she mounted a bird which her magic knowledge brought to her, to carry her, and set out for that city of the Vidyádharas.
And then Padmávatí, having to a certain extant recovered her spirits by hope, took the painting-tablet, and entered the palace of her father. There she went into her own apartment surrounded by her servants, and bathed and worshipped Śiva with intense devotion, and thus prayed to him, " Holy one, without thy favouring consent no wish, great or small, is fulfilled for any one in these three worlds. ”

“ Upon which Vajramukut, who now thought Padmavati an angel, and his late abode a heaven, remarked with formality—and two blunders to one quotation—that abilities properly directed win for a man the happiness of both worlds. ”

“ And then Padmávatí, with her lotus-like eyes gushing with tears, began to address in the following words her beloved in the painting. “When thou didst slay the formidable Asuras and deliver Indra, how comes it that thou dost not deliver me from my woe, though near me, by speaking to me at any rate? To one whose merits in a former life are small, even a wishing-tree is ungenerous, even Buddha is wanting in compassion, and even gold becomes a stone. ”

“ Princess, behold this marvel. He has come here also, travelling in an air-going chariot; how can he, a mere man, have such power?" Then Padmávatí said, " My friends, do you not remember that on Dridhavrata, who cursed him, I laid the following curse, ' When my beloved is incarnate as a man, you shall be his vehicle, assuming any desired shape, and moving in obedience to a wish.' So, no doubt, this is that hermit's pupil, his vehicle, wearing at present the form of an air-going chariot, and by means of it he roams everywhere at will." ”

“ In the meanwhile Padmávatí, who was in that hermitage of Śiva, named Meghavana, said that very day to her ladies-in-waiting; “My friends, I remember that last night I went in a dream to Siddhíśvara, and a certain man wearing matted hair came out of the temple of the god, and said to me, ‘My daughter, thy sorrow is at an end, thy reunion with thy husband is nigh at hand.’ When he had said this, he departed, and night and sleep left me together. So come, let us go there.” When Padmávatí had said this, she went to that temple of Gaurí on the slope of Meru. ”

“ The lover and the nurse were equally distressed at having taken the advice of the young minister, till he explained what the crafty damsel meant. ‘When she smeared the sandal on her ten fingers,’ he explained, ‘and struck the old woman on the face, she signified that when the remaining ten moonlight nights shall have passed away she will meet you in the dark.’ At the same time he warned his master that to all appearances the lady Padmavati was far too clever to make a comfortable wife. ”

“ However much they may deserve death, we must not spill their blood, as Lakshmi [72] flies in horror from the deed.’
Hearing these words the Raja dismissed the guru with many thanks and large presents. He waited till nightfall and then ordered a band of trusty men to seize Padmavati without alarming the household, and to carry her into a distant jungle full of fiends, tigers, and bears, and there to abandon her. ”

“ The minister’s son upon this asked her, “How is it with thy family, thy relatives, and connections; and what are thy means of subsistence?” She replied, “My son is a favourite servant in the household of our great king Dantawat, and your slave is the wet-nurse of the Princess Padmavati, his eldest child. From the coming on of old age,” she added, “I dwell in this house, but the king provides for my eating and drinking. I go once a day to see the girl, who is a miracle of beauty and goodness, wit and accomplishments, and returning thence, I bear my own griefs at home. ”

“ The Brahman had sworn the one oath the breaking of which would make him lose caste; and immediately I became reassured. There was a way out of this room, and it wouldn’t, couldn’t be hard to find; for the priest had promised safety and peace and escape from worry for me and the girl. He had promised that neither man nor beast would harm me.
I needed just a few minutes’ rest, for even the sweetest burden becomes heavy in one’s arms, and then I would find my way out. So, very gently, I let Padmavati slide to the floor—beneath the trees. ”

“ That king had a daughter named Anangarati, born to him by his wife Padmavati, owing to his having propitiated Gaurí, and he had no other children. And in course of time she attained womanhood, and proud of her beauty, she did not wish to have any husband, though kings asked her in marriage. But she said decidedly; " I must be given to a man who is brave and handsome, and knows some one splendid accomplishment. Then there came from the Dekhan four heroes, who, having heard tidings of her, were eager to obtain her, and they were furnished with the qualities which she desired. ”

“ She was a very intelligent lady and was respected by all. The two friends concert a plan with the priestess to throw the young people in each other's way and to connive at a secret marriage. In pursuance of this scheme, [Pg 36] Madhava is sent to finish his studies at the city of Padmavati with the ostensible object of studying Logic under the care of the priestess, who takes great care of her pupil and endeavours her utmost to fulfil the promise of her two friends. By her contrivance and with the aid of Malati's foster-sister Lavangika, the young people meet and become mutually enamoured. ”

“ Then that pupil of the hermit cursed the prince in his anger, saying to him, " As you have interrupted the meditation of my spiritual guide, and driven him away, go with your friend to the world of men on account of this disrespect." After he had pronounced this curse, he went in search of his superior. But Muktáphalaketu was thrown into great despondency by this curse having fallen on him like a thunderbolt, when his desire was on the point of being fulfilled. And in the meanwhile, Padmávatí, eager to meet her beloved, came mounted on a bird, with Manoháriká and her other attendants. ”

“ There too you shall endure some affliction caused by your wives.' Thus he spoke and ceased, and appointed this as the termination of the curse; ' When you, being a prince, shall conquer the earth and give it to your father, then you and they shall remember your former birth, and be freed from your curse.' When Padmasena had been thus addressed by his own father, he went with those others to the world of mortals. I am that very Padmasena, born here as your son, Indívarasena by name, and I have done what I was appointed to do. ”

“ In modern Portuguese e is not sounded, but verses show that it was in the 16th century. Now, if there is a final vowel in Pagoda, it must come from Bhagavati; but though the goddess is and was worshipped to a certain extent in S. India, it is by other names (Amma, &c.) . Gundert and Kittel give 'Pogodi' as a name of a Durga temple, but assuredly this is no corruption of Bhagavati, but Pagoda! Malayālam and Tamil are full of such adopted words. Bhagavati is little used, and the goddess is too insignificant to give rise to pagoda as a general name for a temple. ”

“ Before passing on to the more important branch of early Hindī literature, the works of the Bhagats, mention may be made here of a remarkable composition, a poem entitled the Padmāwat, the materials of which are derived from the heroic legends of Rajpūtānā, but which is not the work of a bard nor even of a Hindu. The author, Malik Muḥammad of Jā’is, in Oudh, was a venerated Muslim devotee, to whom the Hindu rājā of Amēṭhī was greatly attached. Malik Muḥammad wrote the Padmāwat in 1540, the year in which Shēr Shāh Sūr ousted Humāyān from the throne of Delhi. ”

“ Parvati, the Divine Daughter of the Himalaya, the Emanation of the mighty mountains, seated upon a throne, listening to a girl who played on a Pan pipe before her. The goddess sat, her chin leaned upon her hand, her shoulders slightly inclined in a pose of gentle sweetness, looking down upon the girl at her feet, absorbed in the music of the hills and lonely places. A band of jewels, richly wrought, clasped the veil on her brows, and below the bare bosom a glorious girdle clothed her with loops and strings and tassels of jewels that fell to her knees—her only garment. ”

“ Mitra's "Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepßl" (Calcutta: 1882) , pp. 65, 66, we seem to have somewhat like the germ of the Envious Sisters:
BUDDHIST VERSION.
King Brahmadatta picked up in Kampilla a destitute girl named Padmßvati, who scattered lotuses at every step she moved, and made her his favourite queen. She was very simple-minded. Other queens used to play tricks upon her, and at the time of her first delivery cheated her most shamefully. The wicked ladies said to her on that occasion, "Dear Padma, you are a rustic girl; you do not know how to give birth to a royal child. ”

“ They seem to have entirely abandoned the military inclinations of their ancestors, never enlist in the native army, and almost wholly occupy themselves in agriculture. Their vernacular is Telugu, since they are immigrants from the Northern Circars, from whence most of them followed the ancestors of the Karvetnagar zamindar within the last two centuries. In religion they are mostly Vaishnavites, though a few follow Siva, and the worship of village deities forms a part of the belief of all. Their peculiar goddess is called Nimishāmba who would seem to represent Parvati. ”

“ She has many other names, the chief being Loka mata (“mother of the world”) , Padma (“the lotus”) , Padma laya (“she who dwells on a lotus”) and Jaladhija (“the ocean-born”) . She is represented as of a bright golden colour and seated on a lotus. She is said to have been born from the sea of milk when it was churned from ambrosia. Many quaint myths surround her birth. In the Rig Veda her name does not occur as a goddess. ”

“ The Meditation of Parvati
Parvata rose up from his seat under the banyan tree. He passed his hand unsteadily over his brow. Throughout the day the young ascetic had been plunged in profound meditation, and now, returning from heaven to earth, he was dazed like one who awakens in darkness and knows not where he is. All day long before his inner eye burned the light of the Lokas, until he was wearied and exhausted with their splendours; space glowed like a diamond with intolerable lustre, and there was no end to the dazzling processions of figures. ”

“ But if they are not properly kept, they, O Pandava, will become the instrument for the destruction of the three worlds. So thou shouldst not act in this way again. O Ajatasatru, thou too wilt behold even these weapons, when Partha will use them for grinding (thy) enemies in battle.’”
Vaisampayana continued, “Having prevented Partha the immortals with others that had come there, went to each his place, O foremost of men. And, O Kaurava, after they had all gone, the Pandavas began to dwell pleasantly in the same forest, together with Krishna.” ”