Jangada

“ Śankhachúda.
O mother, away with your fear, this is not the enemy of the Nágas. See the difference between this holy one, whose appearance indicates a beauteous nature, and Garuda, with his fierce beak smeared with clots of blood, which have dropped whilst he was piercing the brains of the mighty Nágas.
Old Woman.
In truth, through fear of thy death, I regard this whole world as Garuda.
Jímútaváhana.
O mother, what need of saying it again and again? Will not I accomplish his deliverance?
Old Woman (clasping her hands on her head) .
My son, live long! ”

“ Kahoda said, ‘It is for this, O Janaka, that men pray for sons, by performing meritorious acts. That in which I had failed hath been achieved by my son. Weak persons may have sons endued with strength; dunces may have intelligent sons; and the illiterate may have sons possessed of learning.’ Vandin said, ‘It is with thy sharpened axe, O monarch, that even Yama severeth the heads of foes. May prosperity attend thee! In this sacrifice of king Janaka, the principal hymns relating to the Uktha rites are being chanted, and the Soma juice also is being adequately quaffed. ”

“ Through the merit that I gain to-day, by protecting a Nága at the sacrifice of myself, may I still obtain, in succeeding existences, a body to be sacrificed for others! [14]
Garuda (looking at the hero) .
Speedily will I catch up and eat this Nága, dressed in red garments, who looks as if besmeared with blood, which gushes from his heart that has burst through fear of me. I will first split open with my beak, which is fiercer than the fierceness of a thunderbolt, the breast of this one, who has fallen on the surface of the execution rock, to save the rest of Nágas. ”

“ And she to whom no ditch was too broad to be leapt, no tree too high to be climbed, who loved nothing so much as to run like a wild colt in the meadows, must now be calm, composed and grave, as beseemed a Javanese young lady of a high and noble house. The ideal Javanese girl is silent and expressionless as a wooden doll, speaking only when it is necessary, and then with a little whispering voice which can hardly be heard by an ant; she must walk foot before foot and slowly like a snail, laugh silently without opening her lips; it is unseemly for the teeth to show, that is to be like a clown. ”

“ Garuda.
Never since my birth has so wonderful a thing been seen by me in my feasts on the lords of the Nágas! Not only is this hero unterrified, but he even appears almost delighted. There is no lassitude seen in him, though most of his blood is drunk up. His face, through its heroic endurance, even when he is suffering the pangs from the tearing of his flesh, seems serene as in ecstacy. Every limb, which is not actually destroyed, bristles with rapture. ”

“ VIII. MAHAUSHADHA AND VIŚĀKHĀ.1
In olden times Janaka ruled as king in the land of Videhā. He took unto himself a beautiful spouse, who bore him a son, to whom, as food and drink were abundant in the land, the name of Annapāna [Food-Drink] was given. When he had grown up, he proved strong, resolute, and irascible. The queen became arrogant on account of her son, and no longer complied with the king’s wishes. This greatly troubled the king, and he, by the advice of his ministers, determined to choose another wife. The ministers called his attention to the daughter of the king of Aparāntaka. ”

“ Juanna bent her head in assent, and the priest turned to go with many obeisances; but before he went he spoke again, asking if all things were as the gods desired.
“Not altogether, my servant,” answered Juanna. “It is our will that these, our other servants, should have free access to us at all times and without question. Also, it is our will that their food should be brought to them with our food. Moreover, it is the desire of the Snake that no more grass should be given to him to eat; for now, in these latter days, having put on the flesh of men, he needs that which will support the flesh. ”

“ A sash is gently opened; the figure of a man appears against the light. Alas! it is Nagendra's figure. Nagendra, what if you should discover the flower, Kunda, under the trees? What if, seeing you in the window, the sound of her beating heart should make itself heard? What if, hearing this sound, she should know that if you move and become invisible her happiness will be gone? Nagendra, you are standing out of the light; move it so that she can see you. Kunda is very wretched; stand there that the clear water of the pool with the stars reflected in it may not recur to her mind. ”

“ Jímútaváhana.
There is yet flesh in my body, whose blood pours forth from every vein; and you, O magnanimous one, do not seem satiated. Why, then, O Garuda, do you stop eating?
Garuda (to himself) .
Wonder of wonders! How! Even in this state does he still speak thus stoutly! (Aloud.) This heroism of thine seems to call back the heart's blood that has been poured out by my beak. I wish, then, to hear who thou art.
Jímútaváhana.
It is not fit that you should hear, while tormented by hunger. Satiate yourself, then, with my flesh and blood.
Śankhachúda (coming up in haste) . ”

“ Śankhachúda.
I will now follow Garuda. (Looking in front.) Yonder, afar off, I see the enemy of the Nágas, on a pinnacle of Malaya, making new gulleys in the mountain-side, as he rubs his gory beak. The woods around are all uprooted and burnt by the streaks of flaming fire from his eyes, and the ground is hollowed round him by his dreadful adamantine claws. ”

“ I have often asked of my Hindoo friends, that if it pleases Jogger-nauth to see love and equality cherished in us for one another, why cannot we do that wherever we live,—at our homes in Bengal as well as in his temple in Orissa? Wherever be our bodies, we are before his presence; the walls cannot hide us from his sight. If he is God Almighty, his eyes will easily penetrate the massive walls to watch his children without. ”

“ We Javanese cannot live without flowers and sweet odours. The native flowers in their splendour awaken in me a world of thought and feeling whenever I breathe in their perfume. Days afterwards it lives in my memory, and I feel the strong Javanese blood coursing through my veins. Oh soul of my people, that used to be too beautiful, that was full of kindness, poetry, gentleness and modesty—what has become of you? What have time and slothfulness not made of you? ”

“ The rangers of the woods will now see the long-armed Rāma resembling the lord himself of the worlds, rising from the ground and going like one forlorn. And that one so dearly loved by Janaka, worthy of being constantly ministered unto with comforts, is to-day going to the forest, fatigued in consequence of having been pierced with thorns. Unacquainted with the forest, she is certainly afflicted with fright on hearing the deep roars of ferocious beasts, capable of making one's hair stand erect. O Kaikeyi, do thou realize thy desire,—do thou becoming a widow, rule this kingdom. ”

“ Nagendra rose and seated himself. He perceived that the woman had also risen, and was slowly making towards the door. Then Nagendra guessed that it was not Kunda Nandini. There was not light enough to recognize any one, but something might be guessed from form and gait. Nagendra studied these for a moment, then falling at the feet of the standing figure, in troubled tones he said—
"Whether thou art a god or a human being, I am at thy feet; speak to me, or I shall die!" ”

“ As for myself, through my dependence on her affection, I suffer a variable state of feeling; for, on the one hand, this young man is the ornament of the race of Vidyádhara kings, is clever, approved by the good, unrivalled in beauty, endowed with valour, is wise and modest; but, on the other hand, he would readily give up his life, through pity, on behalf of any living creature. Thus, when yielding up my peerless sister to such an one, I feel both satisfaction and sorrow. I have heard that Jímútaváhana is in the sandal-creeper bower, adjoining the grove of Gaurí. ”

“ Jímútaváhana.
What boon can there be beyond this? Śankhachúda is delivered from him who was the dread of all the snakes; Garuda has been brought to a better mind; all the lords of the Nágas, whom he had ever eaten, he has now restored to life; my parents are yet alive, through the recovery of my life; imperial dignity has been obtained; and thou, O goddess, hast been seen visibly present. ”

“ Meantime, the wind murmured, the trees rustled, the creepers whispered softly, and to the child they seemed to say, "Go on, Janko, there is not a soul there. . . . Go on, Janko."
The night was clear and bright. By the pond in the garden a nightingale began to sing—now softly, now loudly. Her song said, "Go on; have courage; touch it." An honest raven flew softly over the child's head and croaked, "No, Janko; no." The raven flew away, but the nightingale remained, and the creepers cried more plainly than ever, "There's no one there."
The fiddle still hung in the track of the moonbeams. ”

“ Dearest, we should so love to have you here, so that you could live our native life with us. There is so much that is touching in our Javanese life; especially in the honour that we show to our dead and to our parents. Nothing ever happens in our lives of any importance, either of joy or of sorrow, that we do not think of our dead. Anneka will remember Japara when she sits high and dry at Buitenzorg, although she may be a thousand times better off there than here. ”

“ But, O hero, to-day, O Rāghava, by my acts will I remove this huge sorrow that hath been heaped upon us by Indrajit. Therefore, rise thou up. Rise up, O foremost of men, O long-armed one, O thou who observest vows. Why dost thou not understand thyself as the Supreme Soul?349 And, O sinless one, urged on behalf of thy welfare, I, waxing wroth on hearing of the slaughter of Janaka's daughter, shall with my shafts entirely raze to the ground Lankā with cars and elephants and steeds and the foremost Rakshas". ”

“ Teach him the folly of insulting your resistless might! As for chat other, I call upon the wild beasts of the jungle to tear the life from his white throat. When he feels their claws rending his flesh, their hoc breath in his face, may his dying thoughts be of the holy ones he has offended!"
About them the natives drew slowly back in superstitious awe as the shaking yogi seemed to swell and dwarf them into insignificance. Janki turned slowly away. Contemptuously leaving the silver coins lying in the road, he strode up the hill as the youngest sahib rejoined his fellows. ”

“ But Garuda has taken that Vidyádhara, after tearing open his breast with his beak and claws, and is flown up towards heaven. (Sobbing.) Alas! Thou excessively magnanimous and affectionate one! Alas! My only true friend, though indeed thou hadst no cause to be so! Alas! Thou that sufferest for another's sake, whither art thou gone? Give me an answer. Alas! Base Śankhachúda, thou art utterly undone, since thou hast not obtained the merit of saving the Nágas, even for one day, nor even the praiseworthiness arising from obedience to thy lord's commands. ”

“ King Janaka found Sitâ, the consort of Râma, at the end of his plough. Yâjnavalkya defeated all the Brâhmanas of his time in discussions held at the court of king Janaka.
When Râma incarnated, there existed the people of Lankâ, a remnant of the Atlantean continent, who had inherited a mighty material civilisation, but who were called Râkshasas, on account of their gross iniquities. They reached the last point of material downfall, and lost all spirituality. They were called Râkshasas as final extinction was their lot, and as the force of dissolution was strong in them. ”

“ These impostors take a young maid, of the fairest they can meet with, to be the bride, (as they speak and bear the besotted people in hand) of Jagannat, and they leave her all night in the temple (whither they {164} have carried her) with the idol, making her believe that Jagannat himself will come and embrace her, and appointing her to ask him, whether it will be a fruitful year, what kind of processions, feasts, prayers, and alms he demands to be made for it. ”

“ And neither the celestials, nor the Asuras, nor the Rākshasas, nor the Gandharbas nor the Yakshas, nor the Kinnaras, nor the mighty Uragās,—how shall men fare?—have succeeded in stringing or stretching it, or fixing the arrow to it, or pulling its string, or wielding it. This foremost of bows hath been brought here, O chief of ascetics. Do thou, O exalted one, show it unto these sons of the king." Hearing Janaka,s words, the righteous Viçwāmitra said unto Rāghava,—"O Rāma, do thou, my child, behold the bow." ”

“ Soa ceased, and Leonard, who had been watching the multitude, whispered to Juanna:
“Speak quickly if you can think of anything to say. They are silent now because of their astonishment, but in another minute they will break out, and then——”
“People of the Mist,” cried Juanna, taking the hint, “you have heard the words of Nam and the words of her who was my servant. They dare to tell you that we are no gods. So be it: on this matter we will not reason with you, for can the gods descend to prove their godhead? ”

“ And I could not search for Vaidehi elsewhere; for in the matter of search, people always search for women even among women. And people search for creatures among the species to which they happen to belong: none searcheth for a lost lady among female deer. Therefore have I with a pure heart explored the entire inner apartment of Rāvana; but Janaka's daughter I see not." And Hanumān endowed with prowess saw the daughters of gods, and Gandharbas, and Nāgas; hut he saw not Jānaki. ”