The Five and Twenty Tales of the Genie (Penguin Classics)

by Sivadasa

  King Arimaulimaṇi went to her place and reprimanded her: ‘Shame, shame upon you, you evil woman; you have eaten the son of a Brāhmana. A citizen who saw this came and informed me of it.’ He said.

  The ogress replied: ‘You have been rightly informed, Sir. I am the ogress, Kumbodarī; my husband is Kharjūrajangha and my son Tālajaṅgha. You humiliated my son and took Śobhāvatī. Angered by that, my husband assembled the ogres to eat Brāhmanas.’

  The king now ordered all his men: ‘Kill this harlot; she is an ogress.’

  But Kumbodarī resuming her natural form routed them all in no time and went to her husband’s lair.

  The king had perforce to send a suitable emissary to the ogre to pacify him and negotiate a truce. He bound himself by an oath to dispatch one person each day to the ogre. And time passed in this manner.

  Once, the lot for that day fell upon a woman with an only son. With her son’s death imminent, she began weeping. It happened that just then, Mahābala, a great monarch from another land came by and asked the weeping woman: ‘Mother, why are you weeping?’ She told him the whole sad tale.

  King Mahābala said to her: ‘Mother, I shall slay all the ogres and deliver your son. Now go and tell that to your king.’

  She hastened at once to the palace and informed King Arimaulimaṇi who sent for Mahābala and spoke to him: ‘My son, if you do this, I shall hand over this kingdom to you.’

  Mahābala joyfully accepted the offer. He went straight to the den of Kharjūrajangha and beat him up. Aghast at the valour of Mahābala, the ogre cowered in terror: ‘Spare my life, O, prince,’ whimpered the ogre.

  The prince said: ‘All right, now swear an oath that you will not kill any living being; swear that you will not do any violence in King Arimaulimaṇi’s kingdom.’

  The ogre agreed and bound himself by an oath. Releasing him, Mahābala returned to the king.

  Now that his purpose had been accomplished King Arimaulimaṇi showed scant respect to Prince Mahābala, who infuriated, spoke severely to the king.

  ‘Well, well, your name of Arimaulimaṇi22 suits you admirably, but in another sense. You are not a worthy king.’

  With this harsh comment, Mahābala immediately went and released the ogre from his oath and then returned to his own land. And the ogre began eating the citizens in King Arimaulimaṇi’s realm. The king accompanied by Śobhāvatī travelled to Mahābala’s country. Mahābala welcomed him with all due honour and hospitality and the next morning asked King Arimaulimaṇi: ‘O, king, why have you been reduced to such a state?’

  The conscience-stricken king remained silent. Then the noble Mahābala with a little laugh, set out again and bound the ogre by an oath. Having done that, he gave his own elephants, horses, soldiers and equipment to King Arimaulimaṇi who had behaved rather shabbily, seated him on the throne and returned to his own land.

  The genie said: ‘Let Your Majesty speak. Tell me: who was responsible for the deaths of the citizens and of the Brāhmaṇicide of Vidyādhara? Was it King Arimaulimaṇi, or Mahābala or the ogre Kharjūrajangha?’

  King Vikramāditya replied: ‘Listen, you, you genie; the guilt for the deaths of the citizens was entirely King Arimaulimaṇi’s. Who else’s?

  Having succeeded in breaking the king’s vow of silence, the genie was back hanging from the śinśipā tree.

  Thus ends tale twenty-three of the Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie.

  As the genie was once again brought back and carried along, he tells another tale.

  EPILOGUE

  And the genie began: I was once a householder living in this kingdom, an oil-merchant by birth and profession. Once, Fate brought to my door a wise man23 possessed of arcane and esoteric knowledge. He stayed with me several months, living in the small cell beside the shed built for sacrifices. Food in the shape of alms as prescribed was provided for him daily.

  Later on, at the onset of the rainy season, the wise man decided it was time to travel to another land. He took me aside and spoke particularly: ‘Good householder, listen; you have served us well continually and in many ways. For that reason, I am highly pleased with you. Come, I shall impart to you the knowledge of certain mysteries.’

  He then deigned out of kindness to instruct me in the lore of magic; after doing that he extracted a solemn promise from me.

  ‘Listen to me,’ he exhorted. ‘My former attendant who is like a son to me was to have come here in search of me during the rains, for I had promised to instruct him in the lore of magic. I have been expecting him and have waited till now. But it looks as if he will not be here to meet me before my departure from this place. If you honour your solemn promise to me, when this man does arrive here at your place in the course of his wanderings looking for me, you will without fail impart to him this knowledge that I have given you. He is a brother to you. Therefore, you are not to resort to guile and trickery where he is concerned. If you will not do as I say, you will certainly eat the bitter fruit of your wrongdoing in the shape of my dread curse which will doom you to a terrible death.’ Having made this hard-and-fast compact with me, the wise man set out for another land; and as he left, he repeated his words: ‘On no account are you to treat my advice as beneath notice.’

  Having related these events, the genie fell silent. The king laughed and said: ‘Hey there! Sir genie! Go on with the narrative.’

  The genie too laughed and resumed his narration.

  So, listen, O, king; when my guru had set out on his travels to another land, his pupil arrived at my place. He met me in my fire sanctuary and asked: ‘Sir, that wise man who stayed here in this sanctuary… where is he?’

  ‘He left to travel to another land’, I answered.

  ‘Before he left, did he make any arrangements concerning me?’ was his next question.

  ‘O, no, none at all,’ was my reply.

  He cried out when he heard my words. ‘Ha ha! O, misery! How am I betrayed!’ Lamenting in this fashion he left, bereft of all hope.

  After his departure, I remained in my house from that day on, sick at heart, constantly recalling my guru’s injunction. And fully aware that I had transgressed my guru’s express injunction, I remained tormented by acute anxiety caused by the sense of guilt festering within.

  As this point in my life, Fate struck a cruel blow. Certain burglars who broke in and entered the palace, carried away a great many valuables and going into the royal stables also stole one of the king’s horses, brought it to my house, tied it to the post at my gates and fled.

  Next morning, the king learnt of the burglary and summoned the sentry. ‘Hey, sentry, my treasury has been burgled; and one of the horses has been taken from the stables. Go and investigate. Make a thorough search and then come back without delay and report to me. Be quick, man, on the double. If you fail to discover the burglars and bring them into my presence, I shall round your family up and with yourself make mincemeat of all.’

  The unfortunate sentry lost no time making a house-to-house search and seeing the royal horse at my gates, grabbed me straightaway and arrested me as the thief. He informed the king and showed him the horse. The king flew into a great rage and thundered out his command: ‘Go, take him away and have him impaled.’

  Bearing the royal command on his head, so to speak, the sentry went out and taking me to the outskirts of a village nearby handed me over to the executioners who raised me upon a pike. Impaled on the pike, I endured my existence solely through my acquired yogic powers, fixing my mind in profound meditation until my breath failed and my heart stopped. After that, possessed by a genie, I found myself on a tree growing on the banks of the Ghargarā straight in front, and rested there. Through the magic powers I had, omniscience arose in me.

  As for that other pupil of my guru, he wandered from land to land and finally came to a shelter for travellers from distant lands that lay beside the shrine of the goddess Hingula;24 there he saw the guru. He acquainted the guru with everything that related to his meeting with
me. Deeply pained at heart by what he heard, the guru said to his pupil: ‘That householder, the oil merchant, stole my knowledge of the arcane arts. However, he has reaped the fruits of his actions. And that man by virtue of the magic powers he had acquired, is now possessed by a genie and hangs as a corpse from a branch of a śinśipa tree that grows on the banks of the Ghargarā flowing through the kingdom of Mangalakoti. I am exceedingly pleased with you; you are our son. Since you have my benediction, good fortune and prosperity are yours for the asking. I grant you this boon by which through the instruction you will get from me, you shall possess supranormal powers. Possessing good fortune and supranormal powers and the ability to fly in the air, roam the world at your will and pleasure.’

  The corpse desisted and paused. The king, having heard this tale, now asked the corpse once more in a voice indistinct and choking with joy. ‘Listen, Sir Corpse; if you are pleased, then tell me the whole story, not leaving out one single, remarkable detail. And then advise me well as to what I should do now.’

  The genie spoke to King Vikramāditya in earnest: ‘Listen to me, O, great monarch! You are truly a god in essence, in human shape. Extraordinary virtues are yours from merit gathered in former lives. The fruit of that merit is the dawn of the good fortune that has led you here. Listen carefully and I shall tell you all.

  ‘That pupil I have talked of was now instructed by the guru who was exceedingly pleased with him, as follows: “Now, you should go from here to the realm of the illustrious and most noble emperor, Vikramāditya; and to gain his favour, send him daily a bilva fruit with priceless gems concealed within. Follow this procedure for several days and when the emperor is favourably inclined towards you, get that noblest of men to promise you his assistance. With the help of the king, get hold of the genie-possessed corpse of that man skilled in esoteric arts and take it to the great burning grounds lying to the south of the city. Construct a magic circle there, place the corpse and the king at its centre and perform the Rite of the Charmed circle. Place your foot on the head of the corpse and offer the king as a sacrifice to the goddess; then place both your feet on the head of the corpse and recite the following mantra: ‘Dread goddess, be pleased to accept my sacrifice of a living being! May great good fortune and supranormal powers be mine!’ As you recite this prayer the goddess will pronounce her benediction on you.”

  ‘Then that man, Kṣāntiśīla, having received these precise instructions from his guru who was mightily pleased with him, came to you. He got you into his power through guile and used you to get me by these means. And now he will cut you down and gain suprahuman powers. I have informed you of these secret happenings in their entirety. Now it is for you to carry out whatever you think is right.’

  The genie concluded his statement and paused.

  The emperor’s eyes dilated with fear; his eyes welled with tears of joy; he addressed the genie again: ‘Oh, noble soul! Oh, omniscient one! Speak; advise me; what should I do?’

  The genie noted the king’s words and counselled him: ‘Your unparalleled nobility gladdens me exceedingly. I shall acquaint you therefore with a secret method to achieve the end. First, you take me as arranged to Kṣāntiśīla waiting in the burning grounds. When you reach the burning grounds, Kṣāntiśila’s joy will know no bounds and he will exhort you in these words: “Hail! Great king! You have come. Now go, bathe quickly; then perform the due rites of worship to the deities; with you at my side I shall perform the rites of worship to the divinity, so that we two shall gain magic powers as I promised.” Do as he says. Following his instructions, go to the holy pool of the goddess and have the ritual bath in its waters. When you return and face him, he will at that time give you his further instructions. He will say: “Now worship the divinity; I shall do the same.” Again you will do as he says and worship the divinity. Once these rites of worship are duly completed, he will say to you: “Now go round the divinity sun-wise and make a complete prostration, stretched out full length on the ground, straight as a rod.” And now—and mark my words carefully—be sure to make this reply: “I am a king; I wield the rod of justice; I am ever seated on the lion-throne; kings who rule over neighbouring kingdoms kneel at my lotus feet. Brāhmanas duly initiated into the proper performance of various rites and ceremonies, perform on my behalf all rituals and ceremonies of adoration of deities and divinities, offer oblations to my ancestors, do all the obsequial rites to the manes and the daily, prescriptive rituals of worship as well. By these means, the regular and perfect performance of all prescribed rites and ceremonies in my life is carried out. In my hands are always held the royal sceptre and the rod of justice. For this reason, it is not my office, it is not my duty or right, to perform various rites and ceremonies of adoration of divinities, of prostrating myself full-length like a rod and other similar acts. However, if Your Honour deems it a sacred injunction that I should prostrate myself full-length on the ground, then you have to teach me how a proper full-length prostration is done. Seeing you doing it, I shall do so likewise.”

  ‘Kṣāntiśla will pay due regard to your words and prostrate himself full-length before the divinity. As he falls to the ground, his body fully stretched out, straight as a rod, sever his head that very instant with your sword; place both your feet on his head and the head of the corpse, shape your hands like a flowerbud, holding it over your head in the act of homage and chant these words to the goddess: “O, great goddess! May you be propitiated! Accept this sacrifice that I offer! By your grace, may the magic acts of Tāla and Vetāla25 be mine for ever, utterly and inalienably!” This is the boon you shall ask for.’ Having explained it all the genie now desisted.

  King Vikramāditya, having heard the genie say all this was now in a state of ecstatic jubilation. With his heart overflowing with joy, he lifted the corpse on to his shoulders and set out to meet Kṣāntiśila. When he saw the king coming towards him, the necromancer was transported with violent joy; he greeted the king profusely: ‘O, king,’ he said. ‘You have actually made it to this place in just three watches of the night! Now hasten to the sacred pool of the goddess; bathe and return to me; and here within the space of the magic circle, perform along with me, the sixteen prescribed rites of adoration of the divinity. Your most-cherished wishes are about to come true. And my aim of which I have spoken, will certainly be well accomplished.’

  King Vikramāditya went to the pool according to the words of the yogī,26 bathed and returned. Stepping into the magic circle of worship, the king performed alongside the yogī the divine service with the materials that the yogī had collected for the sixteen rites of adoration, together with the appropriate chants of praise for each rite.

  At the close of the service, the yogī spoke out clearly: ‘O, king, make obeisance to the goddess with the full-length prostration.’

  King Vikramāditya declared: ‘I am a king who turns the wheel of empire.27 All kings kneel at my footstool paying me homage. In particular, I bear the sceptre and rod; and in conformity with prescribed rules, I do not myself perform ceremonies for deities and the manes. All this is done on my behalf by a properly initiated Brāhmaṇa. So teach me how a full-length prostration ought to be made.’

  Then, in response to the king’s words, the yogī, impelled by Fate, himself made a full-length prostration. Seizing this opportunity, the king, standing by his side, drew his sword and cut the yogī in two. Placing both feet on both heads, the yogī’s head and the head of the corpse, the king offered the goddess homage with hands folded in the shape of a flowerbud and uttered aloud these words: ‘Hail! Hail! Mother of the Universe! Destroyer, Creator, Sustainer! Granter of boons! Accept this blood-sacrifice! Be propitiated! May great good fortune and supranormal powers be mine! Grant me this boon!’

  And as the king fervently uttered this, deep-sounding, thunderously loud laughter arose within the shrine of the goddess; and a command came: ‘O, king most noble and courageous! Live a hundred years! With glory unimpaired, turning the wheel of empire, may you enjoy the hap
piness that sovereignty brings! The magic arts of Tāla and Vetāla are yours utterly and inalienably!’ With this benediction, the goddess vanished. Dawn broke. With his body pure and glowing, King Vikramāditya returned to his capital unseen by others and resumed his life. He exercised a sovereignty both powerful and noble. From that day on, he, Upholder of the Earth, was like one of the World-Guardians, as his life ran its course, smooth and ordered.

  Thus ends the twenty-fifth tale in the text of stories known as the Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie, set down by the illustrious Jambhaladatta, Minister for Peace and War.

  NOTES

  Introduction

  1. Edited in four parallel recensions by Franklin Edgerton, Harvard Oriental Studies, vol. 26, 1926.

  2. The battle with Śalivāhana of legend; śalivāhana was the grandson of a potter in Pratiṣthāna, born to his two-year-old daughter and a nāga prince of the underworld. Śalivāhana is Śātavāhana.

  3. Nativity Tales—stories relating the miraculous birth of Gautama the Buddha, founder-teacher of Buddhism, and his successive rebirths as Bodhisattvas in human and non-human forms. The Buddha chose to be reborn repeatedly to teach, and guide man to salvation.

  4. The Seventy-two Tales of the Parrot. The stories are told by a wondrous parrot to its young and beautiful mistress to keep her from straying while her merchant-husband was travelling overseas on business.

  5. A finely structured book of beast fables, with a sprinkling of fairy and folk tales ascribed to Viṣṇu Śarma. See introduction, the Panćatantra of Viṣṇu Śarma edited and translated by Chandra Rajan, Penguin Classics, 1993.