Dhairyapāramitā - The pinnacle of courage
Long ago lived a brāhmaṇa boy called Mālādhara. One day, he saw a siddha boy flying in the sky and developed an insatiable desire to fly. He fashioned wings out of foliage and tied them upon his person and tried to jump and leap about. Kumārasvāmin who was passing by in the sky noticed the boy’s futile attempts. Out of compassion, the lord took Mālādhara into his order. Thus it follows that true courage pleases even the deities.
Dhyānapāramitā - The pinnacle of penance
Long ago, in the land of Karṇāṭa lived a merchant named Vijayamālin, who had a son called Malayamālin. One day when Malayamālin had accompanied his father to the palace, he chanced upon the beautiful princess and became completely enamoured with her. His infatuation rose to such heights that he gave up food and drink. He became so reticent that he even stopped talking to others. His friend, a painter named Mandharaka, couldn’t bear to see the sorry plight of his friend and hence composed a portrait of the princess and gifted it to him. Malayamālin now became elated. In fact, so fond did Malayamālin grow of the portrait, that he soon became deluded to the extent that he began to think of the portrait as the princess herself! He treated it with all love and care as he would have, his real consort. One day he took the painting to a garden. He left it under a tree and went to pluck flowers for his ‘beloved’. At that time, a sage named Vinayajyoti who was flying past in the sky at that time, gazed upon this bizarre display of infatuation. Out of compassion, he wished to deliver Malayamālin from this crazed enamourment and came down. He conjured up a live snake and placed it upon the portrait. When Malayamālin returned, he saw this and felt “My beloved is a veritable treasure. This snake has been named by destiny to guard her!”. However, after a few moments, thanks to the spell cast by the sage, the snake appeared to bite the princess to her death. Taking it to be all real, Malayamālin began to weep uncontrollably and soon decided to take his own life. Wasting no time, he scaled up a tree and tried to jump to his death. The sage caught him mid-air and exclaimed ‘You fool! Can’t you see that this is merely a portrait? How would it be even possible for a snake to bite the person in the portrait? Why do you hallucinate? Should you not instead pursue with the same intensity, the truth? It is only upon realizing the truth does all sadness fade!” and instructed him in the lore of vijñāna (experiential knowledge) and flew away. An enlightened Malayamālin then retreated to a forest and began an intense penance, through the powers of which, he eventually realized the truth and became an arhant (the realized one). Thus, for those who become endowed with powers of penance, even the unreal can eventually lead to the truth.
Prajñāpāramitā - The pinnacle of acumen
In the island of Siṃhala lived a thief named Siṃhavikrama. When he became old, he gave up thievery and began to ponder: “How does one attain the higher realms of the next world? Whose refuge should I seek for this? Śiva or Viṣṇu? When they already have at their beck and call, innumerable deities and sages - all too eager to serve, of what importance would I be for them? Thus I shall seek to propitiate Citragupta who records the sins and merits of all beings. He may protect me through his astuteness. Living in his own body, he does the work of both Brahma and Rudra”. Thus he began to strive to please Citragupta by offering food to brāhmaṇas everyday. One day, in order to test Siṃhavikrama, Citragupta himself arrived at his door, in the guise of a guest. The former thief treated him to a generous meal and showered him with gifts. Then he requested him to utter the words: “May Citragupta be pleased”. An amused Citragupta asked, “Instead of Hari and Hara, what do you aim to please Citragupta?”.
The thief replied – “Why do you want to know all that? I don’t need anything from the other devatās!”
Citragupta said – “If so, if you give your wife, I will say so!”
Thief – “For pleasing my favourite deity, I am willing to give away my wife too!”
Citragupa then revealed his real form and asked –“What do you want?”
The thief asked for immortality.
Citragupta said –“It is not possible to avoid death. Still, I will suggest an idea. Listen. On the shores of the eastern seas, there lives a sage by name Śveta on the other side of the river Taraṅgiṇī. Death does not go to his āśrama; I will take you there. You should not cross over to the other side of the Taraṅgiṇī river!” With these words, he dropped him off at the Śvetāśrama.
As time elapsed, Death came to the banks of the river Taraṅgiṇī and wondered what to do about the thief. He created a charming divine damsel. She won over Siṃhavikrama with her beauty and went ahead to cross the river back under the pretext of meeting her relatives. As Siṃhavikrama saw her going away from the side of Śvetadvīpa, he saw her fall into the river and was being swept away by the gushing waters. She called out – “Āryaputra! Why do you wait and watch? Come, save me! Are you siṃha-vikrama or sṛgāla-vikrama (is your valour like that of a lion or that of a jackal)?” Listening to her words, he got down into the river. In a moment’s time he went to the other bank with her. Kāla – Death, who was waiting on the other shore caught him with his noose and said – “A person who gets carried away by material pleasures is surely going to meet with death in no time!” With these words, he dragged him to the court of Yama.
Citragupta saw this and told him secretly – “When Yama asks you – what would you like to experience first, svarga or naraka? Tell him that you would like to experience svarga first.”
The next moment, Yama asked –“A thief, who has accumulated a lot of puṇya seems to have come here, isn’t it?”
Citragupta replied – “Yes, prabhu! He loves guests. He has even sacrificed his wife for the sake of his beloved deity; therefore, he deserves to stay in the svarga for a day!”
Yama, the Dharmarāja then asked him – “Would you like to experience the śubha-phala or aśubha-phala (positive and negative fruits respectively) to start with?”
Siṃhavikrama said he would like to experience the śubha-phala first. A vimāna appeared there. He sat in it and flew to the svarga. He undertook Gaṅgā-snāna, performed japa and tapas and procured the merit to stay in svarga for a second day. He then performed an intense tapas, pleased Śiva, overcame pāpas and procured jñāna. yama-dūtas couldn’t even see his face then. Citragupa then removed the account of pāpa he had written on his bhūrja-patra. Yama kept quiet.
Thus, a thief too attained siddhi with his intellect. A scholar will be able to cross over the bhava-sāgara (the ocean of existence) by following the six pāramitas as enunciated by Buddha. In the due course, both the teacher and the student attained siddhi.
In the meanwhile, Indukalaśa led a raid on Kanakakalaśa’s kingdom, which the latter had procured from Vinītamati. Indukalaśa attacked carrying his sword and on his horse. He drove away Kanakakalaśa, who then came to Vinītamati’s āśrama. However, the moment he arrived, it turned into a desert. Vinītamati, the bodhisattva then told him, “At a distance of half a krośa (defined as the distance within 'ear-shot'), you will find the cadaver of a deer. Eat the flesh of that deer and satiate your hunger!" Saying so, he went to the spot much earlier and transformed himself into a dead deer. Kanakakalaśa and his associates burnt the meat and ate it with relish. In the meantime, the two wives of the Bodhisattva came there and found that only the horns and bones of the deer remained; they took that with them, cremated that in a fire, and themselves jumped into the fire, giving up their lives. Learning of this, Kanakakalaśa and his associates too entered the fire. At that point, Somaśūra sorrowfully threw the darbhā grass and sat down for prāyopaveśa (fast unto death). At once, Indra appeared there and sorted out the problem. He said, "This was undertaken with a view to test your guru; although nothing but ashes remained, I have sprinkled amṛta on them and have brought back to life not just your teacher but also his wives and the others who had perished." After they were all revived, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and all the other devatās came there and granted them boons that they desired.
Having narrated this tale, that elderly tāpasī said, "Even those who have been burnt and turned to ash have regained their lives in this manner; therefore, don't give up your life; go forth; you will certainly encounter Mṛgāṅkadatta!" I offered my salutations to her and went away holding my sword. When I reached this forest, the śabaras captured me and took me away to offer my head as bali to Caṇḍī. Now that I have seen you, I feel like I have returned home!—thus he said.
To be continued...
The current article is a translation of Prof. A R Krishnasastri’s Kannada classic Kathāmṛta along with additional segments added from the original Kathā-sarit-sāgara (of Soma-deva). Bṛhat-kathā-mañjarī (of Kṣemendra) and Bṛhat-kathā-śloka-saṃgraha (of Budha-svāmin) have also been referred to. The translation has been rendered by Raghavendra GS, Arjun Bharadwaj, Srishan Thirumalai, and Hari Ravikumar.
The original Kannada version of Kathāmṛta is available for free online reading. So are the other works of Prof. Krishna Shastri
