preying on his master, advised him to convene a general meeting of all the Brahmins of his kingdom, in order to ascertain whether there was not one amongst them who would undertake the responsibility of educating the three young princes and instilling into them feelings more worthy of their high birth. The minister's advice was followed; but of all the assembled Brahmins there was only one, named Vishnu-Sarma[1], who felt himself capable of accomplishing so difficult a task.
Vishnu-Sarma, after carefully studying the characters and dispositions of his pupils, began the work of reformation; and in order to accomplish his task, related to them a large number of fables, the lessons of which he took great pains to instil into their minds.
The dramatis personae of the first of these fables are a lion holding sway in a vast forest, a bull named Sanjivaka, and two foxes, one called Damanaka and the other Karataka, both in the service of the lion king.
The bull Sanjivaka had been accidentally lost by his master in the lion king's forest, where he was leading a peaceful, harmless life. Now the two foxes, as it happened, had been disgraced and ignominiously expelled from the court of the lion. One day the lion was quenching his thirst in the river Jumna, which flowed through the forest, when suddenly, while returning to his cave, he heard a most frightful noise like thunder, the like of which he had never heard before. It was in fact the bellowing of the bull Sanjivaka. Seized with sudden fear, and believing that an animal which was able to utter such a dreadful noise must assuredly be vastly superior to himself, the lion was consumed with dread lest a rival had come to dispute his forest kingdom. Greatly troubled in his mind, he reflected how he might get rid of this imaginary danger. While in this dilemma, a happy thought struck him: it was to reconcile himself with his former ministers, the two foxes, who might possibly help him with their advice. He therefore sent messengers to them, beseeching them to resume their former posts in his court, and promising to honour them in future with unbounded confidence.
Karataka and Damanaka, aware of the real reason of
- ↑ In the Telugu copy he in called Soma Jenma.—Dubois.
