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they who ever behold such a righteous lord as you are; for, though your empire is such as it is, no fault can be found with you.
" There were in former days Rishabha and other emperors; and they, being seized with various faults, were ruined and fell from their high estate. Rishabha, and Sarvadamana, and the third Bandhujivaka, all these, through excessive pride, were punished by Indra. And the Vidyádhara prince Jimútaváhana, when the sage Nárada came and asked him the reason of his obtaining the rank of emperor, told him how he gave away the wishing-tree; and his own body,*[1] and thus he fell from his high position by revealing his own virtuous deeds. And the sovereign named Viśvántara, who was emperor here, he too, when his son Indívuráksha had been slain by Vasantatilaka, the king of Chedi, for seducing his wife, being wanting in self-control, died on account of the distracting sorrow which he felt for the death of his wicked son.
" But Tárávaloka alone, who was by birth a mighty human king, and obtained by his virtuous deeds the imperial sovereignty over the Vidyádharas, long enjoyed the high fortune of empire without falling into sin, and at last abandoned it of his own accord, out of distaste for all worldly pleasures, and went to the forest. Thus in old times did most of the Vidyádhara emperors, puffed up with the attainment of their high rank, abandon the right path, and fall, blinded with passion. So you must always be on your guard against slipping from the path of virtue, and you must take care that your Vidyádhara subjects do not swerve from righteousness."
When the hermit Kaśyapa said this to Naraváhanadatta, the latter approved his speech, and said to him with deferential courtesy, " How did Tárávaloka, being a man, obtain in old time the sway over the Vidyádharas? Tell me, reverend Sir." When Kaśyapa heard this, he said, " Listen, I will tell you his story."
Story of Tárávaloka.:—There lived among the Śivis †[2] a king of the name of Chandrávaloka; that sovereign had a head-wife named Chandrálekhá. Her race was as spotless as the sea of milk, she was pure herself, and in character like the Ganges. And he had a great elephant that trampled the armies of his enemies, known on the earth as Kuvalayapída. Owing to the might of that elephant, the king was never conquered by any enemy in his realm, in which the real power was in the hands of the subjects.
- ↑ * See Vol. I, p. 174, and ff. and Vol. II, p. 307, and ff.
- ↑ † The Petersburg lexicographers spell the word Śibi. This story is really the same as the XVIth of Ralston's Tibetan Tales which begin on page 257. Dr. Kern points out that we ought to read dugdhábdinirmalá. The India Office MSS. give the words correctly.
