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ed. And Víravara went on persistently in the direction of the weeping, and reached a tank outside the city, and saw there that woman in the middle of the water uttering this lament, " Hero ! merciful man ! Generous man How can I live without you?" And Víravara, who was followed by the king, said with astonishment, " Who are you, and why do you thus weep?"— Then she answered him, " Dear Víravara, know that I am this earth, and king Śúdraka is now my righteous lord, but on the third day from this his death will take place, and whence shall I obtain such another lord? So I am grieved, and bewail both him and myself."*[1] When Víravara heard this, he said, like one alarmed, " Is there then, goddess, any expedient to prevent the death of this king, who is the protecting amulet of the world?"
When the earth heard this, she answered, " There is one expedient for averting it, and one which you alone can employ." Then Víravara said, —" Then, goddess, tell it me at once, in order that I may quickly put it in operation: otherwise what is the use of my life?" When the earth heard this, she said,— " Who is as brave as you, and as devoted to his master? So hear this method of bringing about his welfare. If you offer up your child Sattvavara to this glorious goddess Chandí, famous for her exceeding readiness to manifest herself to her votaries, to whom the king has built a temple †[2] in the immediate vicinity of his palace, the king will not die, but live another hundred years. And if you do it at once, his safety will be ensured, but if not, he will assuredly have ceased to live on the third day from this time."
When the goddess Earth said this to Víravara, he said, " Goddess, I will go, and do it this very instant." Then Earth said, " May success attend you !" and disappeared ; and the king, who was secretly following Víravara, heard all this.
Then Víravara went quickly in the darkness to his own house, and king Śúdraka, out of curiosity, followed him unobserved. There he woke up his wife Dharmavatí, and told her how the goddess Earth had directed him to offer up his son for the sake of the king. When she heard it, she said, " My lord, we must ensure the prosperity of the king; so wake up this young boy of ours and tell it him yourself." Then Víravara woke up his young son Sattvavara, who was asleep, and told him what had occurred, and said to him, " So, my son, the king will live if you are offered up to the goddess Chandí, but if not, he will die on the third day." When Sattvavara heard it, though he was a mere child, he shewed a heroic soul, and justified his name.‡[3] He said " I shall have obtained all I desire, if the
