391
to find the path that led to the stronghold Karabhagríva, the scouts of Máyávațu, the king of the Śavaras, who had already arrived there, recognized him, having seen him before. They immediately went and told
that Máyávațu of his arrival; and he with his army went to meet him.
And when that king of the Pulindas came near, and saw the prince, he
alighted from his horse, and ran forward, and fell at his feet. And he
embraced the prince, who asked after his health, and then mounted him
and his ministers on horses, and brought them to his own camp. And
that king of the Śavaras sent his own warder to inform the king of the
Mátangas of the prince's arrival.
And Durgapiśácha, the king of the Mátangas, quickly came there from his own place, and his appearance justified his name.*[1] He seemed like a second Vindhya range, for his body was firm as a rocky peak, his hue was black as tamála, and Pulindas lay at his foot. His face was rendered terrible by a natural three-furrowed frown, and so he appeared as if Durgá, the dweller in the Vindhya range, had marked him with the trident, to claim him as her own. Though young, he had seen the death of many " secular birds;" though black, he was not comely; and he crouched to none, though he hugged the foot of a mountain. †[2] Like a fresh cloud, he displayed the peacock tail and the gay-coloured bow; like Hiranyáksha, ‡[3] his body was scarred by the furious boar; like Ghațotkacha, he was mighty and possessed a haughty and terrible shape; §[4] like the Kali age, he allowed those born under his sway to take pleasure in wickedness and break through the bonds of rule. And the mass of his host came filling the earth, like the stream of the Narmadá, when let loose from the embrace of Arjuna.||[5] And so the aggregated army of the Chandálas moved on, blackening all the horizon with a dark hue, making those who beheld it say in perplexity to themselves " Can this be a mass of rock that has rolled down from the Anjana mountain, ¶ [6]or is it a premature bank of the clouds of the day of doom, that has descended upon the earth? "
And their chief Durgapiśácha came up to Mŗigánkadatta, placing his head upon the ground even when at a distance, and bowed before him, and said " To-day the goddess Durgá is pleased with me, in that your Highness, of such a noble race, has come to my house. On that account
- ↑ * His name means " "Wild man of the Stronghold " or " Demon of the Strong- hold."
- ↑ † The passage is full of puns: vayas means " age " and " bird " ; krishna " block " and also the god of that name; bhúbhŗit " king " and also " mountain."
- ↑ ‡ Killed by Vishnu in the form of a boar
- ↑ § Another play on words. It may mean " was the son of the Pándava Bhíma.
- ↑ || I do not understand this allusion.
- ↑ ¶ Anjana is a black pigment applied to the eyes.
