(Ancient works of sustained prose writing are
somewhat of a rarity in Kannada as in other Indian languages. The story
herewith given is taken from the famous Vaddaradhane by SIVAKOTI ACARYA,
a Jain writer of not later perhaps than the 9th century, and is the 13th of the
19 stories contained in that prose classic, which is claimed to be the earliest
extant prose work in Kannada Literature. The story is remarkable for its live
narrative interest, containing how one who became a saint acted the role of a
thief and put himself to test on a youthful brag (with a friend of this
boyhood) in fulfillment of a wager.
The story translated here has been edited in
Kannada and published in the journal of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat–by Sri D.
L. Narasimhachar, M.A., to whom acknowledgment is due.)
Mithila was a city in the country of Videha. The
King of the city was Vamaratha a descendant of Padmaratha. The King and his
Queen, Bandhumati, lived in comfort for some years enjoying all the pleasures
desired. The chief police officer of the city was Yamadanda. In the same city
there lived a thief of the name of Vidyuccora. He was well versed in all the
thiefly arts like Jrmbhini, Stambhini, Mohini, Sarshapi, Talodghatni, Vidya
Mantra, Choornayaga, Ghatikanjana and the like. During nights he stole the
accumulated wealth of many in the city and buried it all in a big cave of a
hill not far from the city. He closed the opening of the cave with a huge
stone. During day time he lived in ruins of a temple where he transformed
himself into a leper by smearing body with a particular anjana. In as
ugly a shape and state as his plastic technique enabled him to change himself
he produced a disgust in those who saw him and went a-begging from house to
house in the city. At nightfall he regained his bright and beautiful natural
shape, wore clothes of shining lace, sprinkled on them sweet perfumes, wore a
garland around his neck and chewed betel leaves with nuts mixed with the best
spices and refined camphor. So arrayed he entered the locality of public women
showing to advantage the beauty and majesty of his form and buying with his
accumulated wealth the pleasures which women of celebrity had made a favourable
impression on him could offer him. Thus he lived unrecognised and stole all the
wealth of the jewellers and of the diamond merchants, of the cloth merchants,
the ambassadors, the rich prostitutes and the nobles.
Now it happened that Acyutendra had presented to
King Padmaratha, in admiration of his character, a necklace of great beauty and
value called Sarvarujapahara. It was a family treasure and King Vamaratha had
come into possession of it. In the seventh storey of the palace was his
sleeping apartment in which the King kept the necklace treasured in a small box
and worshipped it with perfumes, akshata (coloured rice), flowers,
incense and lights. One day Vidyuccora applied a particular anjana to
his eyes and rendering himself invisible entered the sleeping room of the King,
opened the box and carried away the sacred necklace. He buried it as usual in
the cave beyond the city and reassumed the guise of a leper.
The next day dawned. The King could not find the
necklace. He sat on his throne and sent for his chief police officer and said
to him:
“Yamadanda, a thief has been stealing the wealth of
the brahmins, the foreigners, the prostitutes and the farmers who dwell in the
city. You have not caught him. You seem to do nothing in the matter. The thief
has entered my bedroom, opened my box and carried away the precious heirloom
presented to us by Acyutendra. Find the thief quickly and bring back the
necklace. Else, I shall inflict on you the punishment that the thief deserves.”
The officer said in reply: “Lord, give me time for
seven days. If I do not bring the thief by then you may deal with me as it may
please you.”
The King agreed and the officer left the palace. In
the city Yamadanda searched through the streets of prostitutes, the shops,
markets, temples, parks and viharas. In the suburbs and neighbouring
towns he effected a search for six days without rest or relaxation of effort.
He could not discover the thief. On the seventh day Yamadanda watched the leper
as he went out of the ruined temple. He saw Vidyuccora leaping over a trench
using the art of a thief. Yamadanda concluded that the leper was the thief he
was in search of all these days. Vidyuccora protested loudly to Yamadanda who
captured him, took him to the palace and to the King, and charged him with all
the thefts in the city. The leper said; “Lord, the whole city knows that I am
not a thief. The police officer which has not been able to catch the real thief
is afraid for his own life. He captured a poor citizen who lives begging in the
city and has offered to death.” Yamadanda who was fully versed in all the arts
of catching a thief said to the King: “This man transforms himself during the
night steals the city’s wealth. During day he takes on the guise of a leper. I
shall give you such proof that you may not believe him.” He took a pratighutikanjana
and applied it to the eyes of Vidyuccora who regained his naturally
beautiful and bright form. The thief remarked: “Lord, this man is skilled in
the use of anjanas. He is a wizard and can transform any man into any
shape and form.” The officer said that he would experiment upon others and show
to the King the work of the anjanas. With the permission of the King he
brought women from inside the King’s palace and applied the particular anjanas
to their eyes. All of them looked like lepers. Then he applied the pratighutikanjana
and they regained their own beautiful forms. The King was convinced that
Vidyuccora was the thief and ordered Yamadanda to punish him as befitted his
crimes. Yamadanda took the thief home. It was a cold night in the month of
Magha. The thief was punished with thirty-two kinds of punishment. He endured
them all with great calmness and loudly protested that he was not the thief and
that the officer was killing him because he had power to do so.
2
Yamadanda himself was now convinced that this man
was not the thief he was after. At sunrise he went to the palace and reported
to the King that Vidyuccora could not be the thief for he had endured all the
thirty-two kinds of torture inflicted on him. He asked the King to deal with
him as he pleased as he had failed in his office. The King ordered that
Yamadanda should now be taken to the place of execution and be impaled for
inefficiency and failure. The King’s servants accordingly took Yamadanda to the
place of execution. Viduccora appeared there in his beautiful, bright form and
prevented them from punishing Yamadanda. He told them that the police officer
was as bad as dead as they had brought him to the shoola. He prayed that
he might be given a few minutes of private talk with the officer. The King’s
agents left them alone for a while during which they were able to overhear this
bit of conversation.
“Yamadanda, do you remember that while we were
young we two studied under the same guru? Do you remember the vow I took
in Nandanavana–that without any fault of Yours I could get you killed or stop
your getting killed? Do you remember my vow or do you not?”
Yamadanda: “I remember the vow very well.”
Vidyuccora: “Are you dead now or dying, or alive ?”
Yamadanda: “Lord, you have won; I am beaten; I am dead.”
The servants of the King and the citizens could not
understand these words; they were surprised at this conversation. Vidyuccora
turned to the servants of the King and said: “Take us both to the King. In the
presence of the King there shall be a conversation between us two. If after my
representations the King’s pleasure should still be that Yamadanda deserves
death, may it be so. For the Niti Sastra says that no man shall be killed
unless he has been given three chances to pray to the King.”
The servants took both of them to the King as
requested and reported that Vidyuccora would not allow them to punish
Yamadanda. The King asked him to explain his conduct. Vidyuccora said: “Lord,
it is even as your officer has reported to you: Yamadanda is free from all
taint of guilt or crime. I shall confess myself to you. During nights I move
about in this shape. It is I who have stolen the wealth of the city and the
sacred necklace given to you by the gods. During day I take the form of a leper
and live in the ruined temple. Have me killed, therefore, for theft. This man
is innocent.” The King asked him how all the stolen wealth had been disposed
of. “I have spent some five or six thousand gold coins on women and buried the
rest in a cave.” The King ordered him to show the hiding place to the citizens
and bring back to him his sacred necklace. The citizens went there well-guarded
and took their respective precious things without disturbing what belonged to
others. Vidyuccora returned to the palace and gave the King his sacred
necklace. The King asked Vidyuccora: “How did you endure the thirty-two kinds
of torture in this cold night of Magha?”
3
Vidyuccora related this story at length:
“Lord, one day when I was still a young pupil, I
went to Sahasrakoota Caityalaya with my teacher. When he was engaged in the
worship God, I sat down near Sivaguptacarya and listened to his reading of
Puranas. He described the tortures in hell in the following way: “Those whose
conduct is not righteous, who hunt and kill animals, who bring suffering or
death to living beings for love, hate or greed, who steal and fall in love with
others’ wives, who eat and drink what should not be eaten drunk, who commit the
five terrible sins, have no salvation; they take their birth in the seven hells
and come to great misery. Their bodies are subjected to many kinds of physical
torture. They are not given respite for a moment. Then Sivaguptacarya explained
the laws of life that should govern the conduct of a good man. Charity, worship
of God, virtue and fasting were the four Sravaka dharmas. Those who
follow them gain happiness in Heaven. The Acarya gave a detailed account of the
Jaina Dharma and asserted that to follow it was to go to Heaven and to discard
it was to go to Hell. When Yamadanda inflicted on me the punishments, I weighed
the suffering and misery I was made to undergo at that moment with the pain and
misery in Hell. The knowledge that what I was undergoing was only a hundred
thousandth part of the other made me endure it.” The King’s admiration for his
character was immense. He told Vidyuccora that he would not only not punish
such a man but grant him all his requests. Vidyuccora’s only prayer was that
his friend Yamadanda should be forgiven. The King’s surprise grew; he wanted to
know how Yamadanda was his friend; and how a man who had performed Sravaka
vratas could become a thief.
Vidyuccora continued his story:
“In the southern part of Bharata Kshetra there is
the land Abhira. On the banks of the river Varne there is the city of Venatatta
which in its beauty and prosperity is a paradise on earth. The King and Queen
who rule over it are Jitasatru and Vijayamati. I am their son. Its chief of
police is Yamapasa, his wife, Nijaguna Devi. Yamadanda is their son. When we
were both only five or six years of age we were taken to a worthy teacher named
Siddhartha and left in his charge for education. In the course of seven or
eight years we studied all branches of literature, palmistry, eugenics,
politics, medicine and many other branches of learning. Yamadanda went through
a course of study and mastered the art of detecting the evils. He became fully
versed in Surakha. I studied Karapata Sastra which instructs one in the
science and art of stealing. We spent time together in the enjoyment of
friendship. One day we went into the forest for pleasure and played about with
a ball in what is called the Nandanavana, a beautiful piece of woodland with
many kinds of flower and fruit trees. As Yamadanda had learnt the art of
catching a thief he disappeared from my sight and was nowhere about. I grew
tired of searching for him. When, finally, I met him I said that I would be a
thief in the city where he should function as the police officer and drive him
to capital punishment. He took the challenge and replied that he would catch me
as a thief and having bound my hands and feet would take me to the gallows. We
took our vows then resolved not to forget. A few years passed. My father placed
me on throne and retired to a life of meditation under the guidance of
Sttasagara. Yamadanda’s father handed over his own office to his son and too
retired to meditation. I was the King of the city then and this mans here the
police officer of my city. We lived happily for some time. One day Yamadanda
thought that as I, his King, was an adept at the thiefly arts it would be a bad
job to be officer in my city. Afraid of me he left my city and took employment
under you. My servants searched for him over many cities and kingdoms. At last
they traced him to this place. Their report was this: ‘Lord, Vamaratha is the
King of the city of Mithila. Yamadanda has accepted office as chief of police
under him.’ Hearing this, I took my minister, Purushottama, into confidence and
told him that I would go to Mithila in disguise and return with Yamadanda. I
sent for a heggade, an elder of the city, put him in charge of my
kingdom and told him that I was going out on some personal work. At dead of
night I left the palace in disguise, unnoticed by any. I arrived at this city
and according to a plan I stole the wealth of several citizens and brought
Yamadanda to the point of death. This is the reason for my stealing things;
this is how Yamadanda is my friend. As I am a man of samyagdrshti your
god-protected necklace Sarvarujapahara came into my hands. For it would be
impossible for men of mithyadrshti to take it away. King Vamaratha, then
narrated to the assembly how the sacred necklace was given to his great
ancestor Padmaratha.
4
Two messengers now arrived with letters and entered
the Assembly with the King’s permission. When they saw Vidyuccora they bowed to
him and placed the letters before him. The minister for foreign affairs took
theletter and read it to the king. It was the letter written by the minister
Purushottama and the Heggade Vajrasena. They said that the King had now gone
out for a good few days and forgotten the affairs of his home. There was none
else to rule over the kingdom. Soon after reading this letter he must start
back to his kingdom without delay. Vamaratha found perfect agreement between
the contents of the letter and Vidyuccora’s narration. Having no doubts about
his being a prince, he ordered that another throne should be placed by his and
said to Vidyuccora: “You are my sister’s son. I have eight daughters bearing
the names Srimati, Vasumati, Gunamati, Sulochane, Suprabhe, Sukanthe, Sushile
and Manohare. They are young, beautiful, bright and charming. They are fully
accomplished in the arts of reading, writing, arithmetic, music, dancing,
painting, fretwork and all the sixty-four branches of learning. Several princes
have been sending presents and letters to me asking the hands of my daughters
in marriage. I did not approve of them and so did not give them these
daughters. You will make a proper husband for them. I give you all my eight
daughters, and, pray thee to marry them.” Vidyuccora said: “I have wooed one
maiden only and will not take others.”
King: “Who is the lucky lady?”
Vidyuccora: “Muktisri is her name and I must marry
her.”
When he had made that point clear he asked the King
to give him back his friend Yamadanda. With the consent of the King they
started on camel back and reached their city in the course of a few days.
The next day, Vidyuccora held a State Assembly to
which all princes, officers, queens and princesses had been invited. He said to
the grand Assembly that he had become tired of the pleasures of life and
desired to retire from all earthly affairs to lead a life of meditation. The
people in the Assembly told him that it was not the proper age to take to a
life of meditation. For he was only a child yet in the freshness of youth. He
should rule as a King for some time more and then think of retiring to a life
of meditation.
“If I waited for a future day, I doubt whether I
shall be alive or dead. Listen to what is said in the Book of wisdom:
“'To men living a family life, years are like the
foam on the waves of the sea; beauty and youth are like the rainbow in the
sky.’
“‘If birth, age and death do not occur, if the fear
of separation does not get hold of us, if all the things of the world cease to
be transient who will not find pleasure in this life.’
“My friends, beauty, youth, brightness, charms,
years, wealth, fame and love of men are transient.
“When this body is free from disease, when old age
is yet far away, then the senses are yet strong and active, when he has yet
years before him, even then the wise man must make great efforts to ennoble his
soul. What is the good of trying to dig a well when the house is on fire?
“I forgive all living beings, let them forgive me;
I am a friend of animals; I hate none.”
He forgave all and cleared their doubts. He crowned
his eldest son Vidyudanga as the King, made Yamadanda the chief of police,
prayed that they should all live in happiness and left the palace accompanied
by his Queens and retinue. It was a procession attended with royal honours. On
the way the King gave to all kinds of beggars and blind men gifts that pleased
them. When he reached Sahasrakoota Caityalaya, he worshipped the Jina and
approached Gunadhara Acarya whom he chose for his master. A thousand other men
followed his example when he removed from his body all ornaments and abandoned
worldly desires and sat down by his master for a life of meditation. Seven
hundred women, including the Queen and the ladies of the royal family, also
chose with him a life of meditation.
Vidyuccora stayed with his master for twelve years,
learned all that could be learnt and became himself an Acarya.