कथासरित्सागरः — नवमस्तरङ्गः

नवमस्तरङ्गः ।

ततो ऽत्र पुन आनेतुं तं वेतालमगान्नृपः ।
स त्रिविक्रमसेनस्तच्छिंशपापादपान्तिकम् ॥

Summary AI Then, King Trivikramasena went back to the vicinity of that śiṃśapā tree to fetch the vetāla once again.

प्राप्तो ऽत्र वीक्षते यावच्चितालोकवशान्निशि ।
तावद्ददर्श तं भूमौ कूजन्तं पतितं शवम् ॥

Summary AI Having arrived there, as the King looked around in the night by the light of the funeral pyres, he saw the corpse fallen on the ground and making a sound.

१२.९.३

अथ तं मृतदेहस्थं वेतालं स महीपतिः ।
आरोप्य स्कन्धमानेतुं तूष्णीं प्रववृते जवात् ॥

Summary AI Then, placing the vetāla dwelling in the corpse onto his shoulder, the King set out quickly and silently to bring him back.

१२.९.४

ततः स्कन्धात्स वेतालो भूयस्तं नृपमब्रवीत् ।
राजन्महत्यनुचिते क्लेशे ऽस्मिन्पतितो भवान् ॥

Summary AI Then, from the shoulder, the vetāla spoke to the King again, saying, 'O King, you have fallen into this great and unbefitting hardship.'

१२.९.५

अतस्तव विनोदाय खतयामि खतां शृणु ।
अस्त्यग्रहारः कालिन्दीकूले ब्रह्मस्थलाभिधः ॥

Summary AI Therefore, for your amusement, I shall tell a story; listen. There is an agrahāra named Brahmasthala on the banks of the Kālindī river.

१२.९.६

अग्निस्वामीति तत्रासीद्ब्राह्मणो वेदपारगः ।
तस्यातिरूपा मन्दारवतीत्यजनि कन्यका ॥

Summary AI There lived a Brāhmaṇa named Agnisvāmī, who was well-versed in the Vedas. A daughter of exceeding beauty named Mandāravatī was born to him.

१२.९.७

यां निर्माय नवानर्घलावण्यां नियतं विधिः ।
स्वर्गस्त्रीपूर्वनिर्माणं निजमेवाजुगुप्सत ॥

Summary AI After creating her with fresh and priceless beauty, the Creator surely felt contempt for his own previous creations of celestial women.

१२.९.८

तस्यां च यौवनस्थायामाययुः कान्यकुब्जतः ।
समसर्वगुणास्तत्र त्रयो ब्राह्मणपुत्रकाः ॥

Summary AI When she reached youth, three young Brāhmaṇas of equal merit arrived there from Kanyakubja.

१२.९.९

तेषां चात्मार्थमेकैकस्तत्पितुस्तामयाचत ।
अनिच्छन्दानमन्यस्मै तस्याः प्रानव्ययादपि ॥

Summary AI Each of them asked her father for her hand for himself, as none desired her to be given to another, even at the cost of their own lives.

१२.९.१०

तत्पिता स तु तन्मध्यान्नैकस्मा अपि तां ददौ ।
भीतो ऽन्ययोर्वधात्तेन तस्थौ कन्यैव सा ततः ॥

Summary AI Her father, fearing the death of the other two, did not give her to any of them; consequently, she remained a maiden.

१२.९.११

ते च त्रयो ऽपि तद्वक्त्रचन्द्रैकासक्त दृष्ठयः ।
चकोरव्रतमालम्ब्य तत्रैवासन्दिवानिशम् ॥

Summary AI All three, with their eyes fixed solely on her moon-like face, stayed there day and night, adopting the vow of the cakora bird.

१२.९.१२

अथाकस्मात्समुत्पन्न दाहज्वरवशेन सा ।
जगाम मन्दारवती कुमारी किल पञ्चताम् ॥

Summary AI Then, suddenly overcome by a burning fever, the maiden Mandāravatī passed away.

१२.९.१३

ततस्तां विप्रपुत्रास्ते परासुं शोकविक्लवाः ।
कृतप्रसाधनां नीत्वा श्मशानं चक्रुरग्निसात् ॥

Summary AI Distraught with grief, those sons of Brāhmaṇas took her lifeless body, which had been adorned, to the cremation ground and consigned it to the fire.

१२.९.१४

एकश्च तेषां तत्रैव विधाय मठिकां ततः ।
कृततद्भस्मशय्यः सन्नास्तायाचितभैक्षभुक् ॥

Summary AI One of them built a small hut right there and stayed, making a bed of her ashes and eating only what was obtained by unsolicited alms.

१२.९.१५

द्वितीयो ऽस्थीन्युपादाय तस्या भागीरथीं ययौ ।
तृतीयस्तापसो भूत्वा भ्रान्तुं देशान्तराण्यगात् ॥

Summary AI The second took her bones and went to the river Bhāgīrathī, while the third became an ascetic and set out to wander through distant lands.

१२.९.१६

स भ्राम्यंस्तापसः प्राप ग्रामं वक्रोलकाभिधम् ।
तत्रातिथिः सन्कस्यापि विप्रस्य प्राविशद्गृहम् ॥

Summary AI While wandering, that ascetic reached a village named Vakrolaka and entered the house of a Brāhmaṇa as a guest.

१२.९.१७

तत्पूजितः स यावच्च भोक्तुं तत्र प्रचक्रमे ।
तावदेकः शिशुस्तत्र प्रवृत्तो ऽभूत्प्ररोदितुम् ॥

Summary AI While he, honored by the host, began to eat, a child there started to cry loudly.

१२.९.१८

स सान्त्व्यमानो ऽपि यदा न व्यरंसीत्तदा क्रुधा ।
बाहावादाय गृहिणी ज्वलत्यग्नौ तमक्षिपत् ॥

Summary AI When the child did not stop crying despite being consoled, the mistress of the house, in a fit of rage, seized him by the arm and threw him into the blazing fire.

१२.९.१९

क्षिप्त मात्रः स मृद्वङ्गो भस्मीभावमवाप्तवान् ।
तद्दृष्ट्वा जातरोमाञ्चः सो ऽब्रवीत्तापसो ऽतिथिः ॥

Summary AI As soon as he was thrown, the soft-limbed child was reduced to ashes. Seeing this, the horrified ascetic guest spoke.

१२.९.२०

हा धिक्कष्टं प्रविष्टो ऽस्मि ब्रह्मराक्षसवेश्मनि ।
तन्मूर्तं किल्बिषमिदं न भोक्ष्ये ऽन्नमिहाधुना ॥

Summary AI Alas! What a tragedy! I have entered the house of a brahmarākṣasa. Therefore, I will not eat this food here now, which is sin incarnate.

१२.९.२१

एवं वदन्तं तं सो ऽत्र गृहस्थः प्राह पश्य मे ।
शक्तिं पठितसिद्धस्य मन्त्रस्य मृतजीवनीम् ॥

Summary AI To him who was speaking thus, the householder said, "See the power of my life-restoring mantra, mastered through recitation."

१२.९.२२

इत्युक्त्वादाय तन्मन्त्रपुस्तिकामनुवाच्य च ।
तत्र भस्मनि चिक्षेप स धूलिमभिमन्त्रिताम् ॥

Summary AI Having said this, he took that mantra-book, recited from it, and threw consecrated dust upon those ashes.

१२.९.२३

तेनोदतिष्ठत्तद्रूप एव जीवन्स बालकः ।
ततः स निर्वृतस्तत्र भुक्तवान्विप्रतापसः ॥

Summary AI Because of that, the boy rose up alive in his original form. Then that brāhmaṇa ascetic, being satisfied, ate there.

१२.९.२४

गृहस्थो ऽपि स तां नागदन्ते ऽवस्थाप्य पुस्तिकाम् ।
भुक्वा च शयनं भेजे रात्रौ तत्रैव तद्युतः ॥

Summary AI The householder also placed the book on a wooden peg, ate, and went to bed there that night along with him.

१२.९.२५

सुप्ते गृहपतौ तस्मिन्स्वैरमुत्थाय शङ्कितः ।
स प्रियाजीवितार्थी तां पुस्तिकां तापसो ऽग्रहीत् ॥

Summary AI When the householder was asleep, that ascetic, desiring his beloved's life, rose cautiously and took that book.

१२.९.२६

गृहीत्वैव च निर्गत्य ततो रात्रिदिनं व्रजन् ।
क्रमाच्छ्मशानं तत्प्राप यत्र दग्धास्य सा प्रिया ॥

Summary AI Having taken it and departed, he traveled day and night, eventually reaching the cemetery where his beloved had been cremated.

१२.९.२७

ददर्श चात्र तत्कालं तं द्वितीयमुपागतम् ।
यः स गङ्गाम्भसि क्षेप्तुं तदस्थीनि गतो ऽभवत् ॥

Summary AI There he saw the second companion who had arrived at that time, who had gone to throw her bones into the waters of the Gaṅgā.

१२.९.२८

ततस्तं च तमाद्यं च तस्या भस्मनि शायिनम् ।
निबद्धमठिकं तत्र द्वावप्येतौ जगाद सः ॥

Summary AI Then he addressed both of them—the one who had returned and the first one who was sleeping on her ashes in a hut he had built.

१२.९.२९

मठिकापास्यतामेषा यावदुत्थापयामि ताम् ।
जीवन्तीं भस्मतः कान्तां मन्त्रशक्त्या कयाप्यहम् ॥

Summary AI "Remove this hut while I raise that beloved alive from the ashes by means of a certain mantra power."

१२.९.३०

इति तौ प्रेर्य निर्बन्धान्निर्लोठ्य मठिकां च सः ।
उद्घाट्य तापसो विप्रः पुस्तिकां तामवाचयत् ॥

Summary AI Having thus urged them insistently and cleared away the hut, that brāhmaṇa ascetic opened that book and recited.

१२.९.३१

अभिमन्त्र्य च मन्त्रेण धूलिं भस्मन्यवाक्षिपत् ।
उदतिष्ठच्च जीवन्ती सा मन्दारवती ततः ॥

Summary AI Consecrating dust with the mantra, he threw it on the ashes, and then Mandāravatī rose up alive.

१२.९.३२

वह्निं प्रविश्य निष्क्रान्तं वपुः पूर्वाधिकद्युति ।
तदा बभार सा कन्या कञ्चनेनेव निर्मितम् ॥

Summary AI Then that maiden possessed a body that seemed made of gold, shining more brightly than before after having entered and emerged from the fire.

१२.९.३३

तादृशीं तां पुनर्जातां ते दृष्ट्वैव स्मरातुराः ।
प्राप्तुकामास्त्रयो ऽप्येवमन्योनं कलहं व्यधुः ॥

Summary AI Seeing her thus reborn, all three of them, tormented by love and desiring to possess her, began to quarrel with one another.

१२.९.३४

एको ऽब्रवीदियं भार्या मम मन्त्रबलार्जिता ।
तीर्थप्रभावजा भार्या ममेयमिति चापरः ॥

Summary AI One said, "She is my wife, won through the power of my mantra." Another said, "She is my wife, born from the power of the holy site."

१२.९.३५

रक्षित्वा भस्म तपसा जीवितेयं मयेह यत् ।
तदेषा मम भार्येति तृतीयो ऽत्र जगाद सः ॥

Summary AI "Since I preserved the ashes through penance here and she was restored to life, she is my wife," thus the third one spoke.

१२.९.३६

विवादनिर्णये तेषां त्वं तावन्मे महीपते ।
निश्चयं ब्रूहि कस्यैषा कन्या भार्योपपद्यते ॥

Summary AI "O King, in deciding their dispute, tell me for certain—to whom does this maiden rightly belong as a wife?"

१२.९.३७

विदलिष्यति मूर्धा ते यदि जानन्न वक्ष्यसि ।
इति वेतालतः श्रुत्वा तं स राजैवमभ्यधात् ॥

Summary AI "If you know and do not speak, your head will shatter." Hearing this from the Vetāla, the King replied to him thus.

१२.९.३८

यः क्लेशमनुभूयापि मन्त्रेणैतामजीवयत् ।
पिता स तस्यास्तत्कार्यकरणान्न पुनः पतीः ॥

Summary AI "He who, despite undergoing hardship, restored her to life through the mantra, is her father because of that act, not her husband."

१२.९.३९

यश्चास्तीनि निनायास्य गङ्गायां स सुतो मतः ।
यस्तु तद्भस्मशय्यं तामाश्लिष्यासीत्तपश्चरन् ॥

Summary AI "He who carried her bones to the Gaṅgā is considered her son. But he who remained practicing penance while embracing her bed of ashes—"

१२.९.४०

श्मशान एव तत्प्रीत्या भर्ता तस्याः स उच्यते ।
कृतं तदनुरूपं हि तेन गाढानुरागिण ॥

Summary AI "—is called her husband, for he stayed in the cemetery out of love for her. Indeed, that deeply impassioned man acted in a manner becoming a husband."

१२.९.४१

एवं नृपात्त्रिविक्रमसेनाच्छ्रुत्वैव मुक्तमौनात्सः ।
तस्य स्कन्धादगमद्वेतालो ऽतर्कितः स्वपदम् ॥

Summary AI Upon hearing the king Trivikramasena break his silence, the Vetāla unexpectedly left the king's shoulder and returned to his original abode.

१२.९.४२

राजाथ भिक्ष्वर्थसमुद्यतस्तं
प्राप्तुं स भूयो ऽपि मनो बबन्ध ।
प्राणात्यये ऽपि प्रतिपन्नमर्थं
तिष्ठन्त्यनिर्वाह्य न धीरसत्त्वाः ॥

Summary AI Then, the king, dedicated to the mendicant's cause, resolved again to retrieve the Vetāla. For those of firm courage never abandon an undertaking without bringing it to completion, even when faced with the loss of their own lives.

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