Mârkandeya Purâna, books 7, 8 | Page 2

wealth, or life?
Or shall I give thee wife, or child, or
land?
Or my prosperity itself?" "O king!"
The sage replied, "thy
present I accept;
But let thine alms, I pray, be granted first,--
The
offering for the kingly sacrifice."
"O Brâhman!" said the king, "the
alms are thine;
Further than this, whatever be the gift
Thou mayest
desire, freely I give it thee.
Ask what thou wilt." Then Višvâmitra
spake:
"Give me the earth, its mountains, seas, and towns,
With all
its kingdoms, chariots, horses, men;
Its elephants, its treasure-houses
too;
Its treasures vast, and all whate'er beside
Is recognized as thine:
oh! give me all,
I pray, except thyself, thy wife, thy son,
And this
thy righteousness, that follows close
Beside thee. Sinless one! oh
thou who art
Perfect in righteousness! oh give me all--
All beside
these. What need of further words."
The king, with heart rejoicing, and unchanged
In countenance,
hearing the sage's words,

Said, humbly bowing down before the saint,

"So be thy wish fulfilled." "O saintly king,"
Said Višvâmitra, "if
the world is mine,
And power, and wealth, I pray you who shall reign,

Since in this kingdom as a devotee
I dwell?" Then Harišchandra
said: "'Ere this,
Before the world was thine by my free gift,
Thou

wast the lord of all; how much more now?
Thy right is doubly sure."
Then said the sage:
"If this indeed be so,--if the whole world
Be
truly mine, and all its sovereignty,
Then should'st thou not remain,
nor leave thyself
Aught of that kingdom which thou hast renounced,

But, casting off thy royal ornaments,
Thou should'st depart, clothed
in a dress of bark."
The king, obedient to the sage's word,
Stripped
off his royal dress, and, with his wife
And son, made haste to go.
Then said the saint:
"Stop, Harišchandra! Hast thou then forgot
The
offering for the kingly sacrifice
That thou hast promised us?" Replied
the king:
"O mighty saint! the kingdom now is _thine_;
All have I
given to _thee_: and as for me,
What have I left?--nought! save
myself,
My wife, my son!" "Thou sayest the truth, indeed,"

Answered the sage; "but yet there still remains
The offering for the
kingly sacrifice.
And this know well: A vow to Brâhmans made,
If
unfulfilled, works special woe to him
Who made the vow. For in this
sacrifice
Must offerings of worth be freely made
To
Brâhmans;--offerings until they cry
Hold! that suffices for us!
Therefore pay
Thy promised vow, nor longer hesitate.
'Alms are for
Brâhmans,' thou thyself hast said,
'Those who are weak must be
protected: foes
In battle must be met and overcome.'"
"O saintly
priest!" answered the king, "my wealth
Is all departed: nothing now
remains
For me to give: yet grant me time I pray,
And I will pay the
offering!" "Noble king,"
Said Višvâmitra, "speak I pray thee! Say

What time dost thou appoint that I should wait?
Speak! no delay! or
else my curse of fire
Shall burn thee up." Then Harišchandra said:

"Most holy Brâhman! when a month has past
The money for the
offering shall be thine.
Now I have nothing. Oh! be pleased to grant

Remission for the present." Said the sage,
"Go! go! most noble
prince! maintain thy faith!
And may'st thou prosper! may no enemies

Harass thy road." Commanded thus, the king
Departed as an
outcast;--he, the king
Of all the earth, an exile with his wife
Unused
to go afoot, and with his son
Went forth: while cries and lamentations
rose
On every side: "Our hearts are filled with pain,
Why dost thou

leave us thus? O virtuous king!
Show mercy to thy subjects.
Righteousness
Indeed shines forth in thee; if thou art full
Of mercy,
may it overflow on us.
Stay! Mighty Prince! one moment, while we
gaze
With lover's eyes upon thy beauteous form.
Alas! our Prince!
Shall we ne'er see thee more?
How changed thy princely state! Thou,
who did'st once
Go forth, surrounded by attendant kings,
Who
marched on foot; while stately elephants
Bore e'en thy ministers.
Now, Lord of Kings!
Thyself art driven forth on foot. Yet, stay!

Think, Harišchandra! how wilt thou endure
The dust, the heat, the toil?
Stay, mighty prince,
Nor cast thy duty off. Oh, show to us
Some
mercy, for herein thy duty lies.
Behold, we cast off all for thee! Our
wives,
Our wealth, our children, our possessions, all
Have we
relinquished; like thy shadow,
We would follow thee. Oh leave us not!

For wheresoe'er thou art is happiness,
And heaven itself would be
no heaven to us
Without our prince." Then, overwhelmed with grief

At these laments, the king stayed on his course,
In pity for his
loving citizens.
Then Višvâmitra, filled with rage, his eyes
Rolling
with wrath, exclaimed: "Shame on thee! shame!
O full of falsehood,
and of wickedness.
How! would'st thou, then, speaker of lies!

Resume the gifts that thou hast freely made,
And reinstate thee in thy
kingdom?" "Sir!
I go!" replied the king to these rude words,
And
trembling crept away in haste, his wife
Holding him by the hand. And,
as she went,
Her fragile form o'ercome with weariness,
The
Brâhman smote her fiercely with his stick.
Then Harišchandra, pained
with inmost grief,
Seeing the stroke, said meekly, "Sir! I go!"
Nor
further spoke. Filled with compassion then,
The Višvadevas said:
"What sin is this?

What torments shall indeed suffice for him
By
whom this pious king--the offerer
Of prayer, and sacrifice, has