The Gâtakamâlâ; Or, Garland of Birth-StoriesAryasura
Religion
The Gâtakamâlâ; Or, Garland of Birth-Stories
Aryasura
Gautama Buddha -- Pre-existence
Now her father apprised the king of the fact of his having such a
daughter: 'Your Majesty, the very pearl of womanhood has appeared in
your realm. May Your Majesty therefore deign to decide whether you will
accept her as a wife or renounce her.' Then the king ordered some
Brâhmans knowing the auspicious marks of women, to go and see the
maiden, whether she would be a suitable wife for him or not. The father
of Unmâdayantî led them to his house, and ordered his daughter to attend
upon his guests herself. She said she would do so, and commenced to
attend upon them at table in the proper manner. But no sooner did those
Brâhmans...
5. Behold her, than their eyes were compelled to remain closely fixed on
her face. The god of Love had subdued their firmness. They had no power
over their looks and minds, and they got rid of their consciousness as
if drunkenness had befallen them.
Now, as they were not able to keep their grave and modest countenance
nor their imperturbability, still less to take their meal, the
householder removed his daughter out of the reach of their looks and
attended himself on the Brâhmans. Afterwards they took their leave and
went off. And they considered thus: 'The lovely beauty of that maiden
is, in truth, of an exceedingly enchanting nature, it acts like a very
magic spell. For this reason it is not suitable for the king to see her,
much less to make her his queen. Having grown mad by her splendid
beauty, as he doubtless would, he would abate his zeal for performing
his religious and political duties, and his neglect of duly observing
his royal occupations would prove of evil consequence to his subjects,
inasmuch as it would obstruct the sources of their profit and welfare.
6. 'The sight of her would be sufficient to put an obstacle in the way
even of Munis striving after perfect wisdom, how much more may it
obstruct the success of a young prince, who lives in pleasure, and is in
the habit of directing his looks to the objects of sense.
'Therefore it is now suitable to act so and so.' Having thus made up
their mind, they went to the king's presence at a convenient time and
reported this to him: 'We have seen that maiden, great king. She is a
beauty and possesses lovely charms, but no more; she has inauspicious
marks, the foretokens of ruin and ill luck. For this reason Your Majesty
ought not even to see her, how can there be question about wedding her?
7. 'A reprehensible wife veils both the glory and the opulence of two
families; just as a cloudy, moon-concealing night hides the beauty and
the arrangement of all things upon earth and in heaven.'
Thus informed, the monarch imagining her to have inauspicious marks and
not to suit his family, no more desired to possess her; and the
householder, her father, knowing the king's disaffection, married his
daughter to one Abhipâraga, officer of that very king.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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