vikram and the vampire sixth story - mocomi

8/14/2019 Vikram And The Vampire Sixth Story - Mocomi

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BySir Richard F. Burton

Volume - 7

THE VAMPIRE'S SIXTH STORYVikram and the Vampire

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On the lovely banks of Jumna's streamthere was a city known as Dharmast-hal—the Place of Duty; and thereindwelt a certain Brahman called Keshav.He was a very pious man, in the con-stant habit of performing penance andworship upon the river Sidi.

He modelled his own clay images in-stead of buying them from others; he

painted holy stones red at the top, andmade to them offerings of flowers, fruit,water, sweetmeats, and fried peas. Hehad become a learned man somewhatlate in life, having, until twenty yearsold, neglected his reading, and addictedhimself to worshipping the beautiful

youth Kama-Deva and Rati his wife, ac-companied by the cuckoo, thehumming-bee, and sweet breezes.

One day his parents having rebuked himsharply for his ungovernable conduct,Keshav wandered to a neighbouring

hamlet, and hid himself in the tall fig-tree which shadowed a celebratedimage of Panchanan. Presently an evil

thought arose in his head: he defiled thegod, and threw him into the nearesttank.

The next morning, when the person ar-rived whose livelihood depended on theimage, he discovered that his god was

gone. He returned into the village dis-tracted, and all was soon in an uproarabout the lost deity.

In the midst of this confusion the par-ents of Keshav arrived, seeking for theirson; and a man in the crowd declared

that he had seen a young man sitting inPanchanan's tree, but what had becomeof the god he knew not.

The runaway at length appeared, andthe suspicions of the villagers fell uponhim as the stealer of Panchanan. He

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THREE MEN DISPUTE ABOUT A WOMAN


Vikram and the Vampire



confessed the fact, pointed out theplace where he had thrown the stone,and added that he had polluted the god.All hands and eyes were raised inamazement at this atrocious crime, andevery one present declared that Pan-chanan would certainly punish thedaring insult by immediate death.Keshav was dreadfully frightened; hebegan to obey his parents from that

very hour, and applied to his studies sosedulously that he soon became themost learned man of his country.

Now Keshav the Brahman had a daugh-ter whose name was the Madhumalati orSweet Jasmine. She was very beautiful.

Whence did the gods procure the mate-rials to form so exquisite a face? Theytook a portion of the most excellent partof the moon to form that beautiful face?Does any one seek a proof of this? Lethim look at the empty places left in themoon. Her eyes resembled the full-

blown blue nymphaea; her arms thecharming stalk of the lotus; her flowingtresses the thick darkness of night.

When this lovely person arrived at amarriageable age, her mother, father,and brother, all three became very anx-ious about her. For the wise have said,"A daughter nubile but without a hus-band is ever a calamity hanging over a

house." And, "Kings, women, and climb-ing plants love those who are nearthem." Also, "Who is there that has notsuffered from the sex? for a womancannot be kept in due subjection, eitherby gifts or kindness, or correct conduct,or the greatest services, or the laws of

morality, or by the terror of punishment,for she cannot discriminate betweengood and evil."

It so happened that one day Keshav theBrahman went to the marriage of a cer-tain customer of his, and his son re-

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paired to the house of a spiritual precep-tor in order to read. During their ab-sence, a young man came to the house,when the Sweet Jasmine's mother, infer-ring his good qualities from his goodlooks, said to him, "I will give to thee mydaughter in marriage." The father alsohad promised his daughter to a Brah-man youth whom he had met at thehouse of his employer; and the brother

likewise had betrothed his sister to afellow student at the place where he hadgone to read.

After some days father and son camehome, accompanied by these two suit-ors, and in the house a third was already

seated. The name of the first was Tribi-kram, of the second Baman, and of thethird Madhusadan. The three were equalin mind and body, in knowledge, and inage.

Then the father, looking upon them, said

to himself, "Ho! there is one bride andthree bridegrooms; to whom shall I give,and to whom shall I not give? We threehave pledged our word to these three. Astrange circumstance has occurred;what must we do?"

He then proposed to them a trial ofwisdom, and made them agree that hewho should quote the most excellent

saying of the wise should become hisdaughter's husband.

Quoth Tribikram: "Courage is tried inwar; integrity in the payment of debtand interest; friendship in distress; andthe faithfulness of a wife in the day of

poverty."

Baman proceeded: "That woman is des-titute of virtue who in her father's houseis not in subjection, who wanders tofeasts and amusements, who throws offher veil in the presence of men, who re-

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mains as a guest in the houses ofstrangers, who is much devoted tosleep, who drinks inebriating beverages,and who delights in distance from herhusband."

"Let none," pursued Madhusadan, "con-fide in the sea, nor in whatever hasclaws or horns, or who carries deadlyweapons; neither in a woman, nor in a

king."

Whilst the Brahman was doubting whichto prefer, and rather inclining to thelatter sentiment, a serpent bit the beau-tiful girl, and in a few hours she died.

Stunned by this awful sudden death, thefather and the three suitors sat for atime motionless. They then arose, usedgreat exertions, and brought all kinds ofsorcerers, wise men and women whocharm away poisons by incantations.

These having seen the girl said, "She

cannot return to life." The first declared,"A person always dies who has beenbitten by a snake on the fifth, sixth,eighth, ninth, and fourteenth days of thelunar month.'' The second asserted,"One who has been bitten on a Saturdayor a Tuesday does not survive." Thethird opined, "Poison infused during cer-tain six lunar mansions cannot be gotunder." Quoth the fourth, "One who has

been bitten in any organ of sense, thelower lip, the cheek, the neck, or thestomach, cannot escape death." Thefifth said, "In this case even Brahma, theCreator, could not restore life—of whataccount, then, are we? Do you performthe funeral rites; we will depart."

Thus saying, the sorcerers went theirway. The mourning father took up hisdaughter's corpse and caused it to beburnt, in the place where dead bodiesare usually burnt, and returned to hishouse.

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After that the three young men said toone another, "We must now seek happi-ness elsewhere. And what better can wedo than obey the words of Indra, theGod of Air, who spake thus ?—

"'For a man who does not travel aboutthere is no felicity, and a good man whostays at home is a bad man. Indra is thefriend of him who travels. Travel!

"'A traveller's legs are like blossomingbranches, and he himself grows andgathers the fruit. All his wrongs vanish,destroyed by his exertion on the road-side. Travel!

"'The fortune of a man who sits, sitsalso; it rises when he rises; it sleepswhen he sleeps; it moves well when hemoves. Travel!

"'A man who sleeps is like the Iron Age.A man who awakes is like the Bronze

Age. A man who rises up is like the SilverAge. A man who travels is like theGolden Age. Travel!

"'A traveller finds honey; a travellerfinds sweet figs. Look at the happinessof the sun, who travailing never tires.

Travel!"'

Before parting they divided the relics of

the beloved one, and then they wenttheir way.

Tribikram, having separated and tied upthe burnt bones, became one of theVaisheshikas, in those days a powerfulsect. He solemnly forswore the eight

great crimes, namely: feeding at night;slaying any animal; eating the fruit oftrees that give milk, or pumpkins oryoung bamboos: tasting honey or flesh;plundering the wealth of others; takingby force a married woman; eating flow-ers, butter, or cheese; and worshipping

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the gods of other religions. He learnedthat the highest act of virtue is to ab-stain from doing injury to sentient crea-tures; that crime does not justify the de-struction of life; and that kings, as theadministrators of criminal justice, arethe greatest of sinners.

He professed the five vows of total absti-nence from falsehood, eating flesh or

fish, theft, drinking spirits, and mar-riage. He bound himself to possess noth-ing beyond a white loin-cloth, a towel towipe the mouth, a beggar's dish, and abrush of woollen threads to sweep theground for fear of treading on insects.And he was ordered to fear secular af-

fairs; the miseries of a future state; thereceiving from others more than thefood of a day at once; all accidents; pro-visions, if connected with the destruc-tion of animal life; death and disgrace;also to please all, and to obtain compas-sion from all.

He attempted to banish his love. He saidto himself, "Surely it was owing only tomy pride and selfishness that I everlooked upon a woman as capable of af-fording happiness; and I thought, 'Ah!ah! thine eyes roll about like the tail ofthe water-wagtail, thy lips resemble theripe fruit, thy bosom is like the lotusbud, thy form is resplendent as goldmelted in a crucible, the moon wanes

through desire to imitate the shadow ofthy face, thou resemblest the pleasure-house of Cupid; the happiness of all timeis concentrated in thee; a touch fromthee would surely give life to a deadimage; at thy approach a living admirerwould be changed by joy into a lifeless

stone; obtaining thee I can face all thehorrors of war; and were I pierced byshowers of arrows, one glance of theewould heal all my wounds.'

"My mind is now averted from the world.Seeing her I say, 'Is this the form by

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which men are bewitched? This is abasket covered with skin; it containsbones, flesh, blood, and impurities.

The stupid creature who is captivated bythis—is there a cannibal feeding inCurrim a greater cannibal than he?

These persons call a thing made up ofimpure matter a face, and drink itscharms as a drunkard swallows the ine-

briating liquor from his cup.

The blind, infatuated beings! Whyshould I be pleased or displeased withthis body, composed of flesh and blood?It is my duty to seek Him who is the Lordof this body, and to disregard everything

which gives rise either to pleasure or topain.'" Baman, the second suitor, tied upa bundle of his beloved one's ashes, andfollowed—somewhat prematurely—theprecepts of the great lawgiver Manu."When the father of a family perceiveshis muscles becoming flaccid, and his

hair grey, and sees the child of his child,let him then take refuge in a forest. Lethim take up his consecrated fire and allhis domestic implements for making ob-lations to it, and, departing from thetown to the lonely wood, let him dwell init with complete power over his organsof sense and of action. With many sortsof pure food, such as holy sages used toeat, with green herbs, roots, and fruit,

let him perform the five great sacra-ments, introducing them with due cer-emonies.

Let him wear a black antelope-hide, or avesture of bark; let him bathe eveningand morning; let him suffer the hair of

his head, his beard and his nails to growcontinually. Let him slide backwards andforwards on the ground; or let him standa whole day on tiptoe; or let him con-tinue in motion, rising and sitting alter-nately; but at sunrise, at noon, and atsunset, let him go to the waters and

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pression of breathing, and he securedfixedness of mind as follows. By placinghis sight and thoughts on the tip of hisnose he perceived smell; on the tip ofhis tongue he realized taste, on the rootof his tongue he knew sound, and soforth. He practiced the eighty-fourAsana or postures, raising his hand tothe wonders of the heavens, till he feltno longer the inconveniences of heat or

cold, hunger or thirst.

He particularly preferred the Padma orlotus-posture, which consists of bringingthe feet to the sides, holding the right inthe left hand and the left in the right. Inthe work of suppressing his breath he

permitted its respiration to reach at fur-thest twelve fingers' breadth, andgradually diminished the distance fromhis nostrils till he could confine it to thelength of twelve fingers from his nose,and even after restraining it for sometime he would draw it from no greater

distance than from his heart. As re-spects time, he began by retaining inspi-ration for twenty-six seconds, and heenlarged this period gradually till hebecame perfect.

He sat cross-legged, closing with his fin-gers all the avenues of inspiration, andhe practiced Prityahara, or the power ofrestraining the members of the body

and mind, with meditation and concen-tration, to which there are four enemies,viz., a sleepy heart, human passions, aconfused mind, and attachment to any-thing but the one Brahma. He also culti-vated Yama, that is, inoffensiveness,truth, honesty, the forsaking of all evil in

the world, and the refusal of gifts exceptfor sacrifice, and Nihama, i.e., purityrelative to the use of water after defile-ment, pleasure in everything whether inprosperity or adversity, renouncing foodwhen hungry, and keeping down thebody.

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Thus delivered from these four enemiesof the flesh, he resembled the unruffledflame of the lamp, and by Brah-magnana, or meditating on the Deity,placing his mind on the sun, moon, fire,or any other luminous body, or within hisheart, or at the bottom of his throat, orin the centre of his skull, he was enabledto ascend from gross images of omnipo-tence to the works and the divine

wisdom of the glorious original.

One day Madhusadan, the Jogi, went toa certain house for food, and the house-holder having seen him began to say,"Be so good as to take your food herethis day!" The visitor sat down, and

when the victuals were ready, the hostcaused his feet and hands to be washed,and leading him to the Chauka, orsquare place upon which meals areserved, seated him and sat by him. Andhe quoted the scripture: "No guest mustbe dismissed in the evening by a house-

keeper: he is sent by the returning sun,and whether he come in fit season or un-seasonably, he must not sojourn in thehouse without entertainment: let me noteat any delicate food, without asking myguest to partake of it: the satisfaction ofa guest will assuredly bring the house-keeper wealth, reputation, long life, anda place in heaven."

The householder's wife then came toserve up the food, rice and split peas,oil, and spices, all cooked in a newearthen pot with pure firewood. Part ofthe meal was served and the rest re-mained to be served, when the woman'slittle child began to cry aloud and to

catch hold of its mother's dress.

She endeavoured to release herself, butthe boy would not let go, and the moreshe coaxed the more he cried, and wasobstinate. On this the mother becameangry, took up the boy and threw him

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upon the fire, which instantly burnt himto ashes.

Madhusadan, the Jogi, seeing this, roseup without eating. The master of thehouse said to him, "Why eatest thounot?" He replied, "I am ' Atithi,' that is tosay, to be entertained at your house, buthow can one eat under the roof of aperson who has committed such a

Rakshasa-like (devilish) deed? Is it notsaid, 'He who does not govern his pas-sions, lives in vain'? 'A foolish king, aperson puffed up with riches, and aweak child, desire that which cannot beprocured'? Also, 'A king destroys his en-emies, even when flying; and the touch

of an elephant, as well as the breath of aserpent, are fatal; but the wicked de-stroy even while laughing'?"

Hearing this, the householder smiled;presently he arose and went to anotherpart of the tenement, and brought back

with him a book, treating on San- jivnividya, or the science of restoring thedead to life. This he had taken from itshidden place, two beams almost touch-ing one another with the ends in the op-posite wall. The precious volume was insingle leaves, some six inches broad bytreble that length, and the paper wasstained with yellow orpiment and the

juice of tamarind seeds to keep away in-

sects.

The householder opened the cloth con-taining the book, untied the flat boardsat the top and bottom, and took outfrom it a charm. Having repeated thisMantra, with many ceremonies, he at

once restored the child to life, saying,"Of all precious things, knowledge is themost valuable; other riches may bestolen, or diminished by expenditure,but knowledge is immortal, and thegreater the expenditure the greater theincrease; it can be shared with none,

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and it defies the power of the thief."

The Jogi, seeing this marvel, tookthought in his heart, "If I could obtainthat book, I would restore my beloved tolife, and give up this course of uncom-fortable postures and difficulty ofbreathing." With this resolution he satdown to his food, and remained in thehouse.

At length night came, and after a time,all, having eaten supper, and gone totheir sleeping-places, lay down. The Jogialso went to rest in one part of thehouse, but did not allow sleep to closehis eyes. When he thought that a fourth

part of the hours of darkness had sped,and that all were deep in slumber, thenhe got up very quietly, and going intothe room of the master of the house, hetook down the book from the beam-endsand went his ways.

Madhusadan, the Jogi, went straight tothe place where the beautiful Sweet Jas-mine had been burned. There he foundhis two rivals sitting talking togetherand comparing experiences. They rec-ognized him at once, and cried aloud tohim, "Brother! thou also hast been wan-dering over the world; tell us this—hastthou learned anything which can profitus?" He replied, "I have learned the sci-

ence of restoring the dead to life"; uponwhich they both exclaimed, "If thou hastreally learned such knowledge, restoreour beloved to life."

Madhusadan proceeded to make his in-cantations, despite terrible sights in the

air, the cries of jackals, owls, crows,cats, asses, vultures, dogs, and lizards,and the wrath of innumerable invisiblebeings, such as messengers of Yama(Pluto), ghosts, devils, demons, imps,fiends, devas, succubi, and others. Allthe three lovers drawing blood from

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their own bodies, offered it to the god-dess Chandi, repeating the following in-cantation, "Hail! supreme delusion!Hail! goddess of the universe! Hail! thouwho fulfillest the desires of all. May I pre-sume to offer thee the blood of my body;and wilt thou deign to accept it, and bepropitious towards me!"

They then made a burnt-offering of their

flesh, and each one prayed, "Grant me,O goddess! to see the maiden aliveagain, in proportion to the fervency withwhich I present thee with mine ownflesh, invoking thee to be propitious tome. Salutation to thee again and again,under the mysterious syllables any!

any!"

Then they made a heap of the bonesand the ashes, which had been carefullykept by Tribikram and Baman. As the

Jogi Madhusadan proceeded with his in-cantation, a white vapour arose from

the ground, and, gradually condensing,assumed a perispiritual form— the fluidenvelope of the soul. The three specta-tors felt their blood freeze as the bonesand the ashes were gradually absorbedinto the before shadowy shape, andthey were restored to themselves onlywhen the maiden Madhuvati begged tobe taken home to her mother.

Then Kama, God of Love, blinded them,and they began fiercely to quarrel aboutwho should have the beautiful maid.Each wanted to be her sole master.

Tribikram declared the bones to be thegreat fact of the incantation; Bamanswore by the ashes; and Madhusadan

laughed them both to scorn. No onecould decide the dispute; the wisestdoctors were all nonplussed; and as forthe Raja—well! we do not go for wit orwisdom to kings. I wonder if the greatRaja Vikram could decide which personthe woman belonged to?

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"To Baman, the man who kept herashes, fellow!" exclaimed the hero, nota little offended by the free remarks ofthe fiend.

"Yet," rejoined the Baital impudently, "if Tribikram had not preserved her boneshow could she have been restored tolife? And if Madhusadan had not learnedthe science of restoring the dead to life

how could she have been revivified? Atleast, so it seems to me. But perhapsyour royal wisdom may explain."

"Devil!" said the king angrily, "Tribi-kram, who preserved her bones, by thatact placed himself in the position of her

son; therefore he could not marry her.Madhusadan, who, restoring her to life,gave her life, was evidently a father toher; he could not, then, become her hus-band. Therefore she was the wife ofBaman, who had collected her ashes.""I am happy to see, O king," exclaimed

the Vampire, "that in spite of my presen-timents, we are not to part company justyet. These little trips I hold to be, likelovers' quarrels, the prelude to closerunion. With your leave we will still prac-tice a little suspension."

And so saying, the Baital again as-cended the tree, and was suspendedthere.

"Would it not be better," thought themonarch, after recapturing and shoul-dering the fugitive, "for me to sit downthis time and listen to the fellow's story?Perhaps the double exercise of walkingand thinking confuses me."

With this idea Vikram placed his bundleupon the ground, well tied up with tur-band and waistband; then he seatedhimself cross-legged before it, and badehis son do the same.

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The Vampire strongly objected to thismeasure, as it was contrary, he as-serted, to the covenant between himand the Raja. Vikram replied by citingthe very words of the agreement, prov-ing that there was no allusion to walkingor sitting.

Then the Baital became sulky, andswore that he would not utter anotherword. But he, too, was bound by the

chain of destiny. Presently he openedhis lips, with the normal prelude that hewas about to tell a true tale.

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