Read the previous part here…
In the middle of all this, was a large temple of Mā Durgā, as tall as Mount Meru, with walls of precious stones and a high pataka (flag) that was studded with jewels.
Sattvaśīla prostrated himself before the Devi, sang a स्तोत्रम् (stotram) in her praise, and then sat down there, wondering if he was in a dream and this was all Maya, or reality.
तावच् च देव्यग्रगतप्रभामण्डलकान्तरात् ।
अकस्मान् निरगात् कन्या दिव्योद्घाट्य कवाटकम् ॥ १२,१४.४७ ॥
इन्दी वराक्षी फुल्लाब्जवदना कुसुमस्मिता ।
मृणालनालमृद्वङ्गी जङ्गमेव सरोजिनी ॥ १२,१४.४८ ॥
स्त्रीसहस्रपरीवारा देवीगर्भगृहं च सा ।
विवेश सत्त्वशीलस्य हृदयं च ततः समम् ॥ १२,१४.४९ ॥
निरगात् कृतपूजा च देवीगर्भगृहात् ततः ।
न पुनः सत्त्वशीलस्य हृदयात् सा कथं चन ॥ १२,१४.५० ॥
प्राविशत् सा च तत्रैव प्रभामण्डलकान्तरे ।
सत्त्वशीलो ऽप्य् असौ तस्याः पश्चात् तत्र प्रविष्टवान् ॥ १२,१४.५१ ॥
प्रविश्य च ददर्शान्तर् अन्यद् एवोत्तमं पुरम् ।
संकेतोद्यानम् इव यत् सर्वासां भोगसंपदाम् ॥ १२,१४.५२ ॥
तत्रान्तर्मणिपर्यङ्कनिषण्णां तां विलोक्य सः ।
कन्याम् उपेत्य तत्पार्श्वे सत्त्वशील उपाविशत् ॥ १२,१४.५३ ॥
आसीच् च तन्मुखासक्तलोचनो लिखितो यथा ।
अङ्गैः सोत्कम्पपुलकैर् वदन्न् आलिङ्गनोत्कताम् ॥ १२,१४.५४ ॥
दृष्ट्वा च तं स्मराविष्टं चेटीनाम् अत्र सा मुखम् ।
अद्राक्षीत् ताश् च तत्कालम् इङ्गितज्ञास् तम् अब्रुवन् ॥ १२,१४.५५ ॥
अतिथिस् त्वम् इह प्राप्तस् तद् अस्मत्स्वामिनीकृतम् ।
भजस्वातिथ्यम् उत्तिष्ठ स्नाहि भुङ्क्स्व ततः परम् ॥ १२,१४.५६ ॥
Suddenly, the door of the temple opened, and in front of Sattvaśīla, stood a heavenly maiden….her eyes were like blue lotuses, her face like the beauty of the moon, her smile like a beautiful flower in full bloom, her body as beautifully shaped as the root of a lotus…in fact, she matched the beauty of a lotus pond filled with a thousand lotuses…
She walked towards Devi and entered the garbha griha (inner sanctum) of the temple and the heart of Sattvaśīla at the same time.
She bowed in front of the Devi, prayed to her, and then turned around and stepped out of the garbha griha, but not out of the heart of Sattvaśīla, who followed her as she made her way out of the temple.
And when he exited the temple door, he came upon another splendid city, which seemed like a garden where all the pleasures of the world had agreed to meet. There, Sattvaśīla saw the beautiful maiden sitting on a couch studded with precious stones, and he went and sat beside her. His eyes remained transfixed on her face, like a man in a painting, and the only expression of his being alive was the trembling of his limbs…
And she saw him so enamored of her, and she glanced at her attendants, who said to Sattvaśīla…
“You have come here as our guest, so please accept our hospitality! Do rise, have a bath and let us serve you some food…”
तच् छ्रुत्वा सो ऽवलम्ब्याशां खतम् अप्य् उत्थितस् ततः ।
ययौ प्रदर्शितां ताभिर् एकाम् उद्यानवापिकाम् ॥ १२,१४.५७ ॥
तस्यां निमग्नश् चोत्तस्थौ ताम्रलिप्त्यां स तत्क्षणात् ।
चण्डसिंहनृपोद्यानवापीमध्यात् ससंभ्रमः ॥ १२,१४.५८ ॥
तत्र प्राप्तम् अकस्माच् च विक्ष्यात्मानम् अचिन्तयत् ।
अहो किम् एतत् क्वोद्यानम् इदं दिव्यं क्व तत् पुरम् ॥ १२,१४.५९ ॥
तत्रामृतासारसमं क्व तत् तस्याश् च दर्शनम् ।
क्व चानन्तरम् एवेदं तद्विश्लेषमहाविषम् ॥ १२,१४.६० ॥
स्वप्नश् च नायं सुस्पष्टो विनिद्रो ऽनुभवो हि मे ।
ध्रुवं पातालकन्याभिस् ताभिर् मूढो ऽस्मि वञ्चितः ॥ १२,१४.६१ ॥
इति ध्यायन् विना तां स कन्याम् उन्मादवान् इव ।
उद्याने तत्र बभ्राम कामार्तो विललाप च ॥ १२,१४.६२ ॥
तदवस्थं च तं दृष्ट्वा पिशङ्गैः पुष्परेणुभिः ।
वातोद्धूतैः परीताङ्गं विप्रयोगानलैर् इव ॥ १२,१४.६३ ॥
उद्यानपाला गत्वैव चण्डसिंहमहीभृतम् ।
व्यजिज्ञपन् स चोद्भ्रान्तः स्वयम् एत्य ददर्श तम् ॥ १२,१४.६४ ॥
सान्त्वयित्वा च पप्रच्छ किम् इदं ब्रूहि नः सखे ।
क्व प्रस्थितस् त्वं क्व प्राप्तः क्वास्तः क्व पतितः शरः ॥ १२,१४.६५ ॥
तच् छ्रुत्वा स स्ववृत्तान्तं तस्मै सर्व शशंस तम् ।
सत्त्वशीलो नृपतये सो ऽप्य् अथैवम् अचिन्तयत् ॥ १२,१४.६६ ॥
हन्त वीरो ऽपि मत्पुण्यैः कामेनैषो विडम्बितः ।
आनृण्यं गन्तुम् एतस्य लब्धो ह्य् अवसरो मया ॥ १२,१४.६७ ॥
इत्य् अन्तश् चिन्तयित्वा स वीरो राजा जगाद तम् ।
तह्रि मुञ्च मुधा शोकम् अहं त्वां प्रापयामि ताम् ॥ १२,१४.६८ ॥
नीत्वा तेनैव मार्गेण प्रियाम् असुरकन्यकाम् ।
इति चाश्वासयामास तं स स्नानादिना नृपः ॥ १२,१४.६९ ॥
Even after he heard that, it took Sattvaśīla a lot of struggle to leave the maiden’s side and get up from where he was. He was then guided into a tank in the middle of the garden. He plunged himself into it, and when he rose from the waters, to his astonishment, he found himself in the middle of a tank in the garden of King Caṇḍasiṃha in Tāmraliptī.
“What is the meaning of this!”, he thought to himself, “I was there with that beautiful maiden a moment ago, in that beautiful city, and now suddenly I find myself back here! In an instant, I have exchanged the nectar of the time I spent with her, for the poison of her separation. Was it a dream? I don’t think so, because the experience of being there was very vivid…Oh how I have been fooled by the maidens of Pātāla!”
This thought made him very restless, and he wandered all over that garden like a man possessed, weeping in anguish at his plight. The gardeners saw him covered in the yellow pollen of the flowers, and it seemed like he was burning in the fires of separation. Startled, they informed the king, who rushed to the garden, and seeing his friend in such a state, calmed him down and said…
“My dear friend, tell me why you feel this way? You set out to reach someplace, and ended up someplace else. How did all this happen?”
Sattvaśīla then narrated the incident to the king in great detail, and when he was done, the king thought to himself,
“This brave and loyal friend of mine went to fulfill a task that I had given him, but is now struck by love himself. I now have an opportunity to repay my debt of gratitude to him…”
And so the king told him “O Sattvaśīla! Don’t grieve, for I will help you reach the same place once again and in the presence of that beautiful Asura maiden. You refresh yourself and rest for today – tomorrow, we will set out on our quest…
to be continued…