Of ascetics and stolen necklaces…

Read the previous part here

“This is an opportune moment”, said Buddhiśarīra. “Now listen carefully. Got to Padmāvatī’s house tonight, and make her drink so much wine that she gets heavily intoxicated. When she is drunk, make a mark on her hip with this”, as he passed on a small iron trishul to the prince, “take away all her ornaments and let yourself down from the window by the same rope. I will do the rest…”

Illustration by the renowned Karatholuvu Chandrasekaran Shivashankaran

इत्य् उक्त्वा कारयित्वा च क्रोडवालनिभाश्रिकम् ।
मन्त्रिपुत्रो ददौ तस्मै त्रिशूलं राजसूनवे ॥ १२,८.१५७ ॥

राजपुत्रः स हस्ते तत् कृत्वा कुटिलकर्कशम् ।
कालायस दृढं चित्तम् इव कान्तावयस्ययोः ॥ १२,८.१५८ ॥

तथेति पूर्ववद् रात्राव् अगात् पद्मावतीगृहम् ।
अविचार्यं प्रभूणां हि शुचेर् वाक्यं स्वमन्त्रिणः ॥ १२,८.१५९ ॥

तत्र तां मद्यनिश्चेष्टां शूलेन जघने ऽङ्किताम् ।
हृतालंकरणां कृत्वा तस्यागात् सख्युर् अन्तिकम् ॥ १२,८.१६० ॥

दर्शिताभरणस् तस्मै शशंस च यथाकृतम् ।
ततः स मन्त्रिपुत्रो ऽपि सिद्धं मेने मनीषितम् ॥ १२,८.१६१ ॥

प्रातर् गत्वा श्मशानं च सो ऽभूत् तापसवेषभृत् ।
स्वैरं राजसुतं तं च विदधे शिष्यरूपिणम् ॥ १२,८.१६२ ॥

अब्रवीत् तं च गच्छैकम् इतो ऽलंकरणाद् इमाम् ।
मुक्तावलीं समादाय त्वं विक्रेतुम् इवापणे ॥ १२,८.१६३ ॥

बहुमूल्यं वदेश् चास्या येनैतां नैव कश् चने ।
गृह्णीयाद् भ्राम्यमाणां च सर्वः कोऽपि विलोकयेत् ॥ १२,८.१६४ ॥

गुरुणा मम विक्रेतुम् इयं दत्तेत्य् अनाकुलः ।
ब्रूयाश् च यदि गृह्णीयुर् अत्र त्वां पुररक्षिणः ॥ १२,८.१६५ ॥

इति स प्रेषितस् तेन गत्वा राजसुतस् तदा ।
अतिष्ठद् आपणे भ्राम्यन् व्यक्तं मुक्तावलीं दधत् ॥ १२,८.१६६ ॥

तथाभूतश् च जगृहे स दृष्ट्वा पुररक्षिभिः ।
दन्तघाटसुतामोषज्ञप्तेश् चौरेगवेषिभिः ॥ १२,८.१६७ ॥

निन्ये च नगराध्यक्षनिकटं तैः स तत्क्षणात् ।
स च तं तापसाकारं दृष्ट्वा पप्रच्छ सान्त्वतः ॥ १२,८.१६८ ॥

The prince looked at the small trishul – it resembled the crooked heart of his beloved, and that of his friend, which was as hard as iron, and quickly hid it inside his clothes. “The advice of a wise man should be followed, one should not hesitate even a bit”, he thought to himself as he walked through the shrubbery to Padmāvatī’s chambers.

In a short period of time, he had Padmāvatī drunk from wine, and she passed out a little while later. VajraMukuta then heated the iron trishul, and branded her hip with the spikes, took away all her ornaments, and went back to the hut. Buddhiśarīra congratulated him on a task well accomplished.

The next morning, as per his plan, Buddhiśarīra called VajraMukuta and said “Now comes the crucial part. I will change my garb into that of an ascetic, and go and sit in the nearby cremation grounds. I will change your appearance to look as an ascetic as well, and you will take this pearl necklace and pretend to sell it in the nearby market. Put a very high price on it, so that no one may be willing to buy it, but you should attract enough attention and inquisitiveness.

The police will soon approach you, and you should tell them that this was given to you by your guru, which is me. Then, lead them to the cremation ground, where they will find me…”

VajraMukuta did the needful. He reached the market, pearl necklace in hand, and started to speak loudly to some jewellers, asking for a ridiculously high price. It didn’t take long for people to notice, and soon enough, the police were there, arresting him for the theft of the necklace of the daughter of the ivory carver.

They brought him in front of the judge, who, seeing him dressed as an ascetic, asked him politely…

कुतो मुक्तावलीयं ते भगवन्न् इह हारिता ।
दन्तघाटककन्याया हृतं ह्य् आभरणं निशि ॥ १२,८.१६९ ॥

तच् छ्रुत्वा राजपुत्रस् तं सो ऽवादीत् तापसाकृतिः ।
गुरुणा मम दत्तेयम् एत्यासौ पृच्छ्यताम् इति ॥ १२,८.१७० ॥

ततश् चोपेत्य तं नत्वा पप्रच्छ नगराधिपः ।
मुक्तावलीयं भगवन् कुतस् ते शिष्यहस्तगा ॥ १२,८.१७१ ॥

श्रुत्वैतद् विजनं कृत्वा स धूर्तस् तम् अभाषत ।
अहं तपस्वी भ्राम्यामि सदारण्येष्व् इतस् ततः ॥ १२,८.१७२ ॥

सो ऽहं दैवाद् इह प्राप्तः श्मशाने ऽत्र स्थितो निशि ।
अपश्यं योगिनीचक्रं समागतम् इतस् ततः ॥ १२,८.१७३ ॥

तन्मध्ये चैकयानीय योगिन्या राजपुत्रकः ।
उद्घाटितहृदम्भोजो भैरवाय निवेदितः ॥ १२,८.१७४ ॥

पानमत्ता च सा हर्तुं जपतो मे ऽक्षमालिकाम् ।
प्रावर्तत महामाया विकारान् कुर्वती मुखे ॥ १२,८.१७५ ॥

अतिप्रवृत्ता च मया क्रुद्धेन जघनस्थले ।
अङ्किता सा त्रिशूलेन मन्त्रप्रज्वालिताश्रिणा ॥ १२,८.१७६ ॥

हृता मुक्तावली चेयं तस्याः कण्ठान् मया तदा ।
सैषाद्य तापसानर्हा विक्रेया मम वर्तते ॥ १२,८.१७७ ॥

हृता मुक्तावली चेयं तस्याः कण्ठान् मया तदा ।
सैषाद्य तापसानर्हा विक्रेया मम वर्तते ॥ १२,८.१७७ ॥

“O holy sadhu! Where did you get this necklace? This is part of the set of ornaments that were stolen last night, from the house of an ivory-carver named Saṅgrāmavardhana, and so we wonder how this came to be in your possession?”

VajraMukuta replied “My guru gave this necklace to me. If you have any questions, you should ask him yourself. I can take you to him…”

The judge agreed and they set out to the cremation grounds, where they saw Buddhiśarīra, sitting cross-legged, engrossed in meditation.

“My salutations o reversed sage”, said the judge as Buddhiśarīra opened his eyes. “I would like to know from where you got this pearl necklace that your disciple was trying to sell at the market this morning…”

“My good fellow”, replied Buddhiśarīra. “I am a tantric, an ascetic. I wander in these forests, and continue my rituals and meditation. Last night, when I arrived here at this cremation ground, I was startled to see six yoginis performing some odd rituals in the dead of the night. One yogini offered a young prince with his heart laid bare, and the others danced around in their drunkenness. This yogini was very powerful – she changed her form multiple times and then spotted me. Coming towards me, she smirked and in her drunk state, touched my holy japa mala (prayer beads).

I got angry and with the power of my mantras, branded her with my trishul, and snatched this pearl necklace from her neck.

Those yoginis then fled the place.

When I finished my meditation in the morning, I realized that the pearl necklace was still with me. I am not a man of the world, I have no use for much material possessions. And so I asked my disciple here, to go the market and dispose of it….

The judge said…

to be continued…