Ciradātṛ-rāja
There lived a king named Ciradātā in a city called Cirapura. Though the king was a nice person by his nature, he was surrounded by evil men. Prasaṅga and his friends who had come to the service of the king from a distant land did not get any remuneration, though they served him for five long years. Even if they wanted to see the king, they never got a chance to do so.
The king’s son happened to pass away. All his servants came to...
Another day, when Naravāhanadatta was in the court, a prince by name Samaratuṅga came to him and said, ‘O lord! My cousin Saṅgrāmavarṣa and his four sons are jointly destroying the country. I will go and arrest them!’ Knowing well that Samaratuṅga had but a small army, Naravāhanadatta offered to send his army along. However, without seeking the support of the king's army he waged a war and arrested all five of them. Naravāhanadatta bestowed upon...
Vīravara’s son woke up and quickly understood the situation and said, “Father! I am indeed fortunate to be of service for our master’s wellbeing! We owe him our daily bread - hence it is only fit that I serve him in his time of need! Take me along, by all means!”. Vīravara happily said “Truly you take after me, my son!”. The king who had followed Vīravara overheard all this and felt amazed at their courage. Vīravara took his son on his shoulders...
On yet another occasion, the king had to fight a war with a rival from the frontiers. The seeker went with him and defeated many enemy men with his staff. The king was victorious and returned home. Though he had witnessed the strength and skill of the seeker, he did not reward him at all.
Five years rolled on. In the sixth year, the king was overcome with compassion for the seeker and thought – He is suffering so much. Yet, I have not given him...
He followed her instructions and performed intense tapas to propriate Vindhyavāsinī. She appeared before him and said, “O brāhmaṇa! All four of you were my gaṇas; Pañcamūla, Caturvaktra, Mahodaramukha, and Vikaṭavadana; once when you were wandering on the banks of Gaṅgā you were attracted towards Cāpalekhā, who was the daughter of a muni; she protested saying, ‘I’m a kanyā; go away!’ the other three heeded her warning; but you persisted; she...
The story of Anaṅgaratī
The city of Śūrapura was ruled by king Mahāvarāha. His queen was Padmaratī and their only daughter was Anaṅgaratī. When the princess attained youth, the fame of her beauty spread far and wide across the land. Many noble and worthy princes sought her hand. However, out of sheer vanity due to her own beauty, she refused them all. She was hell-bent upon marrying someone who was either valorous or handsome or sagacious. Drawn...
Won't you be able to tolerate it for a night? – Kāñcanaprabhā said. Soon after, she went away with her child. Naravāhanadatta came to Kauśāmbi. At night, as he was falling asleep, Gomukha narrated to him this tale of Pṛthvīrūpa –
Story of King Pṛthvīrūpa
There is a town called Pratiṣṭhāna in Dakṣiṇāpatha. It was ruled by an extremely handsome king named Pṛthvīrūpa. Once a śramaṇa looked at him and said, “Deva! We have roamed about the whole wide...
निशुम्भभरनम्रोर्वीखर्विताः पर्वता अपि |
यं नमन्तीव नृत्यन्तं नमामस्तं विनायकम् ||
[Owing to the crushing weight capable of bending even the earth, the mountains too seem to bow down, we salute that dancing Vināyaka]
1. Once, Naravāhanadatta ventured out for hunting along with his friend Gomukha and entered into the dense forest. Mesmerised by the divine music accompanied by vīṇā in the forest, they followed the direction of the music and...
One day, the king was having his meal. Guṇaśarmā, who sat in his proximity refused to eat a certain dish which was brought to him by the cook. When asked the reason for his act, he said – ‘Even as I saw it, I came to know that it is filled with poison! You can test it by having it fed to someone else; I will then relieve him of poison and cure him!; When the king asked the cook to eat the particular dish, he fell unconscious upon eating....
चलत्कर्णानिलोद्धूत सिन्धूरारुणिताम्बरः।
जयत्यकालेऽपि सृजन् सन्धामिव गजाननः॥
Victory to Gajānana, who reddens the sky with sindhūra
scattered by the wind from the constant flapping of his ears,
creating a sense of sunset even when it’s not the hour of dusk!
1. One day when Naravāhanadatta was in his father's assembly hall, a divine personage descended from the sky and introduced himself as Vajraprabha, a king of the vidyādharas,...