. Stories of India's gods and heroes . spot whence thecries came, exclaiming loudly that the wretch whothus transgressed should forthwith perish under thestroke of his royal arrows. Hearing this threateninglanguage, the great sage was much enraged ; and,coming upon him in this mood, King Harischandrawas greatly confounded, and stood trembling like aleaf. Casting himself down, he cried, Be not wroth,great lord ! I sought only to do the warriors duty,which is, according to the sacred law, to fly to theprotection of those who cry for aid. The saint deigned not to answer directly, but asked, To wh
. Stories of India's gods and heroes . spot whence thecries came, exclaiming loudly that the wretch whothus transgressed should forthwith perish under thestroke of his royal arrows. Hearing this threateninglanguage, the great sage was much enraged ; and,coming upon him in this mood, King Harischandrawas greatly confounded, and stood trembling like aleaf. Casting himself down, he cried, Be not wroth,great lord ! I sought only to do the warriors duty,which is, according to the sacred law, to fly to theprotection of those who cry for aid. The saint deigned not to answer directly, but asked, To whom, O king, must thou give gifts ? Whomprotect ? And with whom wage war ? To Brahmans first, replied the king, should Igive gifts ; the terrified I should protect; with foesshould I make war. Then said Viswamitra, If, then, thou regardestthy duty, give me, a Brahman begging of thee, afitting fee. To this the king responded gladly, Whateer thoudesirest, great sage, consider it already given, evento my kingdom, my wife, my life Whateer thou desirest, Great Sage The Tale of Viswamitra 33 On this, Viswamitra demanded such a fee as mightbe given for the Rajasuya sacrifice ; and, being askedto speak more exactly, he demanded the surrenderof all Harischandras possessions, leaving only hisperson and his personal merits, with his wife and hisson. With willing heart and unmoved countenancethe king gave assent to the gift. Then the sagecommanded that, as Harischandras kingdom and rulehad now passed into his own hands, the king shouldforthwith, at his behest, go forth from that country,clad in coarse bark-cloth, on foot, with wife and childalone. Having meekly assented, the king prepared todepart, but the sage again accosted him with ademand for further fees; and though the kingpleaded that nought had been left to them save theirthree bodies, yet Viswamitra was urgent, andthreatened to curse the king if a generous fee werenot forthcoming. In great straits, Harischandrapleaded for
Size: 1312px × 1905px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyorkthomasycrow
