564
was the flower-weaponed god*[1] himself; his hand was ever open in bounty, but was firmly clenched on the hilt of his sword. That king had a wife named Saumyadarśaná, who was to him as Śachi to Indra, as Gaurí to Śiva, as Śrí to Vishnu. And that king had a great minister named Sumati, and a warder named Vajráyudha, in whoso family the office was hereditary. With these the king remained ruling his realm, propitiating Śiva, and ever bearing various vows in order to obtain a son.
In the meanwhile, as Śiva was with Párvatí on the mighty mountain Kailása, the glens of which are visited by troops of gods, which is beautiful with the smile that the Northern quarter smiles joyous at vanquishing all the others, all the gods with Indra at their head came to visit him, being afflicted by the oppression of the Mlechchhas; and the immortals bowed, and then sat down and praised Śiva; and when he asked them the reason of their coming, they addressed to him this prayer; " O god, those Asuras, who were slain by thee and Vishnu, have been now again born on the earth in the form of Mlechchhas. They slay Bráhmans, they interfere with the sacrifices and other ceremonies, and they carry off the daughters of hermits: indeed, what crime do not the villains commit? Now, thou knewest, lord, that the world of gods is ever nourished by the earth, for the oblation offered in the fire by Bráhmans nourishes the dwellers in heaven. But, as the Mlechchhas have overrun the earth, the auspicious words are nowhere pronounced over the burnt- offering, and the world of gods is being exhausted by the cutting off of their share of the sacrifice and other supplies.†[2] So devise an expedient in this matter; cause some hero to become incarnate on the earth, mighty enough to destroy those Mlechchhas."
When Śiva bad been thus entreated by the gods, he said to them, " Depart; you need not be anxious about this matter; be at your ease. Rest assured that I will soon devise an expedient which will meet the difficulty." When Śiva had said this, he dismissed the gods to their abodes. ‡[3]
And when they had gone, the Holy one, with Párvatí at his side, summoned a Gana, named Mályavat, and gave him this order, "My son, descend into the condition of a man, and be born in the city of Ujjayiní as the brave son of king Mahendráditya. That king is a portion of me, and his wife is sprung from a portion of Ambiká; be born in their family, and do the heaven-dwellers the service they require. Slay all those Mlech-
