Canto CXX - Khanīnetra’s exploits

^[1]

Viviṃśa was succeeded by Ms son Khanīnetra, who ivas a great sacrificer—Being son-less he went hunting to hill a deer for a sacrifice, and two deer came, one having no offspring and the other many — Each pressed his claim to be hilled, but the king refused to kill either.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

His son was Khanīnetra, great in strength and prowess, at whose sacrifices sang the Gandharvas, filled with astonishment, thus —“Like unto Khanīnetra there will be no other sacrificer on earth.” After completing ten thousand sacrifices, he gave the earth with its seas away. And he it was who, after giving away all the earth to high-souled brāhmans, acquired wealth through austerities fully performed, and lavished that also;^[2] and after obtaining unparalleled increase of riches from that most noble giver, brāhmans accepted no donation from any other king, O brāhman:— he it was who sacrificed sixty-seven thousand and sixty-seven hundred and sixty-seven sacrifices with abundance of largesse.

That monarch being son-less engaged in a hunt with the desire of obtaining flesh for a sacrifice to the pitṛs in order to obtain a son, O great muni. He rode on his horse, away from his troops, absolutely alone in a great forest, having his leathern bow-guard and finger-protector bound on him, and carrying arrows, sword and bow. A deer issuing out of a dense forest from another side said to the horse that carried him— “Accomplish thy object by killing me.”

The king spoke:

Other deer on seeing me flee in great terror; how is it that thou wishest to yield thyself as a gift to death?

The deer spoke:

I have no son, O great king; vain is the purpose of my existence; while wandering about I do not perceive the use of maintaining my life here.

Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Now another deer approached the king and said in the presence of that first deer—“Enough of this, O king; slay me, perform thy rite with my flesh. As thou mayest thus succeed in thy object, so will that also be beneficial to me. Thou, O great king, desirest to sacrifice to thy pitṛs in order to obtain a son; how wilt thou gain thy earnest wish by means of the flesh of this other son-less deer? As is the rite that is to be performed, such is the thing one should offer. Knowledge of the odours of sweetly-odorous things is not ascertained by means of ill-odorous things.

The king spoke:

This other deer has declared to me that the reason of his indifference to worldly desires is his son-lessness: tell thou me what is the reason of thy indifference to worldly desires in thy abandonment of life.

The deer spoke:

Many are my sons, O king; many are my daughters also; in the miseries of my anxieties for whom I dwell as amid the flames of a raging conflagration. O king, this most weakly deer-tribe is to be mastered by every one, and I have excessive self-interest in those my children—therefore I am distressed. I am in fear of men, lions, tigers, wolves, and other ravenous beasts, but not of a feeble animal, nor of all good creatures, nor even of a dog or jackal, my lord. Being such, I desire most earnestly for the sake of my kindred, that all this earth may be free for once from the fear of men, Hons, and other beasts. Some animals, cows, goats, sheep, horses and such like, feed on grass; for their thriving I wish those beasts sent to destruction. After those beasts then have departed and my offspring remain separate, anxious thoughts occur by hundreds to me whose mind is enveloped by self-interest, such as —‘Has a son of mine while browsing in the forest encountered a crafty trap, or a thunderbolt, or a noose? or has he fallen into the power of a man, or lion or other dangerous creature? What condition has this one reached? what condition have those sons of mine reached, who while actually grazing have now gone to the very great forest?’ On seeing that those my sons have reached my presence,^[3] O king, I, panting somewhat, wish for night however as security At dawn I desire day earnestly as security, and when the sun has set I desire again the night earnestly: when will there be safety at every time? This I have declared to thee, O king, is the cause of my anxiety. Be gracious to me therefore—let this thy arrow be discharged at me! That is the cause why pierced by hundreds of sufferings I thus forsake even my life; hearken thou as I speak, O king! Named ‘The SUnless’ are the worlds, to which those who kill themselves go; but cattle that are suitable for sacrifice attain thus to exalted stations,^[4] O lord. Agni was a domestic animal^[5] formerly; the lord of the waters was a domestic animal; and so was the Sun, who gained exalted stations and reached his culmination in sacrifice.^[6] Shew me this pity then, and conduct me to an exalted position; and thou shalt obtain the earnestly desired wish of thy soul by gaining a son.

The first deer spoke:

O supreme king, this deer must not be killed; he is happy as a kind doer, who has many sons; I must be killed who have no progeny.

The second deer spoke:

Happy in truth art thou, sir deer, being such a one for whom suffering exists in a single body! He who has many bodies has manifold sufferings. But formerly when I was single, the suffering that arises from the body consisted then in my regard for myself; that become doubled when there was a wife. When children were born, then as many as they were, so many sites in my body did my sufferings find in sooth. Hast not thou, sir, been successful, for whom existence has not tended to excessive suffering? My offspring are for suffering in this world, and will be of opposite qualities in the next world. Since I do that for the preservation and nourishment of my children, and am anxious about that, my birth will therefore certainly be in hell.^[7]

The king spoke:

I know not, O deer, whether he who has offspring is happy in this world, or he who has no son; and this undertaking of mine in order to obtain a son makes my mind vacillate. Offspring verily tend then to cause suffering both in this world and in the other world; nevertheless, debts come upon those who have no son—so have I heard. I being such will strive to obtain a son, without the slaughter of breathing beings, O deer, even with very arduous austerities, as did a king of yore.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Canto cxxi in the Calcutta edition.

[2]:

The Poona edition reads āsādyāmocayat sādhikena for dsādya mocayet sādhitena, “acquired wealth through austerities and lavished that together with more besides” (kośa-stha-dravyeṇa saha).

[3]:

This is the reading of the Bombay edition prāptān mamūbhyāśam; instead of the Calcutta reading prāpta-samābhyāsam, which seems incorrect; samā-bhyāsa is not in the dictionary.

[4]:

Uttama-lokān (commentary)

[5]:

Paśu.

[6]:

Or “and the Sun gained exalted stations and reached his culmination in sacrifice.’

[7]:

The Poona edition reads instead cintayāmi ca sambhūtiṃ tena me narako dhruvam, “and am anxious about my offspring (sambhūti = santati, comment.) therefore hell is certainly destined for me.”