The Story of the Rishi Vidyuccora

Rendered from Old Kannada by S. MANJANATH, M.A., Tumkur

(Ancient works of sustained prose writing are somewhat of a rarity in Kannada as in other Indian languages. The story herewith given is taken from the famous Vaddaradhane by SIVAKOTI ACARYA, a Jain writer of not later perhaps than the 9th century, and is the 13th of the 19 stories contained in that prose classic, which is claimed to be the earliest extant prose work in Kannada Literature. The story is remarkable for its live narrative interest, containing how one who became a saint acted the role of a thief and put himself to test on a youthful brag (with a friend of this boyhood) in fulfillment of a wager.

The story translated here has been edited in Kannada and published in the journal of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat–by Sri D. L. Narasimhachar, M.A., to whom acknowledgment is due.)

Mithila was a city in the country of Videha. The King of the city was Vamaratha a descendant of Padmaratha. The King and his Queen, Bandhumati, lived in comfort for some years enjoying all the pleasures desired. The chief police officer of the city was Yamadanda. In the same city there lived a thief of the name of Vidyuccora. He was well versed in all the thiefly arts like Jrmbhini, Stambhini, Mohini, Sarshapi, Talodghatni, Vidya Mantra, Choornayaga, Ghatikanjana and the like. During nights he stole the accumulated wealth of many in the city and buried it all in a big cave of a hill not far from the city. He closed the opening of the cave with a huge stone. During day time he lived in ruins of a temple where he transformed himself into a leper by smearing body with a particular anjana. In as ugly a shape and state as his plastic technique enabled him to change himself he produced a disgust in those who saw him and went a-begging from house to house in the city. At nightfall he regained his bright and beautiful natural shape, wore clothes of shining lace, sprinkled on them sweet perfumes, wore a garland around his neck and chewed betel leaves with nuts mixed with the best spices and refined camphor. So arrayed he entered the locality of public women showing to advantage the beauty and majesty of his form and buying with his accumulated wealth the pleasures which women of celebrity had made a favourable impression on him could offer him. Thus he lived unrecognised and stole all the wealth of the jewellers and of the diamond merchants, of the cloth merchants, the ambassadors, the rich prostitutes and the nobles.

Now it happened that Acyutendra had presented to King Padmaratha, in admiration of his character, a necklace of great beauty and value called Sarvarujapahara. It was a family treasure and King Vamaratha had come into possession of it. In the seventh storey of the palace was his sleeping apartment in which the King kept the necklace treasured in a small box and worshipped it with perfumes, akshata (coloured rice), flowers, incense and lights. One day Vidyuccora applied a particular anjana to his eyes and rendering himself invisible entered the sleeping room of the King, opened the box and carried away the sacred necklace. He buried it as usual in the cave beyond the city and reassumed the guise of a leper.

The next day dawned. The King could not find the necklace. He sat on his throne and sent for his chief police officer and said to him:

“Yamadanda, a thief has been stealing the wealth of the brahmins, the foreigners, the prostitutes and the farmers who dwell in the city. You have not caught him. You seem to do nothing in the matter. The thief has entered my bedroom, opened my box and carried away the precious heirloom presented to us by Acyutendra. Find the thief quickly and bring the necklace. Else, I shall inflict on you the punishment that the thief deserves.”

The officer said in reply: “Lord, give me time for seven days. If I do not bring the thief by then you may deal with me as it may please you.”

The King agreed and the officer left the palace. In the city Yamadanda searched through the streets of prostitutes, the shops, markets, temples, parks and viharas. In the suburbs and neighbouring towns he effected a search for six days without rest or relaxation of effort. He could not discover the thief. On the seventh day Yamadanda watched the leper as he went out of the ruined temple. He saw Vidyuccora leaping over a trench using the art of a thief. Yamadanda concluded that the leper was the thief he was in search of all these days. Vidyuccora protested loudly to Yamadanda who captured him, took him to the palace and to the King, and charged him with all the thefts in the city. The leper said; “Lord, the whole city knows that I am not a thief. The police officer which has not been able to catch the real thief is afraid for his own life. He captured a poor citizen who lives begging in the city and has offered to death.” Yamadanda who was fully versed in all the arts of catching a thief said to the King: “This man transforms himself during the night steals the city’s wealth. During day he takes on the guise of a leper. I shall give you such proof that you may not believe him.” He took a pratighutikanjana and applied it to the eyes of Vidyuccora who regained his naturally beautiful and bright form. The thief remarked: “Lord, this man is skilled in the use of anjanas. He is a wizard and can transform any man into any shape and form.” The officer said that he would experiment upon others and show to the King the work of the anjanas. With the permission of the King he brought women from inside the King’s palace and applied the particular anjanas to their eyes. All of them looked like lepers. Then he applied the pratighutikanjana and they regained their own beautiful forms. The King was convinced that Vidyuccora was the thief and ordered Yamadanda to punish him as befitted his crimes. Yamadanda took the thief home. It was a cold night in the month of Magha. The thief was punished with thirty-two kinds of punishment. He endured them all with great calmness and loudly protested that he was not the thief and that the officer was killing him because he had power to do so.

2

Yamadanda himself was now convinced that this man was not the thief he was after. At sunrise he went to the palace and reported to the King that Vidyuccora could not be the thief for he had endured all the thirty-two kinds of torture inflicted on him. He asked the King to deal with him as he pleased as he had failed in his office. The King ordered that Yamadanda should now be taken to the place of execution and be impaled for inefficiency and failure. The King’s servants accordingly took Yamadanda to the place of execution. Viduccora appeared there in his beautiful, bright form and prevented them from punishing Yamadanda. He told them that the police officer was as bad as dead as they had brought him to the shoola. He prayed that he might be given a few minutes of private talk with the officer. The King’s agents left them alone for a while during which they were able to overhear this bit of conversation.

“Yamadanda, do you remember that while we were young we two studied under the same guru? Do you remember the vow I took in Nandanavana–that without any fault of Yours I could get you killed or stop your getting killed? Do you remember my vow or do you not?”

Yamadanda: “I remember the vow very well.”

Vidyuccora: “Are you dead now or dying, or alive ?”

Yamadanda: “Lord, you have won; I am beaten; I am dead.”

The servants of the King and the citizens could not understand these words; they were surprised at this conversation. Vidyuccora turned to the servants of the King and said: “Take us both to the King. In the presence of the King there shall be a conversation between us two. If after my representations the King’s pleasure should still be that Yamadanda deserves death, may it be so. For the Niti Sastra says that no man shall be killed unless he has been given three chances to pray to the King.”

The servants took both of them to the King as requested and reported that Vidyuccora would not allow them to punish Yamadanda. The King asked him to explain his conduct. Vidyuccora said: “Lord, it is even as your officer has reported to you: Yamadanda is free from all taint of guilt or crime. I shall confess myself to you. During nights I move about in this shape. It is I who have stolen the wealth of the city and the sacred necklace given to you by the gods. During day I take the form of a leper and live in the ruined temple. Have me killed, therefore, for theft. This man is innocent.” The King asked him how all the stolen wealth had been disposed of. “I have spent some five or six thousand gold coins on women and buried the rest in a cave.” The King ordered him to show the hiding place to the citizens and bring to him his sacred necklace. The citizens went there well-guarded and took their respective precious things without disturbing what belonged to others. Vidyuccora returned to the palace and gave the King his sacred necklace. The King asked Vidyuccora: “How did you endure the thirty-two kinds of torture in this cold night of Magha?”

3

Vidyuccora related this story at length:

“Lord, one day when I was still a young pupil, I went to Sahasrakoota Caityalaya with my teacher. When he was engaged in the worship God, I sat down near Sivaguptacarya and listened to his reading of Puranas. He described the tortures in hell in the following way: “Those whose conduct is not righteous, who hunt and kill animals, who bring suffering or death to living beings for love, hate or greed, who steal and fall in love with others’ wives, who eat and drink what should not be eaten drunk, who commit the five terrible sins, have no salvation; they take their birth in the seven hells and come to great misery. Their bodies are subjected to many kinds of physical torture. They are not given respite for a moment. Then Sivaguptacarya explained the laws of life that should govern the conduct of a good man. Charity, worship of God, virtue and fasting were the four Sravaka dharmas. Those who follow them gain happiness in Heaven. The Acarya gave a detailed account of the Jaina Dharma and asserted that to follow it was to go to Heaven and to discard it was to go to Hell. When Yamadanda inflicted on me the punishments, I weighed the suffering and misery I was made to undergo at that moment with the pain and misery in Hell. The knowledge that what I was undergoing was only a hundred thousandth part of the other made me endure it.” The King’s admiration for his character was immense. He told Vidyuccora that he would not only not punish such a man but grant him all his requests. Vidyuccora’s only prayer was that his friend Yamadanda should be forgiven. The King’s surprise grew; he wanted to know how Yamadanda was his friend; and how a man who had performed Sravaka vratas could become a thief.

Vidyuccora continued his story:

“In the southern part of Bharata Kshetra there is the land Abhira. On the banks of the river Varne there is the city of Venatatta which in its beauty and prosperity is a paradise on earth. The King and Queen who rule over it are Jitasatru and Vijayamati. I am their son. Its chief of police is Yamapasa, his wife, Nijaguna Devi. Yamadanda is their son. When we were both only five or six years of age we were taken to a worthy teacher named Siddhartha and left in his charge for education. In the course of seven or eight years we studied all branches of literature, palmistry, eugenics, politics, medicine and many other branches of learning. Yamadanda went through a course of study and mastered the art of detecting the evils. He became fully versed in Surakha. I studied Karapata Sastra which instructs one in the science and art of stealing. We spent time together in the enjoyment of friendship. One day we went into the forest for pleasure and played about with a ball in what is called the Nandanavana, a beautiful piece of woodland with many kinds of flower and fruit trees. As Yamadanda had learnt the art of catching a thief he disappeared from my sight and was nowhere about. I grew tired of searching for him. When, finally, I met him I said that I would be a thief in the city where he should function as the police officer and drive him to capital punishment. He took the challenge and replied that he would catch me as a thief and having bound my hands and feet would take me to the gallows. We took our vows then resolved not to forget. A few years passed. My father placed me on throne and retired to a life of meditation under the guidance of Sttasagara. Yamadanda’s father handed over his own office to his son and too retired to meditation. I was the King of the city then and this mans here the police officer of my city. We lived happily for some time. One day Yamadanda thought that as I, his King, was an adept at the thiefly arts it would be a bad job to be officer in my city. Afraid of me he left my city and took employment under you. My servants searched for him over many cities and kingdoms. At last they traced him to this place. Their report was this: ‘Lord, Vamaratha is the King of the city of Mithila. Yamadanda has accepted office as chief of police under him.’ Hearing this, I took my minister, Purushottama, into confidence and told him that I would go to Mithila in disguise and return with Yamadanda. I sent for a heggade, an elder of the city, put him in charge of my kingdom and told him that I was going out on some personal work. At dead of night I left the palace in disguise, unnoticed by any. I arrived at this city and according to a plan I stole the wealth of several citizens and brought Yamadanda to the point of death. This is the reason for my stealing things; this is how Yamadanda is my friend. As I am a man of samyagdrshti your god-protected necklace Sarvarujapahara came into my hands. For it would be impossible for men of mithyadrshti to take it away. King Vamaratha, then narrated to the assembly how the sacred necklace was given to his great ancestor Padmaratha.

4

Two messengers now arrived with letters and entered the Assembly with the King’s permission. When they saw Vidyuccora they bowed to him and placed the letters before him. The minister for foreign affairs took theletter and read it to the king. It was the letter written by the minister Purushottama and the Heggade Vajrasena. They said that the King had now gone out for a good few days and forgotten the affairs of his home. There was none else to rule over the kingdom. Soon after reading this letter he must start to his kingdom without delay. Vamaratha found perfect agreement between the contents of the letter and Vidyuccora’s narration. Having no doubts about his being a prince, he ordered that another throne should be placed by his and said to Vidyuccora: “You are my sister’s son. I have eight daughters bearing the names Srimati, Vasumati, Gunamati, Sulochane, Suprabhe, Sukanthe, Sushile and Manohare. They are young, beautiful, bright and charming. They are fully accomplished in the arts of reading, writing, arithmetic, music, dancing, painting, fretwork and all the sixty-four branches of learning. Several princes have been sending presents and letters to me asking the hands of my daughters in marriage. I did not approve of them and so did not give them these daughters. You will make a proper husband for them. I give you all my eight daughters, and, pray thee to marry them.” Vidyuccora said: “I have wooed one maiden only and will not take others.”

King: “Who is the lucky lady?”

Vidyuccora: “Muktisri is her name and I must marry her.”

When he had made that point clear he asked the King to give him his friend Yamadanda. With the consent of the King they started on camel and reached their city in the course of a few days.

The next day, Vidyuccora held a State Assembly to which all princes, officers, queens and princesses had been invited. He said to the grand Assembly that he had become tired of the pleasures of life and desired to retire from all earthly affairs to lead a life of meditation. The people in the Assembly told him that it was not the proper age to take to a life of meditation. For he was only a child yet in the freshness of youth. He should rule as a King for some time more and then think of retiring to a life of meditation.

“If I waited for a future day, I doubt whether I shall be alive or dead. Listen to what is said in the Book of wisdom:

“'To men living a family life, years are like the foam on the waves of the sea; beauty and youth are like the rainbow in the sky.’

“‘If birth, age and death do not occur, if the fear of separation does not get hold of us, if all the things of the world cease to be transient who will not find pleasure in this life.’

“My friends, beauty, youth, brightness, charms, years, wealth, fame and love of men are transient.

“When this body is free from disease, when old age is yet far away, then the senses are yet strong and active, when he has yet years before him, even then the wise man must make great efforts to ennoble his soul. What is the good of trying to dig a well when the house is on fire?

“I forgive all living beings, let them forgive me; I am a friend of animals; I hate none.”

He forgave all and cleared their doubts. He crowned his eldest son Vidyudanga as the King, made Yamadanda the chief of police, prayed that they should all live in happiness and left the palace accompanied by his Queens and retinue. It was a procession attended with royal honours. On the way the King gave to all kinds of beggars and blind men gifts that pleased them. When he reached Sahasrakoota Caityalaya, he worshipped the Jina and approached Gunadhara Acarya whom he chose for his master. A thousand other men followed his example when he removed from his body all ornaments and abandoned worldly desires and sat down by his master for a life of meditation. Seven hundred women, including the Queen and the ladies of the royal family, also chose with him a life of meditation.

Vidyuccora stayed with his master for twelve years, learned all that could be learnt and became himself an Acarya.