Part 15: Birth of Tripṛṣṭha

When some time had passed, Muni Viśvabhūti’s jīva fell from Mahāśukra and descended into her womb. In the last watch of the night the queen, comfortably asleep, saw these seven dreams indicating the birth of a Viṣṇu: first, a young lion with a ruddy mane, whose nails resembled digits of the moon, whose tail resembled a chauri; Padmā, seated on a lotus, being sprinkled with water from the Ocean of Milk by two elephants with full pitchers in their trunks; a sun (lord of light) with a powerful stream of brilliance, dispersing dense darkness, producing day even at night; then a pitcher filled with clear, sweet water, its mouth adorned with white lotuses, with golden bells, wreathed with flowers; an ocean filled with various aquatic animals, shining with its multitude of jewels, its waves rolling up to the sky; a heap of jewels with the beauty of a rainbow diffused in the sky with streams of light from five-colored jewels; and the seventh, a smokeless fire which made the sky have shoots of flames, with light giving pleasure to the eyes.

The king interpreted the dreams which she related when awake, “Your son will surely be an Ardhacakrin, queen.” The astrologers, questioned by the king who had summoned them at once, also explained the dreams in the same way. There is no disagreement among the wise. When the time was complete, the queen bore a son marked with all the marks, eighty bows tall, with a black body. The circle of the sky was serene, the earth expanded, and all the people were delighted, like the mind of the king. Ripupratiśatru, delighted, released from prison even, his enemies formerly imprisoned, like herdsmen freeing cows from a cow-pen. He gave money to beggars as they wished, like a cow of plenty, as if to make a place for the future Śrī of the Ardhacakrin. Among the people there was an unceasing great festival, like one at the birth of a son, or at a wedding. Women, carrying auspicious things, could not be contained within the palace; and in front (of it) were subject to contact with arrivals from the villages because of crowding together.^[1] On every spot arches, at every step concerts found place in the city as well as the palace.