Part 9: His horse carries him into the forest

He had a very intimate friend, the son of Kālindī and Sūra, named Mahendrasiṃha, whose strength was celebrated. One day when spring had come, he went to the garden Makaranda with Kālindī’s son from a desire to play. There Sanatkumāra amused himself with his friend in various sports, like a young god in Nandana. Then the king’s stud-master sent horses as gifts, which were skilled in five gaits,^[1] marked with all the marks. He gave Sanatkumāra one horse, Jaladhikallola (Ocean-wave) by name, unsteady as a wave. The prince abandoned his play and mounted the horse. Always horses and elephants are of great interest to princes. Taking the whip in one hand and the bridle in the other, with a light seat in the saddle, he started the horse by (pressure of) his thighs. It ran forward rapidly, not touching the earth with its feet, as it were, going rather in the air, as if to see the horses of the sun. Whenever the prince pulled the horse with the bridle, he ran all the more, as he had inverted training. In a moment the horse left the princes^[2] on horseback even though they were running, like a Rākṣasa in the form of a horse. Instantly the horse with the prince on his back became invisible to the kings, even while they looked on, like the moon to the constellations.