curse of Uśanas,* Yayáti became old and infirm before his time; but, having appeased his father-in-law,† he obtained permission to transfer his decrepitude to any one who would consent to take it. He first applied to his eldest son, Yadu, and said: "Your maternal grandfather has brought this premature decay upon me. By his permission, however, I may transfer it to you for a thousand years. I am not yet satiate with worldly enjoyments, and wish to partake of them through the Mahábbárata; also, in the Bhagavata, with some additions, evidently of a recent taste. Śarmishíhá, the daughter of Vŕishaparvan, king of the Daityas, having quarrelled with Devayání, the daughter of Śukra (the religious preceptor of the same race §), had her thrown into a well. Yayáti, hunting in the forest, found her, and, taking her to her father, with his consent, espoused her. Devayání, in resentment of Sarmishtha's treatment, demanded that she should become her handmaid; and Vŕishaparvan, afraid of Sukra's displeasure, was compelled to comply. In the service of his queen, however, Yayati beheld Šarmishtha, and secretly wedded her. Devayání complaining to her father of Yayáti's infidelity, Sukra inflicted on him premature decay, with permission to transfer it to any one willing to give him youth and strength in exchange, as is related in the text. The passage specifying the sons of Yayati is precisely the same in the Mahábhárata|| as in our text, and is introduced in the same way: a अत्रानुवंशश्लोको भवति । यदुं च तुर्वसुं चैव देवयानी व्यजायत । दुह्युं चानुं पूरुं च शर्मिष्ठा वार्षपर्वणी ॥ Kávya, in the Sanskrit; from his father, Kavi. See Vol. I., p. 200, supplementary note on ibid., p. 152. † Sukra, in the original. Vide supra, p. 2, note . Read "Dánavas". See note † in the preceding page. § He was priest of the Daityas. || Adi-parvan, l. 3162. The correspondence is not of the closest. means of your youth. Do not refuse compliance with my request." Yadu, however, was not willing to take upon him his father's decay; on which, his father denounced an imprecation upon him, and said: "Your posterity shall not possess dominion." He then applied, successively, to Druhyu, Turvasu, and Anu, and demanded of them their juvenile vigour. They all refused, and were, in consequence, cursed by the king.* Lastly, he made the same request of Sarmishtha's youngest son, Púru, who bowed to his father, and readily consented to give him his youth, and receive, in exchange, Yayáti's infirmities, saying that his father had conferred upon him a great favour. The king Yayáti being, thus, endowed with renovated youth, conducted the affairs of state for the good of his people, enjoying such pleasures as were suited to his age and strength, and were not incompatible with virtue. He formed a connexion with the celestial nymph Viswáchí, and was wholly attached to her, and conceived no end to his desires. The more they were gratified, the more ardent they became; as it is said in this verse:§ "Desire is not appeased by enjoyment: fire fed with sacrificial oil becomes but the more intense. No one has ever more than enough of rice, For an ancient allusion to the exclusion from sovereignty of Yadu and Turvasa, see Professor Wilson's Translation of the Rigveda, Vol. III., p. 179, text and note 3. + सोऽपि च नवं यौवनमासाद्य धर्मविरोधेन यथाकामं यथाकालोपपन्नं यथोत्साहं विषयं चचार सम्यक्प्रजापालनमकरोत् । See Vol. II., p. 75, note 3; p. 80, note; pp. 284, et seq. § The remainder of this chapter is metrical. A quotation of the Laws of the Mánavas, II., 94. or barley, or gold, or cattle, or women. Abandon, therefore, inordinate desire. When a mind finds neither good nor ill in all objects, but looks on all with an equal eye, then everything yields it pleasure. The wise man is filled with happiness, who escapes from desire, which the feeble-minded can with difficulty relinquish, and which grows not old with the aged.* The hair becomes grey, the teeth fall out, as man advances in years; but the love of wealth, the love of life, are not impaired by age. "A thousand years have passed," reflected Yayáti, "and my mind is still devoted to pleasure: every day my desires are awakened by new objects. I will, therefore, now renounce all sensual enjoyment, and fix my mind upon spiritual truth. Unaffected by the alternatives of pleasure and pain, and having nothing I may call my own, I will, henceforth, roam the forests with the deer." + Having made this determination, Yayáti restored his youth to Púru, resumed his own decrepitude, installed his youngest son in the sovereignty, and departed to the wood of penance (Tapovana1). To Turvasu he consigned the sonth-east districts of his kingdom; the west, to Druhyu; the south, to Yadu; and * a zedor zúfafuen a sitdifa silda: 1 the north, to Anu; to govern, as viceroys,* under their younger brother Púru, whom he appointed supreme monarch of the earth.1 1 The elder brothers were made Mandala-nŕipas, † kings of circles or districts: Bhagavata. The situation of their governments is not exactly agreed upon. The Linga describes the ministers and people as expostulating with Yayáti, for illegally giving the supremacy to the youngest son; but he satisfies them by showing, that he was justified in setting the seniors aside, for want of filial duty. The Mahábhárata, Udyoga Parvan, Gálava Charita, has a legend of Yayati's giving a daughter to the saint Gálava, who, through her means, obtains, from different princes, eight hundred horses, white with * कृत्वा मण्डलिनो नृपान् । Comment: खण्डदेशाधिपान् । And see the preceding note. । Neither in the Bhagavata-puráňa nor even in the commentary on it do I find the term mandala-nripa. Íswara is the designation which that Purána gives to Turvasu and the rest. § So I find in the Brahma-purána, with which the Linja-puráňa, Prior Section, LXVII., 11-12, agrees. But the Harivaṁśa, śl. 1617— 1619, has: one black ear, as a fee for his preceptor Viswamitra. Yayáti, after his death and residence in Indra's heaven, is again descending to earth, when his daughter's sons give him the benefit of their devotions, and replace him in the celestial sphere. It has the air of an old story. A legend in some respects similar has been related in our text; p. 16, supra. |