Chapter LVIII - Revival of padma

Argument. Extinction of the Spiritual life of Lila, and Restoration of Padma's Life.

Vasishtha continued:—

1. [Sanskrit available]
It was in the meantime that the goddess of wisdom, stopped the course of Viduratha's life, as we stop the flight of our minds at will.

Lila said:—

2. [Sanskrit available]
Tell me, goddess, what length of time has expired, since the corpse of the king was laid in this tomb, and I was absorbed in my deep meditation.

The goddess replied:—

3. [Sanskrit available]
A month has passed since these maid servants of thine have been waiting here for watching thy body, which they thought lay asleep in the room.

4. [Sanskrit available]
Hear excellent lady! what has become of thy body, after it was rotten in a fortnight and evaporated in the air.

5. [Sanskrit available]
Seeing thy lifeless corpse lying as cold as frost on the ground, and turning as dry as a log of wood, or rather as a withered leaf on the floor;—

6. [Sanskrit available]
The royal ministers thought thee to be dead of thyself (a suicide), and removed thy putrid carcase out of the room.

7. [Sanskrit available]
And what more shall I say, than they laid thy corpse on a heap of sandal wood, and having set fire to the pile with the sprinkling of ghee, they reduced it to ashes in a short while.

8. [Sanskrit available]
Then the family raised a loud cry that their queen was dead, and wept bitterly for sometime, after which they performed thy funeral ceremonies.

9. [Sanskrit available]
Now when they will behold thee coming here in thy same body, they must be astonished to think thee as returned from the next world of the dead.

10. [Sanskrit available]
Now my daughter, when thou shalt appear before them in this thy purer and spiritual form, they must look upon thee with astonishment.

11. [Sanskrit available]
For thou hast not thy former form at present, but it is changed to a purer one, agreeably to the tenor and temperament of thy mind. (Lit. according to the desire in thy heart).

12. [Sanskrit available]
For every body beholds every thing without him, according to his inward feelings;as for example the sight of shadowy ghosts is frequent to children, that have a fear of devils at heart.

13. [Sanskrit available]
Now, O beauteous lady! Thou art an adept in spiritualism, and hast a spiritual body on thee, and hast forgotten and forsaken thy former body, with all the desires connate with it.

14. [Sanskrit available]
The view of material bodies, is lost to the sight of spiritualists; and the intelligent view them in the light of autumnal clouds, which are void of substance (i. e., The flimsy clouds which are without rain-water in them).

15. [Sanskrit available]
On attainment of the spiritual state, the material body becomes as an empty cloud, and as a flower without its odor.

16. [Sanskrit available]
When a man of pure desire, is conscious of his attaining the spiritual state; he loses the remembrance of his material body, as a youth forgets his embryonic state.

17. [Sanskrit available]
It is now the thirty-first day that we have arrived at this place; and I have caused the maid servants here, to fall into a fast sleep this morning.

18. [Sanskrit available]
Now Lila! let us advance before the wilful Lila, and then discover to her at our will, the form of the truthful Lila, and her manner and conduct to thee.

Vasishtha said:—

19. [Sanskrit available]
So saying, they wished themselves to be perceived by the wilful Lila, and stood manifest to her sight in their etherial forms of the goddess and her inspired dame.

20. [Sanskrit available]
At this instant the Lila of Viduratha, looked upon them with her staring eyes; and found the room lighted up by the full lustre of their bodies.

21. [Sanskrit available]
The apartment seemed to be lighted by the bright orb of the moon, and its wall washed over with liquid gold; the ground floor shone as paved with ice, and all was full of splendour.

22. [Sanskrit available]
After seeing the brightness of the bed chamber, Lila looked up at the goddess and the other Lila, and rising respectfully before them, she fell at their feet.

23. [Sanskrit available]
Be victorious, O ye goddesses! she said, that have blessed me with your visit, and know that know all, that I have come here first as a preparer of your way. (Lit. as the sweeper of your path).

24. [Sanskrit available]
As she was speaking in this manner, they received her with good grace, and then all the three sat together on a bedding in their youthful bloom, like luxuriant creepers on the snow capt top of Meru.

The goddess said:—

25. [Sanskrit available]
Tell us daughter, how you came here before ourselves, how you have been, and what you have seen on your way hither.

The younger lila answered said:—

26. [Sanskrit available]
As I lay insensible on that spot (upon the shock of my death), I was enveloped in darkness like the new moon, and felt myself burnt away by the flame of a conflagration (i. e., funeral fire).

27. [Sanskrit available]
I had no sense nor thought of anything good or bad, but remained with my eyes closed under my eye-lids.

28. [Sanskrit available]
Then I found myself, O great goddess! after I had recovered from my anaesthesia of death, to assume (by mistake a new body agreeably to my former impression), and to be translated at once into the midst of the sky.

29. [Sanskrit available]
I mounted on the vehicle of winds, and was borne like fragrance to this mansion through the etherial space.

30. [Sanskrit available]
I found this house guarded by its warders, and lighted with lamps, and having a costly bedstead placed in the midst of it.

31. [Sanskrit available]
I am looking here upon this corpse, as my husband Viduratha, who has been sleeping here with his body covered under the flowers, like the vernal god in a flower garden.

32. [Sanskrit available]
I thought he was taking his rest, after the fatigue of the warfare, and did not like to disturb his repose in this place.

33. [Sanskrit available]
I have now related to you, my gracious goddesses! all that I have seen and thought of, since I have been restored to my new life.

The goddess spake said:—

34. [Sanskrit available]
Now I tell thee Lila, that hast such beautiful eyes, and movest like a swan, that I will raise the corpse of the king to life from his bed in this bier.

35. [Sanskrit available]
Saying so, she breathed the breath of life as the lotus lets off its fragrance; and it fled into the nostrils of the carcase, like a creeping plant crawls into a hole.

36. [Sanskrit available]
It entered into the heart through the vital sheath, as the wind penetrates into the hole of a bamboo;and the breath of life was fraught with desires, as the waves of the sea sparkle with pearls.

37. [Sanskrit available]
The infusion of life, added to the colour of the face and body of king Padma; as the rain-water refreshes the fading lotus in a drought.

38. [Sanskrit available]
By degrees the members of the body became renovated, like a garden with its returning flowering season; and as the sides of a hill become virescent, with fresh grown bushes and creepers.

39. [Sanskrit available]
The person of the king shone as the queen of the stars, with all her digits of the full moon, when she enlightens the whole world, with the beams of her radiant face.

40. [Sanskrit available]
All his limbs became as tender and roscid, as the branches of trees in spring; and they regained their bright and golden hue, like the flowers of the vernal season.

41. [Sanskrit available]
He oped his eyes which were as clear as the sky, with their two pupils rolling as the two orbs of light; and enlightening the world, with their charming and auspicious beams.

42. [Sanskrit available]
He raised his body, as the Vindhya mountain uplifts its head, and cried, "who waits there" with a grave and hoarse voice.

The two lilas responded to him saying said:—

43. [Sanskrit available]
"your commands;" when he beheld the two Lilas in attendance upon him, and lowly bending themselves at his feet.

44. [Sanskrit available]
Both of them were of the same form and features, and of the like demeanour and deportment towards him. They were alike to one another in their voice and action, as in their joy and gladness at his rising.

45. [Sanskrit available]
Then looking upon them he asked, "what art thou and who is she"? At this the elder Lila responded to him saying—"deign to hear what I have to say".

46. [Sanskrit available]
I am Lila thy former consort, and was joined as twain in one with thee, as sounds and their senses are combined together.

47. [Sanskrit available]
The other Lila is but a reflection of myself, and cast by my free will for your service.

48. [Sanskrit available]
The lady sitting here beside the bed, is the goddess of wisdom—the blessed Sarasvati, and mother of the three worlds; set her on the golden seat before you.

49. [Sanskrit available]
It is by virtue of our great merit, that she has presented herself to our sight, and brought us back from other worlds to your presence in this place.

50. [Sanskrit available]
Hearing this, the lotus-eyed king, rose from his seat, and with pendant wreaths of flowers and a strap of cloth hung about his neck, prostrated himself at her feet.

He exclaimed said:—

51. [Sanskrit available]
I hail thee, O divine Sarasvati! that dost confer all blessings on mankind. Deign to confer on me the blessings of understanding and riches with a long life.

52. [Sanskrit available]
As he was saying so, the goddess touched him with her hand and said, "be thou my son, possessed of thy desired blessings, and gain thy blessed abode in future."

53. [Sanskrit available]
"Let all evils and evil thoughts be far from thee, and all thy discomforts be dispersed from this place; let an everlasting joy alight in thine hearts, and a thick population fill thy happy realm. May all prosperity attend on thee for ever."