Born from the Middle Hood

Aśvatara, with Kambala beside him, made his request: Madālasā, the wife of Kuvalayāśva, is dead. Let her be born at once as my daughter, at the same age as when she died, remembering her former birth, with the same beauty as before. Let her be born in my house as a yoginī and a mother of yoga.

Śiva said: It will be so. When the śrāddha comes, the rite of offering to the ancestors, eat the middle rice-ball of the offering yourself, pure and with your mind gathered. When you have eaten it, the lovely one will rise from your middle hood, just as she was when she died. Hold this wish in your mind as you make the offering to the ancestors.

The brothers bowed and went home to Rasātala. When the time came, Aśvatara performed the śrāddha, ate the middle rice-ball and held the wish in his mind, and as he breathed, Madālasā was born from his middle hood, in the same form as before.

He told no one. He kept her hidden in the inner rooms of his palace, guarded by women, and said to his sons: Bring the prince who has been so good to you.

They went to the prince's city and spoke of going home. The prince, who still thought they were brahmins, said: My house is your house, best of brahmins. They told him their father wished to see him, and he rose and bowed to the ground. I will not keep such a father waiting for a moment, he said.

The three of them left the city and came to the holy Gomatī river. The two friends walked into the water, and the prince, who thought their home must be on the far bank, went in with them. They drew him down into Pātāla. There he saw his friends as they were, nāgas, the jewels on their hoods shining and marked with the svastika, the ancient sign of good fortune, and he laughed and said: Well done, best of brahmins! They told him about their father. All around them nāgas young and old went about, and nāga girls played, and there were songs, lutes, flutes and drums, and hundreds of lovely houses.

In the palace they found the nāga king on a golden throne hung with jewels and pearls. Ṛtadhvaja bowed at his feet, and Aśvatara raised him up, embraced him, smelled the crown of his head and blessed him. Live long, he said. A man of virtue is truly alive. Then he had them bathed and fed, and they all feasted together.