The Prince and His Two Friends

Long ago there was a mighty king named Śatrujit, whose sacrifices so pleased Indra with soma that the king of the gods rejoiced in him. He had a son, Ṛtadhvaja, a breaker of enemies, equal to Bṛhaspati in understanding, to Indra in valour and to the Aśvins in beauty. Day and night the young man kept company with princes of his own age and with the sons of brahmins and merchants, and they spent their time with the śāstras and poetry, with song and drama and dice, and in training with weapons, elephants, horses and chariots.

Two young nāgas, serpent beings of the world below, the sons of Aśvatara, king of the nāgas, came up from the world below in the form of brahmins and joined him. They grew so close to him that he would not eat, bathe, drink or study without them, and every day they came back to him. At night they returned to Rasātala, the underworld, which is also called Pātāla, and sighed for him there.

Their father noticed. Why do you love the world of men so much? he asked them. I see you here only at night.

They answered: Śatrujit's son is named Ṛtadhvaja. He is handsome and upright, brave and courteous, learned and friendly, a mine of every virtue. Away from him we find no comfort even in the cool of Pātāla.

Aśvatara answered. Blessed is the man whose virtues are praised in his absence by such as you, he said. Have you done anything for him in return? Whatever is in this house, gold or jewels, vehicles or seats, give it to him without a second thought.

He lacks nothing, they said. There is only one thing left for him to do, and we think no one could do it but the Lords themselves, Hiraṇyagarbha the creator, Govinda, who is Viṣṇu, and Śiva. Aśvatara would not accept that. Nothing is beyond the reach of the resolute, he said. An ant that keeps walking covers thousands of yojanas, and even Garuḍa goes not one step if he never sets out. Think how far the earth is from the fixed place in the sky, the pole star, that Dhruva won, though he was the son of King Uttānapāda, a man who walked the earth. Tell me what it is.

So his sons told him the story as Ṛtadhvaja had told it to them.