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Life and Stories of Pārçvanātha
spot, and offered her jewelry, but the Sage refused, on the ground that her property also belonged to the king, and therefore to himself, so that it was not available to expunge the debt to Vañcanā. Kuntala then took a hand in these recriminations, accusing the two Brahmans of being Rākşasas (ogres) in disguise. The Sage thereupon cursed him, so that he became a jackal, infesting cemeteries (707).
The king sought to soothe the Sage, but the Sage spurned him with his foot. Then Rohitāçva, the little son of the king, begged the Sage not to strike his father, but to take himself in payment. The Sage, moved to tears, whispered to Angāramukha that his tear-choked throat was unable to make answer. But Añgāramukha advised him not to release the king. Hariçcandra then asked for a month's delay, within which he might obtain the money. The Sage asked whether he would beg the money; the king replied that a scion of the Ikşvāku house might give alms, but could not beg for them. He explained further that he would sell himself in order to pay up (716). Then the king was acclaimed for his noble resolution by bystanding ascetics. Sutārā proposed to follow him into exile, clinging to her decision in the teeth of his and the Sage's remonstrances (724). In the end the Sage consented to the departure of Hariscandra and Sutārā, on the condition that they leave behind all their possessions and jewels. Then Vasubhūti, outraged by the Sage's rapacity, called him a Brahmarākşasa, 35 and was promptly punished by being turned into a parrot. The king, with wife and son, started on his journey, followed by the tearful people of his city, whom he finally dismissed with a voice softened by love (738).
* That is to say, in this connection, a Brahman ogre.
