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96
Life and Stories of Pārçvanātha
went to the market-place. The king put grass on his head, 38 as a sign that he was there in the character of a slave. Again Rohitāçva was distressed; his father, to cheer him, promised him an elefant (778). After more sad reflections, the king proposed to Sutārā, that she and the child return to the house of her father, but the faithful wife refused to disgrace him: rather would she die, or become the slave of an enemy (786). A Brahman 37 came along, looking around for hired help. Attracted by Hariscandra's form and presence, he asked him why he was demeaning himself as a menial. The king remained silent. The Brahman then surveyed Sutārā and Rohitaçvā; struck by their distinction, he blamed the Çāstras for their inaccurate characterization of the different classes of men. The king corrected him: the Çāstras speak truly; their state is due to fate (karma, dāiva). In the end the Brahman bought Sutārā at a price fixed by himself, five thousand gold pieces, with the stipulation that twice that sum should be her ransom. Rohitāçva persistently clung to his mother, so that the Brahman had to knock him down twice (804). But in the end he took pity, and, at Hariçcandra's suggestion, bought the boy also for a thousand. Then he went to his home with Sutārā and Rohitāçva (808).
At this juncture the Sage and his damned soul, or advocatus diaboli, Angāramukha, appeared on the scene, to collect the debt due the Sage. The king offered what he had obtained from the sale of his wife and child, but the Sage angrily rejected it as not being enough. Angāramukha suggested that he should go to King Candraçe
* In the Candakâuçika 50. 2, when King Hariccandra wishes to sell himself as a slave, the stage direction is çirasi trnań kstvā; see additional note 11, on p. 191.
* His name is given later on as Vajrahşdaya, 'Stone-Heart.'
