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Story of the minister and his dead wife 125
jected, because he had brought disaster upon his friends, he hanged himself upon a tree (568). A Sage cut him down, and told him that, if he really was tired of life, he had better make away with himself in the near-by holy bathing place (tirtha) of Kāmuka. On the way there he heard a voice three times, saying, Act not in haste.' This, he discovered, came from another Sage, who bade him not to act like a woman; that only the living behold happiness. This he illustrated by the following story (533-575):
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Story of the minister who found happiness after his wife's death 24
Bhānu, minister of King Candrasena of Crimañgalapura, lived in great mutual affection with his wife Sarasvati. One morning Sarasvati rose dejectedly from bed, and, on pressure, explained that she had had a dream in which Bhanu had conversed with another woman. This came to the ear of the king who decided to make a test of Sarasvati's devotion. He sent off Bhanu to Jayapura, and managed that a false report of Bhanu's death should reach Sarasvati. She promptly died of a broken heart (586). The king, remorseful about his jest, fell at Bhanu's feet, and asked for a favor. When Bhānu granted it, the king told him that his wife had died in consequence of his practical joke, but that he, Bhānu, should not follow her to death. Bhānu granted the request, on the condition that the king should not ask him to marry again. Bhanu, on returning home, carried on a cult with his wife's bones, ever wailing and craving death,
"Hertel, Das Pañicatantra, pp. 140 ff.; reports this story as nr. 7 in the Gujarati Pañcākhyānavārttika, and as also occurring in Hemavijaya's Katharatnakara.
