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The gold-man
Story of the merchant Kubera and Crī, the goddess of
fortune: The gold-man 52
In the city of Crīviçāla ruled King Guņādhya. There lived Kubera, a wealthy merchant. Once upon a time Çrī, the goddess of fortune, who is like a fickle woman 53 (verse 953), spoke to him in a dream: “I have lived here in your house for seven seasons (paryāya); now I wish to go; I have come to take leave of you.' He asked for a delay of four days, which she granted. Kubera then gave away his entire property to the unprotected, poor, wretched, and to his own relatives. On the fourth day he joyously lay down upon an old bed, feigning sleep. The goddess arrived, he pretended to be aroused, and told her that he had been lying in deep, pleasurable sleep, because he no longer had any of the cares of wealth (972). He then asked Çrī what he should do, whereupon she suggested that he might fiņd some means of checking her waywardness. When Kubera did not react upon this, but bade her go as she desired, Crī confessed that his pious acts had renewed her attachment to him. In order to make it possible that she should stay with him (that is to say, in order that he should be rich again), she advised him to go to her temple, where he would find a man in ragged clothes. Him he should invite and feed; then touch his foot with a staff, whereupon he would turn into a gold-man (svarnapuruşa) (978).
In this way he obtained the gold-man. No matter how much gold he broke off him, he did not grow less. Then a barber 64 came to serve him, found out what had happened, and decided to try the same game. In due course
** See additional note 22, on p. 202. " See additional note 21, on p. 202. * See additional note 23, on p. 202.
