Vasavadatta - Subandhu (VII century)

Literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Summary - 2019

Vasavadatta
Subandhu (VII century)

Tsarevich Kandarpaket, the son of King Chintamani, sees in a dream an unknown girl and passionately falls in love with her. Together with his friend Makaranda, he goes to her quest. One night, having found himself in the vicinity of the Windhye Mountains, he accidentally hears the conversation of two birds. One of them, the property, blames the other, his beloved parrot, for a long time off and expresses suspicion that he has changed her with another property from which he has now returned to the forest. The parable explains that he visited the city of Pataliputra, where the king of Srinagarasekhara, wishing to marry his daughter Vasavadatta, arranged for her a svaymvaru - the wedding rite of choosing a bridegroom's bride. Many square king seekers gathered at Svaymvara, but Vasavadatta rejected them all. The fact is that on the eve of the Savayamvar, she also saw 'bo the dream of a beautiful prince, who immediately fell in love and only decided to marry him. Upon learning that the prince was Kandarpaket, she sent his home property to Tamalika on his quest. Wanting to help Tamalike in her hard assignment, the parrot flew with her to the Windhae Mountains.

Having heard the story of a parrot, Kandarpaktu interferes with the conversation of the birds, acquaints himself with Tamalika, and then he passes on him the oral message of Vasavadatta, in which the prince asks him to see him sooner. Kandarpaket and Makaranda are sent to Pataliputra and penetrate the palace of Vasavadatta. There they will find out that the king of Srinagarashekhara, regardless of the wishes of his daughter, surely wants to give her the king of spirit spirits - Vidyadharov. Then Kandarpaktu decides to run with Vasawadtha, and the magic Manodzhi horse takes them from Pataliputra back to the Windhaya Mountains, where the lovers spend the night.

Waking up at dawn, Kandarpacket, to his horror, finds that Vasawadtha has disappeared. After a long, fruitless search, Kandarpacket comes to the shore of the ocean and desperately wants to throw himself into his water. At the last moment, he holds away from a suicide divine voice, promising him an early encounter with his beloved. For several months, Kandarpacket wanders along the coastal forests, supporting life with some fruits and roots, until once in the beginning of autumn, one does not come across a stone sculpture that looks like his favorite. In love affection Kandarpaket touches the statues with his hand, and it becomes alive Vasavadt.

On the questions of Kandarpakta Vasawadta tells that in the morning of their separation, she went to collect them for the fruit of the trees. Deep into the forest, she suddenly met with the army stationed at the camp, and its leader followed her. But then there was another army - the mountains-Kirats, and his leader was also the herd to pursue Vasavatta. Both warlords, and after them, and their warriors, for the sake of possessing Vasavadatta, entered into battle and completely exterminated each other. However, even in the course of the battle, they ruthlessly devastated the abode of the hermits, located nearby, and the holy head of this monastery, considering Vasavatta the culprit of the incident, cursed her, turning it into a stone sculpture. The term of the curse should have ended - as it really happened - when the future wife of the princess touched the sculpture.

After a long-awaited and happy meeting, Kandarpaktu and Vasavadatta are being sent to the capital of the kingdom of Kandarpakta. There they are already waiting for Makaranda, and both the father-in-law, Chintamani and Srinagar-Sekhara, celebrate the wedding of their son and daughter, who have now for good reason been rid of all the troubles and disasters.