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| King Polajanaka had no son; he had only one daughter, called Sivali Devi who was an intelligent and astute girl. The courtiers asked King Polajanaka, as he was lying on his death bed :" Your Majesty, after your demise, whom shall all of us entrust the throne to ?" The King answered :" All of you should entrust the throne to the one who would be able to please Sivali Devi our daughter, ot to the one who would able to tell which side is the head of the square throne, or to the one who would be able to string the Bow that requires the strength of thousand men, or to the one who would be able to discover the sixteen Great Treasures. All of you will entrust the throne to that one." All the courtiers said :" your Majesty, pray speak out the riddle of those treasures to all of us." The King then spoke out the riddles about various things, and of all the treasures, thus : These sixtten Great Tresures are : the Treasure of the Rising Sun, the Treasure of the Setting Sun, the Treasure Inside, The Treasure outside, the Treasure which is Neither Inside nor Outside, the Treasure Going up, the Treasure Going down, the Treasure at the Four Banyan Trees, the Treasure enclosed by the circle One league Long, the Great Treasure at the End of the pair of tusks, The Treasure at the End of the Tail's Hair, the Treasure in the water, the Treasure at the top of the tree and the Bow which needs a thousand men to string. Which side is the head of the square throne and to please Sivali Raja Devi. |
| Then King Polajanaka passed away to heaven. His body was cremated. After that, on the seventh day, all the courtires had a meeting to consult about the King's wishes to entrust the throne to the one who would please the royal daughter. (They gave the Chief Minister the first chance. He did not succeed and he came back humiliated. Others fared no better. Later, nobody was successful in the attempt to string the thuosandfold bow. Nobody was able to tell which side was the Head of square throne. And nobody was able to discover the sixteen Treasures.) The Privy councillor said :"We should use the Grand Chariot. Because the King who comes riding on the Grand Chariot will be able to reign over the whole of Jambudipa." The Grand Chariot went to te Mango Grove, did a dexerambulation around the Proitious Stone and stopped near the Great Being. All the people, the courtiers and the privy councillor included, hailed and crowned the Great Being on that spot. Laterm the Great Being was able to solve King Polajanaka's four riddles; Then asked if there were any other riddles; The courtiers said there were none other. All the people were overjoyed and elated; they said :" Oh!, what a wonderment! This King is a real genius!" |
| Subsequently, the King ordered that his mother and the Brahmin be invited to come from Kolachampaka Nagara. He organized a grand ceremony to pay his respects to them. All the people in the stated of Videha were very excited and celebrated with a musical festival. As the Great Being, seated on his throne, was attending the function, he recalled is efforts in the ocean. When he did so, he reflected that perseverance is an essential thing: had we not perseverd in the ocean, we would not be on this throne. As he was musing about perseverance, he felt elated and so imbused with happiness that he exclaimed: .... Things that we do not plan may well happen. Things that we do plan may meet with disaster. Wealth will not come to anybody by just dreaming about it ..... |
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