Banarasidas ARDHAKATHANAK (A Half Story) Page 9

By Jasu and Amarsi who gave five hundred rupees as capital.

  Dharamdas and Banarasi became friends;

  Together, the two partners ran their business.(354)

  The two would walk about the markets of Agra,

  Looking for deals all day, and return home only in the evening.

  They would buy the dust of precious stones, rubies and other gems,

  And run a brisk trade, buying and selling.(355)

  They would note down their daily transactions in a book of accounts.

  They soon became famous and people came to know of them.

  They bought and sold and carried on their business.

  Banarasi paid the kachauriwala what he owed him.(356)

  This came to exactly fourteen rupees.

  Banarasi paid him the full amount

  In three instalments.

  This made the kachauriwala very happy.(357)

  Banarasi and Dharamdas remained partners for two years.

  Then Banarasi began to feel dejected and dissatisfied,

  And his thoughts turned

  Towards Khairabad.(358)

  One day, Banarasi

  Went to Jasu Sahu’s house

  And said, ‘I am off.

  Please take your capital back.’(359)

  Jasu Sahu then replied,

  ‘Sell the gems that you have in your bag.

  When you have collected the full amount,

  Return my capital to me in cash.’(360)

  So Banarasi sold all the gems and jewels

  And collected the full amount.

  He counted out five hundred rupees and returned them to Jasu Sahu.

  He left nothing owing.(361)

  In two years, two hundred

  And more had Banarasi earned.

  Buying and selling in the marketplace

  His business had continued to grow.(362)

  It was in Samvat 1670

  That they did the necessary paperwork.

  Banarasi parted company with Dharamdas

  And they ended their partnership.(363)

  Banarasi lost all that he had made

  He had no money left.

  The hard work he had put in came to nought,

  Not a single paisa had he left in hand.(364)

  He had churned the ocean, but found only a snail.

  His condition was akin to that of the hingwala in the tale8

  Who sat under a tree to tally his accounts

  And found that his capital had vanished up his behind.(365)

  Banarasi’s condition was the same.

  Poverty came anew into his life.

  For a year and a half he had struggled;

  Now empty-handed once more, he was returning home.(366)

  One day, while returning from the marketplace,

  Walking towards home down a narrow lane,

  Banarasi glanced downwards and saw

  A bundle lying in the middle of the path.(367)

  Banarasi picked the bundle up,

  Brought it home and opened it:

  In it were eight pearls, and nothing more.

  He was delighted with his find.(368)

  He had a talisman made

  And hid the pearls in a hollow within it.

  He tied the talisman round his waist with great care.

  He felt as though he had found the Chintamani.9(369)

  Keeping the pearls hidden on his person,

  Banarasi set off towards the east.

  At last, after much travelling,

  He reached the town of Khairabad(370)

  And made for his father-in-law, Kalla Sahu’s10 house.

  It was evening by then, and he rested.

  At night his wife asked him

  ‘Tell me, how did you fare in Agra?’(371)

  Banarasi lied, saying all had been well.

  His wife declared, ‘All that you say is false!’

  Then Banarasi told her the truth,

  ‘I have nothing left,’ he said.(372)

  ‘All that I had earned,

  I spent, and again am left with nothing.’

  His wife replied, ‘Listen to me, O husband,

  It is God who deals out joy and sorrow.(373)

  ‘Sometimes we are given grief,

  Sometimes we get happiness.

  What has to happen will happen,

  The fruit of both bad and good deeds.’(374)

  In relating and listening to all that had happened in Agra

  The night soon passed, and it was dawn.

  In solitude, taking her husband’s hand in hers,

  She placed twenty rupees in his palm.(375)

  ‘I had saved this money.

  Today it will be of use to you.

  Husband, do not worry at all.

  If a man lives, then all is possible.’(376)

  So saying his wife went to her mother,

  And told her of these secret matters.

  ‘Mother, tell no one what I have told you.

  Preserve your daughter’s honour.(377)

  ‘You are my mother, and I your daughter.

  Think of a solution quickly,

  Or soon

  My husband will leave me and go away.(378)

  ‘He is a shy and reserved man.

  He doesn’t say anything, but is tortured by his own distress.’

  Her mother replied, ‘Don’t lose heart.

  I have two hundred rupees(379)

  ‘Which I shall give to you in secret,

  So that he can once more return to Agra.’

  The daughter with gratitude thanked her mother,

  Said, ‘I will talk to him tonight.’(380)

  That night, speaking sweetly

  His wife asked Banarasi,

  ‘Husband, what are your thoughts?

  Will you stay here or will you start your business again?’(381)

  Banarasi said to his wife,

  ‘Let us together, you and I, go to Jaunpur’

  His wife replied, ‘Beloved, listen to me.

  There is great trouble in Jaunpur.(382)

  ‘You should return to Agra.

  There is no other better place for you right now’

  Banarasi said, ‘Listen, wife,

  Without wealth a man’s life is a curse.’(383)

  Consoling him and asking him to have courage, his wife said,

  ‘Buy what you need, I shall give you the money.’

  Saying this, she brought and counted out the money her mother had given her.

  She kept this secret buried in her heart.(384)

  Then Banarasi found new hope.

  He took up several tasks.

  He bought cloth and had it washed,

  And searched the market for pearls, rubies and diamonds.(385)

  He began composing Ajitnath ke Chhand’,

  And wrote several verses of the Namamala.

  He carried out all four tasks with enthusiasm,

  Finding the time to devote to each one.(386)

  In this manner four months went by.

  All his four tasks were complete.

  He had completed the Namamala, which had two hundred stanzas,

  As well as ‘Ajitnath ke Chhand’.(387)

  The cloth he had bought had been washed and was ready for selling;

  He had also bought a necklace of pearls.

  On the twelfth day of the bright half of the month of Agahan,

  Banarasi left for Agra.(388)

  To Agra he came again

  A second time.

  In Parvez Katla, this time,

  He unloaded his merchandise.(389)

  In Parvez Katla was Banarasi’s father-in-law’s place of business;

  That is where Banarasi made arrangements for his food,

  And that is where he slept at night.

  Every morning he would go to the marketplace.(390)

  He thought of many ways to sell his merchandise.

  The cloth he had bought was of inferior quality a
nd would not sell.

  He went to a great deal of trouble trying to sell it, but to no avail.

  He still could not understand the ways of Fate.(391)

  The pearl necklace that he had bought

  He had paid forty rupees for it

  He sold it for seventy,

  Thus receiving thirty rupees more than his cost.(392)

  Then thought Banarasi,

  Trading in jewels is a good business;

  In this he had earned a profit equal to three quarters of his outlay.

  From now on he would not invest in cloth.(393)

  For four months Banarasi tried,

  But he could not sell the cloth which lay like chains around his feet.

  Bainidas belonged to the Khobra gotra.

  His grandson was Narottamdas,(394)

  He became Banarasi’s friend,

  As did Thanmal Badaliya.

  They spent all their time in pleasure and amusement.

  The three friends were alike.(395)

  One day, taking a carriage, the three friends set off

  Resolved to offer puja to a tirthankar.

  They performed the puja with hands folded,

  The three of them, all together(396)

  They stood in front of the image and said,

  ‘Grant us Lakshmi,11 Oh Lord.

  When you give us wealth,

  We shall come again to thank you.’(397)

  Thus saying, they returned home.

  The three friends were so close it seemed they shared a single body.

  They were together day and night

  Talking about themselves, to each other.(398)

  Came the month of Phalgun

  And Balchand’s barat was ready to leave.

  Tarachand, of the Mothiya gotra,

  The son of Nema, appeared.(399)

  He said to Banarasi,

  ‘Come with us in the barat.’

  Then Banarasi took out the pearls he had hidden in the talisman.

  He sold them for thirty rupees and two more.(400)

  He put together what money he could raise by selling the pearls.

  Then, with the other members of the marriage party

  Went Banarasidas.

  His other friend Narottam was with him.(401)

  He spent all his money there.

  Once the wedding was done, he returned.

  He sold all the cloth he had bought in Khairabad,

  And made a loss of four rupees.(402)

  He repaid some interest he owed and became free of debt.

  He went to Narottam’s house.

  The two friends had a meal together

  And sat down to talk in affection and friendship with each other.(403)

  Said Narottamdas,

  ‘Stay with me in my house.

  After all, why stand on ceremony with a brother

  Or hold affection for a fraud?’(404)

  Banarasi replied,

  ‘Your family does not get along with me.’

  Said Narottam, ‘In my house,

  Who will ever say anything to you?’(405)

  He insisted that Banarasi stay with him.

  He called him ‘brother’ and would not be separated from him.

  One day, Narottamdas

  Went to visit Tarachand Mothiya.(406)

  While he was there, Tarachand said,

  ‘Go to Patna, as my representative, and take Banarasi with you.’

  So saying he gave him some money, and when all was ready,

  Put a tilak on their foreheads and bade them farewell. They crossed the Yamuna River.(407)

  Upon crossing the river they felt that good days were back again.

  The three men climbed on to a carriage—

  They had no servants with them—

  All three were young Shrimal men.(408)

  The first was Narottam’s father-in-law,

  The second was Narottamdas.

  The third man was Banarasi.

  There was no fourth man with them.(409)

  They had hired the carriage in Ferozabad

  And planned to take it up to Shahzadpur.

  Upon reaching Shahzadpur,

  They dismounted from the carriage and continued their journey on foot.(410)

  They paid off the hire for the carriage.

  Dusk fell and they stopped at a sarai.

  They did not hire a carriage for the remaining journey.

  They took a porter instead.(411)

  When one watch and a half of the night had passed,

  The Makar moonlight became so bright12

  They thought

  It was dawn and said to each other, ‘Let’s be on our way.’(412)

  The three men were ready to leave at once,

  Loading the porter with their luggage.

  The four soon lost their way

  And turning towards the south, ended up in a forest.(413)

  When the forest became very dense,

  The porter began whimpering.

  He threw down their luggage and ran away

  Into the forest, where men there were none.(414)

  The three men wondered what to do.

  They divided their luggage into three parts

  And made up three equal bundles.

  The three men picked up one bundle each.(415)

  They carried their loads, sometimes on their shoulders, sometimes balanced on their heads.

  This adversity had been given by God.

  Half the night passed;

  They were confounded with fatigue, sometimes crying with tiredness, sometimes singing out loud to keep their spirits up.(416)

  Soon they came to that part of the forest

  Where there was a village of robbers.

  A man called out, ‘Who are you?’

  Their mouths dry with fear, they could not answer.(417)

  They began praying to God.

  The man was the chief of the robbers.

  Then Banarasi began to recite a shloka,13

  And pronounced a blessing upon the robber chief, tricking him into believing that they were brahmins.(418)

  The Chaudhri, coming closer, said,

  ‘You are gods, I am your devotee.

  Come, stay in my chaupal

  God is there between us, I will not harm you.’(419)

  The three men followed him to his village,

  Where the Chaudhri gave them a place to stay.

  The three men were still afraid,

  Their hearts were trembling with fear, their faces were pale.(420)

  They pulled out some yarn

  And made it into four janeus

  The three men wore a janeu each.

  The fourth janeu they carefully kept aside.(421)

  They took some mud from the ground

  And water from the pond,

  And completed their disguise as brahmins,

  Putting tilak marks on their foreheads.(422)

  They sat awake for the rest of the night.

  Dawn came, and streaked the clouds red.

  The Chaudhri arrived, mounted on a horse.

  With him came twenty men.(423)

  He folded his hands and bent his head.

  They stood up and blessed him.

  Said the Chaudhri, ‘Revered pandits,

  Come with me, let me show you the way out of this forest.’(424)

  Helpless, the three followed him,

  Tilak marks on their forehead, janeus round their necks.

  Carrying their bundles on their heads.

  They walked for a distance of three kos in the shelter of the forest.(425)

  The Chaudhri kept his promise.

  He led them to the road that led to Fatehpur.

  The Chaudhri said, ‘Follow this path.

  And now, give me leave, so that I may go my way.’(426)

  They blessed him, ‘Chiranjiv, live long’ and

  Under the trees, to Fatehpur, went the three.

  They could soon
see Lakhraun, two kos away.

  Fatehpur was another two kos from there.(427)

  They reached Fatehpur and found a place to stay.

  They also hired two porters.

  Then, leaving Fatehpur

  They travelled six kos to Allahabad.(428)

  They reached a sarai, and after setting down their luggage there,

  Ate a meal on the banks of the Ganga.

  Then Banarasi went into the city,

  Where he met Kharagsen.(429)

  The son ran and fell at his father’s feet.

  The father clasped him to his heart.

  When they were alone, the father asked the son how he had been.

  Banarasi related all that had happened to him.(430)

  His son’s words pierced his heart,

  And he swooned and fell upon the ground

  In a faint, that very instant.

  In the midst of happiness came worry and anxiety.(431)

  Kharagsen remained insensible for almost two hours.

  Then he regained consciousness and recovered.

  Banarasi and Narottamdas

  Hired a palanquin in Allahabad.(432)

  They sat Kharagsen in the palanquin

  And, making good speed, very soon crossed the Ganga.

  The three men continued their journey on foot

  And soon reached Jaunpur.(433)

  The two friends, Banarasi and Narottam,

  Left for Banaras with the purpose of setting up business there.

  Upon reaching Banaras, they first offered puja to Lord Parshvanath.