AMRITA THE Legend of the Sapphire Illustrations and Text by CARLO DE FORNARO Published by MARCUS & CO. Jewelers 544 Fifth Avenue New York AMRITA THE Legend of the Sapphire Illustrations and Text by CARLO DE FORNARO Published by MARCUS & CO. Jewelers 544 Fifth Avenue New York Copyright, 1902, by Carlo de Fornaro Mrs. Edith B. JVattenberg Whose shadow is immortality, whose shadow is death ! — Rig Veda. IVE thousand Kalpas ago, the Devas and their archenemies the Asuras declared a truce. During several Kalpas they had been battling tenaciously and bitterly for a sip of the Amrita, that godly drink which gave immortality, health and power, which had the strength of Yama, was as inebriating as the Infinite, and more blissful than Nirvana. 5 ^OCs. Now, when the victorious Devas reached the haunt of the Ghandarves, who watched over the Amrita, they learned to their great consternation that not a single drop was left ; and that the great Indra and Varuna having surreptitiously imbibed more than was good for them, were consequently, royally tipsy, and were to be found drowsing in the cool shadow of the Himalayas. They determined to chastise these arrogant Rulers and devised several penalties ; but they soon saw the futility of their rage ; how could they inflict any bodily harm on immortals, to say nothing of killing them ? According to the suggestion of the great ser- pent Sesha the only vengeance worthy and capable of affecting them was the stealing of the secret of the Amrita, which at this period had been tasted by two gods only. As they could not obtain the secret by violence, they resorted to cunning, and after careful plan- ning, one of the Devas approached Indra, who was 7 lying indecorously prostrate, while the others were peeping from behind some rocks. “ O Incomparable Indra, I humbly bring Thee a message from Indrani ! ” He shook him gently, repeating the phrase. “ My wife . . . yes . . . and what may it be ? ” ... mumbled Indra, glancing with half closed eye-lids at the Deva. “ She begs Thee to repeat the recipe for the con- coction of the Amrita and wishes Thee to hasten, she being in great need of it.” “Amrita . . . oh, yes,” slowly uttered Indra. “ Churn the great Ocean . . . with Mount Man- dara . . . use also . . . Sesha . . . and sing . . . sing . . . Amrita . . . Amri . . . Am ...” and the rest was murmured in sleep. But the Devas were well satisfied and prepared themselves for the prodigious task. However, something had been overlooked, for they dis- covered that it took twice their number to churn the great Ocean. 9 *J i jJ&LlJJ J 1 Am _ ri . la Am _ ri _ ta Am _ ri _ la That is the reason they offered a truce to the Asuras, who willingly accepted on condition that they, too, should taste of the Amrita. Thereupon they used Mount Mandara as a churning stick, wrapping round it, rope like, the great serpent Sesha. They moved the Mount to and fro, whirling it vertiginously, the Devas pull- ing at the serpent's tail and the Asuras at its head, and churned and churned, while the Ocean seethed and foamed and thundered and sputtered egre- giously, uproariously, as the great Sesha went back and forth and as they intoned in a sing-song : “ Amrita . . . Amrita . . . Amrita. . . ! ” “Whose shadow is Immortality, “ Whose shadow is Death ! “ Give us thy powerful draught “ To encircle the Infinite ! “Amrita . . . Amrita . . . Amrita!” Then they stopped for a rest, mopping their brows and watching the result of their labors. The Ocean had now dwindled almost to shal- 1 1 lowness; they let it ferment until they were to drink, still chanting monotonously : “ Amrita . . . Amrita . . . Amrita. . . ! ” They lay prone shoulder to shoulder in a wide ellipse, the Devas on one side, the Asuras on the other, and drank and drank, to their fullest capa- city, slowly, voluptuously, lulling themselves to sleep. When Indra had slept his due, he was sur- prised by the all-pervading silence, which seemed to him abnormal and strange, and he was wonder- ing what mischief the Devas and Asuras might be up to, as they had stopped quarrelling. “ May it be . . . oh, may it be that they are all dead ! ” mused the Ruler. He soon discovered the cause and the effect, and at the sight of the sleeping motley of Devas and Asuras his anger rose to white heat and he forged the first shaft of lightning and sent it roar- ing among the snoring neo-immortals. “ By the beard of Yama, I forgot, mur- 13 \ % mured Indra; “they are invulnerable now, the wretches! ” But the lightning had not been sent in vain ; Manu, the first Man, was born from its fire, and was groping around naked and lonely in search of a companion. So, in great pity and compassion Indra squeezed some blood out of his heart, breathing into it the life of Woman. It was a beautiful apparition, and so startled and spellbound was Manu that he knelt in front of her in admiration and love. In the meantime Varuna had joined Indra and was watching the couple. “ Observe and see, Indra; she will ask of him the Unattainable and then they will quarrel,” he whispered. And Woman spoke: “ O Manu, give me im- mortality ! ” Manu looked helplessly around, up to the sky, and then suddenly dashed toward the bottom of the Ocean, searching for the Amrita. 5 And truly at the very bottom of a valley, there lay one solitary drop. It had coagulated, hardening into a transparent substance, blue as the deepest ocean and clear as the sky in springtime. Picking up the gem he brought it to Woman, who admired and played with it, trying to shape it round her fingers and neck. And Indra murmured to Varuna : “ Vanity, verily, thou art immortal/’ And Woman spoke again ; “ O Manu, but will this give Immortality?” Whereupon Manu looked askance and questioningly at Indra, who answered : “ Thou wert born from the fire of lightning that was sent to punish, therefore thou canst not yet reach immortality. When thou hast lived thy time, thou shalt go back to Yama and then rein- carnate according to thy past deeds ; and this shall happen as many times as there are drops of water in the ocean, grains of sand on the shore and stars in the heavens. 17 “ When thou hast lived and suffered and shed all desires, then shalt thou know the secret of the Amrita, not sooner. Now go hence and be con- tent with hope.” And they wandered along disconsolate and sad, yet happy for a glimpse now and then at Immor- tality through the adamantine and imperishable Sapphire. 18