Pratapbhanu Calls Himself a Minister
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 159
Sortha 159 · Movement 1 of 2
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With thirst and fatigue relieved, Pratapbhanu follows the ascetic back to the hermitage. Sunset has closed over the forest, so the host offers him a seat and asks who he is, why he wanders alone, and how one so young, handsome, and marked for empire came into such danger.
The king maintains his concealment. He says the lord of earth is named Pratapbhanu and presents himself as that sovereign's minister, lost while hunting. Fortune, he says, has brought him to the sage's rare darshan, and surely some good will arise from the meeting.
The false hermit notes that darkness has fallen and the capital lies seventy yojanas away. The distance, the exhausted horse, and the pathless night make departure impossible. Shelter now appears both necessary and blessed.
Before the enemy who knows him, Pratapbhanu hides behind the name of his own minister.
Read the passage from the Manas
गै श्रम सकल सुखी नृप भयऊ। निज आश्रम तापस लै गयऊ।। आसन दीन्ह अस्त रबि जानी। पुनि तापस बोलेउ मृदु बानी।। को तुम्ह कस बन फिरहु अकेलें। सुंदर जुबा जीव परहेलें।। चक्रबर्ति के लच्छन तोरें। देखत दया लागि अति मोरें।। नाम प्रतापभानु अवनीसा। तासु सचिव मैं सुनहु मुनीसा।। फिरत अहेरें परेउँ भुलाई। बडे भाग देखउँ पद आई।। हम कहँ दुर्लभ दरस तुम्हारा। जानत हौं कछु भल होनिहारा।। कह मुनि तात भयउ अँधियारा। जोजन सत्तरि नगरु तुम्हारा।।
The king's weariness fell away and he grew at ease. The tapasvi led him to his ashram. Seeing the sun had set, he offered him a seat. Then the tapasvi spoke in gentle tones.