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The mahiisiddha Saraha
SARAHA ON MAHAMUDRA MEDITATION

COMMENTARY

KHENCHEN THRANGU RINPOCHE

TRANSLATOR OF THE SONG AND EDITOR

MICHELE MARTIN

TRANSLATOR OF THE ORAL COMMENTARY

PETER O ' HEARN

Wr sooM Pu BLICATIONS • BosToN

Wisdom Publications, Inc.
199 Elm Srreer
Somerville MA 02144 USA
www. wisdompubs.org

Commentary© 2006 byThrangu Rinpoche.

'Roar rexr, outline, apparatus, and introduction © 2006 by Michele Marrin.
All rights reserved.

No parr of chis book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informacion storage and
retrieval system or technologies now known or Iacer developed, without permission
in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thrangu, Rinpoche, 1933-
Song for the King : Saraha on mahamudra meditation f. commentary, Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche ; rranslaror of the Song and editor, Michele Martin ; translator
of the oral commentary, Peter O'Hearn.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN o-86171-503-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Sarahapada, 8th cent. Dohakosa. 2. Religious life-Buddhism. 3· Mahamudra
(Tanrric rite) I. Sarahapada, 8th cent. Dohakosa. English. II. Martin, Michele, 1942-
III. O'Hearn, Peter, 1959- IV.1icle.
BQ7775.S263T57 2oo6
294·3'4435-dC22
2006000538

ISBN o-86171-503-9

10 09 o8 07 o6
4 3 2 1

Cover designed by Eli2abeth Lawrence.

Back cover photo by Michele Martin: Thrangu Rinpoche on retreat at a Guru Rin-
poche cave in the Helambu region of Nepal's Himalayas.
Interior designed by Gopa & Ted2, Inc. Set in Adobe Garamond 11.25/16.8.
Frontispiece: The maj,.asiddha Saraha; eastern 1ibet, eighteenth century, opaque
watercolor on cotton. Detail from a tangka of four mahasiddhas, © 2006 Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.

Wisdom Publications' books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the Committee for Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Primed in the United. States of America.

.._ This book was produced with environmental mindfulness. We have elected co
"I print this ride on 50% PCW recycled paper. As a result, we have saved the fol-
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our web site, www.wisdompubs.org.
Contents

Editor's Introduction 1

1. Approaching Mahamudra 9
2. The Song Begins 17
3. Ground Mahamudra 45
4. Path Mahamudra 79
5. Fruition Mahamudrii 115

Appendixes

1. A Song for the King with Karma Trinlepa's Outline 123

2. A Song for the King in Tibetan 141
3. A Comparison of the Root Texts 153
4. Some Reflections on Dran med 157
Notes 161
Glossary 167
Bibliography 181

A Brief Biography ofThrangu Rinpoche 184

v
For the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa,

Ogyen Trinley Dorje

May his life be long and fruitful

May compassion like his unfold
in the hearts of every living being
Editor's Introduction

S ARAHA HAS INSPIRED SEEKERS OF TRUTH for centuries with his spir-
itual songs and the legends of his life. Prominent among the eighty-
four masters oflndia, he lived most probably in ninth-century Bengal. '
Tradition holds that Saraha was the first to introduce mahamudra as rhe
central practice of meditation/ and irs relevance along with irs lineage
continue to the present day. On his visits to the West in the 1970s, the
Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, recommended mahamudra
because it transcends all cultural barriers. The essence of Buddhist med-
itation is to tame our mind, and mahamudra practice does this through
working directly with mind's nature, which is found to be the same in
all living beings. Once this nature has been recognized, awareness of it
is sustained in every situation, from meditation sessions to all facets of
daily life. Over time, whatever arises is experienced as clear and fresh,
beyond expression, and transparent to its radiant, empty nature.
Woven with analogies, spontaneous song is a natural medium for
the expression of this ultimate reality. For this reality cannot be captured
by a net of words and concepts but only indicated through the oblique
lines of allusion. Metaphors have the capacity to evoke an experiential
reality that transcends the intellect, and so they are not only a teaching
tool to deepen understanding but an opening into another dimension.
Saraha sang his songs to bring his listeners to enlightenment.
2 A SONG FOR THE KING

Thrangu Rinpoche's commentary belongs to the living oral tradition

in which these verses began. Given in Colorado during the summer of
2002, his talks range from the basic points to the most subtle, all of
which he has chosen for their relevance to meditation practice. The style
of presentation reflects the oral tradition, which comes around to a topic
from different directions, allowing this repetition to settle an idea more
deeply into our minds. The tone is close to conversational, flowing in a
timeless setting of spiritual friend and disciples. Thrangu Rinpoche
based his explanations on a text by Karma Trinlepa (1456-1539), who
has written the most extensive commentaries on Saraha's trilogy-his
spiritual songs for the people, the queen, and the king.
A Song for the King is the shortest of the three compositions and the
most profound, for it presents in greatest detail Saraha's unique interpre-
tation of mahamudra. The eminent Kagyii scholar Pawo Tsuglalc Trengwa
(1504-66) wrote that the songs correspond to the three kiiyas, or dimen-
sions: A Song for the People relates to the nirmar:akaya; A Song for the
Queen relates to the sambhogakaya, and, finally, A Songfor the King relates
to the dharmakaya, which makes it the most subtle and succinct. 3
In their Indian form, songs of realization were presented in a flow of
·Verses without an overt structure. It was the Tibetan commentaries that
added the outlines and gave a topography to the landscape the songs
explored. In particular, Karma Trinlepa's outline is quite detailed and
could actually serve as a summary of his whole commentary.
To introduce the song, let us look at an overview. At the beginning,
Karma Trinlepa uses the occasion of the traditional homage to elucidate
four major obstacles to practice. This discussion functions as the tradi-
tional preliminaries for a text or practice. Following this, he presents the
usual precis of a text, which alerts the reader to the range of its content,
by dividing the verses into a summary of mahamudra, according to
ground, path, and fruition. He then returns to each one of these for an
extensive discussion as he builds the rest of his commentary.
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 3

In the longer presentation, Saraha's verses on the ground start with

his advice to keep it clear of attachment, especially to the various signs
of accomplishment that might arise from practice. This is a theme
that runs throughout the song, as these attachments are the basic way
that we deviate from an authentic path. In all the major manuals on
mahamudra, instructions on how to practice are followed by descrip-
tions of how to avoid obstacles-all the diversions and sidetracks that
lead us astray. Saraha distributes these cautions liberally throughout
his song.
After warning us of dangers, Saraha defines classic. concepts, such as
the nonduality of appearance and emptiness, and then he points out the
essential nature of mind. When we are meditating, it is important· to
know what we are seeking, for this goal will guide the whole process of
practice. Therefore, in the beginning Saraha points to ultimate reality,
the fruition that is the realization of mind's very nature. Finally, he speaks
about cause and effect, which constitute the level of relative truth, and
about the perils of fixating on scholastic analysis.
Having provided this ground, Saraha begins his mapping of the path
with another series of verses on the dangers of attachment, in particular
the peril of taking meditative experience to be something real and truly
existent. Once this is complete, Saraha sets forth the actual path through
his unique presentation of mahamudra, laid out as the four symbols or
stages of practice: (1) mindfulness, (2) nonminding, (3) the unborn, and
(4) beyond the intellect.
In his commentary on A Song for the People, Karma Trinh!pa gives a
detailed explanation of these four stages in increasingly subtle levels. 4
Since the third and secret one has been emphasized by Thrangu Rin-
poche and prefigures the discussion in this book, it might be useful to
look at it briefly. In A Song for the People, Saraha's verse reads:
4 A SONG FOR THE KING

... the four stages: mindfulness, nonminding, the unborn, and

beyond the intellect. Among these, I first teach mindfulness.
As you drinkthe elixir of nonminding, apprehending "I" and
"mine" is forgotten.
Whoever realizes that mind itself is forever unborn will come to
know the reality of the single letter A, the unborn.
Ultimately beyond the intellect, the nature of mind knows neither
name nor symbol. 5

Karma Trinlepa explains that this verse indicates how to realize mind's
abiding nature to be "uncontaminated," which means free of mental
pollution, or "beyond the intellect," the final of the four stages. The
three stages leading up to this begin with mindfulness, which Karma
Trinlepa defines as a practice that cuts through the root of the mind.
What this might mean is described by another master:

Cutting through elaborations from without or from within-

There is not only one, but many ways to teach the view.
Nevertheless, just as dousing a fire naturally stops its smoke,
It is more profound to cut through the roots of your mind from
within. 6

Here, the cutting through of mindfulness means to calm the busyness of

proliferating concepts. This reins in a distracted, overactive mind and
brings it into a more tranquil state.
The next stage, nonminding, is an extension of the first. Karma Trin-
lepq. writes that to rest in a state free of mental activity is to drink the
elixir of nonminding; this induces an experience in which the concepts
that grasp onto "I" and "mine" slip from our mind. Since apprehending
an "I"-the actual basis for the afflictions-is no longer present, Saraha
states that the mind is "completely purified of all afflictions." Thus freed,
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 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

we are no longer depressed by faults or inflated by positive qualities.

The ups and downs of that rollercoaster ride have ended. (Appendix 4,
"Some Reflections on Dran med," gives an extended discussion of non-
minding.)
Through abiding in this second stage, we come to the third, the
unborn. With the aid of the key instructions, we realize a deeper real-
ity-the unborn emptiness that the letter A embodies. This is seeing
that the mind itself is forever unborn and that this quality is all-perva-
sive; it is the very nature of our mind and of all phenomena. Karma
Trinlepa states that with the realization of this unborn nature, samsara
is transcended.
Ultimately we arrive at the fourth stage, beyond the intellect. Karma
Trinlepa explains that through the oral instructions we have practiced in
the past, we have come to a realization that transcends even the name or
symbol of the unborn: all these are liberated into a state beyond expres-
sion in thought or word/
These four stages of Saraha bear a close resemblance to the famous
four yogas of mahamudra, which also chart a path to full awakening. 8
Since they resonate so dearly with one another, let us look briefly at
how they interrelate and illuminate each other.
The first yoga of one-pointedness has a quality of tranquility like
Saraha's first stage of mindfulness, in which discursiveness is brought to
rest. During the second yoga, free ofelaborations, or simplicity, all expe-
rience dissolves into emptiness without leaving a trace. This resembles
the second stage of nonminding when highs and lows no longer disturb
our mind. During the third yoga of one taste, we realize that all phe-
nomena are appearance and emptiness inseparable. In Saraha's third stage
of the unborn, we realize that our mind and all phenomena have the
same nature, or embody the same taste. Everything is unborn. With the
fourth yoga, nonmeditation, spontaneous presence is reached, and all
subtle dualistic appearances utterly dissolve. This is also Saraha's fourth
6 A SONG FOR THE KING

stage, completely beyond the intellect; it is the ultimate that transcends

expressiOn.
After laying out these four stages, Saraha puts the final touches on his
map of the journey to full awakening with another reminder of nonat-
tachment and clear advice on how to meditate: Realize that there is noth-
ing to negate, nothing to affirm, and nothing to be meditated upon.
S'rnce mere recognition brings liberation, we simply continue, "recog-
nizing what is clear and unmoving." This will lead to the fruition of full
awakening: Mind expands into vast wisdom, the five kayas appear, and
benefits continually flow forth as the mind remains flawless and unob-
structed. Saraha concludes his verses with a vision of ultimate reality
fully integrated and fully functioning within our relative world.

* * * *
This version of A Song for the King has been created with a varied read-
ership in mind. For the growing number of people who know Tibetan,
the original text is reproduced. In an appendix, a scholarly translation is
provided with Karma Trinlepa's detailed outline and interpolations from
his commentary marked in brackets. This layout will also help those
. who wish to work directly with the text in a traditional manner by recit-
ing and memorizing the verses. In the main body of the text with the
verses accompanying Thrangu Rinpoche's commentary, the brackets
have been removed for smoother reading, and the outline has been con-
densed to reflect the essential and Thrangu Rinpoche's emphasis.
Nothing happens without the cooperation of many people, and I am
grateful for their kind and generous assistance. David Germano found,
copied, and sent the Tibetan manuscript of Karma Trinlepa's commen-
tary by courier to Kathmandu. Through the Tibetan Buddhist Resource
Center, E. Gene Smith provided a copy of the root text. Peter O'Hearn
gave his usual precise and eloquent oral translation and was wonderful
to work with during the editing process. Cathy Jackson transcribed the
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 7

talks, Clark Johnson worked on early stages of the text, and the final
polish was given by Tracy Davis. Perna Tsewang Shastri input the Tibetan
root text and David Kittelstrom at Wisdom Publications has offered
superb support throughout. In addtion to editing the commentary, I
am responsible for the translation of the song and outline, the notes,
glossary, and appendixes. At my doorstep as well sits whatever is mis-
taken, rough, or unclear.
It is my hope that this book will inspire readers to practice maha-
mudra and that it will bring them great benefit all along the way to per-
fect and full awakening.
Michele Martin
Approaching Mahamudni 1

"""" AKYAMUNI BuDDHA taught in eighty-four thousand different ways.

S The authentic practice of any one of these teachings lc:ads to liber-
ation and omniscience in the long term, and in the short term it pacifies
difficult situations, calms our minds, and fosters insight. Among all the
teachings of the Buddha, from the early time of the KagyU lineage mas-
ters up to the present day, mahamudra has been selected as the princi-
pal teaching of the lineage. Due to its prominence, there are unusually
profound instructions concerning this practice, which was considered
the most beneficial.
Mahamudra is also the easiest aspect of the teachings to implemenr,
and its practice has produced a great number of realized masters. Espe-
cially now, with the flourishing of Buddhism in the West, mahamudra
is an even more appropriate practice than it was in the past. I have found
that many Westerners practice Dharma out of great inrerest and devo-
tion, and I feel that the only aspect of Dharma that will actually satisfy
their hopes and aspirations is mahamudra, because it opens a direct path
to realizing mind's nature and can be practiced in conjunction with any
activity.
When people practice Dharma, their individual circumstances greatly
affect what they can and will do. Some people are able to practice with
great intensity and great diligence in long retreats. Others with the same

9
IO A SONG FOR THE KING

degree of faith and interest may lack the opportunity for such intense
and prolonged practice. In teaching Dharma, we must fulfill the needs
and hopes of both types of practitioner. Some people possess the
resources and circumstances that allow them to become monastics and
devote their lives to practice. Some people possess the resources that
allow them to practice in long, intense retreats. But all of these practi-
tioners without exception are devoted to Dharma, and so they should
have a system that equally enables and benefits their different kinds of
Dharma practice. That system is mahamudra, and there is none better
for all types of practitioners.
An effective practice of mahamudra requires access to genuine texts
of Dharma instruction. For over a thousand years, the uncommon, prac-
tical instructions of the Kagyii lineage have existed in Tibetan, but until
recently the barrier oflanguage has come between Western students and
mahamudra instructions. Now, through the diligent effort ofWestern
students, major texts from the lineage have been translated and made
available. 9 These texts are eminently practical and not cryptic or inac-
cessible. They provide appropriate solutions and responses to the vari-
ous types of experiences, both positive and negative, that might appear
in our practice. With these new translations, we now have the necessary
resources for understanding mahamudra practice.
Saraha's Song for the King belongs to the lineage of mahamudra
instruction, which comes to us in two ways: through a long lineage and
a short one. The short or close lineage, which is better known, begins
with the dharmakaya Vajradhara and passes on to Tilopa, Naropa,
Marpa, and others. 10 The long lineage, which is found in many lineage
supplications, also begins with Vajradhara and then goes to the bodhi-
sattva Ratnamati, the mahasiddha Saraha, Nagarjuna, and others, even-
tually down to Marpa. 11 Saraha is an important link in this long lineage
of mahamudra instructions, which continues unbroken down to the
present day.
 APPROACHING MAHAMUDRA II

Many of the compositions of the Indian mahasiddhas have been scat-

tered because they are separate, short texts, and therefore many have
been lost. But due. to the kindness of the Seventh Gyalwang Karmapa,
Chodrak Gyatso, the Indian sources for the mahamudra teachings have
been preserved. He collected all of these compositions into three vol-
umes, which he tided Indian Sources ofMahamudra. They include the
Buddha's original mahamudra teachings, found in the tantras, plus the
oral instructions and spiritual songs composed by the mahasiddhas, such
as this one by Saraha. Because of Chodrak Gyatso, the lineage of read-
ing transmissions and explanations of mahamudra has not disappeared,
and now there is no danger of them being lost in the future. His Holi-
ness the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, bestowed the read-
ing transmission of these three volumes at Rumtek Monastery, and I
had the good fortune to receive this transmission in its entirety.

The Life of Saraha

Saraha was born into the Brahmin caste and became a Buddhist monas_.
tic named Rahulabhadra. He was a very influential and highly respected
teacher of Buddhism within the monastic tradition, enjoying the patron-
age, devotion, and faith of a king and his subjects. Then one day, while
still engaged in teaching and practice, Saraha encountered a wisdom
c;iakini who appeared in the form of a woman from a very low caste. At
that time in India, social Class and caste were considered of great impor-
tance. This woman was an arrow maker, and Saraha encountered her at
a crossroads where she was making arrows.
When Saraha saw this woman putting the feathers on an arrow, he
noticed that she was doing it in a way that was extremely concentrated, not
looking to the right or left but one-pointedly working on the arrow. The
shaft had three segments and Saraha watched her cut off the base as well
as the tip and split the base into four, where she tied a pebble in place. At
12 A SONG FOR THE KING

the tip she placed the arrowhead and at the base she placed four feathers.
Saraha addressed her, saying, ''Are you making an arrow?" In reply she
said, "Son of noble family, the realizations of all buddhas are understood
through skillful methods and indications, not through words and writing."
It dawned on Saraha that she must be a 9-ak.ini and that what she said
was a symbolic indication for him to understand. 'This is what he under-
stood. The three segments of the shaft symbolized the three kayas of the
dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmiii].akaya. Cutting off the root
symbolized cutting off cyclic existence at its very origin, and cutting off
the tip of the shaft symbolized the severing of ego-clinging.
Furthermore, he understood that placing the arrowhead onto the shaft
symbolized wisdom and that dividing the base into four symbolized the
four aspects of mahamudra practice: mindfulness, nonminding, the
unborn, and beyond the intellect. 12 Placing the pebble into these four
splits and tying it with a string symbolized unifYing method and wisdom
(Skt. upiiya and prajfut) through the practice of calm abiding and deeper
insight (Skt. famatha and vipafyantf). Inserting the four feathers sym-
bolized the four aspects of view, meditation, conduct, and fruition.
Saraha understood the straightening of the arrow as following the
straight path from the very beginning. The woman closed one eye and
opened the other while checking the straightness of the arrow. This sym-
bolized closing the eye of dualistic mind while opening the eye of wis-
dom. At the moment when Saraha fully realized the state of mahamudra,
he exclaimed "da." This is a play on the sound of this word, which can
mean either "arrow" or "symbol." 13 He said, "You are not an arrow
maker. You are a symbol maker." From that point onward Saraha
changed his lifestyle from that of a monk to that of a siddha.
He began to travel around with her and practice the Dharma. By
living with her rather than being a celibate monk, Saraha greatly dis-
appointed the king and his subjects. So to convince Saraha to return to
a more conventional monastic lifestyle, the king sent a group of his
 APPROACHING MAHAMUDRA 13

subjects to ask Saraha to behave properly. Saraha's response to their

request was what is known as A Song for the People, which is the first of
the three great spiritual songs, or dohas, sung by Saraha in the vernacu-
lar of southern India. A Song for the People is the longest of the three
songs, comprising one hundred sixty verses of instruction in mahiimudra.
Through hearing Saraha's teaching, the people sent by the king all devel-
oped great realization and stopped asking Saraha to behave. When they
returned to the court, the king observed that they had been unsuccess-
ful, so he decided to send a second deputation, which was made up of the
queen and her retinue of servants. They too asked Saraha to behave, and
his response was the second spiritual song, A Songfor the Queen, in eighty
verses. In response to this teaching, the queen and her retinue, like the
people before, attained authentic realization, stopped pestering Saraha,
and returned to the court. Observing that both the people and the queen
had been unsuccessful, the king decided to go personally and ask Saraha
to mend his ways. Saraha's response to the king's petition was A Song for
the King. It consists of forty stanzas, and upon hearing it, the king imme-
diately attained supreme siddhi, or full awakening.

A Song for the King

The literature of mahiimudra consists oflndian spiritual songs, such as
the Three Spiritual Songs of Saraha, the Ganges Mahiimudrii ofTilopa,
and many similar songs of realization by Tibet's great masters, such as
Marpa and Milarepa. There are also Tibetan commentaries on
mahamudra, among them The Ocean of Definitive Meaning by the
Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje. The commentaries and spiritual
songs reflect the same outlook, present essentially the same material,
and have the same meaning. But these two sources of mahamudra are
quite different in how they present their subject. The commentaries
give a systematic and clear presentati9n of mahiimudra instructions from
14 A SONG FOR THE KING

the very beginning of the path up to its end. By contrast, the spiritual
songs are not systematic and sequential, as they are usually sung when a
mahasiddha develops realization and spontaneously expresses that real-
ization through the bliss of the realization itself. Spiritual songs are more
an expression of personal realization than a systematic presentation of the
path. For example, in The Ocean ofDefinitive Meaning you will find a
gradual presentation starting with how to practice tranquility meditation
and then, upon mastering this, how to practice insight meditation, and
so on. Usually spiritual songs do not present the path in such a sequen-
tial manner. Therefore, in studying the spiritual songs, which are both
poetic and cryptic, we need the support of the great texts of instruction,
even though the essential meaning of all of the instruction is still found
in the songs themselves. The one I am using is The Middle-Length Com-
mentary on ~ Song for the King" by Karma Trinlepa, 14 who was the
teacher of the Eighth Gyalwang Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje. Karma Trinlepa
wrote commentaries on all three of Saraha's spiritual songs.
In A Song for the King, mahamudra is taught in three aspects: ground,
path, and fruition. This spiritual song answers the questions: What is the
ground or basis of mahamudra practice? What is the path or process of this
practice? What is the result or goal of this practice? In this song, the ground
is how things really are. 15 From this perspective, the way that we experience
ordinary appearances is confused. These mundane or samsaric appear-
ances refer to how things appear. But what are they really? How are things
in their abiding or true nature? In other words, what lies behind the con-
fused appearances of phenomena? It must be this true nature, recognized
as the very excellence of this ground, which makes the path of mahamudra
possible. So the first subject of our text is an explanation of the founda-
tion of mahamudra-what is to be realized, or how things really are. The
path to realizing mahamudra is path mahamudra. And finally, the culmi-
nation of that path is fruition mahamudra, the state of full realization. A
Song for the King is structured along these lines of ground, path, and
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 PRINCE OF HUNGARY MADE KING OF GALITCH
When Roman’s death became known, Chermny, Prince of Chernigoff,
set out for Kief. But the monk Rurik was in the city before him.
Throwing off his habit, he ruled again in the ancient capital,
replacing Rostislav, who left the throne to his father. Rurik and his
allies, bound by old treaties, took fresh oaths, Rurik agreeing to give
them certain towns near the capital, Bailgorod on the Ros, Torchesk,
and Tropoli.

Meanwhile in Galitch there were disturbances, quarrels and

uprisings. There was no end to dissensions among boyars, who
rushed in from all sides, returning some from Hungary, and others
from Poland. Roman’s former enemies tried to arm all men against
the heirs of their late opponent. The youthful widow of Roman was
left with two sons, Daniel, four years of age, and Vassilko, an infant.
Though in 1205 the people of Galitch had proclaimed Daniel to be
their prince, and had taken oath to him, it was impossible for a little
boy, or those who had charge of him, to keep peace among
quarreling factions which were threatening one another with
bloodshed. At this difficult juncture, the widow sought audience of
Andrei of Hungary, who had just received the Hungarian crown so
long withheld from him. This was the same Andrei who had once
ruled in Galitch, but had become afterward a friend of Roman. He
was moved now by her grief as she presented Roman’s orphans, and
he remembered the promise which on a time he had given their
father. Loyal to his brother by adoption, as he called Roman, who
was a distant relative, Andrei’s grandfather, Geiza, having married
Efrosina, daughter of Mystislav the Great, and sister of Roman’s
grandfather, Andrei fondled Daniel, called him “dear son,” and sent a
detachment of warriors to establish him in Galitch and guard the
peace there. Hungarian garrisons were [162]distributed also in many
places. This timely aid, though foreign, stopped attack from Kief and
Chernigoff princes, who fought on the Dniester and Seret
successfully, but dared not draw near Galitch.

This evidence of friendship on the part of the king forestalled action

by the boyars of Galitch. But the year following, 1206, Chermny
again led his men into Galitch, bringing with him a great force of
Polovtsi. All the sons of the late Igor of Novgorod-Seversk joined
him, and also the grandsons of Yaroslav, who, through their mother,
the daughter of Eight Minds, thought themselves the next heirs to
Galitch. Chermny also engaged the Mazovian princes, who were
hostile to Galitch. Though connected with these princes by marriage,
for his wife was the daughter of Kazimir, he relied less on their
friendship for him than on their jealousy of Hungary. He believed
that the Poles and Hungarians would dispute over Galitch, and he
was not mistaken. Rurik also, as Kief prince, thought himself master
of every inheritance. This time the allies were more numerous than a
year earlier.

At news of this advance of Russian princes and of their alliance with

Poles, a disturbance began which was worse than any preceeding it.
The enemies of Roman’s sons preferred Chernigoff princes. Some of
the boyars wished neither Daniel nor any grandson of Eight Minds,
but Hungary, with which they desired perfect union. Others inclined
toward the Poles; still others declared that they wished no prince
whatever, that they were all foreign upstarts; that a government by
boyars was the right one for Galitch. To this party were joined men
who had deserted the people, adventurers of all kinds. These
disposers of Galitch were willing to attach themselves to any faction,
to leave any side for any other. They were ready to flatter all parties
at once, if by thus doing they could continue disorder. The seizure of
lands and the winning of fortunes was their single policy. The
tyranny of boyars increased daily. The grabbing of land had become
now an everyday action, and men who were not boyars at all, but
laid claim to the title, took lands and kept them.

Roman’s sons were surrounded by falsehood and treason. When

they heard that Polish and Russian forces were marching against
them, they turned to their protector. But to wait for the king would
have been perilous. He gave notice indeed that he was coming and
would save them, but Galitch disorders had [163]become so serious
that the widowed princess refused to stay longer in the city with her
children; and the family of Roman saved itself only by flight to
Volynia. When the king had passed the mountains, he heard that the
Poles were marching on Volynia, and he hastened to intercept them.

Igor’s sons crossed the Galitch boundary, but halted when they
found that the king was leading in a strong army. At this juncture,
affairs suddenly called Andrei back to Hungary. Such disturbances
had broken out there that he feared for his throne. In view of this,
he sought peace with the Poles, pointing out to them that he did not
seek Galitch for himself, and did not insist now on setting up
Roman’s children. He advised Galitch men to invite Yaroslav, son of
Big Nest, to be their prince.

Abandoned by Andrei and all the Hungarians, the men of Galitch

were terrified by the advance of Rurik and the Chernigoff forces.
Yaroslav was hastening to them from Pereyaslavl, but the sons of
Igor anticipated him, for they were present in the Chernigoff army.
Owing to the ancient ties between Novgorod-Seversk and the family
of Eight Minds, but, more than that, owing to the triumph at that
juncture of those boyars who preferred the sons of Igor to all other
princes, they established themselves in Galitch. Such a quick turn
toward Oleg’s descendants put an end to the whole expedition.
Chermny, satisfied with the success of his line, withdrew from his
connection with Rurik and the quarreling allies returned to their
homes. But it was not enough that the sons of Igor were in Galitch.
The boyars who had seated them did not wish to lose Volynia, and
commanded these princes, who were now in their power, to get
possession of that city, and expel the sons of Roman. The sons of
Igor immediately sent envoys to Volynia to demand the surrender of
the city. The people were so enraged by this demand that they
wished to tear the envoys to pieces. But in Volynia, too, there were
boyars who sided with the sons of Igor, hence the disposition of the
capital was mutinous. The widowed princess, on learning that the
sons of Igor had threatened to destroy Volynia if Roman’s sons,
Daniel and Vassilko, were not given up to them, and that the city
contained not a few partisans of those princes, counseled with
Miroslav, her elder son’s tutor, and resolved to flee promptly. [164]

Avoiding the city gates, where the guards might be hostile, the
princess crept through a hole in the wall during night hours. With
her were three persons, Miroslav, a priest, and a nurse who cared
for the little princes. “Not knowing to what place they should flee,”
adds the chronicler, “since the Poles had murdered Roman.” But
being related to Leshko, the widow decided to appear before him,
and ask refuge. Leshko was moved when he saw the little orphans
of the man who had been both his friend and opponent. “The devil
himself made us disagree in those days,” cried he. Leshko had in fact
loved Roman; but the crafty Cane Legs, for purposes of his own, had
brought about the quarrel.

Leshko kept the princess with her infant Vassilko, and sent Daniel
with attendants to Hungary, commanding his envoys to say to the
king there: “Remember not the faults of Roman, for he was a friend
to thee. He and thou swore to each other that whoso of you lived
the longer would cherish the orphans of the dead man. Now
Roman’s children are exiles, but thou and I may help them to return
to their country.” These words, flattering, through confidence, served
to bring the prince and the Hungarian king nearer to each other.
Hitherto they had been quarreling, but thenceforth both men cared
actively for the two sons of Roman. This care was friendly in
appearance, but fatal in reality. These men had now an opportunity
to reëstablish the strong house of Roman, but fearing its power, they
hesitated to do so. For them there was profit in separating Galitch
from Volynia, and more profit still in taking possession of those lands
and dividing them. Hence throughout Galitch and Volynia endless
disorder continued.

In Kief troubles multiplied immensely, because Big Nest did not

choose to put an end to them. He left Southern Russia to follow its
own course. But great changes were at hand. Chermny, seeing that
matters had arranged themselves well to his profit in Galitch without
Rurik’s devices, and that Rurik had not power to bestow on
Chernigoff the Kief cities promised it, quarreled with him finally, and,
relying on himself, seized Kief. “Why should I not take it?” thought
he. “I am Sviatoslav’s heir.”

Once in Kief, Chermny sent these words to Yaroslav, Prince of

Pereyaslavl on the Alta: “Go to thy father, and seek not to take
Galitch from my cousins. Unless thou leave of thy own will, I will
march against thee.” [165]

Pereyaslavl was vacated immediately, and Chermny installed a prince

of his own line. Rurik, enraged by this, summoned Mystislav, the
Smolensk prince, Mystislav the Gallant, and his own sons, Vladimir
and Rostislav, to help him, and, aided by their forces, he drove
Chermny out of Kief, and won back Pereyaslavl. The following winter
Chermny, as was his wont, led into the country great hordes of
Polovtsi, and laid siege to Kief, but was soon forced to raise the
siege and withdraw. At the end of the year he returned with larger
forces, and began by winning Tripoli on the Ros. Vladimir, son of
Igor, came with assistance, and all marched on Kief. Rurik, learning
that enormous forces were moving against him from every side, and
knowing that there was no aid from any place, withdrew to Ovrutch.
Chermny, besides seizing Kief, took Bailgorod, and reduced Torchesk
by famine. Thus at the end of 1207 all the Kief country fell into his
possession.

Meanwhile, in Galitch and Volynia, affairs were very gloomy. At first

the Hungarian king, taking pity on Daniel, wished to give him the
dominions of his father, but the sons of Igor sent costly gifts to
Andrei, and ceased not in the sending, declaring at the same time
that they were ready to remain as his assistants. This was the
position which the boyars desired. Such subjection of Galitch pleased
the king, who kept Daniel near him, as if through hospitality. Leshko,
by sheltering Vassilko and his mother, under pretext of defending the
orphans and restoring their inheritance, managed in Volynia as he
did in his own house. At this work he was helped most zealously by
Alexander, better known as Bailski, Roman’s nephew, his brother’s
son, who wished to rule in Volynia, and set aside Roman’s sons if
possible. So the sons of Igor were protected by the King of Hungary,
and Bailski worked with Leshko to keep Volynia from the sons of
Roman. Thanks to Bailski, Leshko, and Konrad his brother, brought
Polish forces to Volynia and disposed of places in it, as if they were
their own inherited possessions. Some they gave to Russian princes
who pleased them; others they reserved for their own special use.
The people of Volynia, indignant at this Polish action, passed
judgment on Bailski “the traitor,” saying; “We trusted Bailski, since
he was Roman’s nephew. Had it not been for that, the Poles could
never have crossed the Būg to rob us.” [166]
The Polish princes kept Bailski in Volynia, as the manager. Leshko
married Gremislav, Bailski’s daughter, and the former connection of
Mazovian princes with the princes of Volynia became even more
involved through this marriage, which gave them, as they thought,
still greater right to use Volynia as their own inheritance.

But soon the senior of Volynian princes, that same Ingvar who in
Roman’s day had reigned in Kief, though very briefly, claimed
Volynia, and was established in it, though for a short period only.
The Polish guardians changed their minds quickly. The place
returned to Bailski, and Ingvar was sent back to Lutsk.

To Vassilko, Roman’s second son, his Polish guardians gave Brest at

the urgent demand of its people, who, alarmed that Poles had taken
possession of Russian land so near them, wished to have their native
princes. When the mother went to Brest with Vassilko, the people
met her with joy, and declared that in the boy they beheld the great
Roman. The widow complained with bitterness: “They have given
Bailski all our lands; only one town is left for my son.” In view of this
complaint Leshko, who had given much to Bailski, commanded him
to yield Bailz to Daniel and his brother.

Sviatoslav, son of Igor, once captured in Volynia, was sent to his

brothers in Galitch, neither to his own good nor theirs, as became
evident later. In Galitch the boyars made prince quarrel with prince,
and brother rise against brother. Each son of Igor wished to take all
that his brothers had, each wished to rise at the expense of the
others; each of them fled more than once from his portion, and
returned to it eagerly. More than once was complaint made in
Hungary against all three of them. The king wished at last to be rid
of these quarrelsome princes, so he placed in Galitch his own
viceroy, Benedict Bor, a noted magnate, to whom he gave great
authority.
Big Nest, Prince of Vladimir, now suddenly decided to cast aside his
policy of non-interference and take active part in Southern Russia.
When his son Yaroslav, driven from Pereyaslavl, returned home and
described Chermny’s accession, and the general predominance of
Oleg’s descendants, even in Galitch, Big Nest inquired: “Is all that
land theirs, or is it ours as well?” And these words of the Grand
Prince went whirling through Russia. [167]They encouraged the
descendants of Monomach and confused the Chernigoff princes. A
great army soon moved from the North toward the South. Command
was given to the troops of Ladoga, of Pskoff, of Nova-Torg and Tver
to march with it. All these forces were led by Constantine, the eldest
son of the Prince of Vladimir, who waited for his father at Moscow.
Big Nest advanced with the men of Rostoff and Suzdal and the
Vladimir regiments, led by his second and third sons, Yuri and
Yaroslav; with him also was Vladimir, his youngest son. The troops of
Pronsk, Ryazan and Murom had received commands to join the
expedition at Moscow.

In Moscow the two main divisions met. The Grand Prince gave a
week for rest. He praised the posadnik of Novgorod and the boyars
of that city for obedience, and gave a great feast to them. In
general, the Moscow halt was gladsome for the warriors. From
Moscow they went to the Oká, where, in the meadows opposite the
Chernigoff-Ryazan bank, they pitched their camp. There they were
soon joined by the remaining forces, but still they did not advance.
This caused general surprise in the army, and men began to
complain of delay and indecision.

It was said that Big Nest’s eldest son, Constantine, had quarreled
with his father over this question. It was also stated that there was
treachery in the army, that two princes of Ryazan, Roman and
Sviatoslav, sons of Glaib, had betrayed their uncle and cousins, and
had promised to go over to Chermny’s side and deliver Big Nest into
his hands. It seems true that Ryazan princes had been brought into
this campaign against their wishes, that they did not desire success
for Big Nest, and in case of his failure would have gone over, in all
likelihood, to his opponents.

The cautious Prince of Vladimir acted in his own way. He sent to his
capital as prisoners all the princes who had come to him from
Ryazan, and all their boyars, with command to keep them carefully
under guard. Then he turned toward Ryazan. First he attacked
Pronsk, which after desperate resistance surrendered. He then
appointed his own men to places throughout the principality, and
moved on Ryazan. He was within twenty versts of that city and
about to pass the Pron River, when a large company of penitent
Ryazan men came, bringing with them envoys [168]from the bishop.
They bowed down and humbly implored the Vladimir prince not to
ruin their city. Arseni, the Ryazan bishop, had sent more than once
remonstrating letters, and now he spoke through envoys: “Grand
Prince and lord, do not ruin noble places. Do not burn God’s holy
churches; sacrifice is offered to the Lord in them, and prayers for
thee. We promise to accomplish thy will as thou wishest precisely.”

Big Nest, pleased with this obedience, turned his anger into mercy.
He ordered the army to withdraw to Kolomna, where the petitioners
were to meet him for final negotiations. It was late in the year,
inclining to frost. The Oká was not firmly frozen, but there was ice
on it. Big Nest had to wait two days in tents near the river; the third
day heavy frost came; the whole army crossed the Oká on the ice,
and entered Kolomna. The night after a tremendous storm rose;
next morning came a violent rainfall, and the ice broke. The bishop,
Arseni, and the Ryazan men crossed in boats, with great peril. The
bishop thanked the Grand Prince for his clemency, and begged him
to be gracious to the end, to return the captured princes, and he,
the bishop, would answer for their loyalty.
“Cast aside thy anger against those men,” said he; “take them into
thy favor and the Most Holy will cast aside thy faults. Turn thy ear
from calumniators, for they, with feigned loyalty and fawning, are
working not for the good of the country, but for their own profit. God
has placed thee, O great prince, as a ruler to judge and give justice
to His people. It is proper for thee to punish the guilty, God himself
commands thee to do so, but there is need also for mercy, and not
of punishment in anger. I, thy lowly petitioner, have been sent to
thee at the prayer of all the Ryazan men. I have not come with
power to command, that is not given from God to me, but with
mildness and tears I implore and pray thee to accept my
beseeching.”

Big Nest was moved by these speeches, and declared to the bishop,
that because of his pastoral intercession, and the penitence of the
Ryazan men, he was willing to give complete peace, if they would
promise not to conspire against him or oppose him in future. The
bishop took this promise on himself, and engaged to bind the whole
people to it by an oath. Big Nest agreed to think of the captive
princes, but later on,—not that day. In this, however, [169]he did not
yield to the prayers of Arseni, offered in the name of Ryazan. On the
contrary, he demanded that they should without delay send the
remaining princes and princesses to him in Vladimir, so that there
should be no further disturbance.

November 21, 1207, the army arrived in Vladimir, and there was
great rejoicing. Big Nest again thanked and rewarded the Pskoff and
Novgorod men, who had shared the campaign and its toils with him.
Especially was he kind to the wounded, many of whom he retained
in Vladimir at his own expense till they recovered.

The Ryazan men, when the bishop returned to them, listened to the
tidings which he brought, and took counsel. They did not find it
possible to disobey the Grand Prince; so they sent the rest of their
princes and princesses to Vladimir. Such a quick and complete
accomplishment of his will was a surprise even to Big Nest. He
explained it only by this, that the bishop, who was dependent on
him, not on Chernigoff, brought them to submission.

In the winter of 1208, Big Nest sent as prince to Ryazan his son
Yaroslav, who had been driven from Pereyaslavl by Rurik. The
Ryazan men, not without astonishment, but without resistance,
accepted the prince and kissed the cross to him, and there was no
special dissatisfaction.

But the bishop’s statement when he spoke of calumniators, who

feigned loyalty and only sought their own objects, proved true
somewhat later. Glaib, who at the beginning of the campaign against
Chernigoff had informed the Prince of Vladimir of the disloyalty of
Ryazan men, had no doubt that after such service he would be made
prince in Ryazan. Now, when he was put aside, he began to intrigue
in all places. He could not be detected in open treason, but secretly
he worked with untiring energy to increase discontent. He roused
“the thought of disorder and the spirit of pride,” which in Ryazan
displeased the Grand Prince so greatly. The name of Glaib was used
now among the people as the watchword of liberty. In him they saw
the defender of Ryazan, the hero of their freedom. Danger
threatened the son of Big Nest. Many of his lieutenants were driven
from their places; some were confined in cellars, others were put in
chains, and some died of hunger. There were uprisings throughout
the [170]whole principality, and all things indicated that a general
revolt was beginning.

Big Nest saw that he had been deceived by the Ryazan men, and
that he had congratulated himself too soon. He was indignant, and,
determining that neither they nor their bishop should deceive him a
second time, he led a new attack on Ryazan. When he was
approaching the doomed capital his son, Yaroslav, came to meet
him, thinking to incline him toward mercy. Shielding the guilty as far
as was possible, he assured his father of the general obedience, and
brought forward many men to strengthen this statement. But
excuses and speeches seemed insolent to Big Nest; he paid no heed
to any statement. Commanding the people to leave the city
immediately, and take all movable property with them, he sent
warriors to fire the place. From Ryazan he marched to Bailgorod,
and the same cruel fate met that city. The whole Ryazan region was
turned into emptiness by Vsevolod, Grand Prince of Vladimir.

During this campaign multitudes of proud, unbending men were

seized in various Ryazan towns and sent with their families to
Vladimir to be settled afterward in remote places. Big Nest took the
most notable boyars to Vladimir, also the bishop. Of the princes who
survived this visitation, only two tried to struggle further. Izyaslav,
the only one of Glaib’s sons who had abstained from intrigue, and
had distinguished himself by gallant fighting at Pronsk, and Kir
Michael, who had sought refuge with Chermny, his father-in-law, and
returned to reign afterward amid the ashes and ruins of his
birthplace.

In the winter of 1209–1210, these two princes, in revenge for the

burning of the Ryazan, attacked the southwestern edge of the
Vladimir principality and burned many villages near Moscow. Big
Nest sent his son, Yuri, who expelled the two princes easily. He
severely punished Izyaslav’s forces, but Kir Michael escaped without
injury. In 1210–1211, attacks were made on Ryazan, but with
decreased vigor. Big Nest did not go himself; he sent his sword-
bearer. This time also many prisoners were brought from Ryazan,
and settled at various points in Vladimir. Thus ended the war with
Ryazan. Roman and Sviatoslav never again saw their birthplace;
both died in Vladimir. The younger princes were freed, but only after
the death of Big Nest. [171]

In the two years which Big Nest spent in warring with Ryazan,
disturbances in the South grew more and more intricate. There was
war between Chermny and Rurik. Meanwhile disorder in Galitch and
Volynia increased continually. In Galitch, after the expulsion of the
sons of Igor, nothing was gained by the coming of Benedict Bor. That
overbearing viavoda, or viceroy, was dissolute and addicted to
women; he ruled in a conquered country and demanded from boyars
and common men unlimited submission. His one care was for feasts
and orgies. Following the custom of Hungarian magnates of that
day, not only was he not ashamed of his vicious life,—he was proud
of it. He seized maidens and other men’s wives when it pleased him;
priests’ wives and nuns were his preference. It was said among the
people that he did not govern, he harassed the country. Later on he
received the appellation “Antichrist.”

Men demanded at last that they should be freed from this depraved
viceroy. The people of Galitch began to communicate in secret with
the sons of Igor, and with neighboring princes. At last they appealed
to Mystislav the Silent, Prince of Peresopnitsa. This inconsiderable
prince, the youngest son of Lutsk, brother of Ingvar, imagining
himself the liberator of Galitch, came as a champion against
“Antichrist,” but he appeared without troops. His attendants were “so
few that bystanders could count them.” The boyars laughed him to
scorn. More fortunate were his rivals, the sons of Igor, who heard
these words from Galitch, through an embassy sent to them: “We
have sinned against you, but come to us and save us from torture
and ‘the harrier.’ ”

Taught by experience, the brothers now made a treaty with one

another. They promised to have no more disputes, to take no land
from one another, to ask nothing of the King of Hungary, and with
common forces to support one another and guard well the country
which they had lost and to which they were now summoned. When
Benedict Bor came to Galitch, he had seized in a bath their eldest
brother, Vladimir. Now they came near taking Bor in exactly the
same condition. They entered the city so unexpectedly and surprised
the viceroy so thoroughly that “Antichrist” did not dream of
resistance. He thought only to save himself, and rushed in disgrace
back to Hungary. [172]

Igor’s sons began to rule with great sternness. The king held them
as rebels and disturbers; the boyars looked on them as outlaws and
as rebels against boyar lordship; but the princes gave no ear to
those boyars, showing a contempt which was calculated and
unsparing. They hunted boyars and put them to death without
mercy; they put magnates to death for the least opposition, and
brought back the stern days of Roman. Against boyars a council was
created which put to death Yuri Vassilievitch, Ilya Stepanovitch, and
other distinguished men. Five hundred in all lost their lives. Many
fled from Galitch. Even Volodislav, that boyar who first brought
Galitch people to favor Igor’s sons during their boyhood, when their
mother, the daughter of Eight Minds, was living, was forced to seek
safety in flight, and from being their ally, he now became their worst
enemy. With him went Sudislav and Philip, celebrated boyars, and
other men like them. These swore on leaving the country that they
would return and show who they were to those fellows who had
dared to ape Roman.

The rage of those men against Igor’s sons was not to be measured.
Volodislav toiled now in Hungary, saying: “Igor’s sons, in clear
violation of regal right, and in hostility to the will of their monarch,
are ruling as despots.” Volodislav implored Andrei to give him an
army and Daniel, then ten years of age, to go with him. “I will bring
Galitch to the feet of your Majesty promptly,” said he.

The king wished in one way or another to establish Roman’s heir,

whom he was guarding. There were reports that he thought of
giving Daniel his daughter, and with her Galitch as dowry.
Volodislav’s words pleased the king; he gave a trusty following, and
sent with the boyar his so-called son, Daniel.

The first towns, Peremysl and Zvenigorod, were hostile; neither

place yielded. Daniel was shown to the people, and they were
advised to take the prince born to them, but they clung to Igor’s
sons firmly. They saw the king’s banners before them, they heard
that voevodas and horsemen had come in large number from
Hungary,—still they would not surrender. In Peremysl, they stood
resolutely for Sviatoslav, that son of Igor who was with them. Then
Volodislav himself went up to the walls of the city and called to the
people: “Oh, brothers, why do ye waver? Are the men now
managing our country not foreign intruders? Did they not slay
[173]both your fathers and brothers and bear off your property? Did
they not give your daughters to their servants? Do ye wish to lay
down your lives for them?” The people listened to these questions,
and remembered the evil done in the first reign of Igor’s sons. They
hesitated also to dip their hands in blood in a war against Daniel, so
at last they opened the gates of the city to him. Igor’s son,
Sviatoslav, was captured.

At Zvenigorod the people fought stubbornly. The besieged did not let
Volodislav come near the walls, and they made desperate sallies.
The prince in that city was Roman, son of Igor, who brought “wild
Polovtsi” to help him. Mika, Andrei’s voevoda, was unable to save
himself. The “wild ones” took the head from his shoulders. That day
the Hungarians were badly defeated.
When the Volynia men heard that “their Daniel” had come, they rose
up against the sons of Igor. In Volynia all “the people” favored Daniel
and his brother.

Envious, since Galitch was becoming the property of Hungary,

Leshko, the guardian of Vassilko, took part in the uprising also. The
Poles hastened to war against Hungary. Ingvar of Lutsk went with
them, while Vassilko sent men from Bailz to his brother. It was
difficult for Zvenigorod to remain independent. Roman, son of Igor,
fearing the fate of his brother, declared that he was going for
assistance, but he was captured and taken to the camp of the
enemy. Then the allies sent this message to the citizens: “Your
prince is captured! Surrender!” They could not believe it, and
continued to fight for him, but when they saw Roman a captive they
yielded. The eldest brother, Vladimir, who was in Galitch, left the city
as the enemy approached it, and sought safety in flight. He was
pursued and came near being captured, but his swift-footed stallion
saved him.

Thus was accomplished in Galitch what Roman’s widow, tortured by

waiting and exile, had not dared even to hope for; her firstborn son,
Daniel, entered Galitch in triumph, and occupied the throne of his
father. She appeared now in Galitch very promptly. Daniel, the boy of
ten years, did not know her, but, as the annalist tells us, he
expressed all the more feeling when he heard the word “son” from
her lips, and saw the tears of delight which fell from her eyes. The
boyars did not want that strong-hearted [174]mother in the country,
for her word might have power there against them, hence she was
removed quickly and without ceremony. Daniel was frantic at the
parting. The boy had no wish to be in Galitch without his mother,
and, while her foes were conducting her out of the city, he rode at
her side, and held her robes firmly. One of the boyars seized the
bridle of his horse to stop him. Furious at this, the young prince
gave a sword-blow which missed the boyar, but wounded the horse
on which he was riding. The mother grasped Daniel’s sword-hilt,
bidding him to be calm and stay bravely in Galitch. On returning to
Bailz, she sent a message to Hungary, complaining bitterly of the
boyars, of Sudislav, and of Philip, but, above all, of Volodislav.

The boyars had not got what they wanted. They had overthrown
Igor’s sons, who had dared to remind them of Roman, but to
overthrow those princes was not enough; they must punish them.
Such men as Sudislav and Volodislav were ready to give immense
sums in gold for opponents like Sviatoslav and Roman. The
voevodas, however, refused to yield up the captives, saying that
such traitors should be sent to the sovereign. The boyars now had
recourse to gold, and the voevodas, persuaded by great gifts,
agreed to surrender the princes. In this way the men got possession
of Igor’s sons and then hanged them. While the princes were
swinging on gibbets, those boyars pierced them with arrows shot
from their own bows by their own hands. That done they gave
homage to Daniel, placed on the throne by the King of Hungary, and
went home in good humor. Galitch was governed by boyars.

That same year, 1211, the king, touched by the tears of Roman’s
widow, went in person to establish her in Galitch, where, to his
amazement, he found Daniel’s relatives from Volynia,—Ingvar of
Lutsk and others, who were there under pretext of visiting the new
prince.

The king acted quickly. Volodislav, with Sudislav and Philip, were
placed under guard, and then tortured; after this they were exiled.
Sudislav, however, bought his freedom. “He turned himself into
gold,” as is said by the chronicler. Volodislav was sent to Hungary in
fetters, but he had two brothers in freedom, who were precisely
such wily heroes as Volodislav himself. These men appeared now
before Mystislav, whose brother, Ingvar, had [175]not been in Galitch
without a purpose. All Volynia rose in revolt quickly, and made war
on Andrei. Volynia was managed at this time by Leshko of Poland.
This guardian of Vassilko had taken Bailz from his ward and given it
back to Bailski, his father-in-law. The little Vassilko had been forced
to hide himself in the poor town of Kamenyets. No one knew well,
save the managers, what was happening in Volynia. To the outward
observer there was chaos everywhere. In Galitch confusion seemed
dominant. Reports were brought in that countless regiments were
moving against the city. The people were ready to surrender, and go
out and join with those regiments. Daniel and his mother, whom the
king had brought back, fled now to save themselves, and Mystislav
the Silent, who had been brought by Volodislav’s brothers, entered
the city in triumph.

After this incredible triumph of Mystislav, came the still more

incredible triumph of the chief of these brothers, Volodislav. From
fetters and a prison in Hungary, he appeared before the king in his
palace, and was nearer to power than he had ever been. A report
flew through the country that the king was disposed to give him the
throne of Galitch, and in fact not much time passed before
Volodislav, at the head of Hungarians and a mercenary army, broke
into Galitch.

Mystislav the Silent, whose rule had been short-lived, left his capital,
and vanished. His place was immediately occupied by Volodislav. The
chronicler says that he took the throne and ruled Galitch. All this was
incredible only in appearance, for everything took place in the
simplest manner possible.

The Poles and Hungarians, who were guarding the persons, and also
the inheritance of Daniel and Vassilko, vied with each other in
turning this inheritance to their own use and profit. Neither lacked
will in the matter; means alone failed them. The determination of
Hungarians equaled that of the Poles, but their absence of means
was equal also. The Poles tried to win by bringing forward their
kinship in Russia. The Hungarians worked in another way. They
promised to give the boyars of Galitch a constitution like that in
Hungary. They agreed to deliver the whole land and the people to
those boyars.

Volodislav’s aims were clear and consistent. A year earlier, he had

promised the submission of Galitch; he had guaranteed [176]to
snatch the whole land from Igor’s sons and return it to Hungary.
This he had done, and the king might have placed there as viceroy
any boyar whom he liked, but to have Daniel thrust upon this party
of magnates was unendurable. Volodislav had fulfilled his promise,
and now he explained to Andrei that Galitch did not want a Russian
prince; it wanted to be governed by boyars associated intimately
with Hungary. This time Volodislav assured the king of a satisfactory
agreement. Thus the solid union of Galitch with Hungary seemed
imminent.

Andrei sent Volodislav forward with associates to bring all things to

order, while he, with his main army, followed. He was on the Russian
slope of the mountains when news overtook him of a terrible
outburst in Hungary, not simply in the kingdom, but in his own
palace.

Andrei had been forced to yield more than any preceding king, to do
more toward lessening royal power and building up nobles.
Gertrude, his queen, was ambitious. A German princess, she had
filled Hungary with her relatives and with Germans in general. She
had urged Andrei to cruelties, and in retaliation attacks upon
Hungarians were increasing. The queen helped her relatives and
countrymen to wealth and high places. She was fond also of aiding
in love intrigues. Eckbert, her brother, became enamoured of the
wife of Benedict Bor, the man known in Galitch as Antichrist. The
queen permitted the lovers to meet in the palace, even in one of her
own chambers. Though Bor was notorious for absence of morals,
and was in the habit of seizing other men’s wives if they pleased
him, he could not pardon the queen, when her love intrigues
involved his own family. The king being absent, Bor joined with other
avengers, and slew a great number of Germans. Queen Gertrude
was cut into pieces, and the whole palace was plundered. This was
the news brought to Andrei in the mountains.

He returned to his capital by forced marches, and quelled the savage

outburst with great bloodshed.

Volodislav, sent in advance of the king to take possession of Galitch,

acted like a man clothed in majesty. No matter how far-reaching
were his powers, he increased them, since the king was not present.

When Andrei had put down the uprising and freed himself
[177]somewhat in Hungary, he hurried off to make war on Leshko for
his ravages in Galitch, which the king looked on as his own spoil and
property. Leshko, besides guarding Vassilko, had taken on himself
the care of Daniel. For the sake of these orphans, as he declared, he
was ready to fight for Galitch as well as Volynia. Daniel, on seeing
the terrible bloodshed in Hungary when Queen Gertrude was
murdered, withdrew thence to Poland, where he got naught from
Leshko but a reception with honor; later he went to Kamenyets,
where his brother was living. There, still more than in Bailz, was
Vassilko attended by the ancient adherents of Roman, his father.
Daniel, who was of an age now to ride a horse splendidly, joined
them, and Roman’s boyars rallied round the brothers with
enthusiasm. Leshko could not hide his astonishment on seeing that
after Bailz had been taken from Vassilko not one of those faithful
adherents abandoned the orphans, and when a whole court
gathered round them in Kamenyets, he was still more disquieted.
“Thenceforward, Leshko felt great affection for Daniel.”

Volynia rose now against Volodislav. First Mystislav the Silent was
put forward, then Bailski, Leshko’s father-in-law, sent his brother,
Vsevolod, to attack the adventurer, and went himself later. Last of all
Daniel acted. After that, Leshko with Poles and men of Volynia
advanced against Volodislav. Volodislav left to his brothers the task
of defending the capital, and with hired forces hurried forth to meet
his opponents, but he was driven back and defeated. The victors
could not take Galitch, however. They fought at its walls till
exhausted, and then had to abandon the task. On the way home,
Leshko induced Bailski, now Prince of Volynia, to give two towns
near the capital to the orphans, who then moved thither from
Kamenyets, and, being near the capital, ceased not to sigh for it. “It
will come to us,” thought they. And it came earlier than they
expected.

Not Leshko, but his voevoda, Pakoslav, keen at invention, found

means to reconcile warring interests for the moment. Leshko had a
young daughter and Andrei of Hungary had a son. Leshko sent
Pakoslav to the king with this message: “Volodislav, a boyar, should
not be on a throne. Take thou my Saloméya for thy Koloman, and let
us install them in Galitch.” Pakoslav’s plan pleased Andrei. He had a
meeting with Leshko, and they [178]arranged all the details of the
marriage. The king, from the portion of Koloman, gave two cities to
Pakoslav,—Peremysl and Lubetch.

Pakoslav now offered a second good counsel: “Let the prince, out of
love for the orphans, give them Vladimir of Volynia.” Immediately
Leshko sent this message to Bailski: “Give Vladimir to Vassilko and
Daniel. If thou wilt not consent, I will take it.” Bailski would not yield,
then Leshko constrained him, and installed Roman’s sons in Vladimir.

Volodislav, now a prisoner, was put in fetters and died in

confinement. No prince would shelter his orphans, because their
father had aspired to sovereignty.

The King and Queen of Galitch, though mere children, were crowned
straightway. Andrei, seeing that the boyars were desirous of union
with Hungary, and remembering their statement that the people
would not oppose union, if their faith and its ceremonies were
respected, now wrote to the Pope on the subject: “Let it be known
to your Holiness that the princes of Galicia, and the people there
under us, wish as king our son, Koloman, and promise union with
the Most Holy Roman Church if they may keep their own ritual. Lest
delay harm a thing so useful to us and to you, give a written
command, we beg of you, to the Archbishop of Strigonia to anoint,
at the earliest, our son, the King of Galitch.”

In the Russian chronicles it is written under the year 1214: “The

Ugrian king seated his son in Galitch; he then drove out and hunted
the clergy and bishops from the churches, and brought in his own
Latin priesthood.”

Thus Galitch was lost for a time to Russian princes and the Orthodox
clergy. In Chernigoff and Kief, people were not thinking of Galitch;
they had their own troubles. Chermny and Rurik exchanged
principalities, Chermny went to Kief and Rurik to Chernigoff. Thus
the ancient home of Oleg and his descendants passed to a
descendant of Monomach, and Chermny, the senior of Oleg’s
descendants, not only took the old capital, but threatened to drive
from Kief regions all the descendants of Monomach. He declared
that through their fault a terrible crime had been committed. “Ye
caused the death of my cousins in Galitch, and put a great shame on
us. Ye have no part in Kief regions,” asserted he. Still after that
Chermny turned to Big Nest with [179]a prayer for peace and
friendship. He begged the metropolitan to bear this request to
Vladimir. Peace was granted, and that winter Big Nest strengthened
this peace by a marriage between his second son, Yuri, and the
daughter of Chermny.

Toward the end of his life, the Prince of Vladimir had many disputes
with Novgorod, which for years had been friendly. It was most
important for Novgorod to be at peace with Vladimir, to trade with its
broad regions, and receive grain, which in Novgorod was lacking at
all times. Nothing harmed Novgorod more than a quarrel with
Vladimir, whose prince could stop grain from reaching the city and
surrounding country, and arrest Novgorod merchants wherever he
found them in his own territory. But this was not sufficient to change
the quarrelsome disposition of Novgorod, where factions fought with
one another continually. When a posadnik displeased them, they
beat him, or hurled the man from the bridge to the river. Big Nest
did not interfere with their freedom. On the contrary he apparently
commended it. “Love him who seems good to you, but execute bad
men,” said he. And the Novgorod people carried out this instruction,
even against their own adherents, the Miroshiniches, with whom
they settled in real Novgorod fashion.

Miroshka was chosen posadnik in 1187 to please Big Nest. He was

the son of Naizda, a man killed by them in the days of Andrei
Bogolyubski, for adherence to Vladimir. When Miroshka died his
descendants became famous people. Big Nest was unable for a long
time to bring about the election, as posadnik, of Miroshka’s son,
Dmitri. He could not do so till he sent his own son, Constantine, as
prince to the city. The Novgorod men then cast out the old posadnik,
and gave the office to Dmitri. This brought about a conflict with a
great citizen of Novgorod, Oleksa Bogolyubski Sbyslavich, but he
met his death very quickly.

During Constantine’s stay in Novgorod, 1205–1209, with Dmitri as

posadnik, it might be said that Big Nest ruled Novgorod as pleased
him. The execution of Oleksa is proof of this. All were astounded
when Big Nest sent this command: “Execute Oleksa without trial!”
That is, at the good judgment of Constantine. And though all men
were roused, and said on the day after the execution that the
Mother of God had dropped tears for Oleksa, the will of the prince
was accomplished. After this Dmitri [180]became so strong in his
office, and served the Grand Prince so zealously, that the four years
of Constantine’s rule passed in harmony.

When Constantine was summoned by his father to the war in

Ryazan, a large force from Novgorod marched with him under
command of Dmitri, who was greatly distinguished at the taking of
Pronsk. He was wounded severely and Big Nest detained him to be
healed in Vladimir, but he died. After his death the people in
Novgorod seized all his family property, plundered his house and the
house of his father and burned them. They sold the country places
of the son and the father, and also their servants; they took
possession of their effects and divided them. The debts due the
family were left to the prince. Still the people were not satisfied;
they insisted on punishment, and when Dmitri’s body was brought
from Vladimir, they wished to hurl it into the river. Mitrophan, the
archbishop, was barely able to stop them. When Big Nest sent his
son, Sviatoslav, to the city, the people kissed the cross in assembly
not to admit any son of Dmitri to Novgorod, and they gave his family
to the prince for imprisonment. But, though Sviatoslav received the
sums due Dmitri, and through them got much wealth, he did not
obey Novgorod in this affair. Some of the family he sent under guard
to Vladimir; a few he permitted to stay unobserved in the city.
As this uprising was directed against all adherents of Big Nest, the
Novgorod people did not escape punishment. Again he arrested
Novgorod merchants and their goods throughout the lands of
Vladimir. Great inconvenience was felt by Novgorod people, and
Oleksa’s avengers spread complaints wherever they could against
Big Nest, who, being then at the height of his power and influence,
had no effective opponents. It seemed as though no man could
refuse him obedience.

But at this juncture a prince of the smallest region in Russia,

Mystislav of Toropets, son of Mystislav the Brave, had courage to
challenge the greatness of Big Nest. On hearing how Novgorod was
treated, he offered himself to the city, a thing unheard of till that day
in Russia.

In the first years of this reign, during troubles in Novgorod, Mystislav

the Brave had inflicted defeat upon Big Nest, and now, in 1210, a
more unexpected rebuff was delivered by the son of [181]that same
prince, Mystislav the Gallant, who had grown up and strengthened in
this interval, and whose fame began with this challenge. Thus far
this young prince had appeared only in small actions, in the quarrels
of Rurik, his uncle, and in two or three raids on the Polovtsi, but on
coming to Novgorod he began a brilliant career as a hero and
defender of justice, a protector of the weak and offended, and he so
towered above other princes that he soon had no equal. Later on, he
reminded the world of his father, for he made a triumphant
campaign against the Chuds, and brought them all to obedience
from border to border of that country.

His appearance in Novgorod astonished every one by its daring, and

was crowned with incredible victory. From his small, insignificant
Toropets he came with a slender but chosen army. At Torjok he
seized Sviatoslav’s boyars and took possession of their property;
then he sent the following message to Novgorod: “I bow to Holy
Sophia; to the grave of my father, and to all men of Novgorod. I
have heard of the violence done by your princes, and I grieve for my
inheritance. Do ye wish me to be prince in your city?” The Novgorod
men were delighted and sent for him. Sviatoslav they confined in the
bishop’s palace with all his attendants, to keep him till “Lord
Novgorod” should settle with his father.

The Prince of Vladimir in anger sent against “The Gallant” a

numerous army, with his three elder sons at the head of it. But
immediately after he hesitated. He now, as on a time Dolgoruki, his
father, had done, thought proper to say when he faced an
untamable enemy: “I am old, he is young in all the passions of this
world. It is not for me, near the end of existence, to be occupied
with quarrels and bloodshed. I should be patient.” And he sent
envoys to Mystislav with this message: “Thou art my son; I am thy
father. Free Sviatoslav with his boyars, and return what thou hast
taken. The merchants and their goods will be liberated.”

Mystislav did at once all that was asked of him, and Big Nest fulfilled
his promise. Sviatoslav returned to his father, and Mystislav entered
Novgorod, rejoicing that he had passed through great peril without
bloodshed.

Big Nest was nearing the end of his earthly existence. He had
continued the task undertaken by his father and his brother to
[182]preserve and enlarge the principality of Vladimir. He had not
worked for all Russia, though he had tried to hold a share in the
Russia outside of Vladimir. During his rule, which was firm and at
times even terrible, he not only preserved unimpaired, but extended
and strengthened Vladimir. He established the beginning of a state in
the North and fixed its central region. Earlier than Big Nest, not only
in the time of his father, but also in that of Andrei, his brother,
Rostoff and Suzdal were remembered as belonging to Novgorod.
Men did not consider Vladimir or Moscow or any other place, as that
Great Russia which they were to obey, and to which they must
gravitate. Before Big Nest’s activity, Bailozersk and Galitch beyond
the Volga, and other places, if not claimed by Novgorod altogether,
were claimed at least partially. Now the Dvina country beyond the
Volga had become so connected with Vladimir that all was
reconstituted. That broad region looked on itself as Great Russia,
and all men began to regard it in that light. Lord Novgorod itself was
forced to count those lands as lost forever. Neither Rostoff nor
Suzdal, from the time of Big Nest, dared to think of their earlier
primacy, the memory of which became mingled with traditions of its
ancient connection with Novgorod. After Big Nest there could be no
talk of separation from Vladimir, for it became clear that not to
Rostoff, or to Suzdal did that Great Russia gravitate, but to Vladimir.

As his father had left Rostoff and Suzdal to his younger sons and
Vladimir to the eldest, so Big Nest, almost on the eve of his death,
gave Vladimir to his eldest son, Constantine, and left Rostoff to Yuri
his second son.

Constantine, who was in Rostoff at this time and enjoyed there great
friendship among boyars, was angry that his favorite city was given
not to him but to Yuri, and he would not abandon Rostoff for
Vladimir at the command of Big Nest. This was not his first
disobedience. His father had not forgotten the campaign of Ryazan,
when Constantine spoke against him in the presence of others. Big
Nest repeated the command. Constantine refused a second time,
and sent a demand that Rostoff should be given with Vladimir. The
Grand Prince was grieved and distressed at his son’s disobedience,
and there was no measure to his anger. As a result that took place
which up to this time had been unknown in Russia: Big Nest
deprived his eldest son of [183]seniority, and gave it to his second
son, Yuri. From all the districts and towns in Vladimir he summoned
an assembly of priests, merchants, nobles, and people, with Yoan,
the bishop, at the head of them, and in their presence gave the
capital of Vladimir to Yuri, imposing on him seniority. He commanded
Yuri’s brothers to obey him, and they kissed the cross to do so. Then
the people kissed the cross to the Grand Prince, that they would
obey Yuri. From this came endless contention in the family of Big
Nest, who died shortly after. He expired at the age of fifty-eight,
Sunday, April 15, 1212, at the hour when mass was ending in all the
churches of Vladimir. They buried him near his brother Andrei in the
golden-domed cathedral, the day following his death, as was the
custom at that time.

After this began ceaseless troubles, not in Galitch, Kief, and

Chernigoff, where there was never an end to trouble, but in Vladimir,
where for thirty-seven years peace and quiet had flourished.
Deprived of seniority, Constantine did not accept the decision of his
father, but warred against Yuri and Yaroslav, who stood firmly
together. Vladimir and Sviatoslav wavered, joining now one, now the
other side. Vladimir, the youngest brother, wished Moscow as his
part, but expelled from Moscow by Yuri, he obtained his father’s
inheritance in the South,—Gorodok and Pereyaslavl. Yuri offered
Constantine peace, and even Vladimir, but asked Rostoff for himself.
Constantine would not yield; he would give Suzdal, and take
Vladimir, only if Rostoff were given him also.

Yuri freed the Ryazan and Murom princes imprisoned by his father.
Strengthened by them, he could war against his brother more
successfully. Constantine, leaving for a time his attempt on Vladimir,
continued hostile action in northern places. He seized Saligalsk, and
burned Kostroma. The whole principality was in conflict from
Vologda to Moscow. A second and a third year after the death of Big
Nest this struggle continued.
Finally, Mystislav the Gallant, their now all-powerful neighbor in
Novgorod, the main decider of wars and disputes in Russia at that
time, interfered. He had made two campaigns against the Fins near
the Baltic, and inflicted sharp punishment, but he was eager for
weighty deeds and great actions, not on distant borders, but in
Russia. His cousins, the grandsons of the “monk loving”
[184]Rostislav, turned to him for succor, and protection. Chermny,
now prince in Kief, was driving them from Dnieper regions. “The Kief
prince will not give us a part in the Russian land,” complained they.
“Come thou and help us.”

Mystislav summoned the assembly and bowed down before

Novgorod, saying: “I am going to Kief to rescue my relatives. Will ye
aid me?” “If thou go, we will follow,” was the answer. The men
chosen set out under Tverdislav, but at Smolensk the Novgorod men
had a quarrel and killed a Smolensk man; they refused thereupon to
go farther, saying: “We promised to conduct the prince hither, but to
Kief we will not go.”

Mystislav embraced the posadnik, kissed all the officers, then he

bowed to the Novgorod men, bidding Godspeed to them, and moved
forward with only his personal following and Smolensk warriors.

The Novgorod men were not pleased with themselves, and they
halted. “Lord brothers,” said Tverdislav, “what ye decide will be done
at all hazards. The question is ought we to abandon our prince at
this juncture. In their day our fathers and grandfathers marched to
suffer at Kief when their prince commanded. It is clear that we
should act in the old way.” Pleased with this speech, they turned,
and with hurried marches overtook Mystislav.

Chermny’s fate was decided at Vyshgorod. His allies were crushed,

and he fled. Two of his cousins were captured. Ingvar of Volynia,
who accompanied Mystislav, refused the Kief throne, and Roman,
son of Mystislav of Smolensk, obtained it. Vladimir, son of Rurik,
received Smolensk in addition to districts near Kief inherited from his
father. So Chermny was unable to keep his promise to avenge Igor’s
sons and expel all descendants of Monomach from Dnieper regions.
Mystislav the Gallant now besieged Chermny in Chernigoff, and
imposed peace on him. Chermny died soon after, leaving as heir his
son Michael, who later on ruled in Kief and Novgorod. His name is
still known and revered among Russians, not because he ruled, but
because he died a martyr’s death among Mongols. [185]