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CHAPTER I
PREVIOUS INCARNATIONS OF ARISTANEMI
Reverence to the Lord of the Universe, celibate from birth, the edge of a disc (nemi) for cutting the mass of creepers of karma, Ariṣṭanemi. The biographies of the Arhat, Śri Nemi; of the Visņu, Kṛṣṇa; of the Sirin, Rāma; and of the Pratihara, Jarasandha, will be celebrated.
First incarnation as Dhana (3-134)
In this same continent, Jambudvipa, in this same zone, Bhārata, there is a city, Acalapura by name, the crest-jewel of the earth. Its king was named Vikramadhana, suitably named because his enemies had been subdued by his strength in battle. He was difficult for his enemies to look upon, like Kṛtānta; but he produced joy to the eyes of his friends, like the moon. Of him endowed with cruel splendor, the arm-staff shone just like a wishing-tree for his favorites, like a diamond-staff (of punishment) for his enemies. Glories 1 came to him from the quarters of the heavens, like rivers to the ocean; and Fames appeared like cascades of a mountain.
His wife was named Dhāriņi, always steady as the earth, wearing the ornament of pure conduct. Fair with beauty of the body, endowed with virtue and grace, she looked like the king's Śri embodied. Like a swan in gait and voice, the abode of Śri like a lotus, she made her dwelling in her husband's heart, like a bee in a flower.
One day in the last part of the night 2 she saw in a dream a mango tree with excited bees and cuckoos, with clusters of
1 7. Sampad for the more usual Śrī. See I, n. 1.
2 11. There is a belief that dreams at this time come true. Cf. Kathākosa, p. 72, n.; Katha Sarit Sagara, Vol. I, p. 441; Vol. II, p. 482.
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