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The Tale of Brahmadatt Chakri
The second light of Yoga Shastra, verse 27, is engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. If today he attains mastery over knowledge, he will marry me today with proper rituals. I am worried about how to escape from his clutches!' Hearing this, the prince narrated the entire story of how he had eliminated the person who was hiding in the pile of bamboo. Pushpavati was overjoyed at the attainment of her beloved and the destruction of the unpleasant. This couple, who were traditionalists, performed a Gandharva marriage right there. Such marriages, performed willingly without mantras, are considered the best among Kshatriyas. The night passed quickly, like a single watch, as he engaged in conversation and amorous play with her, using various sweet words. As dawn broke, Brahmadatt heard a sound in the sky, like the bleating of a flock of celestial women. With a look of wonder, he asked Pushpavati, 'Where and how is this sound suddenly occurring in the sky, like untimely rain without clouds?' She said nervously, 'My love! This sound is of the arrival of the Vidyaadhar maidens named Visakha, who are mad with drama. They are coming to marry you, for no reason. Truly, 'A being thinks one thing in his mind, and destiny brings about something else.' In my opinion, you should leave from here for a while. I will praise your qualities and see what the reaction of the Vidyaadharis is. Do they feel affection or aversion towards you? When I see that they have affection for you, I will show a red flag. Upon seeing it, you should return. If they have aversion towards you, I will show a white flag. Seeing that, you should leave.'
Hearing this, Brahmadatt said, 'My love! Don't worry at all. Am I such a coward that I would run away from them? What can they do to me, whether they are angry or pleased?' Pushpavati said, 'My love! I am not saying that you are afraid of them. But perhaps the Vidyaadharas associated with them will become your enemies and create some unnecessary obstacle. So, what harm is there in knowing their attitude? You hide in a corner somewhere for a while and watch.' Agreeing to this, the prince hid to one side. Pushpavati, knowing the Vidyaadharis were favorable to the prince, mistakenly waved a white flag instead of a red one. Seeing it, the prince, out of devotion to his beloved, moved on from there. Courageous men fear no one. He saw a lake there. Just as the Airavata elephant enters the Manasarovar, so too did the prince enter it. After bathing in it and drinking the nectar-like water as he wished, Brahmadatt crossed that formidable forest and reached the bank of a great lake in the evening, just as birds, after flying in the sky all day, return to their nests in the evening, and the sun, after roaming in the sky all day, enters the sea in the evening. From there, walking in the morning, the prince reached the bank of a lake by noon. After bathing and washing properly there, and drinking the sweet, nectar-like water, he came out of it. Then, on the edge of the forest in the northwest direction, he saw a beautiful woman, like a forest goddess herself, picking flowers from the bushes of trees and vines; as if she were asking, through the sound of the buzzing bees, 'Did you bathe well in the lake?' Seeing her, the prince thought, 'Brahma must have practiced creating countless forms from birth till now; only then could he have manifested such beauty in this woman.' Talking to her maidservant, she looked with bright eyes, like jasmine flowers, and walked away from there, as if she had placed a garland around the prince's neck. The prince also looked at her and was about to depart in the other direction when a maidservant came there, carrying clothes, ornaments, betel nut, etc. She offered the prince the clothes and ornaments, saying, 'The one you saw here is our mistress. She sent me to you on the pretext of fulfilling a desire. And she has ordered me to take you to my father's minister's house as a guest. The true reality is known only to the mistress herself.'
Hearing this, the prince also went with the maidservant to the house of the Nagadeva minister. The minister also stood up to welcome the prince as soon as he arrived, as if he was already attracted to his qualities. The maidservant said to the minister, 'Princess Shrikant has sent this fortunate prince to stay at your place.' The maidservant delivered this message and left. The minister
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