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The Seventy-First Parva
385
The Yadava king, Ugrasena, said, "On an auspicious day, let us begin the celebration of this festival." || 144 || He ordered a beautiful five-layered pavilion to be built, with a platform in the middle. || 149 || It was adorned with garlands of fresh pearls, fragrant flowers, and beautiful new fabrics, and in the center was a golden throne. || 150 || On this throne, the bridegroom, Nemikumar, sat with the bride, Rajimati, performing the ritual of stepping on wet rice. || 151 || The next day was the time for the water-pouring ceremony. On that day, the mind of Madhava, the best of the deceivers, who desired to know the path of liberation, became tainted by the intense rise of the passion of greed. || 152 || He feared that the Lord Neminath, who was worshipped by Indra, might take away his kingdom. || 153 || At that moment, he thought that Nemikumar might become detached from worldly pleasures due to some reason for renunciation. || 154 || With this thought, he began to devise a way to create a cause for renunciation. || 155 || He had a group of many deer brought in by the chief hunters and gathered them in one place, surrounding them with a fence. || 156 || He told the guards who were stationed there, "If Lord Nemikumar comes to observe the directions and asks about these deer, you should tell him clearly that the Chakravarti has brought this group of deer to be killed for his wedding." || 157 || Thus, Krishna, who was stained with great sin, gave this order to those people. || 158 || Then, Nemikumar, who was radiant with various ornaments, with his hair adorned, and decorated with a garland of red lotuses, his face smeared with dust kicked up by the hooves of horses, surrounded by sons of great kings of equal status, who were extremely happy, || 159 || mounted a beautiful palanquin and set out to observe the directions. || 160 || There, he saw the deer running here and there, thirsty, with pitiful eyes, and filled with fear, crying out in a loud, sorrowful voice. || 161 || Moved with compassion, he asked the guards there, "Why are these grass-eating creatures confined here?" || 162 ||