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asked her who she was. She too made the same query of Brahmadatta who readily told her who he was. Hearing this, she fell at his feet and told him that she was the princess he was supposed to have married and as she was waiting to be taken to Pāñcāla for the wedding a wicked vidyādhara kidnapped her and locked her up in this mansion away from her people. Now she was happy to meet Brahmadatta who has arrived in her life like a rain of gold. She told him of this vidyadhara whose name was Nattumatta and he was busy undergoing a special kind of penance in a bamboo-grove nearby to gain some magical powers. In a day or two that penance would end and he would claim her as his wife. In the meantime he has asked his sisters to guard this princess — Puspavati. Her seven storeyed mansion also was a creation of his magic. Brahmadatta told her how he had killed him, much to her relief and delight. Eventually they married each other in the Gändharva style and spent some time there. One of these days the two sisters of vidyadhara Nattumatta came for the wedding of their brother. Puspavati asked Brahmadatta to go out and watch the tower of the mansion which will signal to him whether it was safe for him to go in or he should stay away. A white flag would mean danger to him and a red one a welcome sign. Since it was a white signal Brahmadatta slipped away to a thick forest on the slopes of a mountain nearby. By the side of a great lake in the forest was sitting a most beautiful maiden. They both fell in love with each other at first sight. The maiden left the place but soon her servant girl came to Brahmadatta with clean clothes, flowers and refreshments and conducted him to the house of Nāgadeva who was one of the ministers of the king, the beautiful maiden's father. Någadeva was asked by the servant girl in the name of the princess
- Srikāntā was her name - to look after Brahmadatta well till he was presented to the king. When Brahmadatta met the king, who was living in exile, it was proposed that he should marry princess Srikantā. Later Brahmadatta asked his bride Srikāntā about the mystery of such a sudden decision of the king to marry his daughter to an utter stranger. She explained how on account of their destitute condition the father had expressed his inability to find a suitable bridegroom for her and that she should find one for herself which
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| SR No. | 006762 |
| Book Title | Treasury of Jain Tales |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | V M Kulkarni |
| Publisher | Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre |
| Publication Year | 1994 |
| Total Pages | 468 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 17 MB |