________________
173
replied. "Ah! Do not vainly roar. You strike a blow first. In my family, none of my ancestors dealt the first blow. Then all of a sudden, Ghorasiva, clever in different methods of using weapons, very smartly drove the sharp scissors on the neck of the king. At the moment of the blow, the king very skilfully caught Ghorativa's hands with the weapon into his powerful arms. By the tight pressure of the king's arms, the scissors from his hand fell down on the ground. The king, then, knocked him down on the ground by blows of his fist. At that time, the magical power of his Mantras (Magic verses) disappeared also. Or else, everything changes with the adversity of Fate. Resting for some few moments, and recuperating his strength, Ghorasiva suddenly got up, and he began to fight in a duel with the king. In this pugilistic encounter, fighting with fists like wrestlers, falling down in a moment, getting up the next moment, running in a circle at one moment, and galloping at the next, in this way, the fight between the king, and Ghorasiva appeared dreadful, and the ghosts coming there to witness the duel began to ridicule. The king, then, pressed Ghorasiva with a very tight grip of his arms, and he fell down in a swoon with his eyes closed.
At that moment, goddesses, with a shout of Victory! Victory poured blooming fragrant flowers on the king's head, and a benevolent goddess with necklaces of 18 strings of pearls, necklaces of 9 strings of pearls, bodice-ornaments, with her body ornamented with gems and coronet, ornamented with anklets filling up all the ten directions with the melodious sound of their tinkling, with the buzzing of the mass of bees meeting swiftly on the fragrance of the fresh blossoms of the coral tree (Erythrina Indica), and the goddess with a white umbrella on her head, instantly came there, and said, "O Narasimha ! You are really a Narasimha (as powerful as a lion) among human beings,-sc that you defeated that great rogue who intended to destroy ksatriya families. "
The king said, "O goddess! How can he become the destroyer of the kṣatriya race so long as I am alive? The goddess
Jain Education International
For Private Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org