________________ cariya ( 1044 A.C) and Sayala-vihi-vihana-kavva and Abdala Rahamana's Samdesarasaka (13th Cint. A.C.). The earliest available version of the story is the Sadayavatsavira - prabandha by Bhima (c. 1400 A.C.) in Old Gujarati. The following is a brief outline of the story according to Bhima. Sudayavatsa (S.) was the son of king Prabhuvatsa and queen Mahalaksmi, ruling at Ujjayini. He was a gambling addict. Once he rescued a pregnant Brahmin girl from the clutches of the Royal elephant which had gone mad, by killing it. The King appointed him as heir-apparent in apprecation of this act of bravery. But the minister of the King, fearing to lose the favour of the prince because he had earlier restrained him from spending liberally at the time of his marriage with Savalimga, the princess of Pratisthana, succeeded in turning the King against S., whom the latter ordered to leave the kingdom. Savalimga accompanied S. in exile. Passing through a dreary tract, S. procured water for the thirsty Savalimga by offering his blood in exchange. But this turned out to be just a test devised by Harisiddhi, the presiding divinity, of Ujjayini. Mightily pleased with his fortitude, she gifted him with miraculous dice and cowries and a steel knife, which made him invincible in gambling games and battles. Resuming their journey, they came to a temple of Siva where Lilavati, the daughter of King Dharavira ruling at Dhara, was practising penance to obtain S. as her husband. S. accepted her. The marriage was celebrated. S. stayed at Dhara for a few days. Then he left for Pratisthana to deposit Savalimga at her father's house. He promised to take Lilavati with him on the return journey. While passing through a dense forest, S. met a band of five thieves in a den. In a challenge game of gambling they lost [29]