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bosom friend of Dandin asked him to accept the request of the architect, for by so doing he would be able to meet his friends like the great vedic scholar Matṛdatta and Devasarman who had gone to Mahamallapuram from Kerala with the purpose of seeing him. Accordingly Dandin started for the place accompanied by his friends like Jayantanarayana and Bhajanananda. When he saw the idol he was amazed at the wonderful skill of the architect, because he could not even make out where the arm was broken.
Just then a divine fragrance emanated from the sea and when they all looked round to know its source, they saw a lotus flower being washed ashore by the waves. Soon the lotus reached the foot of the idol of Visnu, and was immediately transformed into a Vidyadhara who bowed to the Lord and disappeared in the sky. Wonderstruck at this event, a close friend of Dandin, by name Ramasarman of the Coladesa, asked him to explain this occurrence. But he could only reply that in all probability a Vidyadhara was cursed to become a lotus by some sage, and at the expiry of the curse on the touch of the feet of Visnu, he attained his original form. The party then returned to Kancipara. But in order to understand fully the secret of this and at the insistence of Matṛdatta, Ramasarman and others, Dandin performed a special puja for Visnu on a Dvadasi day and in the night, while he was resting in a bed of darbha grass, the Goddess of learning appeared before him in dream and blessed him to get a revelation of the story of Rājavāhana, the king of
