________________
INTERVENING STORIES
181
The PCR (80. 168-186) mentions Sundara as Sīlā. It is said that Simhendu and his wife while fleeing away from their town had to carry the load of the betel-leaf-merchants. Thereafter when he was left alone during the night, he took shelter in some thickets and there he was bitten by a snake. The RPS (p. 162) mentions Amogha instead of Bhargava and follows the PCR.
48. The previous birth of Srivardhita or the story of king
Sumāla:
Śrīvardhita thereafter enquired of the monk about his own and his relatives' previous births. Then the monk narrated the stories as follows:
King Sumala of Sobhapura once went to pay homage to Muni Bhadracārya. There he saw a woman suffering from leprosy and her body emitting very fitihy smell. The king suddenly retraced to his home while that woman accepted vows under that monk. After her death she became a celestial being and then was reborn as Sundară, the wife of Śrīvardhita. King Sumala annointed his son and kept a few villages for himself. He followed "Śravakadharma'. Therefore, he was reborn as a celestial being and then as Śrīvardhita (77.99-105).
In the PCR (80. 189-195) Sumala is named as Amala. He is said to have returned to his house because he could not bear the bad smell coming out from the body of that woman suffering from leprosy. The RPS (p. 162) mentions that the woman suffering from leprosy was the wife of king Amala. She was exiled by the king.
49. The previous birth of Mitrayaśā or The story of a hungry
traveller:
certain village,
burnt to ashes. All the village
A certain traveller, on not obtaining food in a expressed in anger that the whole village should get By chance the village caught fire and got destroyed. people threw away that man into the burning flames of the fire. After his death, he was reborn as a cook of a king, thereafter as a hellish being and again as Mitrayasa, the mother of Śrīvardhita (77.106-110).
The PCR (80.196-199) and the RPS (p. 162) contain the same
account.
