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JULY, 1976
remaining three are holding a Mayna (a variety of talking bird), a parrot and a multi-coloured bird respectively on their arms and palm.
Of the other group of ladies standing to right, one who is nearest is fanning the prince with a camar(a) another is with a betel-box, another with a very pretty fawn under her arms, another with a covered dish while another with two sherbet (syrup) bottles.
One of his wives seated by the side of the bed in front of the picture is gently waving a handkerchief, and of the other two ladies in front one is engaged in rubbing sandal against a stone while the other holds a cup for receiving the sandal paste. A cup and a water jar delicately carved are also placed before them.
There is another group of a dozen ladies sitting a little apart outside the canopy making various gestures and movement amongst themselves.
The whole party is enjoying dance and music for the female dancers and musicians assembled below are showing their skill in accompaniment with various instruments such as a pipe-like mouth-organ, a vīņā, dholak (a kind of drum), a pair of mandirās (for keeping time) and a trumpet.
Amidst such aesthetic surroundings this merchant prince is pleasantly spending his days free from all worldly worries. But the simple occasion of the king's visit is enough to break the magic spell of his everyday existence and he fully resolves to embrace the life of an ascetic with all its rigorous discipline and privations. Even the most pathetic entreaties of his mother move him only to the extent that he promises to abandon his thirty-two wives one by one each day thus postponing his conversion to the holy life of a monk for 32 days.
Now in the second picture (Fig. 2) we are introduced to Dhanya, an excellent and virtuous man, living in the same city. He is seated on a wooden seat preparing for his bath. He is accompanied by his eight wives all of whom are offering their services to him in various ways. Of the group of four ladies standing behind him to left, one is annointing his hair with oil, the second is fanning him with a piece of cloth (rumāl) the third is standing with two cups on a tray containing ubtan(a) (a sort of fragrant antiseptic paste which is besmeared all over the body before bathing, used especially in connection with marriage ceremonies) and the fourth is with a bottle of oil. Of the other four ladies to right in front of him, one is sprinkling water from an ewer, another is standing
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