________________
The Ethical Excellence of Ravan
227
tired of thinking. He could not see any way out of the difficulty. Of his one thousand powers which he had gained there was not even one which could counteract the efficacy of Ashali. His face grew gloomy. Deep silence prevailed everywhere. Nobody could think of any plan. This kind of difficult situation had arisen for the first time. Ravan had no solution to this problem.
Just then, a beautiful damsel entered the chamber. She possessed extraordinary physical beauty. All turned their eyes towards her. She came forward and politely bowed to Ravan. Then, she said in a soft but resonant voice.
"Oh you King of Lanka My mistress, Uparambha the Queen-consort of Nalkuber has sent a message to you”.
"What is the message ? Please speak out without any hesitation". Ravan said in a grave voice wondering what the message was.
Seeing that the damsel was hesitating to convey the message, Ravan said again.
"Please give me the message. All these are my trusted friends. You need not fear anything".
"My lord ! On hearing about your heroism, valour, magnanimity, incomparable beauty and your extraordinary achievements our Queen Uparambha has fallen in love with you".
"Then .....?"
"She is desirous of meeting you in a secret place”. The beautiful damsel said making her idea clear...
"Oh you King of Lanka! You need not worry about anything. When you meet her she will teach you the secret of the power called Ashali which is now protecting Durlangpur. She will also reveal many other secrets to you by means of which you can achieve your objectives. You will destroy Durlangpur and you will be able to imprison Nalkuber. After that you will succeed in attaining a divine weapon called Sudharshan Chakra
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
