________________
The Brightness of the Morning
363
Just then, a divine airship was flying through the sky. The Vidyadhar who sat in the airship happened to see this valley. He saw a woman sitting at the entrance of a cave, with a child, weeping. At once, he ordered his airship to be brought to ground. In a few moments, the airship landed in the midst of the forest. The Vidyadhar came hurriedly towards the cave.
"Sister, who are you?" Why are you weeping?" he asked Anjana in a tender voice. Hearing the voice of a strangèr Vasanta Tilaka who was doing some work in the cave came out and stood near Anjana. Anjana did not have the strength to give any reply to the question of the Vidyadhar. So Vasanta Tilaka tried to answer his questions. She too was sobbing. She requested the Vidyadhar to be seated there on leaves and flowers and then she narrated in full the story of Anjana.
The Vidyadhar kept shedding tears as he heard the story, just as rain falls from clouds during the rainy season. His bright and radiant face became gloomy and depressed. He began to weep and when Vasanta Tilaka had completed her narration he wept bitterly.
"Oh king
instead of weeping thus cannot you find some way of mitigating her sorrow?" said another Vidyadhar who was a master of the science of omens, placing his hand on his shoulder.
There was silence everywhere. There was no noise anywhere except their hot sighs and sobs. There was stillness everywhere.
After sometime, the Vidyadhar said with grief in his heart, "Dear child, I am the Vidyadhar king of Hanupurnagar. My mother is Sundarimala and my father is Chitrabanu, Anjana's mother, Hridayasundari is my sister. My name is Manasveg."
On hearing these words of Manasveg both the ladies were greatly amazed and delighted. Looking towards Anjana, he said again, "Dear child, seeing you alive I feel greatly happy and relieved. Today, a great burden which was weighing on my
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org