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JAIN RAMAYAN
her and to be her husband. It is indeed a great delight to see it all”.
"Dear brother! He whom the princess garlands at the Swayamvar will be blessed indeed !"
"Oh young man! Why are you so impatient? Within a day or two it will be known. Where is the need for the mirror to see your palm...." One of them saying this turned towards Dasarath and continued.
"Gurudev ! Today, are you not holding any prayer? Are you not singing any devotional songs ?”
“Why not? We will offer prayers and sing songs,” said Dasarath who was in the guise of a Yogi; and began clapping, beating time with his hand and singing songs. No one knew how time passed. After the prayer was over the visitors returned home.
T2
There was silence but for the melodious murmur of the river that flowed near the temple and the sounds of the footsteps of the animals of the forest.
The two yogis became absorbed in thinking of their past and their future.
"Oh king, should we attend the Swayamvar ?" said Janak with a little surprise looking at the serene face of Dasarath.
“Why ? What is your idea ? Such valiant kings and emperors as Harivahan have come. All this is a game in which one tries to surpass the other and one excels the other. Can we succeed in this game ?'
"What exactly do you mean ?"
"Mighty warriors have arrived at Kautukmangal. Added to all that, there is the invincible hero of the north, Emperor Harivahan who has come to attend the Swayamvar".
"Oh you king of Mithila! You are speaking like a child. It is one thing to be the emperor of a great empire and it is a
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