Book Title: Jain Ramayana Part 2
Author(s): Bhadraguptasuri
Publisher: Vishvakalyan Prakashan Trust Mehsana

Previous | Next

Page 397
________________ The First Halt 385 I did not like Kamalata to know that I was poor and helpless because I feared that if she came to know that I was poor she would turn me out of her doors. She would stop loving me. So reluctantly, I promised to get her such ear-rings and secretly decided to steal the queen's ear-rings. Accordingly, on a dark night I went to the palace to steal the queen's ear-rings. Lurking here and there, evading the watchful eyes of the guards and sentinels, somehow I managed to reach the queen's chamber but I heard King Simhodhar and Queen Sridhara conversing inside. On hearing this, I hid myself in a corner overhearing their conversation." The traveller was continuing his narration. Sita moved nearer and continued to listen to the story with deep interest. Lakshman also was listening to the story with concentration. The story continued to flow like a river. "In the chamber Queen Shridhara and King Simhodhar were conversing." "My lord! I think you are agitated today. You do not seem to get sleep at all. I think you are unable to sleep on account of some excitement or agitation. I wonder what problem has been worrying you. You do not seem to have peace of mind.” "Dear queen! How can I get sleep? I cannot sleep until I kill my subordinate King Vajrakarna. That wicked fellow does not salute me. He does not bow to me; on the contrary, he has been deceiving me. Therefore, tomorrow I will kill him. I will kill all the members of his family. Only then can I sleep peacefully. Enough! The night is far advanced.” When I heard this conversation of the king and the queen at once an idea flashed to me. I thought, “Vajrakarna is a noble man; and so my duty is to save him and his family from destruction. I will save them from this danger.” Then giving up my plan of stealing the queen's ear-rings I went to tell him of the situation.” Saying this Vidyutang ended his narration Vajrakarna collected in his fort wealth, food-grain and other commodities abundantly. He also collected weapons, and Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518