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401
In the Savage Area
savage kings disgraced him, bound him with strong ropes and took him away.
At the time, Queen Prithvi was pregnant. In due course, she gave birth to a daughter. But Subuddhi the Chief Minister of the Kingdom, acting with farsightedness announced that the Queen had given birth to a son. Therefore, the princess had to wear the dress of a man. King Varikhil was a subordinate of Simhodhar, the king of Avanti. So he sent a message to Simhodhar also that the Queen had given birth to a male child. King Simhodhar ordered that the prince might be established on the throne of Kubarpur.
In the entire Kingdom only two people knew the secret that the Prince was indeed a young lady. Only the queen and the Chief Minister knew this secret. So I have had to put on the guise of a man."
Shri Ramachandra, Lakshman and Sita were listening to the story with deep interest.
"Has not the truth come to light even after so many years ?"
"No, the truth has not come to light on account of the ChiefMinister's intelligence and wisdom."
"Have you tried at any time to release your father from the clutches of the savage kings. ?"
"Yes, my Lord I tried several times."
"What has been the result?"
"Everytime the savage kings have been extracting large sums of money from me by giving me false assurances of releasing him."
"Has not king Simhodhar tried to get the king released ?"
"No, sir. No, what can he do? Oh you great man, only you can help us. Just as you saved Vajrakarna from the clutches of King Simhodhar you can save my father from the clautches of the savage kings."
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