________________
174
JAINA STORIES
Ratnasar understood that there must be something behind this refusal by his daughter So he said to Purandar,
“Sır! Take no offence at the girl's words She is yet too young When she is in proper mood, I shall obtain her consent So far as I am concerned, I heartily welcome your proposal"
Purandar came back and said to his son,
"I wonder why you are so much after this girl She is not fit for our family She is extremely out-spoken and sharp-tongued. She will never be a right acquisition to the family, nor will you ever be happy with her so I suggest, you give up the idea"
"I am determined, sir, to marry her "
Meanwhile, Punyasar propitiated the family goddess. promising her a grand offering on the fulfilment of his wishes The goddess appeared before him and said,
"Young man! Don't be in a hurry Do your duties now In due course, you will have your wishes fulfilled."
Now, Punyasar devoted himself to his studies and grew into a fine and accomplished young man But despite his many fine qualities, he became an addict to gambling His father gave repeated warnings but these had absolutely no effect on the young man He always staked heavy amounts and played regularly One day he lost a lakh, but he did not have so much money with him. In his house, however, there was a costly ornament of a similar worth which belonged to the king and which the king had pawned ith tbe merchant. Punyasar took it cut secretly to meet his liability Stortly after this, the king sent for the ornament The sresthi looked for it, but it was not there He had now co doubt that this must have been removed by his son When he asked bis son about it, he confessed everything, The stesthe was now in a very awkward position. He turned to his son and said,
