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JAINA STORIES
occasion. People everywhere, singly or in groups, were talking of the good-luck of the monarch. These words, as they reached the king's ears, made him happy too. The royal couple were now at the palace where all comforts were provided for the new queen. The king and the queen lived henceforth a happy life
6
Now, brahmin Agnisharma had a daughter from his newly married wife When she came of age, her mother thought that if somehow Aramasobha could be made to die, then the king might be pleased to consider her own daughter to be worthy of him "And to kill the daughter of a COwife is no sin", she said to herself. So she hatched a plot
and one day said to her husband:
"Aramasobha has gone to her husband's home for many years now but we have never sent her anything For girls things from their parental homes are particularly dear"
The brahmin smiled and said, "Aramasobha is no longerShe is now a queen and hardly needs anything from
poor.
us."
Agnishilha (for such was the name of the brahmin's. second wife) protested : "Even though the father-in-law's home has affluence all round, anything sent by parents is dear to a girl Though rich, daughters expect occasional gifts from their former home"> The argument had no gap. So the brahmin could not turn it down The lady prepared kesariya-modaka (henceforth to be called modaka, a delicioussweetmeat), poisoned it, placed it inside a pot and sealed it. Then she entrusted it to her husband saying:
"You give it to Aramasobha and none else. Even Aramasobha is not to share the sweets with anyone. If she shares it with others, we shall be put to ridicule, poer as the stuff is, and poor as we are
"
Agnisharma could not
wife
read into the evil design of his He picked up the pot and turned his steps towards Pataliputra When he was not far from the capital city, he was so tired that he placed the pot beneath a banyan treeon the wayside, lay down to rest and was soon fast asleep.
