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JAINA LITERATURE IN TAMIL
117
his wife whom he supposed to be dead and takes her to his palace with the consent of Padmāvati and is living happily in Rājagțha with his two wives.
While he was spending his life happily with his two queens, Vāsavadattā and Padmāvatī, he happens to meet Mānanīkā, the beautiful young playmate of the queens. He falls in love with this stranger and arranges with her secretly to meet at an appointed place in the night. Vāsavadattā comes to know of this, and imprisons Mānanīkā and, herself dressed in disguise as Mānanīkā, waits for the appearance of Udayana according to the appointment. Udayana is received coldly by Vāsavadattā in disguise when Udyana, imagining her to be Mānanikā, his lady-love, begs her in various ways to accept him. Then Vāsavadattā discovers herself to the chagrin of Udayana who escapes back to the palace just about the time of dawn. Early in the morning Vāsavadattā sends for Mānanikā in order to punish her for her impudence in aspiring for the king's hand. In this excitement a messenger from the king of Kāśala brings a letter to Vāsavadattā. In this letter the king of Kāśala narrates the story of his sister who was carried away as a captive by the Pāñcāla king, of how she was released with a number of attendants by Udayana when he reconquered the country by defeating the king of Pāñcāla and how she was got as an attendant to Vāsavadattā herself with the assumed name of Mānanikā and finally requesting Vāsa vadattā to treat this Köśala princess with the kindness and consideration becoming her status. When Vāsavadattā reads this letter, she apologises
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