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of the priests, praying to the goddess that the offering might produce for him the same results as the actual killing of animals in sacrifices. He then sent the dough, from which the rooster was fashioned to the kitchen as if it were the flesh of a real chicken.
The next day Yaşodhara, accompanied by his mother, son and daughter-in-law, dined in Amrtamati's house. But Amramati had mixed the food served out to her husband and mother-in-law with poison, which at once took effect and imperiled their lives. Physicians were sent for, and the inmates went about looking for medicine. Meanwhile, Amrtamati cried aloud, and feigning to droop on Yaşodhara's bosom strangled him to death. The mother also died. The ascetic boy, Abhayaruci, continues and describes the rebirths of Yaşodhara and his mother Candramati after their tragic death.
a) Yaşodhara was reborn in a family of peacocks inhabiting a large tree in a well-watered, mountain valley. There he was caught by a hunter and presented to Yaşomati (that is, the murdered king's son), who had ascended the throne. The peacock miraculously remembered the events of his former birth. He recognized the old scenes and associates as soon as he entered the city of Ujjain and saw the royal palace. Meanwhile, Candramati was reborn as a dog in a cowherd settlement some distance from the city. It so happened that the dog was also presented by its owner to the king, who was glad to receive so fine an animal for his hunting excursions.
One day the peacock wandered to the seventh floor of the royal palace and discovered Amrtamati dallying with her illicit lover, the crippled elephant-driver. The peacock became mad with rage and attacked the pair with his beak, wings, and throat. The serving maids saw this, and raising a hue and cry struck the bird with whatever they found ready to hand: baskets, canes, fans, and shoes. The dog too came and rushed upon the bird and killed him. The king, who was playing a game of dice nearby, saw the dog attacking the peacock and dealt a blow at the animal with the dice board, killing him instantly.
b) In the next birth Yaşodhara became a stag and Candramati a serpent. On the very day of his birth, the former
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