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SUMMARY OF KARAKAŅDACARIU.
The poet begins the work by proclaiming victory to Jina and expressing his own humility and memory of the writers of yore like Siddhasena, Samantabhadra, Akalamka, Jayadeva, Svayambhu and Pushçadanta. Then the story begins. In the Jambudvipa and Bharata-kshetra there was the beautiful country of Anga in which was situated the prosperious city of Campā. Its powerful and righteous king Dhādivābana once went to Kusumapura and saw there a beautiful girl brought up by a gardner who told him that he recovered her from a box found floating in the Ganges by his wife. The king examined the box closely and learnt from the inscription on the seal that she was the daughter of Vasupāla king of Kausāmbi and that her name was Padmāvatī. He then married her and returned with her to his capital. In due course she became pregnant and entertained a desire to dress herself like a man, and ride about the town on an elephant in drizzling rain in the company of her husband. It was summer but arrangements to satisfy her longing were made by the aid of the rain-deity ? Meghakumāra). Unluckily, the elephant on which the royal couple was riding suddenly became restive and ran away towards the forest. The queen prevailed upon the king to save himself by catching hold of the branch of a tree and leave her to her own fate. The elephant, with the queen on its back, reached a deep lake where the queen jumped off and entered the forest which was dry and deserted. Suddenly, however, the forest became green and full of blossom. This extraordinary event was reported to the forest-guard in Dantipura, who instantly came there and met the queen resting under a tree. He addressed her as bis sister and induced her to accompany him home. But there the gardener's wife Kusumadattā became jealous and apprehensive of her beauty and soon found out an excuse to drive her away. The queen bent her way to the cemetery where she gave birth to a son.
No sooner as the child born than a certain Alātanga appeared there and attempted to take the child away. Being challenged by the mother he told her that he was in reality & Vidyadhara of the Vijayārdba mountain. Once he was out for a joy-ride in his serial car with his wife, when his car suddenly stopped. While intestigating the cause of the interruption, he saw below him a sage absorbed in meditation. Taking him to be the cause, he got very angry and drew out his sword to
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
