________________
( 27 )
forest for penance. Karakan, then turned his way back aml come to Terapuru where Jadanivali hlid been abducted. There, the Vidyādinara brought her back tu him and recounted to him the events of his past lift- how he, as : serpent, had attacked his pet parrot, but was warded off by him. ioil how le, being sul sequently crushed under the lioof of a horse, was imparteil the Navakāramantra by a sage as :: result of which he became a Vidyadhara anul avenged himself by abducting his past enemy's wife. He then bowed down to the king and asked for pardon. Tie Vilyādhara then went his way and the king returried to Campū where lie ruleil happily for m:iny days.
IX
One day, when the king was sitting in the assembly: the forest-yuard came and reported the arrival of sage Silaguptı. Hearing this, the king rose from his seat to honour the auspicious report, and then caused the happy news to lie proclaimed in the capital by beat of drum. He then marchied out in il procession for paying homage to the holy yuest. On his way, he saw a woman piteously weeping and woefully beating her breasts. On inquiry, he learnt that the sorrow for her chiki which was snatched away by the hand of Death had brought about the wretched condition in the wonin who was once so happy. This account arvused feelings of renunciation in the mind of the king who then began to brool over the fruilty of the mortal world, the miseries of existence, the helplessness of man and such other problems of life. In this contemplative anal pious mood, he reached the saye whum le honoured and from whom he received a religious sermoni.
At the end of the sermon, the king askel the save the reason why his hand had dry scab when the rest of his body was so comely, why his mother was carried away by the elephant and thus separted from his father who loved her so deeply, anıl why his own wife Mudanā vali was abducted by the l'idyadhara. lo answer to the first question the sage said that in Terāpattana there once lived : pious merchant Dhanumitra. His cow-buy, while looking out for the buffalves one night, saw an extraordinarily big and beautiful lotus in a lake. He plucked it, but while walking away with it, he was interrupted by : Sura who told him that since he had plucked a fluwer which was inaccessible even to gods, he should ofter it at the feet of one who may be the highest and most worshipable being on earth, failing which he would be killed. Dhanadatti agreed to this and thought his master who was respected by all people to be worthy of the flower. But when he approached his master and told him
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
