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It was densely crowded and terrible with nimba-trees, mango-trees,
udumbaras,8 jujube-trees, and kapilar; It was skirted with pipals,lo paláças, îl reeds, nilas,12 bhillas,13 and
bhillotas; It was diversified with rose-apples, kadambas, 14 tamarinds, and
kapitthas ; 15 It was closely packed with tíndukas,18 varuņa-trees, 17 with çirishas,18
and çriparni-trees ; 19 It contained marsh-date-trees, palm-trees, çimçapá-trees, 20 cami
trees, 21 and silk-cotton-trees, which were all massive and touched
the sky with their towering tops ; It was covered with lines of whistling canes, being continually split
asunder.*
When he had advanced some distance in this wood, the king saw an infuriated elephant resembling Airávaņa. He said to himself : ‘How is it that there is an elephant of this kind in this wood ? In the meanwhile the elephant lifted up its trunk and came near King Ratnaçikha. Then the king, skilled in the art of managing elephants, tamed the elephant. At that moment a garland of flowers fell from the sky on the king's neck. The king was astonished. He heard in the sky this exclamation of heavenly nymphs : * Hail to his heroic powers!' Then the king mounted on the elephant, and set out towards the north. Then he became thirsty, and, looking round for water, he descried a large lake. The king got down from the elephant and drank water. When the elephant had drunk water it would not come out of the lake. Then the king left the elephant and went on. As he advanced a woman presented him with garments of heavenly stuff and of great value. Then she gave him ornaments for every limb and joint,
7 Azadirachta Indica.
8 Ficus Glomerata. 9 A kind of Cimcapá, or perhaps Aloe Perfoliata. 10 Ficus Religiosa.
11 Butea Frondosa. 12 A kind of fig-tree.
13 Symplocos Racemosa. 14 Nauclea Cadamba. 16 Wood apple-tree, Feronia Elephantum. 16 Diospyros Embryopteris. 17 Cratava Roxburghii. 18 Acacia Sirisha.
19 Premna Spinosa. 20 Dalbergia Sisu.
21 Acacia Suma. * I have omitted the names of some trees which I have been unable to identify. Atmárám Muni is of opinion that some of the names are local. I gladly acknowledge the help that he has given me in this difficult Prakrit passage.
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