________________
32
LILĀVAT
dream to be a reality; she makes a frantic search for him in her apartment but not finding him there, she becomes disconsolate. Her friends understand the cause of her anguish; and after knowing about her dream, they request her to paint the portrait of her lover in the dream. Accordingly she paints a portrait to which she is very much attached.'
Kandarpa feels greatly interested in this narration of the parrot which suddenly stops, being sleepy. Makaranda tells him that he must have seen Lilãvati in his dream, and she also meets him likewise. After daybreak they offer salutations to Jina and travel further, almost led unawares by Padmāvati. In the Vindhyan region they meet a Yogindra whom they offer their respects. viii On their journey they witness elephant-sports and tribal settlements. They offer salutations to a Yaksa image under a banyan tree. Then they salute Ambika in a garden on the bank of the river Gandhanadi. They come to a Jinabhavana, salute Candranatha there and receive blessings from a saint therein. ix After staying with that monk for some time Kandarpa travels on and reaches Devagiri where he worships a cluster of Jina-images. He reaches a ruby-mount called Mayūkha-nirjhara on which sport gods and goddesses. He is entertained there by two Vidyadharis. As a result of his devoted worship of the Devi there, he gets the Kālāvalokini-phalaka. Both Kandarpa and Väsavadattā are suffering from the pangs of separation in their respective places.
x Līlāvati regularly worships her family goddess Padmavati. Once she has a vision in which the goddess speaks to her that her beloved would go to her at night. On that moon-lit night she is gaily dressed and awaits the arrival of her lord. Kandarpa swoons on the mount Mayukhanirjhara. He is carried by Candralekha and Vidyullekhā with the aid of Parnalaghuvidyā and put on Lilāvati's couch. Both of them have a happy meeting. When Kandarpa is carried back, Lilāvati's grief knows no bounds. When she is herself, she realizes the reality of her experience from the fact that her lover has taken away her pearl-necklace leaving on her bosom his Campaka garland. On the other side Makaranda shrewdly guesses from the presence of the necklace what must have happened.
Both of them continue their journey towards Kusumapura, the place of Līlāvati; after reaching the town, they go to the temple of Padmāyati. xi With the loveliness of spring spreading everywhere, Kandarpa's pangs of separation go on increasing; and Makaranda consoles him with cooling materials in the temple-garden. Lilāvati is already there in the temple with her friends who pray to Padmavati that Lilavati
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
