________________ XXVIII NAYAKUMARACARIU fell in love with the man painted in the picture and requested Mahavyala to bring that inan to her if he was real flesh and blood. He then went to Gajapura once more and returned with Nagak. who married her. Nagak. once asked Mahavyala about any wonders that he may have seen in the southern country. The latter said that the daughter of Meghavahana, king of Meghapura in Kiskindha-Malaya, had taken a vow to fix her love upon him who could beat the tabor ( Mrdanga ) in tune with her dance. Nagak. went to the place, fulfilled the vow of the princess and married her. One day, a merchant who came on a visit to his father-in-law in Meghapura waited upon the king with presents and told Nagak. that in the Toyavali island there was a Jina temple and also a big bunyan tree on which he saw some maidens who complained of injustice and cried for help. They were guarded by a Vidyadhara who would not allow them to talk for long with any body. Hearing this, Nagak. thought of the deity Sudarsana who at once appeared and solicited orders. Nagak. asked her for the services of some Vidyas which could conduct him over the seas and provide food. On reaching the said island, he worshipped the Jina and saw the maidens on the tree, from the eldest of whom he learnt that they were the five hundred daughters of Sriraksa, king of Bhumitilaka who had been slain by his own sister's son Pavana vega who had imprisoned their two brothers as well as themselves as they would not consent to marry the murderer of their father. They then promised to marry Nagak. if he could secure tbeir release. Nagak. held a council and decided to help the distressed. He sent Acheya and Abheya as ambassadors to Pavanavega asking him to restore the kingdom to Raksa and Maharaksa and leave the town, abandoning his thoughts for the maidens, under pain of death. The ambassy failed and a battle ensued in which Pavanavega was killed. The rest of the warriors submitted, the maidens were married and their brothers were crowned kings. Leaving them all there he returned to the Pandya kingdom. 9. Taking leave of the Pandya king Nagak. came to Dantipura in the Andhra country, where he was received by king Candragupta who married his daughter Madanamanjusa to him. Leaving her there he marched on to Tribhuvanatilaka where he married Vijayandhara's daughter Laksmimati, who won bis affections very deeply. Sage Pihitasrava happened to arrive there and Nagakumara listened to his long discourse on the various philosophies and religions. At the end of it Nagak. questioned the sage as to the cause of his unbounded love for his latest wife. In answer to this the sage narrated the events of his past life. In the town of Vitasokapura in the Airavata country, there lived a merchant named Dhanadatta and his wife Dhanasri. Their son Nagadatta married Nagavasu, the daughter of another merchant of the same place. He took a vow to observe the fast of Sripancami on the fifth day of the month of Phalguna. The day passed off in religious worship, but at the middle of the night he felt very hot and thirsty. Cooling things, such as ice, were applied to his body but his condition went on worsening. His father tried to induce hiin to have some refreshing drink, showing, by means of reflected lights, that it was already morning, but the hoax did not succeed. Nagadatta died sticking to his yow as a result of which he became a god in the first P.P.AC. Gunratnasuri M.S Jun Gun Aaradhak Trust
