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NAYAKUMARACARIU
slain by his own sister's son Pavanavega 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 their 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 Rakṣa and Maharakṣa 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.
IX.
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 Madanamañjuṣā to him. Leaving her there he marched on to Tribhuvanatilaka where he married Vijayandhara's daughter Lakshmimati, who won his affections very deeply. Sage Pihitaśrava happened to arrive there and Nagakumāra 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 Nagavas, the daughter of another merchant of the same place. He took a vow to observe the fast of Sripañcami: 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 him to have some refreshing drink, showing, by means of reflected lights, that it was already morning, but the hoax did not succeed. Nāgadatta died sticking to his vow as a result of which he became a god in the first heaven. Recollecting the past events, he returned to the earth and consoled his parents who were still mourning his death. They thence forward devoted themselves to religious observances and eventually attained heaven. The sage then told him that Nagadatta was reborn in his own person as Nagakumara and that Lakshmimati was no other than his wife of the former life. The teacher then explained to him the manner of observing the fast.
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At this juncture minister Nayandhara arrived from home and Nagak. returned to Kanakapura where his father received him with great affection and crowned him king. Vyala, at his order, brought all his wives and Vidyas from wherever they were left. With them he enjoyed the pleasures of royalty. Sridhara had already become a recluse through sheer disgust and now Jayandhara and Pṛthvidevi also retired to lead an ascetic life. Nagak. ruled the
XLIV
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