________________
17
prepossessed in his favour, took him to his own house, Dharana deposited his jewels with him. (P. 45. 1. 11.)
On the other side, Suvadana, seeing the great amount of gold and a beautiful woman like Laxmi in his ship, was tempted to take Laxmi as his wife and gold as his own property. As Dharana was dead, he felt he was safe. Laxmi, out of hatred to Dharana, yielded to him. The ship arrived at Devapura. Suvadana saw the king, offered his presents and pleased the king who allowed his goods to come in duty-free. (P. 46. I. 6.)
In the meantime, Dharana who was in Devapura came to know that the ship had arrived from China. He went to the seashore and found Suvadana and Laxmi both of whom recognised him. They found their position rather difficult and wanted somehow to dispose off Dharana. Laxmi asked him to stay with her overnight instead of going to the city. Dharana did this. In the "night he was given a drink; and while he was senseless with intoxication, Laxmi put a noose about his neck to kill him but he bent down. Laxmi thinking that he was dead, left Dharana on the shore and went to the ship.