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leadership of their king Vicitravirya had gathered there on the occasion of the fort-nightly celebration of the holy-bath ceremony (snātra-yātrā) of the image of the Lord and that the girls were brought there unawares by the Vidyadharas through their superhuman powers. After the ceremony, were arranged the dance items by each of the kidnapped princesses. Then started the holy ceremony to the accompaniment of divine music followed by the dances. Being highly impressed by the Malayasundari's perfor. mance, as the Vidyadhara king Vicitravirya inquired of her as to where she had picked up such a skill in dancing, there epsued a dialogue which gradually strengthened the hopes of the king that the mother of this girl might be none else than his daughter Gandbarvadattā, who was assured by Vasurāta that she will be united with her kith and kin when her daughter was married to a suitable match. The king, thereupon, entrusted the task of personally verifying this to Citralekbā, the mother of Gandh. arvaka. As it was now early morning the king left the place with his company and started by the aerial path for his capital on the Suvela mountain, while leaving an instruction to an attendant (to take the girls round and show the place). Malayasundari with her companions, went to the rampart wall and looked from over it into the sea when her eyes met with those of a pripce sailing in a royal boat rowed by only a few sailors. One of the sailors (Taraka) of the prince (Samaraketu) requested her to show to the prince the way to the temple which, as he said, was as beautiful as her heart, and both so difficult to enter ! At first she conveyed her inability due to her being a stranger in the situation, but later on, being influenced by the love of the prince, she conveyed to him to wait a little. At this the companion of the prince started a unique allocution to her, though apparently addressed to the boat. Meanwhile there came the attendant with a priest-boy from the temple with holy sandal and garlands which were offered to the image in the temple. The boy asked her to take possesion of the jewel which had slipped off from her girdle, She took advantage of this situation and, looking at the prince down there in the boat, conveyed that the 'Nāyaka' (=jewel; the prince) was of course accepted but that she will secure it (=him) in its (=his) proper place only after it (=he) would reach her at Kāñci (girdle; city). Then she took the garland and, under the pretext of offering her worship to the ocean, threw it down in such a skillful manner that it fell around the neck of the prince ! But suddenly she and her companions disappeared from the sight of the prince and the latter threw himself headlong into the water overpowered as he was by this unexpe. cted blow to his yet unfulfilled love.
The last two verses (167 and 168) in the Hariņt and the Sardalavikrid itam metres respectively, conclude the incident with the sad note
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