Book Title: Treasury of Jain Tales
Author(s): V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

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Page 141
________________ 86 were reserved for some prominent kings and princes and labels were stuck on them to indicate for whom they were meant. Next day all of them properly dressed and decorated in their usual pomp came to the svayamvara păndăl and sat down in their respective seats. Every one awaited the arrival of the princess. The first to arrive was king Drupada who bowed down to the entire assembly, extended his welcome to them all and waited upon Krsna by the side of whose chair he stood, fanning him with a white chowry. Princess Draupadi had her own bath, offered oblations, performed several auspicious rites. She put on elegant garments and went to a hall which had several idols of Jinas, bowed down to them, took a broom of peacock feathers to clean the idols, burnt ncense, bent her left knee, placed the right one on the ground, bent her head in reverence three times touching the ground, slightly sed herself up, folded her hands and prayed to the Adorable One, After her prayers, she went to her own apartment in the palace. Her maids and companions, dressed and decorated her with all sorts of ornaments. Then she went in the outer hall of the palace and in the company of her maids and chamberlains, she came the four-belled horse carriage. One of her companions was a chronicler. When she mounted the carriage, her brother took the reins in his hands and drove it through the streets of Kāmpilyapura towards the svayamvara pandal. She entered it with folded hands and bowed down to Vāsudeva Krsna and all other princes that had assembled there. She then was given a beautiful garland of flowers such as Pátala, mallikā and campaka in which saptacchada leaves and flowers were interwoven. They spread a pleasant fragrance, he flowers were pleasing to the touch and the colourful pattern they ade was charming to the eyes. Her companions carried a bright mirror on her left side and pointed gracefully to each one of the princes and explained to her his genealogy, his personal strength and prowess, his accomplishments in various arts and sciences and all other qualities in a voice which was distinct, audible and sweet. This way they passed the illustrious Yādavas, the mighty Dasārhas, the handsome and graceful Ugrasenas. The companion said that she was quite free to choose any one that pleased her. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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