________________
133 goes to ease nature. What a dull man he is !" The king asked "Why am I the fourth leg ?" Kanakamañjari answered:
"Now any one knows at once how should a peacock's feather come here indeed! If it had been brought here in some way or other, even then one would perceive it by the eye at once.,"
The king agreed that he really was a fool and as such deserved to be the fourth leg of the chair.
The king however was much impressed by the cleverness of the girl and also by her beauty. He became enamoured of her and soon enough he sent through his prime minister a message to the father of the girl that the king would very much like to marry her. The father appeared shocked and said that he was too poor to expect such an offer and celebrate such a marriage. When the king was told about the reply of the father, he sent to the painter's house bags of grain, treasures of money and gold. Subsequently auspicious day, at an auspicious hour, Kanakamañjari was married to the king. The king assigned to her a palace and a multitude of female slaves.
The king had many queens and each one entered the king's sleeping apartment on the night when her turn came. Accordingly it was Kanakamañjari's turn. She adorned herself and took a slave girl called Madanikā with her and sat down upon a seat in the king's bed room. When the king came in, she greeted him and performed all other acts of politeness and modesty. The king lay down on the bed. Kanakamanjari had instructed her slave girl to choose exactly this moment and asked her to tell a story. Kanakamañjari said that she would tell the story only when the king fell fast asleep.
The king too had the curiosity to hear the story and so he pretended to be asleep and Kanakamañjari began her story presuming the king to be asleep: "Listen ! There was in the city of Vasantapura a merchant Varuna. He had a temple built of one hand in size that was made all of one block of stone. Into this, he put a certain idol of four hands." Madanikāthe slave girl asked how could there be room for an idol of four hands in a temple of the size of one hand. Kanakamañjari replied that since she was very sleepy, she would answer the question next night. The slave girl thereupon
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
