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desire to visit mount Vaibhåragiri and wander there. She wanted to travel to the mountain on the back of a big elephant. The king ought to be with her and the sky cloudy enough and rain would come any moment. The king felt worried because he could not fulfil the pregnancy desire of the queen. It was not the rainy season. The queen felt most uneasy. She could neither sleep nor eat and the glow of health left her face. She lost all interest in clothes and ornaments and she became thinner and thinner.
Her servants reported the matter to the king. The king at once visited her and made tender enquiry about her health and asked about the cause of her ill-health. The queen explained the same pregnancy desire and the king said in a vague manner that he would try to fulfil it but he did not know what he could do to collect dark clouds in the sky out of season. He too felt worried and helpless though he could not bear to see the condition of his queen. Prince Abhaya clearly saw that his father was worried about some thing so he asked him whether he could be of any help to relieve his anxiety. He assured the king that he was his eldest son and as such it was his duty to do whatever he could to relieve the father's anxiety. The king explained to him that the real cause was his helplessness in fulfilling the pregnancy desire of his queen. He saw no way of collecting dark rainy clouds at that time of the year.
Abhaya realised that without the help of some supernatural power, unseasonal clouds could not be collected in the sky. He therefore decided to offer prayers to propitiate god. He went into the pausadhasālā where people stay for a certain period to offer prayers under a vow called pausadha. He took to astama bhakta penance. He worshipped the god with great devotion. At the end of the period of the vow which the prince had solemnly observed, the god appeared before him and asked him what he could do for him. The prince stood before the god with folded hands and explained the poor condition of his younger mother's health and her pregnancy desire and implored the god to create dark rainy clouds in the sky as well as the atmosphere of rainy season. The god smiled and assured Abhaya that it would be done.
The prince left the pausadhas'ālā and returned to the palace
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