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37. THE STORY OF DEVADATTA
King Mahasena of Supratistha had a son born of queen Dhǎrini, who was one of the five hundred queens that he had. His name was Simhasena. When he grew up to be a young man, he too was married to five hundred princesses. He had five hundred stately palaces for his pleasure. When his father died, he became the king and grew to be powerful like the mountain Mahāhimavat.
The young king however was deeply attached to only one of his queens, Syama and he did not pay any attention to his four hundred and ninetynine queens. When their mothers came to learn of the sorry plight of their daughters, they thought that they should instruct their daughters suitably. They all agreed that their daughters should discover a suitable occasion to kill their rival queen Syama.
Syama's spies conveyed it to her and she felt so terribly disturbed that she shut herself up in her own chamber where she could give free vent to her anger as well as sorrow. The king went to see her and was shocked to find her weeping and looking greatly disturbed. When she revealed the cause of her anger to him, king Simhasena said he would see what could be done about it but he assured her that she would have no more reason to feel either worried or frightened.
The king ordered the construction of a large palace outside the capital city, the palace was to have hundreds of pillars and must look gorgeous and impressive. When it was ready, he invited the mothers of all the four hundred ninetynine queens and treated them to a banquet in the new hall that was tastefully decorated with
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