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misery. The Yaksa suggested that he should go on with his profession now with his left hand. The young artist used his left hand with equal efficiency but could not really get over his resentment against the king who had unjustifiably damaged his right fingers.
in the course of his wanderings, the young artist arrived at Vijayini. He also carried with him a freshly painted portrait of the queen of Kausămbi which he had drawn with his left hand and when he showed it to king Pradyota of Ujjayini, it produced such a strong impression on the king's mind, that he immediately despatched a messenger to Kausāmbi that if king Satănika refused to send his queen to him in Ujjayini, he should be prepared for a terrible war with him. Our young artist could not have been more pleased than with the prospect of involving the king of his native town into a terrible calamity.
As could be expected, the king of Kausāmbi treated Pradyota's message with the contempt it deserved and sent back the messenger with similar disrespect. King Pradyota was furious to learn of all that happened at the court of Kausämbi. He collected his formidable army and marched against that unfortunate town. Satānika developed nervous diarrhoea and died.
The queen kept her cool and thought out a plan which she explained in her message to king Pradyota, who was most anxiously looking forward to obtaining the beautiful queen, whose portrait had pushed him into this wild adventure. The queen said she would very much like to think of her young son first. If his future was ensured, she would not mind going to live with king Pradyota. She said that she was afraid that her young son would become an extremely easy target for any of the neighbouring kings, especially when his father was dead and the mother was away in Ujjayini. King Pradyota's reply was who would dare do it when he was around. The queen said that his presence in Ujjayini would be as effective as the presence of a renowned physician several miles away from a person who has been bitten by a snake. She suggested therefore that Pradyota should fortify her town with impregnable walls around it, constructed with strong bricks which
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