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CHAPTER THREE
see and pay homage to the great sage and gather the opportune fruit of the road. This man, standing in kayotsarga, was rubbed by some rutting elephant that wished to scratch its cheek, as if he were a tree. Now he endures a great trial, stung by bees because of the fragrance of the ichor impregnated by the rubbing of the cheek. He was not shaken from meditation even by the rutting elephant, firm-footed like a mountain. He has been seen on the way because of merit.'
Niṣadha, with manifest faith, and his son and retinue at once waited on the sage like a most sacred person who had been found. When Nala and his wife, Niṣadha, and Kūbara and the others had bowed to him, praised him in verses, and made him free from affliction,118 they went on.
When they had reached the environs of Kośalā, Nala said,This is our city, queen, adorned with temples of the Jinas.' Then Davadanti, her head erect, felt great eagerness for a sight of the shrines, like a peahen for the sight of a rain-cloud. She said, 'I am fortunate, by whom Nala was secured as a husband. I shall worship these shrines daily.' The king entered his own city, which was engaged in auspicious practices, with arches, et cetera everywhere, on an auspicious day.
Nala and Davadanti, occupying themselves as they liked, sometimes engaged in water-sports, like swans. Sometimes they experienced the pleasure of swinging in swings, their chests with arms that were separate but moved together. Sometimes they filled each other's braids of hair arranged in various ways with very fragrant flowers gathered by themselves. Sometimes they played at a gambling game calmly, skilful at checking (the other's men), releasing (his own), at gama and cara,1 ,119 with invincible spirit. Sometimes they
118 390. I.e., from the torment of the bees.
119 398. Gama and cara must be moves in a game played with dice and men. Bandha must be something like 'check' and mokşa escape from it. See III, n. 139 and JAOS 66 (1946), 260-262.
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