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VASUDEVA'S MARRIAGE WITH KANAKAVATI 109 harem.' Then the ministers and others said to hard-hearted Kūbara: 'Bhaimi, a virtuous wife, does not touch even the shadow of another man. Do not put her in the harem. For the wife of an elder brother is like a mother. Even the children recite: “ The elder brother is the same as a father.” If you do so by force, then Bhima's daughter, a virtuous woman, will reduce you to ashes. Nothing is difficult for virtuous women. Do not consent to such an unworthy thing by angering this good wife, but on the contrary encourage her to follow her husband. There is no question of your giving villages, walled towns, et cetera to Nala. So give him a chariot with a charioteer and provisions.125 Thus addressed, Kūbara dismissed Bhaimi with Nala and gave them a chariot with provisions and a charioteer.
Nala said: "What desire for a chariot have I, by whom the wealth gained by conquest of half of Bharata was abandoned in play?' The ministers, servitors for a long time, said to Nala: "We would follow you, but Kūbara prevents. Your younger brother has received the kingdom from you. He must not be abandoned by us. He, who in this family is king, must be served by us. For that is the custom. Since we are not able to go with you, long-armed one, Davadanti alone is now your wife, minister, friend, and footman. How will you lead Bhima's daughter, whose body is as delicate as the sirīşa, by whom a good wife's conduct is promised, on the road on foot? How will she touch the road, with grains of sand blazing with heat of the sun, with her feet resembling the inside of a lotus ? So, take the chariot, lord. Please favor us. Get into it with the queen. The road is safe. Good luck to you. °
Begged by the ministers again and again in this way, Nala got into the chariot with Davadanti and departed. When the women of the town saw Davadanti with one garment, as if ready for a bath, they wept, their bodices soiled by their tears. Going through the city Nala saw a pillar five hundred
125 461. Cf. IV, p. 219 and n. 153.
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