________________ Tradition of the Vaisali Region 201 Sanku,- probably the same as Vatsa-pri's successor in Vaisali, by name Samkila, counted like bis predecessors as a tsi of the Rg-Veda,-an upholder of society and state, and a great sacrificer). She was persuaded to renourish herself and await the advent of the son,-though she thought it could not be, for she would have done but Aviksita for her husband, and he had declined to have her. Meanwhile Avaiksita's mother, the heroic Vira, induced him to engage in the Kimicchaka' penance, in which he would have to bestow whatever was asked of him. Then Karandbama, advised by her and also by his ministers, asked of him a grandson, which meant foregoing his self-imposed continence;-this very unwillingly Aviksita had to promise. But Aviksita would yet have nothing to do with his previous wives or other women who knew about his defeat,--so that he set out to find a new wife for the sake of his parents. Subsequently, in the course of a hunting expedition, Aviksita had occasion to rescue a maiden who, seized by the Danava Dsobakesa, was crying aloud that a hero's wife- the wife of Karandhama's son, Aviksita--was being kidnapped by a villain. Aviksita felt surprised but came up, declaring that it could not be so while Karandhama was still the King. The girl repeated her claim and plea, while Aviksita engaged the abductor: after Drdhakesa was killed in combat and the maiden freed, he was asked by his companions in the Hunt to marry her, so that he might satisfy his father's request for a grandson. But Aviksita was unwilling, for be had declined the love of Visala's daughter, who had consequently renounced the world as a life-long virgin for his sake, and it would therefore be cruel to think of marrying another. Then they explained that this maiden was clearly the same Visala's daugbter; and she too, on being asked, personally explained her 'interim' history : After the prophecy' had dissuaded her from mortifications she was preparing herself for Aviksita, hy bathing in 'Gangahrada', whence an old Naga chief carried her off to the Naga city in "Rasatala'. There the Naga men and women implored her to remember them, and to use her influence with her future imperial son (Marutta) to save them when he would come into conflict with them. On her so promising, they bedecked her with the rare ornaments of Patala' and replaced her in the 'asrama' retreat, whence, however, Dsdha-kesa was just then kidnapping her. She entreated Aviksita, once again to give her his love, as her saviour hero, and Aviksita remembering his vow to his parents and her great sacrifices for him, now yielded. At this juncture the 'gandharva' Tunaya arrived, with other 'gandharva's and 'apsara's, and claimed that Vaisalipi was really his 26
