Page Text
________________
charming young woman.
The king of Ujjayini, called Pradyota the Terrible, received a report that Jaya had become two-faced and when he queried how it could have happened, he was told about the crown that gave king Jaya the two faces. Pradyota immediately decided that he ought to possess that crown and being an arrogant man, he despatched a messenger to Kampilya to demand the crown from king Dvimukha and the message further said that in case he did not send it, he should be prepared for a battle. King Dvimukha instructed the messenger of Pradyota to report back to his king that he would be willing to part with the crown only if Pradyota gave him what he wanted. The messenger asked the king what it was that he would expect in exchange for the crown. King Dvimukha demanded Pradyota's elephant Nalagiri, his excellent chariot Agnibhiru and his spouse queen Siva and a certain writer in the court of Pradyota called Lohajangha.
128
The messenger thought that the king was making too fantastic a demand; all the things in the king's list were considered by Ujjayini to be the most precious. However, he went back to king Pradyota and conveyed the message. The king felt terribly furious and he mobilised his enormous army of elephants, chariots, horsemen and infantry two lakh elephants, two thousand chariots, fifty thousand horsemen and seven crores of soldiers on foot. After marching for a considerable length of time, they reached the boundaries of the Pancala country. King Dvimukha also left his capital city with a fully equipped four-fold army and advanced towards the frontier. Pradyota organised his army in the Garuda formation and Dvimukha in the ocean formation. They came close enough for a fight. By the mysterious power of a pearl in the crown that king Dvimukha had discovered, and which he now was wearing, he became invincible. Pradyota was defeated and was captured as a prisoner and was marched through the streets of Kampilya. However, he was so well treated that he spent his time there pleasantly.
-
But since the day, when he caught the sight of Madanamañjari and fell desperately in love with her, time became unbearable for
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
| SR No. | 006762 |
| Book Title | Treasury of Jain Tales |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | V M Kulkarni |
| Publisher | Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre |
| Publication Year | 1994 |
| Total Pages | 468 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 17 MB |