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BHARATA
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heart, the fit of irritation having completely passed off without leaving a scar.
Bharata was a perfectly just king. His sense of impartial justice won for him the esteem of all his subjects when he reprimanded his own son and condemned his unwise deed in the spirit of uncompromising severity. The incident had occurred at the swayamvara of a certain young princess where his son Arkakirti was also present. The king of Vārāṇasi (modern Benares) in those days was the founder of the glorious Nätha Vansa. His name was Akampana, and he had a daughter, who was accomplished and beautiful beyond words. When she grew up her father took counsel of his friends and well-wishers, and convened a swayamvara (literally, the selection of a bridegroom by oneself), agreeably to the world-old practice of the Warrior races. Many princes and chiefs came to the gathering, conspicuous amongst them being Arkakirti, the Emperor's son, and Jayavarma, the son of Soma Prabha of Hastinapur, at whose House the WORLD TEACHER had partaken of the sugarcane juice.
Sulochana, for this was the name of the lovely Princess, threw the garland of flowers round the neck of Jayavarma, as a mark of her preference for him. At this Arkakirti became
