अवन्तिसुन्दरीकथासारः /40

22
 
AVANTISUNDARIĪ KATHĀ SĀRA
 

 
swans in the Bindusaras.[^¹] We nibbled at the lotuses gathered

by the sage Näārada for the worship of god Acyuta. The sage
got angry and uttered a curse on us to suffer separation for

got angry and uttered a curse on us to suffer separation for
long years, in another life. Nalaküūbara, the son of Kubera,

(who was sporting with Rambhãā in the garden adjoining the

lake, took pity on us and said to her, 'The sages are heartless;

they curse even birds of indistinct perception.') Him also the

sage punished by cursing him to take birth as our son on the

earth. Nalaküūbara fell at his feet and begged for mercy. The

relenting sage ordained that the curse should last for sixteen

years, that we would remember our past life and that our son

would be a friend of an emperor and enjoy all happiness in

the world. I have now taken birth as Ratnodbhava, the son

of Padmodbhava, the merchant prince of Patāṭaliputra. In

accodance with the custom of our family, my father sent me

out on the sea as a trader and asked my two younger brothers

to serve king Rājahamṁsa as ministers. I set sail in a merchant-

man bound for a distant island. I was shipwrecked and

washed ashore in this Yavana island. The sight of this

garden brings to my mind the store of experience of our

former life. (Here I got Suvratăā, an ornament of the Yavana

island, for my wife. Here the ruler of the island defeated his

enemies with my aid and bestowed on me all the royal honors.'

(Av. Sāra IV. 82-100; Av. pp. 187-90)
 

 
'When he was recounting the pleasant events of his

former life, my mistress fell at his feet, washed them with

tears of joy and began to weep.) Kālagupta having heard from

me all about the former life of his daughter, took Ratnod-

bhava to his house and gave him Suvrata in marriage.
ā in marriage.
Ratnodbhava lived happily with his wife for many years (and
became the head of the merchant guild and ruler of the

became the head of the merchant guild and ruler of the
island).[^2] He then learnt from a sea trader that his father

had died, that Ripuñjaya had again turned an ascetic having

entrusted his kingdom to his son Räājahaṁsa and that his two

brothers had been appointed ministers. To see his kinsmen

and native land, he embarked on a ship with his pregnant

wife. The ship was caught in a severe tempest and sank in

the sea. My mistress and myself caught hold of a plank,
 

 
[^1]. A sacred pool situated on the Rudra-Himālaya, two miles

south of Ganṅgotri (N. L. Dey's Geographical Dictionary).
 

 
[^2]. See कालांशश्रेणीप्रामाण्याद् अवस्थितानां तमेवेश्वरमन्वमंस्त, Av. p. 191.