अवन्तिसुन्दरीकथासारः /48

30
 
AVANTISUNDARĪ KATHĀ SĀRA
 

 
the man. One day the gods went to pay homage to Indra and

so came to the man late. When he came to know the reason

for their delay, he desired to get into the position of Indra and

began to perform penance. Indra despatched a divine damsel

(apsaras) to spoil the penance of his rival and the man gave

up his penance and dallied with her. He then realised his folly

and cursed the damsel to be born as a roe; and she, in her

turn, uttered a curse that he should be born as an owl. From
the egg of the roe and the owl were produced hundreds of
winged horses
the egg of the roe and the owl were produced hundreds of
winged horses[^¹ ], which became the vehicle of the gods. Since

they destroyed the crops of the gods, sage Salihotra accepted
Śālihotra accepted
them as his disciples, and cut off their wings. Indignant at

the loss of their wings the horses began to bite the sage at which

divine damsels laughed. The sage cursed them to turn

into mares. At this Indra intervened and cursed the sage to

take birth as their breeding horse. Here we see, before us the
sage Sä
sage Śālihotra born as the horse Bhadravahana and the divine
āhana and the divine
damsels as mares. The curse of the animals will come to

an end when they bear young ones. The kid of Airāvata (the

elephant of Indra) is now born by a curse on the earth as

Hemakutūṭa and it had been wandering in this forest, after the

war against the Malavas." Having narrated this story the

sage entered the hermitage and the king accepted with

pleasure, the elephant and the horses.
 

 
(Av. Sāra V. 1-16; Av. pp. 203-204).

Departure of Raājavāḥana for conquest of the world
 

Prince Raājavaāhana and his companions were duly invested

with the sacred thread and they obtained mastery in archery and

other arts. When they were sixteen the minister submitted to

the king that it was time for the prince to set out on an expedi-

tion of conquest. The king remembered the divine command

and agreed, though the very thought of parting with his son

pained his heart. On the eve of departure, the prince fell at

the feet of sage Vāmadeva. The sage gave him counsel

regarding the proper conduct of a ruler and added: 'Dear

Prince! Mänasānasāra who gained victory over your father with

divine help has renounced his sovereignty in favour of his son

Darpasāra with a view to retiring to the forest. He is now

seeking a suitable husband for his daughter Avantisundari.
ī.
Darpasāra has entrusted the government to Caṇḍavarman, his
 

 
[^1]. Cf. the winged horse 'Pegasos' of Greek mythology.