अवन्तिसुन्दरीकथासारः /61

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS A
 
43
 

 
with the prince. The festivities ended at sunset. The prince
returned home and passed a sleepless night, sad at the thought

returned home and passed a sleepless night, sad at the thought
that he could not treat the princess, his beloved in former life,
om, and

even with formal courtesy, much less clasp her to his bos:
om, and
that he could not marry her without the consent of her parents

and the priest. Next morning he said to Pusṣpodbhava that he

could not bear the pang of separation from his beloved any

longer and that he did not know what to do. Pusṣpodbhava
suggested that since the princess was also pining for

suggested that since the princess was also pining for
him, it would not be unbecoming of him, if he took the

princess in marriage in defiance of Darpasāra. At this

moment, Bālacandrikā approached the prince and said, 'My

Lord, the princess is in an extreme state of love-sickness; she

remembers you as her beloved in former life and repents that

she did not treat you as she would when you met her. She

fell in a swoon and I brought her to consciousness and said,

'Princess, your parents will be glad to give you in marriage to

your lover in former birth. Chandṇḍavarman will of course

object but we shall bring about a secret union.' 'I have', added

Baālacandrikaā, 'consoled her with these words and I don't

know how you feel.' The prince on hearing this related to her

his equally love-lorn condition and wrote a letter to his beloved
recalling, among other pleasant incidents in former life, her

recalling, among other pleasant incidents in former life, her
showing him when he was love-stricken, the star Arundhati,
which, he said, had remained written in bold letters in his
ī,
which, he said, had remained written in bold letters in his
heart. As Bālacandrikā left with the letter, he too started

with Pusṣpodbhava to the garden where he first saw his

beloved.
 

 
(Av. Sāra VI. 125-70)
 
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CHAPTER VII
 

 
Story of Somadatta
 

In the temple at Ujjain the prince and Pusṣpodbhava saw

a man preparing to fast himself to death in the morning.

When they asked him why he was doing so, he said, 'Sir, I

am a Brahman named Vidyeśvara and I belong to Vyāghra-

grāma[^1], a beautiful agrahāra in the Chola country. I learnt

from a teacher the Găāruḍa mantra which enabled me to acquire
 

 
[^1]. Modern Chidambaram where the famous Națtarāja shrine
 

is.