Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/160

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him in this style, agreed that moment, and married her by the Gándharva ceremony. Then he remained in that very place, having obtained celestial joys, the fruits of his own valour, living with that beloved wife.

Meanwhile the princess woke up when the night came to an end, and not seeing her husband, was immediately plunged in despair. So she got up and went with tottering steps to her mother, all trembling, with her eyes flooded with gushing tears. And she told her mother that her husband had gone away somewhere in the night, and was full of self-reproach, fearing that she had been guilty of some fault. Then her mother was distracted owing to her love for her daughter, and so in course of time the king heard of it, and came there, and fell into a state of the utmost anxiety. When his daughter said to him— " I know my husband has gone to the temple of the goddess outside the cemetery" the king went there in person. But he was not able to find Vidúshaka there in spite of all his searching, for he was concealed by virtue of the magic science of the Vidyádharí. Then the king returned, and his daughter in despair determined to leave the body, but while she was thus minded, some wise man came to her and said this to her; " Do not fear any misfortune, for that husband of thine is living in the enjoyment of heavenly felicity, and will return to thee shortly." When she heard that, the princess retained her life, which was kept in her by the hope of her husband's return, that had taken deep root in her heart.

Then, while Vidúshaka was living there, a certain friend of his beloved, named Yogeśvarí, came to Bhadrá, and said to her in secret " My friend, the Vidyádharas are angry with you because you live with a man, and they seek to do you an injury, therefore leave this place. There is a city called Kárkotaka on the shore of the eastern sea, and beyond that there is a sanctifying stream named Śítodá, and after you cross that, there is a great mountain named Udaya,*[1] the land of the Siddhas, †[2] which the Vidyádharas may not invade; go there immediately, and do not be anxious about the beloved mortal whom you leave here, for before you start you can tell all this to him, so that he shall be able afterwards to journey there with speed." When her friend said this to her, Bhadrá was overcome with fear, and though attached to Vidúshaka, she consented to do as her friend advised. So she told her scheme to Vidúshaka, and providently gave him her ring, and then disappeared at the close of the night. And Vidúshaka immediately found himself in the empty temple of the goddess, in which he had been before, and no Bhadrá and no palace. Remembering the delusion produced by Bhadrá's magic skill, and beholding the ring, Vidúshaka was overpowered by a paroxysm of despair and wonder. And remembering

  1. * I. e., rising; the eastern mountain behind which the sun is supposed to rise.
  2. † I.e., semi- divine beings supposed to be of great purity and holiness.