Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/572

 Then his father king Merudhvaja, who was in his own city, emaciated with fasting, accompanied by his wife, son, and suite, heard that he had gone off somewhere secretly, and became bewildered with grief. And all this was at once known in Pátála, exactly as it had taken place. Then Trailokyamálin took with him his two daughters, and came fasting, with his wife and suite, to visit king Merudhvaja. And they all resolved on the following course of action; " Surely, as it is the fourteenth day, the prince has gone somewhere to worship Śiva; so we will wait for him hero this day. But to-morrow, if he has not returned, we will go where he is: then, happen what will." In the meanwhile Padmávatí, who was in that hermitage of Śiva, named Meghavana, said that very day to her ladies-in-waiting; " My friends, I remember that last night I went in a dream to Siddhíśvara, and a certain man wearing matted hair came out of the temple of the god, and said to me, ' My daughter, thy sorrow is at an end, thy reunion with thy husband is nigh at hand.' When he had said this, he departed, and night and sleep left me together. So come, let us go there." When Padmávatí had said this, she went to that temple of Gaurí on the slope of Meru.

There she saw with astonishment that Muktáphaladhvaja at a distance bathing in Siddhodaka, and she said to her friends, " This man is like my beloved. Observe how very like he is. Wonderful ! Can he be the very same? It cannot be, for he is a mortal," When her ladies-in-waiting heard that, and saw him, they said to her, " Princess, not only is this man very like your beloved, but observe, his companion also bears a resemblance to your lover's friend Samyataka. So we know for certain that, in accordance with your last night's dream which you related to us, Śiva has by his power brought those two here, after their becoming incarnate as men owing to a curse. Otherwise, how, being mortals, could they have come to this region of the gods? " When Padmávatí had been thus addressed by her ladies-in-waiting, she worshipped Śiva, and in a state of eager excitement, remained concealed near the god's symbol to find out who the stranger was. In the meanwhile Muktáphaladhvaja, having bathed, came into the temple to worship the god, and after looking all round, said to Mahábuddhi, " Strange to say, here is that very temple, which I saw in my dream, made of precious stone, with the form of Śiva visible within the linga. And now 1 behold here those very localities, which I saw in my dream, full of jewel-gleaming trees, which are alive with heavenly birds. But I do not see here that heavenly maiden, whom I then saw; and if I do not find her, I am determined to abandon the body in this place."

When he said this, Padmávatí's ladies-in-waiting said to her in a whisper, " Listen ! it is certain that he has come here, because he saw you