पृष्ठम्:Sanskrit Studies.djvu/२१

13 'VISION OF VÄSAVADATTĀ' his sister till he returned from the pilgrimage which he pretended he had undertaken. Vasavadatta was greatly perplexed when she saw the new turn events were taking; but she kept quiet as she fully confided in the wisdom and goodness of Yaugandharāyaṇa. Besides, her love for Udayana was so deep that she deemed no hardship was too great to bear for his sake. The prayer of Yaugandharāyaṇa was in one sense simple and it would be easy to grant it, especially for a princess like Padmavati. But in another sense, it was most embarrassing to comply with, for it meant looking after a young and beautiful woman of good family in the absence of all her relations. 'Your Royal Highness,' said the chief of her staff, 'the request is a big one. How can we agree to grant it? Easy would it be to give away money, life, penance: or, for that matter anything whatsoever; but hard it is to be surety for such a charge'. But the princess had given her word and would not retract it. 'Sir' said she, 'to proclaim first that anything that was desired would be given and then to hesitate to give is not right. What he says, should be done.' So Padmā- vati received Vāsavadattā, whose very appearance showed that she was a high-born lady that had seen better days; and it so happened that at the first meeting itself, they two began to like each other. Vasavadatta, who had heard that Mahasena, her father, was desiring the princess for his daughter-in-law, felt towards Padmavatī like an elder sister; and Padmavatī in her nobility of heart began to love and respect Väsavadattā as her senior. Just after Padmavati had plighted her word to Yaugandharāyaṇa for the care of Vasavadattā, a religious student from Lāvāṇaka arrived there and he recounted how his study had been inter- rupted suddenly by a disastrous fire which, as he said, had not only killed the queen but, owing to the subsequent departure from there of the king, had rendered the place quite desolate. The vivid account which he gave of the lamentations of Udayana for his lost queen made a deep impression upon Padmāvatī; and she admired the prince so much for his tenderness and passion that love for him might be said to have stolen into her maiden heart then. After bidding adieu to them, the student pursued his way, Yaugandharāyaṇa also proceeded on his journey, the secret aim of which was to carry through the rest of his scheme for re-installing his master on his ancestral throne. The two prin-