Chapter 262

Vaisampayana said, “These great warriors of the race of Bharata sojournedlike immortals in the great forest of Kamyaka, employed in hunting andpleased with the sight of numerous wild tracts of country and widereaches of woodland, gorgeous with flowers blossoming in season. And thesons of Pandu, each like unto Indra and the terror of his enemies, dweltthere for some time. And one day those valiant men, the conquerors oftheir foes, went about in all directions in search of game for feedingthe Brahmanas in their company, leaving Draupadi alone at the hermitage,with the permission of the great ascetic Trinavindu, resplendent withascetic grandeur, and of their spiritual guide Dhaumya. Meanwhile, thefamous king of Sindhu, the son of Vriddhakshatra was, with a view tomatrimony, proceeding to the kingdom of Salwa, dressed in his best royalapparel and accompanied by numerous princes. And the prince halted in thewoods of Kamyaka. And in that secluded place, he found the beautifulDraupadi, the beloved and celebrated wife of the Pandavas, standing atthe threshold of the hermitage. And she looked grand in the superb beautyof her form, and seemed to shed a lustre on the woodland around, likelightning illuminating masses of dark clouds. And they who saw her askedthemselves, ‘Is this an Apsara, or a daughter of the gods, or a celestialphantom?’ And with this thought, their hands also joined together. Theystood gazing on the perfect and faultless beauty of her form. AndJayadratha, the king of Sindhu, and the son of Vriddhakshatra, struckwith amazement at the sight of that lady of faultless beauty, was seizedwith an evil intention. And inflamed with desire, he said to the princenamed Kotika, ‘Whose is this lady of faultless form? Is she of the humankind? I have no need to marry if I can secure this exquisitely beautifulcreature. Taking her with me, I shall go back to my abode, Oh sir, andenquire who she is and whence she has come and why also that delicatebeing hath come into this forest beset with thorns. Will this ornament ofwomankind, this slender-waisted lady of so much beauty, endued withhandsome teeth and large eyes, accept me as her lord? I shall certainlyregard myself successful, if I obtain the hand of this excellent lady.Go, Kotika, and enquire who her husband may be.’ Thus asked, Kotika,wearing a kundala, jumped out of his chariot and came near her, as ajackal approacheth a tigress, and spake unto her these words.'”