the woods of Kamyaka.  And in that secluded place, he found the beautiful Draupadi, the beloved and celebrated wife of the Pandavas, standing at the threshold of the hermitage.  And she looked grand in the superb beauty of her form, and seemed to shed a lustre on the woodland around, like lightning illuminating masses of dark clouds.  And they who saw her asked themselves, ’Is this an Apsara, or a daughter of the gods, or a celestial phantom?’ And with this thought, their hands also joined together.  They stood gazing on the perfect and faultless beauty of her form.  And Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu, and the son of Vriddhakshatra, struck with amazement at the sight of that lady of faultless beauty, was seized with an evil intention.  And inflamed with desire, he said to the prince named Kotika, ’Whose is this lady of faultless form?  Is she of the human kind?  I have no need to marry if I can secure this exquisitely beautiful creature.  Taking her with me, I shall go back to my abode, Oh sir, and enquire who she is and whence she has come and why also that delicate being hath come into this forest beset with thorns.  Will this ornament of womankind, this slender-waisted lady of so much beauty, endued with handsome teeth and large eyes, accept me as her lord?  I shall certainly regard 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 a jackal approacheth a tigress, and spake unto her these words.’”

SECTION CCLXIII

Kotika said, “Excellent lady, who art thou that standest alone, leaning on a branch of the Kadamva tree at this hermitage and looking grand like a flame of fire blazing at night time, and fanned by the wind?  Exquisitely beautiful as thou art, how is it that thou feelest not any fear in these forests?  Methinks thou art a goddess, or a Yakshi, or a Danavi, or an excellent Apsara, or the wife of a Daitya, or a daughter of the Naga king, or a Rakshasi or the wife of Varuna, or of Yama, or of Soma, or of Kuvera, who, having assumed a human form, wanderest in these forests.  Or, hast thou come from the mansions of Dhatri, or of Vidhatri, or of Savitri, or of Vibhu, or of Sakra?  Thou dost not ask us who we are, nor do we know who protects thee here!  Respectfully do we ask thee, good lady, who is thy powerful father, and, O, do tell us truly the names of thy husband, thy relatives, and thy race, and tell us also what thou dost here.  As for us, I am king Suratha’s son whom people know by the name of Kotika, and that man with eyes large as the petals of the lotus, sitting on a chariot of gold, like the sacrificial fire on the altar, is the warrior known by the name of Kshemankara, king of Trigarta.  And behind him is the famous son of the king of Pulinda, who is even now gazing on thee.  Armed with a mighty bow and endued with