Meanwhile, the famous king of Sindhu, the son of Vriddhakshatra was,
with a view to matrimony, proceeding to the kingdom of Salwa, dressed in
his best royal apparel and accompanied by numerous princes. And the
prince halted in 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.
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