Nidhidatta and Dirghadarsin went to Swarnadwipa without any incident. After living there for some days, the two of them set out on their return journey by sea.
That was when Dirghadarsin had a marvelous sight by the waves of the sea. As one huge wave crashed into the ship, behind a wave, a beautiful girl sitting on a jeweled couch under a Kalpavriksha or a wishing tree, rose up the ocean.
The girl had a lyre in her hands as she relaxed in the couch behind her.
The Kalpavriksha was also beautiful. It had branches made of gold and corals were splashed across the tree with flowers and fruits made of jewels hanging from it.
The girl strummed the lyre and sang a beautiful song about fate and the inevitability of it and how the fate of a person in their past lives would always stay with a person influencing their decisions.
Immediately after singing the song the girl with the lyre and the wishing tree sank into the ocean.
Dirghadarsin stared at the beautiful woman with his mouth gaping out. He was sure that the woman that he had seen was Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity and Wealth.
After the girl had vanished, Dirghadarsin looked around at the other people in the ship astonishment writ large on his face.
The steerman of the ship smiled at the minister. “This girl comes out from the ocean often to sing this song. We have seen her many times while crossing this ocean. But you have not gone on any ocean trips before this. That is the reason that you find this sight so compelling.”
Dirghadarsin did not know what to say after this.
Then a few days later, Dirghadarsin and Nidhidatta returned to their own kingdom.
Nidhidatta realized that Dirghadarsin was a trustworthy man and wanted Dirghadarsin to stay with him for some more time.
However, Dirghadarsin took leave from the merchant and then set out to return to the kingdom of Anga.
Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara
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