The kingdom of Kanakapura was ruled by King Kanakavarsha. King Kanakavarsha was the son of Priyadarsana, who was the son of Vasuki, the king of Snakes. Kanakavarsha was an extraordinarily handsome man and was a great and valiant king.
Once, in the summer, Kanakavarsha was visited by a world renowned artist - a painter by name Roladeva.
The king and the artist spoke with each other and soon after the artist painted a beautiful picture of the king bringing out all the features well.
As soon as the others in the kingdom saw the picture, they realized that the image required a beautiful woman matching the king to be drawn beside the king.
Roladeva looked at the king’s queens and told the king that though all his queens were beautiful, none of them matched the beauty of Madanasundari.
The king was surprised. “Who is Madanasundari?”
“King Devasakti rules the place of Kundina in the Vidharba. His daughter is Madanasundari.”
The king studied the artist. “Have you seen Madanasundari?”
The artist had a strange look as he nodded at the king. “When I was in Kundina, I was summoned by Madanasundari’s maid to her inner chambers. There, I saw the princess who was beautiful beyond words.” The artist sighed. “However, what was even more surprising was the request of the princess.”
The king looked inquiringly as the artist continued. “The princess told me that she had an image in her mind and she wanted me to paint it.”
The artist studied the king. “With her description, I drew one of the most handsome men ever. The princess took the portrait with her and studied it with love. I was sure that this was Kamadeva, the God of Love himself. ” Roladeva studied the king dramatically. “Now that I have come here, I realize that Princess Madanasundari had asked me to draw a portrait of yourself, King Kanakavarsha.”
Adapted from Katha Sarith Sagara
No comments:
Post a Comment