Simhasanadvatrimshika 15.p2

15.p2

Having reflected thus, he went to Vārāṇasī, beheld and bowed to Viśveśvara, performed the Māgha-bath at Prayāga, offered the śrāddha at Gayā, and set out toward his own city. On the way, he arrived at a city. In that city, a certain celestial maiden, burnt by a curse, was ruling. She had no husband. There was a great temple of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa there. In it stood a marriage pavilion; and there, at the door of the temple of the deity, oil was being heated in a great iron vessel. The men stationed there were telling people arriving from foreign lands: 'If a man of superior courage leaps into this boiling oil, this apsaras named Manmathasaṃjīvinī will place the garland around his neck.' Vasumitra, having seen all this, returned to his own city; a reunion took place with all his kinsmen; everyone was joyful that he had arrived safely. At dawn, he went to the royal palace, saw the king, gave the king water from the Gaṅgā and the prasāda of Viśveśvara, and sat down. Then he was asked by the king: 'O Vasumitra, was your pilgrimage completed safely?' He replied: 'Sire, by your grace I have performed the pilgrimage and returned safely.' The king asked: 'What wondrous things did you see there in other lands?'