A History of Indian Literature v2.c20.s2.87

v2.c20.s2.87

Mallī, the daughter of the king of Mithilā, is of wondrous, incomparable beauty. Six princes learn of her beauty, each in a different way, and woo her. One of them, the king of the Kuru land, gets to know of Mallī through a portrait which an artist has painted of her, after he had seen only the princess' great toe.³ Mallī's father refuses all the six princes. They are infuriated, and combine to wage war against the king. Mithilā is besieged, and the king is helpless. Then Mallī advises the king to invite each one of the princes into the city, promising each one her hand. Owing to her power of clairvoyance, she had already foreseen everything long before, and had a "puzzling house"⁴ constructed; then she made a figure which bore an exact resemblance to herself, and put it into this house. This figure had an opening on the head, into which she put remnants of her meals every day. She took care to conceal the opening carfeully with lotus blossoms. The princes were conducted into this "puzzling house." While they are admiring the figure of the princess through a wall of netting, Mallī herself appears. She opens the figure, and a terrible stench is spread about, so that the princes hastily cover their faces and turn away, whereupon the beautiful princess moralises on the fact that the inside of her lovely body is even much more loathsome than the inside of this figure. They should therefore not set any store on the enjoyment of love. She then tells the story of her former births, in which the six princes also played a part, and announces that she has decided to become a nun, whereupon the six princes also renounce the world.