Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c5.245

v1.c5.245

kinds of ornaments, ringed round by many maidens, came into a grove decked with flowers by the god thereof, surpassing fair through the great gift of happiness, while in the middle of the city many thousand people had gathered together, (she came) into the gathering to choose herself a husband. Kshemaṅkara (the blind son of a king, going about as a beggar) also sat at another place, playing the lute. As men stand in reciprocal relation according to their deeds, and through the great power of the cause the power of the effect is aimed at, so the king’s daughter, when her mind was touched by the notes of the lute, clung fast to Kshemaṅkara’s lute as he played, and saying: ‘This is my man,’ she threw the flower wreath over him.” The same tale is found in Chavannes, *Cinq cents contes et apologues*, ii, pp. 389 ff., see especially pp. 393 ff. Dozens of tales, indeed, especially Jain, at a later time describe such events. Cp. also Basset, *Contes et Légendes Arabes*, Revue des trad. popul., xiv, p. 118.