Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.1300

v2.c31.1300

The sage Nārada, dwelling in Himavā, saw Mahājanaka with his divine eye and encouraged him in his resolve, as did another ascetic, Migājina, who had just risen from a trance. Thus they journeyed on till they reached the village of Thūṇā. There the king saw a dog running away with a morsel of roasted flesh, which it dropped in its flight. The king picked it up, cleaned it, and ate it. The queen, very disgusted, felt that he was not worthy to be a king. Further on they saw a girl shaking sand in a winnowing basket; on one arm she wore a single bracelet, on the other arm, two. The two bracelets jingled, while the single one was noiseless. Mahājanaka pointed out the moral of this to Sivalī, and she agreed to go a different way, but soon came running back to him and followed him till they came across a fletcher, straightening an arrow, looking at it with one eye only. On being questioned by the king, he answered that the wide horizon of two eyes served but to distract the view. But Sivalī still refused to leave him till, on the edge of a forest, he told her there could be no more intercourse between them, and she fell senseless. The king rushed into the forest, while the ministers revived the queen. When she recovered the king was no more to be seen, and she returned to the city. Thūpas were erected on various spots connected with the king's renunciation, and the queen lived as an ascetic in the royal garden of Mithilā.