Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.1399

c5.1399

4) Ekavīra marries Ekāvalī. Once Prince Ekavīra accompanied by the son of the minister went for a pleasure trip to the banks of the river Gaṅgā. It was spring and the prince wandering about enjoying the sight of a flowery forest was soon arrested by the sight of a sweet smelling lotus with a hundred petals blooming in the river. By the side of the lotus was standing a beautiful damsel weeping. The prince went to her and asked her the reason for her weeping. After great persuasion she replied thus: “Oh, Prince, there is a country not far from yours which is now being ruled over by a very righteous King called Raibhya. His queen is called Rukmarekhā. They had no children for a very long time and so Raibhya conducted a Putrakāmeṣṭi yāga. When ghee was poured profusely into the sacrificial fire the flames rose up to great heights and from inside the flames came out a lovely maiden. The King named her Ekāvalī and bought her forth as his daughter. I am Yaśovatī the daughter of the minister there. We were of the same age and so I was asked to live with her as her companion. She was very fond of lotuses and the King constructed big ponds with lotuses in them for her recreation. Yet she used to go to other ponds also in search of lotuses.