Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.906

c5.906

The king was in a fix. He begged the lion to spare Nandinī and to eat his (king’s) body instead. The lion agreed. The King put down his arms and stood bowing down in front of the lion. Hearing the words, "Beloved child, arise" he looked up, and the lion had vanished. Just then Nandinī told him that it was she herself who had done this to test him. The King and Nandinī then returned to the Āśrama. As a result of Nandinī’s blessing, the King’s wife bore a son who later became the celebrated emperor Raghu. (Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 198).