And the whole forest
was maddened by the sweet notes of the kokila and echoed with the hum of
maddened bees. And the king became possessed with desire, and he saw not
his wife before him. Maddened by desire he was roaming hither and thither,
when he saw a beautiful Asoka decked with dense foliage, its branches
covered with flowers. And the king sat at his ease in the shade of that
tree. And excited by the fragrance of the season and the charming odours
of the flowers around, and excited also by the delicious breeze, the king
could not keep his mind away from the thought of the beautiful Girika. And
beholding that a swift hawk was resting very near to him, the king,
acquainted with the subtle truths of Dharma and Artha, went unto him and
said, 'Amiable one, carry thou this seed (semen) for my wife Girika and
give it unto her. Her season hath arrived.'
"The hawk, swift of speed, took it from the king and rapidly coursed
through the air. While thus passing, the hawk was seen by another of his
species. Thinking that the first one was carrying meat, the second one
flew at him. The two fought with each other in the sky with their beaks.
While they were fighting, the seed fell into the waters of the Yamuna. And
in those waters dwelt an Apsara of the higher rank, known by the name of
Adrika, transformed by a Brahmana's curse into a fish. As soon as Vasu's
seed fell into the water from the claws of the hawk, Adrika rapidly
approached and swallowed it at once.
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