the haughty Daksha.




MRIGANKALEKHA.


Mrigankalekha is the daughter of the king of Kamarupa or Assam: she is
beheld by Karpuratilaka, the king of Kalinga, whilst hunting, and the
parties are mutually enamoured.

The obstacle to their union is the love of Sankhapala, a demon, to
oppose whose supernatural powers, Ratnachura, the minister of the king
of Kalinga, who alone is aware of the circumstance, invites to the
palace a benevolent magician, Siddhayogini, and Mrigankalekha is also
lodged in the palace as the friend of the queen Vilasavati.

Notwithstanding these precautions, she is carried off by Sankhapala to
the temple of Kali, which is surrounded by goblins. During the Raja's
peregrinations in his love-frenzy, he passes disconsolate through a wood
in which he inquires of different animals if they have seen his
mistress.

He now comes to the temple, rescues her, and kills Sankhapala. He is
then united to Mrigankalekha in the presence of her father and brother,
and with the consent of the queen. Before the conclusion of the marriage
rite, he kills also the brother of Sankhapala, who comes to revenge him
in the form of a wild elephant.