the ring, the king of the nether world, the great Adisêsha Bhagavân, spoke thus to the prince. My dear brother! This ring I would not have given even to Indra if he had requested this of me. But since you, who protected my son for the past twelve years, want this, I give this to you. You must take special care of this and not allow it to be taken away from you by any one. if you once leave it off, your fortune shall abandon you." Thus extolling the ring and presenting the prince with it, Sesharâja conduct- ed him to the upper world, and taking leave of him returned to his own place.
Highly delighted at all adventures and at the way in which a serpent, bought for a hundred pagodas, repaid his kindness in an indescribable manner, the prince now went inside a thick jungle, and taking his stand in the midst of it, thought of the god Paramêsvara—the supreme lord of all in the world, and spoke to the ring thus: "May this wood to a distance of five hundred kós round about me, with all the objects in it' except myself, be burnt to ashes! May those people that protected me daring my calamity come here to be my subjects! May here rise mansions fit to accommodate them with their families! May they have fields, gardens, pleasure- villas and everything that they had in their towns! May broad rivers run throughout the year, in this country! May my mother and cat join me here!
