Text 4] Instructions by Maharaja Prthu 819

TRANSLATION

At the street crossings there were bunches of fruits and flowers, as well
as pillars of banana trees and betel nut branches. All these combined
decorations everywhere looked very attractive.

TEXT 4

ward diateti: aeyantag: |
migaeeay = asvareaatved: te Il

prajas tam dipa-balibhih
sambhrtasesa-mangalaih

abhiyur mrsta-kanyds ca
mysta-kundala-manditah

prajah—citizens; tam—to him; dipa-balibhih—with lamps; sambhrta—
equipped with; asesa—unlimited; mangalaih—auspicious articles; abhiyuh—
came forward to welcome; mrsta—with beautiful bodily luster; kanyah ca—
and unmarried girls; mrsta—colliding with; kundala—earrings; manditah—
being bedecked with.

TRANSLATION

As the King entered the gate of the city, all the citizens received him
with many auspicious articles like lamps, flowers and yogurt. The King was
also received by many beautiful unmarried girls whose bodies were be-
decked with various ornaments, especially with earrings which collided
with one another.

PURPORT

Offerings of natural products such as betel nuts, bananas, newly grown
wheat, paddy, yogurt and vermillion, carried by the citizens and scattered
throughout the city, are all auspicious paraphernalia, according to Vedic
civilization, for receiving a prominent guest like a bridegroom, king or
spiritual master. Similarly, a welcome offered by unmarried girls who are
internally and externally clean and are dressed in nice garments and orna-
ments is also auspicious. Kumari, or unmarried girls untouched by
the hand of any member of the opposite sex, are auspicious members of
society. Even today in Hindu society the most conservative families do not
allow unmarried girls to go out freely or mix with boys. They are very
carefully protected by their parents while unmarried; after marriage they
are protected by their young husbands, and when elderly they are protected
