Note 1 — Chapter CVIII

I went into that city to beg; and in one house the mistress gave me with my alms a red lotus. I took it, and went on to another house, and there the mistress said to me, when she saw me, “Alas! a witch has secured possession of you. See! she has given you a man’s hand,1 which she has passed off on you for a red lotus.” When I heard that, I looked myself, and lo! it was no lotus, but a human hand. I flung it away, and fell at her feet, and said, “Mother, devise some expedient for me, that I may live.” When she heard this she said, “Go! in a village of the name of Karabha, three yojanas distant from this place, there is a Bráhman of the name of Devarakshita. He has in his house a splendid brown cow, an incarnation of Surabhi; she will protect you during this night, if you repair to her for refuge.”