Part 4: Her parents (king Kumbha and queen Prabhāvatī)

Now in Jambūdvīpa in the southern half of Bharata there is a city Mithilā, whose inhabitants are unshaken in dharma. Its palaces with golden finials resemble the eastern mountain with the sun risen above it. When people had seen this city made of all the jewels, they believed in other cities, Alakā, et cetera, made of jewels which appeared in stories. The gods, now in heaven, now in the city; now in the city, now in heaven, were delighted constantly with its charming young women.

Its king was Kumbha, a pitcher of the nectar of the Ocean of Milk in the form of the Ikṣvāku-family, the abode of Lakṣmī, like a pitcher of treasure. He alone was the resort of the Śrīs like the ocean of rivers; he was the source of good behavior like Rohaṇa of jewels. Intelligent, he knew both the sciences and weapons; he took toll from the earth and gave it to the unfortunate. He, wise, had a greed for glory but not for wealth; a liberality in money but not in frontiers; a devotion to dharma but not to dice, et cetera.

His chief-queen was named Prabhāvatī, who surpassed the moon in beauty of face, like Śacī the queen of Vajrin. She alone was the ornament of the earth and virtue was her ornament; armlets, anklets, et cetera were merely for the sake of formality. Purifying the whole earth by her spotless wifehood, the source of happiness, she shone like a living tīrtha. King Kumbha enjoyed pleasures with the queen always fascinating, like the Moon with a Dākṣāyaṇī.^[1]