The light died on the treetops. Struggling against her despair, Divya turned her eyes towards the north, and the mountain range that towered above the palaces of Sagal, on which the last rays of the setting sun still lingered. Solace and relief seemed as far from her as the mountain tops. Dhata came back to tell her that she had failed to locate Prithusen. Just then, the last light on the mountain also vanished.

Divya could not sit still any more. She got up from her bed and sat down beside it, only to get up again and walk up and down the room, before going out into the garden. After a few moments, she came back inside. She had no respite. Feeling thirsty, she asked Chhaya many times for water, but when it was brought, Divya put the cup down by her side and forgot to drink.

Just then Mala, another maidservant, appeared at the doorway and said, ‘Vapa, the maidservant from the palace of Prithusen, has brought gifts from the auspicious yajna, and is at present in Mahadevi’s room.’

‘What? When did she come?’ exclaimed Divya, jumping up from her bed.

‘This very moment, Mistress.’

Divya felt abashed at her excitement and lay down once more, but she could not take her eyes off the door. Nor could she keep lying in bed after the maid had left. She got up and began pacing up and down the room once again. When it became impossible for her to suppress her excitement, she turned to Chhaya, ‘Go and see if Vapa is still there or has left.’

Just then old Vapa entered the room. Greeting Divya and praying that Divya’s afflictions be transferred to her own worthless aged person, she sat down by her side and began giving a long description of the yajna ceremony. Her eyes turned again and again towards Chhaya, who was listening intently to every word that she uttered. Turning to Chhaya, Divya said, ‘Go to the kitchen, Chhaya, and bring some sweets for Vapa.’

When Chhaya had gone, Vapa whispered into Divya’s ear, ‘An hour after sunset, in Mallika’s palace.’

Divya’s eyes sparkled. She took off a diamond ring and handed it to Vapa. Then, getting up eagerly, she began to change her clothes and make herself beautiful. In her excitement, she broke out into sweat repeatedly and her hands trembled, slowing down her preparations. She could not talk to Chhaya who was standing there to assist her, or speak in her natural voice. She was getting ready to set out on her triumphal expedition of self-surrender. These preparations were a necessary ritual for that expedition.

This self-surrender was an offering to prepare Prithusen for his departure to the battlefield to defend Madra and to appease the goddess of victory. Divya, therefore, got ready to become his beloved in his hour of trial and danger, to give him courage and strength by offering herself to him, by making her way into his heart. He alone was the one nearest to her in the whole world. She was ready to sacrifice her family, her social position, her very being for his sake. She took into her hand the all-protecting amulet and asked Chhaya to get the chariot ready.