Story of Ghaṇṭa and Nighaṇṭa and the two maidens.
Long ago there came to impede Prajápati, in his creation of creatures, two terrible Dánavas, named Ghaṇṭa and Nighaṇṭa, invincible even by gods. And the Creator, being desirous of destroying them, created these two maidens, the splendour of whose measureless beauty seemed capable of maddening the world. And those two mighty Asuras, when they saw these two exceedingly wonderful maidens, tried to carry them off; and fighting with one another, they both of them met their death.[20]
Then Brahmá bestowed these maidens on Kuvera, saying, “You must give these girls to some suitable husband;” and Kuvera made them over to my husband, who is his younger brother; and in the same way my husband passed these fair ones[21] on to me; and I have thought of king Vikramáditya as a husband for them, for, as he is an incarnation of a god, he is a fit person for them to marry.
“Such are the facts with regard to these maidens, now hear the history of the deer.”