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you made a wager to cut out your tongue from arrogance was improper. People acting without reflection are the home of calamities.'
CHAPTER TWO
Parvata said, 'Just as I did such a thing, so I do not know the reason for doing it, mother.'
Wounded in the heart by grief over Parvata's calamity, she went to King Vasu. What is not done for the sake of a son? Vasu said, 'Now I see Kṣirakadamba, mother, when I see you. What can I do for you or what can I give you?' She said, 'Give me the boon of a son, king. For without a son what is the use to me of other money and grain, son?'
Vasu said: 'Mother, Parvata must be protected and honored by me. For it is said in the sacred texts, "One must treat the son of the guru like the guru." Whose (name-) leaf has been turned up by angry Fate unseasonably? Who wishes to kill my brother? Tell me, mother. Why are you grieved?'
She told the story about the interpretation of aja and her son's wager and, saying 'You have been made the authority,' she asks, 'Say that aja means "mesa" and protect your brother. For the great confer benefits just by existing, how much more by speech.'
King Vasu said: 'How can I lie, mother? For truthful persons do not lie even when in danger of life. Not even any other lie can be told by the one fearing evil, to say nothing of misrepresenting the guru's words and bearing false witness.'
'Choose between your guru's son and adherence to your vow of truth,' she said angrily, and the king consented to her speech. Then Kṣirakadamba's wife went away, delighted, and Parvata and I went to King Vasu's assembly. The councilors, endowed with the quality of impartiality, met in the council, hansas for (separating) the milk and water of the truth and falsehood of the disputants. The head of the council, Vasu, adorned his lion-throne on the base of the atmospheric crystal like the moon adorning the
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