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XXXVII
THE RUIN OF SODAS
Sodas, day by day, began to relish tasty food and he became greedy of tasty food. He totally forgot the lofty traditions of his family and the cultural ideals that his mother had instilled into him. The evil thoughts and propensities of Anand exercised such a sway over the gentle and noble thoughts and actions of Sodas that the latter could not free himself from the clutches of the former. Of course, Sodas knew very well that what he was doing was wrong and that it would surely stain his name and fame.
Once the great Muni Sheelasundar happened to come to the flower-garden of Ayodhya accompanied by his disciples. The caretakers of the garden offered their felicitations to the Acharya. King Nagush who came to know of the arrival of the muni went to the garden to meet him. He went to the garden accompanied by his Queen Simhika and the other members of the royal family. The members of the Royal family felt blessed on seeing the great muni. King Nagush and Queen Simhika had been impatiently expecting the arrival of such a great muni. As soon as they saw the great muni, there arose in their hearts, easily and spontaneously the desire to renounce worldly life. They bowed to the Acharya and humbly entreated him;
"Oh Lord of compassion! After seeing you, we have lost all interest in samsar and the auspicious desire to be initiated into the charitradharma has arisen in our minds. Therefore, Oh Lord ! Kindly initiate us into the supremely sacred sadhudharma".
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