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OCTOBER, 1975
Rambha :
I will blow to the winds all his renunciation, like fluffs of cotton. Supriya, I am told you are extremely agile and can bend like a creeper at every gust of wind. Now see, how I will bend him to my will. (Throws her outer garment round Vardhaman] Here is my snare, he cannot get out of it.
Tilottama :
Rambha, your outer garments are only your outer self. I will tie him to my inner-most. There is great power in magic spell. [Goes round Vardhaman, chants words of a sorceress ; brings her hand on her lips; and thereafter blows at Vardhaman ] I have cast the spell of cupid on him ; now there is no escape for him.
Supriya :
Tilottama, you are a great devotee of cupid. Your spell can never miss. Verily, there is no escape for this saint now.
Rambha :
Where is the question of escape. Saints are by nature kind and generous. What sort of a saint is this, that inspite of our yearning for an embrace, he is not willing to oblige us.
Supriya :
We were told that a saintly heart is as soft as butter. It should have melted long ago at our plight.
Tilottama :
This man is made of sterner stuff. His heart is not as soft as butter. It is hard as a stone on the steps of a monastery.
Supriya :
Let us go. This man is a real saint.
Rambha :
We had been sent by King Nandivardhan to allure him ; on the contrary, we are getting allured towards him by his penance.
Tilottama :
I am convinced, he is a solid good saint. How can we succeed, when even Queen Yashoda failed to keep him back to her palace, inspite of all her beauteous charm.
Supriya :
He is born to do good to this world by his penance and meditation.
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