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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
Meanwhile, as soon as Atirupa had reached the borders of the Chandragiri dominions, he got down from the palanquin, thanked the bearers for not having murdered him on the way, took possession of the wealth the minister had left, and proceeded towards Banaras. Now that he was amply provided with funds, he found his journey very convenient, and reached that holy city in a couple of months. As he was sure of never living beyond his eighteenth year, he never thought again of his wife, the princess. What hope was there in him of his ever regaining her? The minister's plans he knew well enough, and the care with which he watched for him he could well imagine! So Atirûpa never looked back upon Chandragiri, nor did he ever think of returning back.
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He spent a few months at Banâras in performing the holy rites, and then proceeded to Prayaga. Here our hero went to an old woman, and, giving her all the money he had in hand, requested her to regard him as her own son, and feed him. She was a goodnatured dame, and treated Atirûpa very kindly. In order not to be idle he let his knowledge of astrology be known, and thousands flocked to him to profit by his art. So, our hero thus led a good life, performing rites, distributing his knowledge, and engaged in devotion. The close of his eighteenth year was now fast approaching. The thought made him sad, but he always kept the secret to himself. Even to the kind old lady, who every day became more and more attached to him, he never said a word about it. As his end drew nearer he avoided public paths, and proceeded to the Ganges for his bath by a lonely footpath through an unfrequented jungle. He adopted this precaution so that people might not observe him at the time of his death. All this time, at Chandragiri, the princess was still at her penance, and his poor parents, at Sêtupati's capital, were anxiously expecting the return of their son.
[SEPTEMBER, 1891.
At last the fatal day arrived, and while Atirûpa, after his morning bath, was returning home by his lonely path to his adopted mother, his foot slipped while going up a step, made slippery by some rain that had fallen, and he fell down dead! His body lay unnoticed, for very few people passed by that lonely path.
Now, the moment of Atirûpa's death was exactly the moment when the princess's austerity and penance fructified. The god Mahesa appeared before her, and requested to know the object of her austere devotions.
"O most holy god," said she, falling at his feet; "I want to gain back my husband."
"We have granted this boon to you, overcome by your sincere devotion; your lord will soon return back to you," said Mahêśa, and disappeared.
From that moment the princess's face changed, and for the first time, since that fatal second day of her marriage, when she missed her husband's face, she felt happy.
"Mahesa has granted my boon; my noble husband will return to me soon now. Let it be days, weeks, months, or years! I shall wait patiently," thought she. But though this thought consoled her greatly, still she did not care to shew to others that she was happy, so long as her husband's whereabouts remained unknown. Meanwhile, she issued strict orders to the several agents in her rest-houses between Banâras and Chandragiri, that every pilgrim, who passed or repassed that way, was to be carefully entertained and attended to.
Meanwhile, the old woman at Prayaga missed Atirupa, and did not know how to account for it.
"Our boy has never been irregular, even for a single day, since he came to live with me. Perhaps he has gone out somewhere to-day."
Thus thought she till noon came, and still Atirûpa did not return. She then went here and there, but all her search was in vain. That whole day passed away. Night came on. Who will feed him to-night? Will he have enough to eat p❞
Atirûpa was always shy. thought she.
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