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behind shrubs and bushes. While running Brahmadatta felt extremely thirsty. He told Varadhanu, “Varadhanu! I cannot walk a step more, I am dying of thirst." Brahmadatta sat near a tree. Leaving Brahmadatta there Varadhanu left to get some water. While he was returning with water few soldiers surrounded him and questioned him about Brahmadatta. When Varadhanu did not answer the soldiers began to beat him up. While he was being beaten up Varadhanu gestured to Brahmadatta to leave. Brahmadatta began to run hiding in bushes and shrubs. After running non-stop for three days Brahmadatta saw an ascetic. The ascetic took Brahmadatta to the chief of the hermitage. Seeing Brahmadatta's brilliant personality and the sign of r vatsa on his chest, the astonished chief of the hermitage asked Brahmadatta as to how he got into this situation.
When Brahmadatta told him the entire account he embraced him and said - "Son, your father Brahma was like an elder brother to me. Please consider this hermitage your own and stay here happily.” Brahmadatta stayed there and started studying. Seeing his sharp intellect the chief imparted him knowledge of all kinds of scriptures, skills and use of weapons. Staying in the hermitage as a student, Brahmadatta became healthy all over and a 7 dhanu a tall young man.
One day Brahmadatta went with his friends of the hermitage to collect some fruits and roots from the forest. He saw some fresh footprints of elephants in the forest. He started looking for the elephants and, separated from his friends, went quite far. In the end he saw a wild elephant uprooting a tree with his trunk. Brahmadatta started fighting with the elephant and the elephant pounced on him. Brahmadatta threw his upper cloth on the elephant and the moment the elephant raised his trunk to hold the upper cloth, Brahmadatta put his feet over the elephant's trunk and got on top of it. Sitting astride the elephant for a long time he kept playing around with it when suddenly dark clouds formed and torrential rains poured. Drenched in the rain the elephant blew his trumpet and ran. Brahmadatta held on to a huge tree branch and climbed the tree. When the rain settled down a little, all the directions seemed misty with the effect of the overcast sky. Brahmadatta got down from the tree and started walking towards the hermitage but having lost his way, reached another forest. Wandering here and there and lost, he reached the banks of a river. When he crossed over the river and reached the other banks, he found a village destroyed. When he moved ahead he
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