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302
JAIN RAMAYAN
Prahasit bowed to her politely and said, “Noble lady, I hope you are well. I am Prahasit, the bosom friend of Pavananjay. I have come here with Pavananjay to see you”.
She kept looking at the wall and said in a sorrowful voice; "Prahasit! Have you come here to make fun of me or to at me ? Already I have been hammered into pieces by my Karmas. I am a broken-hearted woman. At such a ti
have thought of making fun of me but you are not at fault. All this is the result of my sinful Karmas. When my are sinful and cruel who can help me ? My Karmas have been causing this anguish. Otherwise, would such a great man, such a noble man as my dear Payananjay abandon me to knock about from pillar to post in distress and despondency ? Never! Such a thing would not have taken place but for my Karmas. Nobody can alter the effects of Karmas and nobody can prevent them from causing grief to us.
And her blank eyes welled up with tears. "As soon as I had taken the seven bridal steps around the fire he abandoned me. He has rejected me completely and I have been suffering the anguish of separation from him. I have been suffering thus for twenty two years. Though I am being consumed by the fires of separation I am still alive and I am a sinner. I should have committed some great sin in my previous life”.
Prahasit could not check his tears. Already, he had been deeply grieved by the anguish of the noble lady. But this was not a time for weeping; so he wiped his tears with his garment. Pavananjay who was standing behind the door heard it all; and he too could not check his streaming tears when he saw Anjana who was once a fascinatingly beautiful lady, but who was now a mere skeleton. He cursed himself.
Pavananjay could not stand there any more. At once, he came forward, and stood beside Prahasit with a bowed head. He said in a voice shaken with emotion;
"My dear goddess ! You are absolutely innocent. You are absolutely stainless. But I, on account of my arrogance, caused
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