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350
JAIN RAMAYAN
But her words only made Sulekha weep more bitterly. She wept like a helpless child.
“Oh you mad creature ! Stop weeping. If somebody hears this....."
"Let the whole world hear this. I do not care. Mother! Kindly permit me to open my heart to you and to confess my sin". She said in a voice shaken with grief.
“But you have not told me the reason for your grief.” "Mother! I am weeping out of repentance for my sin.”
"Sin! What sin have you committed ? I do not understand anything."
"I have committed the sin of stealing the image of the Paramatma and deceiving you."
"Sulekha! It was not your fault.''
"Honoured Queen! You are indeed magnanimous. You may not see the blunder I have committed but it is a fact that I have deceived you and I have misused the trust and confidence which you reposed in me. Her throat was choked with emotion. Her anguish shook her.
"If I had not helped Queen Kanakodari this inauspicious event would not have occurred."
“Who can prevent the decrees of Destiny from taking effect ? What is done is done. You are unnecessarily weeping. Such mistakes do occur in human life. It is only to cleanse ourselves of such sins, that we worship the Paramatma. We should forget what has happened and seek the refuge of the Paramatma. This is an infallible measure that can save human beings from adversities which they have to experience in countless lives.”
“Dear queen! Kindly pardon me and deliver me from this distress. Only if you pardon me can I get rid of this anguish. You must give me atonement.”
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