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In this very Jambudvípa, in this very land of Bharata, STORY OF RATNAÇIKHA. there is a village of the name of Cali
* gráma. In it there lived a householder named Sangata, who was simple by nature, but very poor. One day he gave shelter in his house to a hermit. The hermit instructed him in religion. He said : O Sangata, everywhere does the flower bear fruit: for * By religion one may obtain prosperity, wealth, glory, to an equal
extent, and by religion renown, Intellect free from stain, well-conducted song, a virtuous daughter,
and well-established wisdom.' The householder said: Mighty sir, how can people like myself, who live in continual poverty, practise religion ?' The hermit said : Virtuous sir, learn from my mouth the great formula of adoration. The householder said: "What formula of adoration? What is got by reciting it?' The holy man said: 'Hear the peculiar efficacy of the formula of adoration : After committing thousands of sins and slaying hundreds of men, By duly repeating* this formula, even animals have gone to heaven. Those who have attained, and those who will attain, and those who
are attaining the highest beatitude, All of these, by continually calling to mind the formula of adoration,
have gone to heaven.' When he heard the efficacy of the formula described in these words, he learned the formula of adoration from the mouth of the hermit. The holy man said: “You must repeat this formula with your prayers every day at morning, noon, and evening.' After saying this, the hermit in the morning continued his wanderings. The householder went on repeating the formula of adoration at morning, noon, and evening of every day, with pure mind. After some time his allotted period of life came to an end, and he died. Now, in this very land of Bharata, in the country of Sandarbha, in the city of Nandipura, there was a king named Padmánana ; and he had a queen named Kumu. diní. In her womb the soul of the householder became
* Samarádhya. In classical Sanskrit the word would mean having propitiated.'
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