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24.
[ 17.9. to be extremely unwell; because I saw the whole palace with all servants in a sad mood. Being not able to see him that way, I at once came out." The hermits said “No doubt, the king must be extremely unwell; otherwise his devotion towards hermits being like this, how will he, thinking of the fast-breaking day of your worship, not himself pay attention ? And moreover, that king bears great respect and devotion to your worship; so he spontaneously praised your merits in the presence of the patriarch.” Hermit Agnis'arman said ""May he who is the worshipper of the elders get back health! What is to me of meals ?" He took to a month's fast.
On this side the headache of king Gunasena was cured and he asked the servants “ To-day, there is the fast-breaking day of that hermit; therefore was he received or not by anybody while he came ?' They said “Your majesty, he came; but he was neither spoken to, nor received by anybody as the servants had given up all their works on account of their hearts' torment on knowing about your headache. He did not know about your account and seeing your servants sad, waited for some time and went away from the royal palace as if dejected." The king (17) said “ O my misfortune ! I have lost a great gain and come to a great calamity by giving pain to the body of a hermit." Having so bewailed, next day in the morning he went to the penance-forest. He saw the patriarch with many hermits and bowed to them in a proper way with the head bent down with courtesy and shame. The patriarch said “O king, may you sit; I welcome you.” Then the king sat beside the patriarch; he was pulled down with still more shame and gave out long
