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entreated him with great respect, Sir, do me the favour and return. Though my departure is imminent, I stood for this much time awaiting only your arrival,.. while you, having entered my house, departed without being seen by my principal servant." Hermit Agnis'arman replied "Sir, you know the whole matter of my particular vow; hence enough of this effort. The hermits are always strictly truthful about their vows, and do not differentiate between gain and loss. " The king said, "Revered sir, I am ashamed of this act of inadvertence; the pain to my body is greater than yours produced due to acute penance; the fire of sorrow burns me exceedingly; my heart, as it were, is ruined; my speech falters as it were; I believe myself a very great sinner; therefore, you, sir, who act as a brother to all miserable beings and who are affectionate without cause, think out the remedy for pacifying my misery." Hermit Agnis'arman thought "How magnanimous is this king that he is so much pained as I did not break the fast! What love he has to serve the elders! So long as I have not broken the fast at his place, he will not feel at ease." Thinking so he said "Sir, your pain is without reason; still however, this is the remedy for its cure. I promise to break the fast again at your place if the fast-breaking day comes unobstructed. So do not grieve. Then the king who placed hands and knees on the ground said, [22] "Sir, the remedy for its pacification is well found out; or a hermit always has eyes in the form of pure knowledge; what would he not know? So I am favoured. This is befitting your nature
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