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hit the male ruddy goose. Becoming wounded at the vital parts and although the male goose was not dead, the female goose, on seeing his beloved goose in a dying state, died with a momentary piteous cry, and the male goose also died after the lapse of a muhūrta only.
On seeing this accident, Mankha, with his eyes closed in a swoon, fell down on the ground. Kéściva saw him in this condition, astonishingly saying, " Ah ! How has this unexpectedly happened?” When after a moment, Mańka regained his senses through the application of cold measures, Kéśava asked him “O son! Was this due to a derangement of wind or was it caused by ao excess of bile ! or is it due to ordinary debility or any other cause that you unexpectedly became weak and remained in a swoon for such a long time ! O son ! let me know the whole truth". On hearing these words of his father, Mankha with a deep sigh, informed him, “O father ! on seeing this couple of ruddy goose, I had a knowledge of remembrance of my previous life, that I was one of a pair of ruddy goose in Māna Sarovara during my former life. Becoming wounded by an arrow from a man of a wild mountain tribe, 1 died soon after the death of my beloved female companion, with a laceration of heart caused by immediate separation. After my death there, I was born as your son. I am now unable to endure the agony of separation from my long-lived affectionate female ruddy goose." Kéśava replied “O child ! What is the use of remembering the miseries of past events ? Ic is the innate disposition of Death that it does not tolerate the sight of anyone remaining happy. for a long time, by association with ones beloved. Besides, even gods burning with the heat of separation from their beloveds pass their lives with great difficulty like one intoxicated with pride or like one raging with stupefaction. Therefore, O child ! How insignificant is that distress to anyone like yourself whose body is decked with leather, and whose body is the receptacle of miseries of all kinds. Therefore, abstain from the remeinbrance of previous life and act with the present. The body suffers by thinking much about past and future events. This Sainsăra is
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