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bowed to him most humbly and when the discourse was over, prince Mahabala felt greatly enlightened. He saw the pathetic transitoriness of the worldly life. He was greatly touched by the terrible fact that nothing remained for ever, neither wealth nor power nor his useful body; every thing was subject to decline, decay and death. Even the human relations were not permanent.
With such thoughts he returned home only to decide that he would renounce the world and take orders at the hands of the great monk. Before that he thought he ought to seek the permission of
parents and when he mentioned it to them, it was the biggest shock of their lives. Tears kept on flowing freely from their eyes and they hardly knew what to say to their son. Finally they managed to say, "It is hardly the time for you. You have not even tasted the pleasures of life. What will your eight beautiful innocent wives do without you? You surely owe some thought to them. How will they bear this blow and you cannot forget that you are the future king of this famous city." The prince however did not feel any way touched by the pleadings of his parents nor by their tears, much less by the mention of his delightful wives. Nothing could touch his heart. His mind rejected all worldly feelings and emotions. He stuck to his own decision to renounce the worldly life and continued to beg most politely of them their permission to get into the religious order.
The king and the queen, desperate as they were, tried like a drowning person to catch hold of a straw; they put forward a request that Mahābala should agree to be coronated the king of Hastinapura just for a day. The prince could not say no to such a small request, but insisted that the king issues orders for the coronation immediately.
Accordingly, the hastily organised ceremony took place and Mahābala became the sovereign king of Hastinapura. Before him stood king Bala and queen Prabhávati with folded hands and asked what service did the new king expect from them. King Mahābala quickly bent down and touched the feet of his parents and said : "Be kind enough to grant me the permission to re and become a monk." With very heavy heart indeed the king and queen granted the permission.
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