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ŚRI MALLINĀTHACARITRA
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67
fourfold congregation stood in the proper places, and Kumbha and the six kings sat down behind Sakra. The king of the gods (Šakra) and King Kumbha bowed to the Teacher of the World and praised him joyfully, their souls cleansed by faith.
Stuti (217-224) “By good fortune the rays from the nails of your feet are like tilakas of protection on the foreheads of those bowing (before you), terrified of existence. Because of celibacy from birth, there was initiation on your part even at birth. I think even your birth resembled the repetition of vows. Of what use is heaven where there is no sight of you? This earth is better, purified by the sight of you. Your samavasaraṇa is a citadel for men, gods, and animals terrified of the enemy of existence, a place of refuge, Lord. Other actions, except bowing at your feet, are bad actions by which karma alone is produced, the cause of continuing in existence. Other meditations, except the meditation on you, are evil meditations by which the soul is firmly bound like a spider by its own web.56 Stories, except the story of your virtues, are poor stories, by which one comes to disaster, like a partridge by talking:56 May there be cessation of birth by the power of attendance on your lotus-feet, Teacher of the World; or may there be devotion to you in existence after existence."
After this hymn of praise, the Indra of the gods and the king of mortals became silent and Sri Malli delivered a sermon to the congregation eager to hear.
Sermon on sāmya (226-246) "The boundless ocean of worldly existence grows of itself very much from love, et cetera, like the ocean from
66 222. See III, p. 337.
$6 223. I have not been able to find a specific story to which this might refer. The partridge calls frequently and so would attract the attention of hunters.
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