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DISCOURSE 86
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are well-versed in Dharmagranthas for quenching your thirst for knowledge ?
A STORY
There is an excellent story in the Bhagavatha. King Parikshit was once bitten by a snake. It was such a snake that the person it bit would die on the seventh day. The king was greatly terrified. He was completely paralysed by the fear of death. The fear of death filled his mind. He went to Shukhamaharshi and he began listening to the discourses that were being delivered by Shukhadeviji. He listened to the discourses with this purpose in his mind, “How can I escape from death ?" Six days passed. Parikshit was listening to the discourses with the intellectual eagerness to know how he could escape from death. His desire was not fulfilled. He was greatly agitated and perturbed. Shukhamaharshi understood that the king was in great agitation. He said, “O King ! To-day, I will narrate a story. Listen".
"Once there was a king. One day, he went to a forest hunting. Throughout the day, he wandered about in the forest in search of game but he could not find any animal. Night fell and he forgot his way. He thought, "If I find some Ashram in this forest, I will stay there for this night. By chance, he came to a small cottage thatched with grass. It belonged to a butcher and it was stinking with foul smell. Dead animals were lying on the roof. There was a corner which was like a lavatory. The whole place was so full of foul smell that the king's head began to reel. He thought for a moment, "I cannot spend the night here". But where could he go? Staying there was unavoidable. He said to the butcher, "Brother! I am a traveller who has lost his way. Will you please give me shelter here for a night ?''
The butcher said, “I do not give shelter to any travellers”. “Why so ?” asked the king.
"The other travellers who came seeking shelter to my cottage also said the same thing, "Please give us shelter for a night. We will go away in the morning". But when the morning came,
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