windows of the palace, and one morning she was delighted to see that her son was among the applicants. She at once called in the overseer, and ordered him to keep an eye on all the newcomers, not letting him know that her son was among them. The work went on as usual, until it was time for the workers to bathe and eat. Meals and also dwelling huts were prepared at the cost of the estate, and when the young Brahmin was going to the hut pointed out to him as his own, his mother sent a maidservant to lead him into the inner apartments of the mansion. The order was obeyed, and the man being brought in, a servant was ordered to wash the stranger's feet, anoint his body, supply him with a bath, and dress him in new clothes. This procedure produced great terror in the object of these attentions. He had heard it said that if sufficient water did not soon come up when a tank was being dug, human sacrifices were sometimes offered to Barún.[1] His mind was thus filled with apprehension that he was intended as the victim for sacrifice. To crown his uneasiness he was led before the mistress of the mansion and made to sit down before a sumptuous meal, which he imagined must be the immediate precursor of his death. He could hardly take a mouthful without watering it with his tears; until at last his mother, no longer able to witness her son's distress, ran up to him and, making herself known to him, embraced him with great joy. The son clasped his mother's feet, and begged her pardon, which, however, had already been tacitly granted. The Brahmini then enquired after her daughter-in-law, and learning that she was living with her father in wretched circumstances, she sent for her. She came, a changed woman indeed, and always afterwards remained submissive. Thus the favourite of Lakshmi passed her days in uninterrupted happiness, till it was time for her to be taken into the joys of Baikuntha dhám, the heavenly abode of Lakshmi and Náráyan.
- ↑ The god of water.
