| Great Kings & Queens |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
DILEEPA |
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| Here's Nandini,
Serve Her Just then they could see Nandini at a distance approaching the ashrama. It had a skin smooth like tender leaves and ochre in color, with white hairs growing on it. Vasishtha then explained the way in which Nandini had to be served and worshipped, thus: "Dileepa, even as we mentioned Nandini's name, she came to us. Know then that your wish will be fulfilled soon. With your wife you must stay in this ashram, eating only bulbous roots, and attend on this cow, worshipping her. You must stand where she stands, follow where she goes, rest where she lies down, and drink water where she does so. Your wife also, with great devotion to the cow, should worship her with sandal paste and flowers in the mornings and then send her to graze. In the evenings, as soon as Nandini returns, the queen must worship her and show courtesies. So serve this Nandini until you win her favor. Let your work go on- with no impediments. May you get a son who has good qualities like you and will do good to the subjects." The king bowed to the injunctions of his preceptor. As it was night then, Vasishtha asked the king to sleep. Since Dileepa was to attend on the cow with his wife from that very day, both of them ate only some esculent roots as advised by the sage-teacher. They lay down on a spread of grass in an arbor in the hermitage. The vedic chanting by the disciples of the sage in the early dawn awakened them. |
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