should I be sad? Go take my blessing with you. How many of my sons have one after another gone away like this! But I am not sorrowful; for from the ashram they go out into the world and benefit it by their work. Can any one spend all his life in the seclusion of this forest? But wherever you go my heart's affection and blessing will surround you all your life.”
Then after a short silence she said, “What offering shall I tell you to bring? Though we need nothing, we must observe the usual custom.” Then as if remembering something, she said with a slight smile:
“I have just remembered something. The Queen Shubashukla is famous all the world over. Even the gods respect her virtue. The saints of the forests sing her praises and even a hard stone would be melted by the love of her generous heart. No impure person is allowed to look upon her face. She has some golden earrings which are so valuable that Takshat, the king of the serpents, himself wants to keep them in his storehouse in the nether regions. I have a great desire to see and touch those ear-rings just once, and I would like to wear them when next I entertain the Brahmins. So bring me
