Mahendra In the company of his master. Now, the mother was dead but the daughter was alive ; so to save her was the first consideration for else she might be killed by beasts of prey. " Bhavananda Thakur must be somewhere here, and he will cremate the woman" thought Jivananda, and went away with the girl in his arms. With the girl in his arms Jivananda entered the dense forest and crossing it came to a small village. Its name was Bhairavipur but people called it Bha- ruipur. There lived in this village a few humble men. There was no big village near about and beyond the village was the jungle again — it was in fact a little vil- lage surrounded by jungles all round ; but it was very beautiful. There were big pasture lands covered over with soft grass. There were gardens containing mango, jack, jambolan and palm trees with soft green leaves and a blue and limpid tank within. In the water there was the crane, the duck and the gallmule ; ashore there were the cuckoo and the noisy goose ; at some distance the peacock screamed at intervals ; in each house there was a cow in the yard and an empty granary ; but there was no paddy anywhere in those dark days. One had a Myna in a cage, there was painting on another's wall, and a herbarium in another's yard. All were famine- stricken, weak, lean and miserable. Still the men of this village showed signs of well-being ; — there were various kinds of fruits growing in the forest ; and with these
