The man who had advised Shaibalini to remain absorbed in the meditation of her lord, for seven days and nights, was certainly an unerring pilot in the sea of life—he had by all means a clear vision of all the affairs of this world. He knew that the lesson which he had taught to Shaibalini, could turn the current of life from its ever familiar course, and make it flow through a new channel. He knew too that its potency could break the stony indifference to the duties of life, dry up the monstrous sea of sin and immorality, and stop the wild whirlwind of passions.
So Shaibalini forgot Pratap, and learnt to love Chandra Shekhar. Cut the wings of human passions, annihilate the senses altogether, bring the mind completely under your control, rob it of its innate strength, let it run its course through an only -open- channel and you will find that it will follow no other than the prescribed path, and be gradually contented with its changed course and new environment.
On the fifth day of her prescribed penance, Shaibalini did not partake of the fruits and herbs she had brought for her meals. On the sixth day, she did not stir out of the cave at all, and on the
192
