ABSTRACT
The prince was just about to leave the cave, when Appaji addressed. him as follows :-' Great king, having come so far to visit this gra.nd personage, who will henceforth become an object of public veneration, you must not depart without having received his blessing, or at any rate some gift which will bring you ha.ppiness for the rest of your days. Absorbed in meditation, and insensible to the ma.teria.l objects which surround him, this penitent cannot break his silence; nevertheless you should try to obtain something from him, be it only one of the hairs of his body.' The.king took the advice of his minister, and, approaching the aannyaai, he tore out with extreme care one of the hairs of his chest, put it to his lips, kissed it devoutly, and then, showing it to the spectators, he cried: 'I will preserve this all my life. I will cause it to be enclosed in a golden locket, which sha.ll always hang about my neck and be the most precious of all my OJ.:ll&- ments, thoroughly convinced as I am tha.t so noble a relic will prove to be a ta.lisma.n against all the untoward accidents of life.'
