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at the most! How many of the citizens will manage to escape within that brief time? I shall have kept my word to the old man and at the same time, kept my vow to avenge my father's name."
Mahanama went to the pond; the people, even in their panic, halted their flight momentarily to cast a look of gratitude and wonder at the old man who had undertaken this feat to earn them a few moments to escape. Even as the news spread through the town, Mahanama had dived into the pond, fastened himself to the column of victory in its centre and was lost in deep meditation.
Mahanama's heart was full of love and compassion for his fellow human beings; there was an overpowering urge within him to save them even at the cost of his own life. So he gladly surrendered himself to Death within the depths of the pond.
Time passed; seconds ran into minutes and minutes into an hour--two hours, but still Mahanama did not rise to the surface. The victorious Viddubha itching for his revenge, and his soldiers lusting for blood and plunder, at last gave up hopes.
Viddubha finally realized what had happened and he felt a stab of compunction. A chill of horror' ran through him as he grasped the significance of his grandsire's self-iminolation. The fire of hatred that had consumed him for years; suddenly cooled down as he saw to what grandeur a man could be inspired by love.
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