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108
"Well Khimjibhai! you had played trickery with us. We would not have bound ourselves in promise, if we had known this. It is true, we are bound on oath. But the enjoyment of hunting is rare to come across. Please do not remind us of our promise and oath now!"
Khimjibhai persistently appealed to them to forego this sport. Yet, when he found that this was all in vain, he silenced himself and started muttering the great Navakara Mantra. Annihilation of life, slaughter of life was not acceptable to his mind and convictions, more so before his own eyes. In such moments of mental and emotional crisis, his inner consciousness would assure him that greater power rests on the side of the saviour of life and not the one who takes life.
Khimjibhai took a firm mental resolve and made the last effort to convince the friends. But it was all in vain. The foreign friends got out of the victoria with revolvers in their hands. All the while Khimjibhai prayed for the dawn of new power in the atmosphere, thanks to the great Navakara Mantra, so that the intention of the sinners would be set at naught and the earth be not stained by the blood of innocent helpless animals. He therefore stood beneath a tree in Kavsagga posture just in order to strengthen his own feelings. His inner conscience was in dialogue with his self; powerful decisive resolveness never fails!
On one side, Khimjibhai stood steady in the Kavsagga posture, and the foreigners proceeded to fulfil that love of hunting. Their joy knew no bounds when the herd of the •deer was in their vicinity. Bullets started raining; they were fully confident that seven to eight deers would fall down on the ground in no time.
