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Virat thought of escaping, of running back. He tried hard to return, but it was all in vain. The steps were stoutly refusing to go back.
Tired as he was by his mental conflicts, he looked in the direction of the group and followed it. The group was moving on and the earth was shuddering as if Virat was helpless. His mind refused to take that direction, but he was forcibly drawn towards it.
The Mahamantra salutation was there on his lips. The idol of Bhagavan Adinath was before his eyes. The entire mountain Shatrunjaya was as if showering blessings on him. With Namaskara in his mouth he was going on. Virat was now fairly near behind the group. He walked a little further and saw at a distance that the group had come to a stop; it was indulgent in its own dialogue.
One of the persons in the group saw him. He told his leader : "Well sir! have a look back. An extremely handsome boy is following us.".
"Yes, yes. He is passing beneath the tree! How heart-inspiring is the lustre on his face! He is so tender in age and still, how sublime the lustre on his face !"
The group stopped for a while. Virat was almost with them. The leader tried very hard to have a dialogue with Virat, but he would not speak a word. He was totally engrossed in the Japa of the Mahamantra. He was lost in the mental visioning of the temples on the slopes of the Shatrunjaya!
The leader got tired, he ordered his group to proceed and Virat continued to follow!
Darkness was spreading in the sky; the departure of the sun had been since quite some time. The group was proceeding, it had started raining.
