49

£rlvasa grew into a spoilt child mixing in his
early youth with bad companions. But all of
a sudden there came a change over his wicked
life. "When he was barely 17, he dreamt one
night that a Sanny3sl knocked at his door.
£rlvasa forthwith came to meet him. The
holy man said, " £Vlvasa, you have only
one year- more to live, take this warning."
The dream vanished and the day dawned when
to his great surprise ^rivasa found at his
gate the Sannyasl of his dream waiting for
him ; he too disappeared having delivered the

selfsame message. From that time (^r
mirth and light-brained follies were gone. He
had the sure belief that the span of his life
extended for a year only. He did not speak
out his thoughts but became emaciated, lean
and pale, eating spare meal and often fasting for
fear. When sorely troubled in this way, he one
day came across the following line in the
Vrihat Naradiya Purana ; " Sing the praises of
the Lord, nothing else will save a man from
the sorrows of the world in this kali yuga
(iron age) 'V As the drowning man catches
at a straw, even so (^rlvasa caught the words
which henceforth became the
The turning
point in his Hfe. guiding principle of his life.
But the words were no straw, they proved to be