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 not his call reach you at the very moment?—for he sees into the minds of men. He has deigned, in his mercy, to save you from the lure of pelf.’

Damini’s indignation rose to white heat.

‘Give me back my ornaments!’ she commanded.

‘Why, what will you do with them?’

‘They were my father’s gift to me. I would return them to him.’

‘They have gone to a better place,’ said Shivatosh. Instead of pandering to worldly needs they are dedicated to the service of devotees.’

That is how the tyrannical imposition of faith began. And the pious ritual of exorcism, in all its cruelty, continued to be practised in order to rid Damini’s mind of its mundane affections and desires.

So, while her father and her little brother were starving by inches, Damini had to prepare daily, with her own hands, meals for the sixty or seventy disciples who thronged the house with the Master. She would sometimes rebelliously leave out the salt, or contrive to get the viands scorched, but that did not avail to gain her any respite from her penance.