Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/305

262 abortion, but those proving unsuccessful, she had given birth to a very nice child, and that, in order to avoid exposure and shame, the cruel mistress of the house had throttled the baby to death in the nursery. This sad tale touched the very core of his sympathetic heart, and he was resolutely determined to do something for Hindu widows.

Although Vidyasagar's soft heart melted at what appeared to him to be the most miserable distress of the widows, he did not think fit, and that rightly, to broach the subject in public, until he could alight upon Sastric proofs. It is said that, at this period of his life, he devoted all his thoughts on this subject. He passed his days and nights in the rooms of the Sanskrit College, studying all the ancient Sastras of the Hindus. We have already said in a previous chapter that, at this time, he hardly slept in the night, supping generally at Syama Charan Babu's house, which stood in front of the Sanskrit College building, and always breakfasting at his friend, Raj Krishna Babu's. After infinite toil and pains, one night, he suddenly bounced up in ecstacy and cried out loudly:—'I have, at last, found it.' The cause of his so excessive delight was a passage of the "Parasar-Sanhita," which is given below for the edification of the readers:—

"নষ্টে মৃতে প্রব্রজিতে ক্লীবেচ পতিতে পতৌ। পঞ্চস্বাপৎসু নারীণাং পতিরন্যো বিধীয়তে॥