He suddenly passed into one of these and disappeared, and the princess could not discover him. Now this young Sannyasin was well acquainted with that forest and knew all the intricate paths in it. When he came to a forest and entered into it, the princess followed him, and the other two followed them. The young Sannyasin who had refused to marry the princess walked out into the country for several miles. Then our other Sannyasin, who had brought the king there, said to him, "King, let us follow this pair" so they walked after them, but at a good distance behind. ![]() Now the princess had fallen so much in love with this young man that she said, "I must marry this man or I shall die" and she went after him to bring him back. The young man threw it off once more, saying, "Nonsense! I do not want to marry," and walked quickly away from the assembly. The king of that country thought that perhaps this man was poor and so dared not marry the princess, and said to him, "With my daughter goes half my kingdom now, and the whole kingdom after my death!" and put the garland again on the Sannyasin. The young Sannyasin seized the garland and threw it off, exclaiming, "What nonsense is this? I am a Sannyasin. The throne with the princess came near him, and as soon as she saw the beautiful Sannyasin, she stopped and threw the garland over him. Just then came a young man, a Sannyasin, handsome as if the sun had come down to the earth, and stood in one corner of the assembly, watching what was going on. She did not seem to care for any one, and every one became disappointed that this meeting also was going to be a failure. The princess came in on a throne, and the bearers carried her from place to place. This meeting was the most splendid of all more people than ever had come it it. Several times these meetings had taken place, but the princess could not select a husband. The idea of this princess was to marry the handsomest man, but she could not find the right one to please her. She was the most beautiful princess in the world, and the husband of the princess would be ruler of the kingdom after her father's death. The princess of the country to which our king and the Sannyasin had come was having one of these interesting ceremonies. If, however, the princess was pleased with any one of them, she threw a garland of flowers over him and he became her husband. If she was not pleased with what she saw and heard, she said to her bearers, "Move on," and no more notice was taken of the rejected suitors. The princess was taken round on a throne, in the most splendid array, and looked at and heard about them. Sometimes they too had their own criers to enumerate their advantages and the reasons why they hoped the princess would choose them. All the princes of the neighbourhood put on their bravest attire and presented themselves before her. Some would have the handsomest man, others would have only the most learned, others again the richest, and so on. Each princess had certain ideas of the sort of man she wanted for a husband. It was an old custom in India for princesses to choose husbands in this way. The crier was proclaiming loudly that the princess, daughter of the king of that country, was about to choose a husband from among those assembled before her. The king and the Sannyasin stood there to see what was going on. The king and the Sannyasin heard the noise of drums and music, and heard also the criers the people were assembled in the streets in gala dress, and a great proclamation was being made. In the capital of that kingdom a great ceremony was going on. The king consented and followed the Sannyasin out of his own territory and passed through many other countries until they came to a great kingdom. "I will prove it to you," said the Sannyasin, "but you must first come and live as I do for a few days, that I may be able to prove to you what I say." He answered, "Each, O king, is equally great in his place." When they could not give them, he made them also settle down as householders.Īt last there came a young Sannyasin, and the king similarly inquired of him also. ![]() Then others came and said, "The householder who performs his duties is the greater man." Of them, too the king demanded proofs. When they could not, he ordered them to marry and become householders. Some asserted that the Sannyasin was the greater, upon which the king demanded that they should prove their assertion. ![]() Many wise men sought to solve the problem. A certain king used to inquire of all the Sannyasins that came to his country, "Which is the greater man-he who gives up the world and becomes a Sannyasin, or he who lives in the world and performs his duties as a householder?"
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