256 



Statistics of the 



[No. 38, 



tions, Eknaut accomplished the meritorious work of translating a por- 

 tion of Bhagavut into Pracrit ; master and pupil then returned to 

 Deoghiri, and Eknaut was commanded to prepare himself for his 

 destiny, by visiting all the holy places of pilgrimage, and then to 

 make choice of his native town as the site on which all his good 

 works were to be displayed — shortly after his arrival at Pytun ; he 

 gave great offence to the whole community of Brahmins, through an 

 infraction of the rules of caste, by persisting to invite Dhairs in com- 

 mon with the Brahmins, to the annual feast on celebrating the cere- 

 mony to his parent's means. Indignant at contamination, they refus- 

 ed to attend, which in no way annoyed the holy man ; who however 

 rather astonished the recusant Brahmins, by exerting his divine pow- 

 er to summon their deceased ancestors in their places, a sight so 

 startling, that, they tremblingly asked forgiveness, and at once con- 

 fessed him an incarnation of the deity. The next event of his life 

 refers to his benevolent disposition. A leper residing at Benares, 

 horribly afflicted with disease, and getting worse rather than better 

 for the remedies he had employed, after performing Anooshtan, was 

 directed in a dream to proceed to Pytun, and there seek assistance 

 from Eknaut; he was further told that if he could prevail upon the 

 holy Brahmin to grant him one of the two virtues he possessed, he 

 would be immediately restored to health; these virtues were, the 

 faculty by which the knowledge w r as acquired of translating holy 

 books from a dead into a living tongue, and the degree of benevo- 

 lence equal to that he possessed, when on one occasion he buried the 

 corpse of an outcast. The narrative goes on to. say, that on the Le- 

 per preferring these requests, Eknaut, asked one of his own disciples 

 which of the two benefaction should be granted, and was answered, 

 It would be better, because of less importance, granting him his be- 

 nevolence : but Eknaut smiling replied, no loss will happen by gifts, 

 provided their nature be virtuous ; in which case, they return ten-fold 

 increased to the donor ; so he immediately conferred both on the 

 supplicant, who left his presence with a clean skin. The next story 

 is preserved as confirmatory of his divine nature— a certain person in 

 a far distant country made an urgent appeal to Vishnoo for an inter- 

 view, but unavailingly so ; and at last was informed by means of a 

 dream, that the deity was absent, serving the holy man Eknaut, at 

 Pytun, under the guise of a servant, called Srikhund ; and that if he 

 desired an interview, he must repair thither : he accordingly in com- 

 pliance with the vision visited Pytun, and somewhat astonished Ek- 



