MAN IN DIVINE STATE

SHE BEHAVED IN A QUEER WAY

A CERTAIN devout lady, who was also a devoted wife, lived in the household serving her husband and children with a loving heart and at the same time keeping her mind fixed on the Lord. At her husband's death, as soon as the cremation was over, she broke her glass bangles and wore a pair of gold bracelets in their place.

People wondered at her unnatural conduct, but she explained to them, "Hitherto my husband's body had been fragile like the glass bangles. That ephemeral body is gone; he is now like one unchangeable and full in every respect; his body is no longer fragile. So I have discarded the fragile glass bangles and worn ornaments of a permanent nature." (158)