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The Global Emperor, with his card and a scene of Pashupatinath, where he went every day. 

The Global Emperor bids adieu to samsara

A vision of His Majesty and Holiness Sri One-thousand and Eight the Global Emperor of all the World saluting all the creatures who dwell in the globe-at-large.

A rain of small paper tirtha-chitras float down on Pashupatinath temple like leaves. The abstruse, indeed virtually indecipherable epigraphy that graces the reverse of this particular tirtha-chitra---a salutation inscribed in the Global's own hand---forms the backdrop of this piece. Note the word "Holiness" (a crucial ingredient of his playfully sesquipedalian epithet) positioned next to the plastic-pearl-encirled rastra topi. A mala of rudraksh beads stutter down his front. Below the image of the Global, on earth, we see crowds swarm the grounds of Pashipatinath Mandir during the fervor of Mahashivaratri mela. The temple, which figures in the tirtha-chitras, was an unchanging object of his pilgrimage.

Oh when did the flame of irony that burned so vividly in this recondite thrice-strode tole-walker extinguish? His frock coat and god-picture-stuffed notebook no longer whisper past doorways in the crisp morning air.

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