The Mahabharata

by Bibek Debroy

  ‘Bhishma said, “Having been thus instructed by the intelligent Yajnavalkya, the king, the lord of Mithila, was delighted. He circumambulated the supreme of sages and departed. Daivarati, the lord of men, obtained knowledge about emancipation. He seated himself and touching one crore cattle, gold and an accumulation of jewels, gave them away to brahmanas. He instated his son in the kingdom of Videha. The lord of Mithila then resorted to the dharma of mendicants. He studied the entire knowledge of sankhya and the sacred texts of yoga. O Indra among kings! He abandoned the ordinary practices of dharma and adharma. He always thought of himself as the infinite and the absolute. O Indra among kings! O lord of men! He no longer thought of ordinary things like birth and death, but always devoted himself to tasks associated with the unmanifest brahman. The practitioners of yoga and sankhya, accomplished about the indications of their own sacred texts, see that the brahman is supreme and is superior to good and evil. Those learned ones always speak of it as pure. You should also become pure. O best among men! The giver, the receiver, what is intended as a gift, what is given, what is received, what is instructed to be given, what is instructed to be received—all these are aspects of the unmanifest. The atman is the only thing that belongs to the atman and there is nothing that is superior to this. Always regard it in this way and do not think otherwise. A person who does not know the unmanifest, with qualities and without qualities,934 always goes to places of pilgrimage and performs sacrifices. He is ignorant. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! One cannot realize the state of the unmanifest through studying, austerities or sacrifices. The unmanifest must be comprehended. It is the same with the state of Mahat and consciousness. One must obtain the state that is superior to that of consciousness. Those who are devoted to the sacred texts always know about the supreme and the unmanifest. They are disassociated from birth and death and are disassociated from the qualities. O king! In ancient times, I obtained this knowledge from Janaka and he from Yajnavalkya. This special knowledge is superior to sacrifices. It is through knowledge that one can traverse what is difficult to cross, not through sacrifices. O king! Those who are learned say that birth, death and hardships are difficult to traverse through sacrifices, austerities, rituals and vows. Even if one obtains heaven, one falls down on the ground. You should worship the supreme, great and pure one, auspicious, without blemish and sacred, the path to emancipation. O king! As the kshetrajna, perform the sacrifice of knowledge. That is the truth that the rishi spoke about. It has been spoken about in the Upanishads and in ancient times, Yajnavalkya told King Janaka about this. It is the eternal and the undecaying and he enumerated the auspicious and the immortal. He935 then obtained the one who is beyond sorrow.”’

  Chapter 1635(307)

  “Yudhishthira asked, “O bull among the Bharata lineage! Having obtained prosperity, great riches and a long lifespan, how can one overcome death? Can one overcome old age and death through extremely great austerities, deeds, learning and the application of medicines?”

  ‘Bhishma replied, “In this connection, an ancient history is recounted about the conversation between the mendicant Panchashikha and Janaka. To dispel his doubt about dharma, King Janaka of Videha progressively asked the great rishi Panchashikha, who was supreme among those who knew about the Vedas. ‘O illustrious one! What is the conduct through which one can overcome old age and death? Is it through austerities, intelligence, deeds or learning?’ Having been thus addressed by the ruler of Videha, the one who knew about the supreme replied, ‘These two cannot be overcome. But it is not true that they can never be overcome. Days, nights and months pass. Though a person is temporary, he can obtain what is permanent and certain. All creatures are destroyed. Without a raft, they are continuously borne along on a flow and submerged in the ocean of time. Old age and death are the giant crocodiles and there is no escape from them. There is no one who can aid a person. Nor can he help anyone else. Along that path, one gets to know wives, relatives and others. There is no one with whom one has spent a great deal of time earlier. Because of time, they are repeatedly brought together and repeatedly thrust apart. They are like accumulations of clouds, moved around by the wind. Like wolves, old age and death devour all creatures, regardless of whether they are strong or weak, short or tall. Though creatures are impermanent, in those creatures, there is a being936 who is eternal. Why should one take delight at birth? Why should one suffer anxiety on account of death? Where have I come from? Who am I? Where will I go? To whom do I belong? Where am I established? Where will I be? Therefore, why are you grieving? Even if you see heaven or hell, you will not remain there. This cannot be overcome through sacred texts, gifts or sacrifices.’”’

  Chapter 1636(308)

  ‘Yudhishthira asked, “O supreme among rajarshis of the Kuru lineage! Without abandoning garhasthya, has anyone obtained emancipation and been conveyed to wisdom? Tell me the truth about this. How can the atman be discarded? How can the atman be discarded?937 What is supreme emancipation? O grandfather! Tell me about this.”

  ‘Bhishma replied, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In this connection, an ancient history is recounted about a conversation between Janaka and Sulabha. It has been heard that in ancient times, there was a king of Mithila who was descended from Janaka and was named Dharmadhvaja. He determined to obtain success through renunciation. He was learned about the sacred texts on emancipation. He was also accomplished in his own sacred texts.938 He restrained his senses and ruled the earth. O lord of men! He was knowledgable about the Vedas. He was wise and learned. His conduct was virtuous and other men in this world wished to emulate him. In that yuga when dharma prevailed, there was a mendicant939 named Sulabha. She followed the dharma of yoga and wandered around the earth. As she roamed around the entire earth, she heard from various tridandis940 about the lord of Mithila, who was pursuing emancipation. On hearing these accounts, she had doubts about the truth of these and wished to ascertain the subtleties. Therefore, she formed a resolution that she should see Janaka. Through the powers of yoga, she discarded her earlier form and assumed a supremely beautiful appearance, flawless in her limbs. Her eyebrows were excellent and her eyes were like the petals of lotuses. In the twinkling of an eye and with great speed, she went to the city of Videha.941 She reached the beautiful city of Mithila, inhabited by a large number of people. Assuming the form of a mendicant, she presented herself before the lord of Mithila. The king saw her supremely delicate form. He was astounded and asked her who she was, who did she belong to, and where she had come from. Having welcomed her, he instructed that an excellent seat should be given to her. He honoured her by offering her water to clean her feet and satisfied her with wonderful food. Having eaten this, she was gratified. The king was surrounded by his advisers and was in the midst of an assortment of learned people. But the mendicant Sulabha still had her doubts about whether he had understood the dharma of emancipation and wished to test him. She used her powers of yoga to penetrate the king’s spirit with her own spirit. She restrained the rays that emanated from his eyes with the rays that emanated from her eyes. Wishing to test him, she tied him up in the bonds of yoga, determined to make him dumb. But King Janaka, supreme among kings, prided himself on his own invincibility. He countered her resolution with his own. They were both situated thus. He was without his umbrella and she was without her three staffs.942 Listen to the conversation that took place between them.

  ‘“The lord of the earth asked, ‘O illustrious one! What conduct do you follow? Who are you? Having accomplished your purpose, where will you go? Whom do you belong to? Where have you come from? Learning, age, birth and good conduct cannot be ascertained without asking. Therefore, having arrived here, you should answer me truthfully. In particular, know that I have rid myself of my umbrella and other signs. I wish to know who you truly are. I think that you are deserving of my respect. In earlier times, I have obtained knowledge about vaisheshika.943 There is no one else who can speak to you about emancipation. Listen to me. There was an a
ged and extremely great-souled mendicant named Panchashikha, from the Parashara gotra. As a pupil, he regarded me greatly. All my doubts have been severed about the three kinds of moksha dharma—knowledge of sankhya, yoga and the rites that are followed by kings. When he944 roamed around as a mendicant, as instructed in the sacred texts, in ancient times, he happily dwelt in my city for four months during the monsoon. He instructed me well and told me the truth about the three modes of emancipation, with sankhya as the foremost. But he didn’t ask me to give up the kingdom. I completely follow the three kinds of conduct that lead to emancipation. I am without attachment. In solitude, I have based myself on the supreme. Renunciation is the foremost conduct for emancipation. Renunciation results from knowledge and that leads to liberation. One must endeavour for knowledge. It is through endeavour that one can obtain Mahat. Mahat frees one from opposite sentiments. That is the success that transcends death. I am devoid of opposite sentiments and have obtained that supreme intelligence. I am free from attachment and roam around in this world, bereft of delusion. When a field is flooded with water and softened, it leads to seeds sprouting. In that way, the deeds of men lead to rebirth. If a seed is heated in a dish, though the inherent strength for sprouting remains in it, the seed no longer sprouts. The illustrious mendicant Panchashikha spoke to me about knowledge and I no longer have the seed that creates attachment towards material objects. I do not hate anyone. Nor do I love my wife. Since both kinds of attachment are futile sins, I do not find pleasure in either. If a person smears my right hand with sandalwood paste and if another person wounds my left hand, I regard both equally. I am happy at having accomplished my objectives and a lump of earth, a stone and gold are the same for me. I am established in my kingdom, but am free from attachments. Therefore, I am superior to tridandis. Maharshis have earlier instructed that there are three kinds of devotion that lead to emancipation.945 Some hold knowledge to be the best, others the renunciation of all acts. There are people who know about the sacred texts of moksha and say that knowledge is the best. However, there are other ascetics, subtle in their sight, who hold that acts are the best. The great-souled one held that knowledge or deeds alone would not suffice and that the third mode was best.946 A householder can be the equal of a tridandi in yama, niyama, hatred, desire, receiving, pride, insolence and affection. If emancipation results from knowledge, then there is nothing to prevent the possessor of an umbrella947 from obtaining it either. Because of different objectives and reasons, one becomes associated with different objects and receives them. One may perceive taints in garhasthya and advance towards a subsequent ashrama. But despite giving up the objects, one may not be freed from attachment. Lordship means that one must chastise and reward. However, rajarshis and mendicants are equal in this and why should they alone be liberated? Irrespective of lordship, one is freed through knowledge alone. If one establishes oneself in the supreme objective, why should one not be freed? The wearing of ochre robes, shaving the head, carrying the three sticks and the kamandalu948—these are only signs. It is my view that these do not lead to emancipation. Whether these signs exist or not, knowledge alone is the cause for emancipation and freedom from sorrow. The signs alone are futile. Therefore, despite the umbrella, why should it not be found? Freedom is not found in possessing nothing. Nor does possessing something lead to bondage. Irrespective of whether a creature possesses or does not, knowledge results in emancipation. One receives a kingdom for the sake of dharma, artha and kama and if one is not careful, this can lead to bondage. But though I am in that state, I am without bondage. There is a noose from the kingdom’s prosperity. There are the bonds of affection. But I have used the sword of renunciation, severed on the stone of emancipation, to sever those. O female mendicant! I have thus been freed. However, I have a liking for you. Therefore, let me tell you that your conduct does not befit your vocation. Your form is delicate. Your body possesses beauty. You are extremely young. I have doubts that you follow niyama. The signs do not suggest it. To test whether I am emancipated, you have assailed and seized me, rendering me immobile. A tridandi wishing to be emancipated should not fall prey to desire. If you cannot protect yourself from this, you will not be able to preserve the liberation you have obtained. You have entered my body. Listen to the transgression you have committed. I have been married earlier. Why have you used your nature to enter me? Why have you entered my kingdom and my city? Have there been any signs suggesting that you are entitled to enter my heart? You are a brahmana, chief and foremost among all varnas. I am a kshatriya. There can be no union between us. Do not cause a mixture of varnas. You follow the dharma of moksha. I am in the ashrama of a householder. This will lead to a second evil, a mixture of ashramas. I do not know whether we have the same gotra or different gotras, and neither do you.949 If I belong to the same gotra, by entering me, you have confused gotras and caused a third evil. If your husband is alive and lives in a distant place, you are someone else’s wife and cannot be approached. Therefore, by causing a confusion of dharma, there has been a fourth evil. Have you committed these evil acts with some specific objective in mind? Has it been caused by ignorance or false knowledge? Perhaps it is your own evil nature that leads to such independence. If you possess any learning, you should know that all these acts have been wicked. There is a third sin that comes from the touch of an unchaste woman.950 This sign of sin is evident in what you have expounded. In your desire for victory, it is not me alone that you wish to defeat. You also desire to defeat all my advisers. You are repeatedly glancing towards them and then towards your own self, as if you wish to defeat those on my side and establish the superiority of your own side. You have been confused by the delusion of your powers and intolerance. Therefore, you have invoked the weapon of yoga and have mixed poison with amrita. The mutual desire between a man and a woman, when they seek to obtain each other, is like amrita. However, when one doesn’t obtain the person one desires, that is a sin that is like poison. Do not touch me. Know that I am virtuous. Follow the instructions of your own sacred texts. You wished to know whether I am emancipated or not, and that enquiry has been accomplished. You should not have concealed all your secret motives. Perhaps you are doing this at the instigation of some other king.951 The truth about those secret motives shouldn’t have been hidden from me. One must never be deceitful before a king or a brahmana. Nor must one approach a wife with deceit, as long as that wife possesses all the qualities. Prosperity is a king’s strength. Knowledge of the brahman is a brahmana’s strength. Beauty, youth and good fortune are the greatest strength for a woman. Those who are strong in this way can accomplish their objectives and must be approached with sincerity.952 Deceit leads to destruction. You should tell me the truth about your birth, learning, conduct, character, natural inclination and the reason why you have come here.’

  ‘“She was addressed in these unpleasant and inappropriate words by that Indra among men.953 However, Sulabha did not tremble. When the king had spoken those words, the beautiful Sulabha replied in words that were more beautiful than her person. ‘There are nine taints associated with speech and nine taints associated with intelligence. Meaningful words must possess eighteen qualities. O king! It has been said that meaningful words must possess five characteristics—subtlety, judging the pros, judging the cons, final determination and ascertaining necessity. I will progressively explain the meaning and characteristics of each of these, beginning with subtlety. Listen to how meanings of words and words should be combined to form sentences. There are differences between knowledge and the object of knowledge. Subtlety consists of using great intelligence to bring out these differences. Before using intended words, one must enumerate and think about their meanings and the various good and bad qualities these words possess. Having examined this progressively, one must then use them in speech. People who are accomplished in framing sentences say that words must thus be progressively used in a sentence. One must specially examine the ends of dharma, artha, kama and moksha and having determined thi
s, then use the instructions to formulate a sentence. O king! When desire and hatred are intense, hardships multiply. O king! Therefore, conduct954 must be in accordance with necessity. O lord of men! When subtlety and the other mentioned characteristics are combined together, the sentence is perceived to be intelligible. The words I speak to you will be full of meaning, consistent in meaning, restrained, to the point, smooth, without any doubt and excellent. They will not have long syllables. They will not be unkind and harsh. They will not be false. They will be refined and will not be against the three objectives.955 There will not be words that are difficult to understand, ones that go in different directions. There will be nothing with alternative meanings, nor anything without a reason or an objective. I will not tell you anything because of desire, anger, fear, avarice, misery, destitution, lack of nobility, shame, compassion or pride. O king! When the speaker, the listener and the words are in harmony, the meaning of what is spoken becomes clear. When the speaker disrespects the listener, irrespective of whether it is for his own or someone else’s objective, the words spoken have no impact. Even if a man gives up his own objective and accepts the objective of someone else, those words are sinful, because they are capable of giving rise to doubt. O king! If a person speaks words that are incapable of double meaning and are comprehensible to the listener, then he is an excellent speaker, not anyone else. I will speak words that are full of meaning and rich in purport. O king! You should listen to them with single-minded attention. Who am I? Whom do I belong to? Where have I come from? This is what you asked me. I will speak words in reply. O king! Listen attentively. O king! All beings created are combinations, like lac and wood, dust and drops of water.956 Sound, touch, taste, form and scent are the five senses. They may seem to be different, but are actually together, like lac and wood. It has thus been determined that no one should ask who someone else is. No one knows about his own self, not to speak of someone else. The eye cannot see itself. The ear cannot hear itself. Nor can they undertake each other’s tasks. Like dust and water, even when they combine, they cannot know their own selves. Listen to me. Even for the sake of obtaining their qualities, they have to resort to external objects. Form, eye and light—these three are required for seeing. This is also the case with the other senses of knowledge and the objects of the senses. Between a sense of knowledge and the object of that sense, there is the quality of what is known as the mind. It reflects and arrives at its own determination about what exists and what does not exist. It has been said that the quality known as intelligence is the twelfth.957 When the others have a doubt, it is intelligence that settles matters. The thirteenth quality that is beyond this is known as sattva.958 It is inferred that creatures may possess a lot of sattva or a limited quantity of sattva. There is yet another attribute, the fourteenth, known as kshetrajna. This helps one think—”I am this. I am not that.” O king! There is yet another quality, said to be the fifteenth.959 O king! There is said to be a sixteenth that is attached to this collection.960 There is an interaction between these sixteen qualities. The qualities of akriti and vyakti are attached to these.961 Happiness and unhappiness, old age and death, gain and loss, pleasant and unpleasant—the union of these opposite sentiments are said to constitute the nineteenth. Beyond these, there is the twentieth characteristic, known as time. Know that the creation and destruction of all beings is because of this twentieth. There is interaction between these twenty characteristics and the five great elements. Existence and non-existence are the other characteristics of manifestation.962 It is thus said that there are twenty-seven characteristics. Know that there are three characteristics beyond these—Vidhi, Shukra and Bala.963 It has been said that the number of characteristics is thirty-one.964 It has been said that all of them circle around in the body. There are those who hold that the unmanifest prakriti is the cause behind all the characertistics.965 There are others who are gross in their vision and think that the manifest is the cause.966 Whether it is the unmanifest, the manifest, the combination of the two967 or all four taken together,968 those who have thought about adhyatma hold that prakriti creates all beings. Prakriti is unmanifest, but becomes manifest in the form of these characteristics. O Indra among kings! I, you and everything that possesses a body are the outcome of this. There is a point at which creation results from the mixture of semen with blood. Because of this union, a kalala969 is generated. A budbuda970 results from the kalala and a peshi971 results from the budbuda. The limbs manifest themselves in the peshi, and nails and hair are attached to the limbs. O lord of Mithila! When nine months are over, the creature is born. When it has been born, on ascertaining whether it is a boy or a girl, a name is given. Immediately after birth, the nails and fingers are seen to have the complexion of copper. When that person becomes an infant, that earlier form is no longer discerned. Infancy becomes youth and youth becomes old age. In this way, from one stage to another, the earlier form is no longer seen. The separate characteristics change from one instant to another. These transformations occur in all creatures, but are so subtle that they are not noticed. O king! The beginning and the end of these minute changes cannot be seen, just as one cannot discern the movement in the flame of a lamp. This is the state of all creation, rushing along like a well-trained horse. Among these numerous people, is it possible to answer who has come from where and who has not come from where? Whom does someone belong to? Whom does someone not belong to? How does one know where someone has come from, or where someone has not come from? What is the connection between beings and their physical forms? Just as fire results when sticks are rubbed together, all creatures are generated from the characteristics mentioned earlier. You see your atman in your own self. In that fashion, why don’t you see your atman in other people? But perhaps you do regard yourself and others as identical. In that event, why did you ask me who I am and whom I belong to? O lord of Mithila! If it is true that you have been freed from opposite sentiments, what was the need for expressions like “Who are you?” and “Whom do you belong to?”—At times of peace and war, if a king’s action towards enemies, friends and neutrals are no different from that of others, where are the signs that he has become free? The three objectives exist in seven combinations.972 If one does not know this and does not show it in his deeds and if one is attached to the three objectives, where are the signs of emancipation in him? If one does not cast an impartial sight towards the pleasant and the unpleasant and the weak and the strong, where are the signs of emancipation in him? O king! You pride yourself on having become emancipated. This is without basis. Your well-wishers should restrain you and treat you with medication. O scorcher of enemies! You should think of other similar things that you are attached to. Glance towards the atman inside your own self. That is a sign of emancipation. There are other subtle signs of having resorted to liberation, such as not being attached to the four pursuits.973 Listen to me. A person who brings the entire earth under a single umbrella974 is praised. That king then lives in a single city. In that city, he lives in a single house. In that house, there is a single bed, on which, he lies down at night. Half of that bed has earlier been occupied by his wife. In this context, this is the kind of fruits he enjoys.975 This is true of all objects of pleasure, food and garments. The qualities he enjoys are limited. He also has to apportion out reward and chastisement. The king is always engaged in the tasks of others. There is little that he directly enjoys. Whether there is peace or whether there is war, how is the king independent? In sporting with women and other kinds of pleasure, the king’s independence is always circumscribed. With all those ministers and advisers, where does he have independence? When he instructs others, he is said to be independent. However, he is incapable of personally checking whether they undertake those tasks. He cannot sleep when he wishes. People who have work with him prevent his sleep. He can only lie down after taking their permission. When he is asleep, he is unable to prevent his being awakened. Bathing, obtaining, drinking, eating, offering oblations into the fire, performing sacrif
ices, speaking, hearing—in all of these, he is helpless and is driven by the objectives of others. Groups of men always come to him and solicit things. However, because he is also the supervisor of the treasury, he is incapable of giving, even if he wishes to. If he gives, the treasury is exhausted. If he does not give, there is enmity. These kinds of taints swiftly generate detachment in him. If wise, brave and rich men gather together in one place, he is suspicious. Even when there is no reason for fear, the king is always frightened of those who serve him. The ones I have mentioned also blame the king. Behold. A similar kind of fear is also generated in them. In their own houses, all men are kings. In their own houses, all men are householders. O Janaka! Like kings, they too chastise and reward. They also possess sons, wives, their own selves, stores, friends and treasuries. Because of these reasons, he976 is not really different from other people. The country has been destroyed, the city has been burnt down, the best of elephants is dead—in all of these, he is tormented like others. He has a false sense of knowledge. The king is not freed from mental grief that results from desire, hatred, love and fear. He is also afflicted by headaches and other diseases. Opposite sentiments prey on him and he is always alarmed. There are many kinds of hardships in the kingdom and he counts the nights.977 There is only a little bit of happiness and there is a great deal of misery. How can there be peace if one has obtained a kingdom? You think that this capital and kingdom are yours. O king! But these soldiers, this treasury and these advisers aren’t really yours. Whom do they belong to? O king! Allies, advisers, the capital, the country, the staff, the treasury and the king—these seven limbs of the kingdom depend on one another. These seven limbs hold up the kingdom, like three staffs tied together. They depend on each other’s qualities. There is none that is superior to the others in qualities. At particular points in time, when a specific task has to be accomplished by it, one of these limbs may be thought to be superior to the rest. O supreme among kings! However, those seven limbs and three others978 come together. These ten categories enjoy the kingdom, as if they are the king himself. If a king has great enterprise and is devoted to the dharma of kshatriyas, then he should be satisfied with one-tenth share.979 There are others who are satisfied with less than one-tenth. There is no extraordinary king and there is no kingdom without a king. If there is no kingdom, how can there be dharma? If there is no dharma, how can the supreme objective be attained? The supreme and sacred dharma depends on a king and a kingdom. O lord of Mithila! The earth can be offered as dakshina, but there are those who do not even perform a horse sacrifice. There are many who act so as to cause hardships to their kingdoms, though they are capable. I can mention hundreds and thousands. I am not even attached to my own body. How can I then seize someone else’s? You should not therefore say that I have caused an obstruction in your emancipation in this way. From Panchashikha, there is no doubt that you have heard a complete account of what is known as moksha, with techniques, modes, practices and conclusions. O king! However, if you have been freed from all attachment and have overcome all your bonds, specifically, why are you still attached to the umbrella and other objects? I think that you have not heard the sacred texts. Or perhaps you have heard some false sacred texts. Perhaps you came close to the sacred texts, but heard some other texts instead. It is only the consciousness of the material world that is established in you. Therefore, like an ordinary person, you are tied down by these excellent possessions. If you are emancipated in every way, how have I harmed you by penetrating your spirit? It is the ritual and dharma of ascetics to dwell alone. Had you tried to dwell alone, how could I have caused any harm to you? O unblemished one! I have not touched you with my hands, my arms, my feet or my thighs. O lord of men! Nor have I touched your body in any other way. You have been born in a great lineage. You are humble. You are far-sighted. Whether my entering you was good or bad, surely it was bad and futile to speak about it.980 These brahmanas are superior. They are the foremost among advisers. They are your seniors. You treat each other with reverence. That being the case, you should have thought about what should be said and what should not be said. In an assembly, you should not have spoken about the union between a woman and a man. The water rests on the leaf of a lotus without really touching the leaf of the lotus. O lord of Mithila! I am dwelling with you in that way, without touching you. You have felt my touch, even though I have not touched you. What is the seed of knowledge that you then obtained from the mendicant? You have not been able to give up garhasthya. Nor have you obtained moksha, which is so difficult to understand. Though you desire moksha, you are stuck in between the two. If an emancipated person mingles with another emancipated person, that union does not lead to a mixing of varnas, like the mingling between the existent and the non-existent.981 Those who regard the varnas and the ashramas to be distinct are those who do not perceive that this is different from that.982 Because they do not know that this is different from that, they think that this acts differently from that. There is a pot in the hand. There is milk in the pot. There is a fly in the milk. Though they mingle and coexist with each other, they are distinct from each other. The pot does not assume the characteristics of milk. Nor does the milk assume the characteristics of a fly. They each possess their own characteristics and not those of something else. The different varnas and ashramas are just like that. Since they are different from each other, how can there be a mixture of varnas? I have not been born in a varna that is superior to yours. Nor am I a vaishya or something worse than that. O king! I belong to the same varna as you and have been born in a pure lineage. There was a rajarshi named Pradhana and it is evident that you have heard of him. Know that I was born in his lineage and my name is Sulabha. In the sacrifices performed by my ancestors, Drona,983 Shatashringa and Mount Vakradvara came to the altars, accompanied by Maghavan. Since I had been born in such a lineage, a husband could not be found for me. Humbly, I adopted the vow of a sage and roamed around alone, observing the dharma of moksha. There is no deceit in my rites. Nor do I desire the possessions of others. I will not cause confusion in dharma. I am firm in my vows and follow my own dharma. I will not be dislodged from my own resolve. Nor do I speak without thinking about it first. O lord of men! I have not come to you and approached you without having thought about it first. I had heard that your intelligence had turned towards moksha and had thought that coming here would be beneficial. I came here, wishing to ask you about moksha. I am not saying this to boast about my side and denigrate another side. A person is not liberated and freed until he is peaceful and tranquil. A mendicant spends only a single night in an empty house. In that way, I will not dwell in your body for more than one night.984 You have honoured me by treating me like a guest and giving me a seat and speaking pleasant words. O lord of Mithila! I will happily sleep inside you tonight and leave tomorrow.’ These sentences were full of reason and purport. On hearing these, the king could not say anything after that.”’