KING.

In which direction, Matali, is Ka[s’]yapa’s sacred retreat?

MATALI. [Pointing.

  Where stands yon anchorite, towards the orb
  Of the meridian sun, immovable
  As a tree’s stem, his body half-concealed
  By a huge ant-hill.  Bound about his breast
  No sacred cord is twined[115], but in its stead
  A hideous serpent’s skin.  In place of necklace,
  The tendrils of a withered creeper chafe
  His wasted neck.  His matted hair depends
  In thick entanglement about his shoulders,
  And birds construct their nests within its folds[116].

KING.

I salute thee, thou man of austere devotion.

MATALI. [Holding in the reins of the car.

Great Prince, we are now in the sacred grove of the holy Ka[s’]yapa—­the grove that boasts as its ornament one of the five trees of Indra’s heaven, reared by Aditi.

KING.

This sacred retreat is more delightful than heaven itself.  I could almost fancy myself bathing in a pool of nectar.

MATALI. [Stopping the chariot.

Descend, mighty Prince.

KING. [Descending.

And what will you do, Matali?

MATALI.

The chariot will remain where I have stopped it.  We may both descend.

[Doing so.]

This way, great King.

[Walking on.]

You see around you the celebrated region where the holiest sages devote themselves to penitential rites.

KING.

I am filled with awe and wonder as I gaze.

  In such a place as this do saints of earth
  Long to complete their acts of penance; here,
  Beneath the shade of everlasting trees. 
  Transplanted from the groves of Paradise,
  May they inhale the balmy air, and need
  No other nourishment[117]; here may they bathe
  In fountains sparkling with the golden dust
  Of lilies; here, on jewelled slabs of marble,
  In meditation rapt, may they recline;
  Here, in the presence of celestial nymphs,
  E’en passion’s voice is powerless to move them.

MATALI.

So true is it that the aspirations of the good and great are ever soaring upwards.

[Turning round and speaking off the stage.]

Tell me, Vriddha-[S’]akalya, how is the divine son of Marichi now engaged?  What sayest thou? that he is conversing with Aditi and some of the wives of the great sages, and that they are questioning him respecting the duties of a faithful wife?

KING. [Listening.

Then we must await the holy father’s leisure.

MATALI. [Looking at the KING.