Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter 3 opens with more of the legend of Sam, explaining how many came to hear him speak and teach until he was deemed by some to be the Buddha. The goddess Kali, also called Durga, never making a formal opinion on whether Sam is actually a god or not, nevertheless sends her own personal assassin to kill him.

Sam has gone to live in a wood near the city of Alundil, where he is surrounded by followers and pilgrims who come to hear him teach. In the nearby city, the main temple is to the goddess Kali, and it stands near the temple to the death god Yama. Each year there is a large spring festival in the city, a festival that has grown larger each year from the attraction of Buddha. It is during this festival that Rild, the assassin of Kali...