young lions in the forest of the devotee’s mind to slay the herd of elephants of lust, anger, and sensual impurities of the Kaliyuga as dear to Shiva (the slayer of the demon Tripura) as a highly honoured and most beloved guest, and wish-yielding clouds quenching the forest fires of poverty.

They are potent and precious spells against the venom of sensuous enjoyments, and efface the deep marks of evil destiny graven on the forehead. They are the sun’s rays, as it were, to dispel the darkness of ignorance, and clouds to nourish the paddy crop in the form of devotees.

Like the tree of Paradise they yield the object of one’s desire, easily available for service and gratifying like Vishnu and Shiva; they are stars, as it were, shining in the autumn sky of the good poet’s mind, and the very life’s treasure to the faithful votaries of Rama.

They are like a rich harvest of enjoyments yielded by one’s meritorious deeds and like holy men sincerely devoted to the good of the world; like a swan in the pure lake of the devotee’s soul; like the abundant waves of the Ganga’s purifying stream.

The sum of Rama’s virtues is like a blazing fire to burn up the dry wood of all heresy, fallacious reasoning, mischievous practices, worldly deceit, hypocrisy and insincerity prevailing in this Kaliyuga.

The acts of Rama are delightful to all like the rays of the full moon; they are particularly agreeable and highly beneficial to the souls of the virtuous, who can be compared to the white water-lily and the partridge.

I now proceed to repeat in substance the questions that Parvati put and Shankara’s detailed answers weaving a strange narrative round this episode.