“That is why,” said the guileful hermit, “I live in this world away from the public gaze and have little to do with any save Hari. The Lord knows everything without being told; tell me, then, what is to be attained by humouring the world?

You are sincere and intelligent and are therefore very dear to me; and you love me, too, and trust me. Now, my son, if I were to keep anything from you, it would be a very grievous sin on my part.”

The more the hermit spoke of his indifference to the world, the more trustful grew the king. When the false anchorite saw that the king had submitted himself in thought, word and deed to his influence, he said,-

“My name, brother, is Ekatanu.” Hearing this, the king bowed his head and said again, “Explain to me, as to your own faithful servant, the meaning of that name.”

“My birth,” said the false ascetic, “took place at the first dawn of creation. Since that time I have never worn another body; that is why I am called Ekatanu (One-body).

Marvel not, my son, in your mind; for nothing is too difficult for penance. By the power of penance Brahma creates the universe; by the power of penance Vishnu preserves it.

By the power of penance, again, Shambhu destroys it; there is nothing in the world that cannot be attained by penance.” When the king heard this, he was charmed, and the hermit began to relate ancient stories.