Prestha had attained this high position by shrewd diplomacy and opportunism, but his behaviour remained exceptionally humble. There was a time when Prestha, had been unable to become a member of the Council because of his low-born status. In a show of respect for the Brahmin families, he organized a number of yajnas, with animal sacrifices and festivals for the citizens of higher castes. He also paid homage to the Buddhist faith, which preached compassion to all living beings. To confer the same favours on the Buddhist faith as he had done on the caste religion, he returned to the monasteries and the temples the incomes, which had been appropriated by the state during the war emergency. Conflict between the votaries of the caste religion and of the Buddhist faith once again flared up in Madra.

The marriage between Commander Prithusen and Seero, the granddaughter of the President, had taken place with great pomp and ceremony. On that occasion, the whole of Sagal had celebrated and participated in the festivities. Having no male heir to succeed him, the President had bequeathed his entire property to his granddaughter and bestowed all the rights and privileges of the family on his chosen son-in-law. The stigma of low birth was washed clean from Prithusen, and he became the richest and most honoured noble of Madra. Because he had had to stifle the voice of his conscience he remained melancholy and disturbed. Feeling disgusted with himself and society, he shunned all contact with the public.

Noticing his son’s mental condition, his father chided him affectionately, ‘Son, what is there in the world that is beyond your reach? You should enjoy what you already have and develop in yourself the necessary strength to obtain things that are at present out of your grasp. Your foot is on just the first rung of the ladder. Neither Seero nor Divya is the ultimate object of your life. Life is full of variety. Son, it is cowardice to regard your life as already over, simply because you have not been able to marry one particular woman. Had Divya been alive, she too would have been within your reach. The sages have called that person foolish who ignores the present in remorse for the dead and buried past.’

Seero the granddaughter of the President of the Republic, Seero the daughter-in-law of the Chairman of the Council, and Seero the wife of the valiant commander walked with her head held high. She enjoyed the most enviable position in society, but she was covetous of still greater conquests for herself. She enjoyed the finest of pleasures and she expected the handsomest of the young men to pay court to her. Nothing but the choicest of liquors was allowed to moisten her carmined lips. She sought distraction in the kisses from ever new pairs of lips. And there was nothing more exciting for her than to be clasped in the strong arms to the manly chests of young men.