In the house of the Chief Justice all subjects were discussed: religious rituals, text of the scriptures, jurisprudence, logic, law, the Vedic concept of ‘the one without a second’. There was room here for investigating the absolute truth beyond the world of appearances, as enunciated by the Greek philosopher Plato, and the cycle of birth after birth, as preached by the Buddha. The doors of the house were open even to the atheist Marish, who held in contempt the Vedantic concept of salvation and of Nirvana. Marish had been censured and denounced both by the Brahmins and the votaries of the Buddhist faith for his views. He believed that there was no world beyond the visible one, regarded the palpable world as the true one and dismissed the belief that reward for one’s deeds awaited one in the next life. Even though twice punished by the Chief Justice under the law of the state, Marish continued to be welcome in the palace.

After his return from Taxila, where he had gone to study sculpture, Marish was given the assignment of engraving scenes from the life of the Buddha on the façade of the main gate of the Milinda monastery. One day, however, he suddenly declared that there were no grounds to believe in the previous incarnations of the Buddha, and refused to engrave the scenes any further, thereby breaking the agreement entered into with the head of the monastery. Next he was asked to engrave scenes demonstrating the dictum that sensual attachments were false and illusory. Marish did not agree to do that either. Thereupon, the head of the monastery lodged a complaint against him, accusing him of having broken his contract. The Chief Justice punished Marish with a fine. The same evening, however, he invited Marish to his house and seated him next to himself.

The Chief Justice was a man with a reflective bent of mind, hence Marish was not treated with disrespect in his house. The eminent scholar was not overzealous in regarding any system of thought as completely true, nor did he declare any world view to be totally false. He held the liberal view, which is expressed in a precept of the Vedas: ‘The wise ones say the same thing in many different ways.’

Having been brought up in such an atmosphere, Divya was imbued with the spirit of learning, art and culture, much as a lotus contains moisture within itself, even though it may not be steeped in water. Her main interest lay in music and dancing; her knowledge more in the form of feeling than of words. However, living in close proximity with her aged great-grandfather, she was not ignorant of intellectual issues.

Divya had been delayed for some time at the Festival of Spring on the previous night, so she emerged from her bedroom a little later the next morning. She went about her work in an unhurried manner, in delightful lassitude. By midday, the consciousness grew that a large number of guests would come in the evening to congratulate her. The very thought of the approaching evening thrilled her.