The son turned to his mother and father and spoke words of wonder. “O faultless ones,” he began, “it was through my own doing that dullness and blindness overtook my eyes. I was born to Mālā as the son of Vṛṣākapi. In that time, the supreme scripture of liberation was present, along with history and tradition, yet I was blinded by intoxication from birth and became entangled in wicked deeds. Discernment never arose within me; I fell into a state of utter foolishness. My mind was ever absorbed in longing for the wives and possessions of others. Bound by the consequences of my actions, I died and was cast into the hell called Raurava. Afterward, I was reborn in the forest as a sinful slayer of deer, chief among the deer. The king, the lord, brought me to his own city. There, the scriptures of righteousness, wealth, and desire appeared to me in every way. Wearing but a single garment, I left the city behind. When she too had gone out, my beloved came close to me. As the scriptures of righteousness prescribe, I spoke to her: ‘Timid one, you steal my heart as the cuckoo’s song does. O tiger among women, how will the union of pleasure between us come to be?’ I pleaded, ‘Open the door, dear one, so I may go out quickly.’ She replied, ‘At night I will open it, and then we shall enjoy ourselves as we wish.’ I urged her again, ‘Open the door and release me from bondage.’ When the door was finally opened, I slipped out. But then, the king’s wife was seized by one who desired union with her. I was surrounded on all sides by men wielding weapons. As they attacked me, I cried out, ‘Do not, do not harm me, O agitated ones!’ Yet, O sage, they bound me firmly to a tree and struck me down. After a thousand years, I was released and born again, this time as a white donkey. Even in that form, all my knowledge returned to me. One day, the wife of the eldest among the Navarashtra people was told by her husband, ‘Go, mount the white donkey.’ Obeying him, the slender woman mounted me. Halfway along the road, she dismounted. Then, seeing a beautiful woman—her limbs and features perfect—I rushed toward her, drawn by desire. Overcome with pain, I fell upon her. Her husband, seeing this, lifted a stick and rushed at me in anger. As he charged, the bridle and reins became entangled, and, O sage, after six nights, my life came to an end. Once more, I was bound in a great forest by a wicked Shabara. He took me to the inner quarters of a noble house, where young women were present. While I was there, those young women gave me rice, water, fruit, and other offerings. One day, a woman with lotus-like eyes, dark in complexion and full-breasted—her name was Candrāvalī—opened the cage in which I was kept.