The lotus-eyed one then addressed the outcaste, his voice gentle yet firm. “Do not go there, cāṇḍāla,” he cautioned, “where that sinful rākṣasa dwells.” But the outcaste, unwavering in his vow, listened and replied, “I will not act as you ask of me. All the world is rooted in truth; the lineage itself is established in truth. Nor will I ever abandon it and become untruthful.” Thus, the outcaste remained steadfast in his commitment to truth. He stood before the illustrious one and declared, “I have arrived, O noble one. Do not delay—eat. Eat these limbs of mine as you wish. Satisfy yourself; do what is truly beneficial for me.” Hearing this, the lotus-eyed one spoke sweet words to the outcaste. To the outcaste, whose understanding of proper conduct was lacking but whose mind was resolute, he spoke kindly. He also addressed the Brahma-rakshasa with gentle words. “Still,” he said, “truth must always be spoken, O Brahma-rakshasa.” Again, he spoke sweet words to the outcaste, who remained steadfast in his vow. The Brahma-rakshasa then made a request: “Grant me the fruit of my singing, if you desire your own life.” Hearing this, the outcaste replied, “Having said, ‘I will eat,’ what reward of singing do you desire from me?” The rakshasa answered, “Give me just one supreme merit from the singing.” The outcaste, greedy for the song’s merit, responded, “I do not grant you the fruit of singing that you desire, O Brahma-rakshasa.” Upon hearing the outcaste’s words, the rakshasa spoke again. “By this, I have been delivered—by the fruit of your singing.” The outcaste, filled with wonder, replied with sweet words. The rakshasa then revealed, “By the fault of my actions, I attained the state of a rakshasa. Having fallen from the thread-mantra, yet established in sacrificial rites, once, while the sacrifice was underway, by the influence of fate, on the fifth night, while the rite was still incomplete, because of that wicked deed, I attained the state of a rakshasa. There, lacking the proper thread, I performed the ancestral rites. Because of the fault in that act, I was born in a rakshasa womb.” “So be it,” the rakshasa then replied to those words. The outcaste said, “I grant it, rakshasa, if you are freed with a pure mind.” Saying, “He delivers from hardships,” the outcaste granted that boon. The rakshasa was then born pure and spotless, O blessed one, like the autumn moon. Having performed great deeds, he attained the state of Brahma. To me, while awake, O wise one, it was sung: abandoning all attachments, he attains my world. Freed from all attachments, he goes to my world—by the sound of whose song one crosses the ocean of worldly existence.