After some time had passed, the king—lion among rulers—began to notice a change in his wife. The radiant glow of her face, shining like the full moon, betrayed her secret infatuation with Indra. As long as her thoughts dwelled on Indra, her countenance blossomed with a beauty reminiscent of a lotus opening beneath the moonlight. The king, observing the mutual affection between his wife and Indra, sought to discipline them both. He imposed many punishments upon them, hoping to sever their attachment. Yet, despite being cast off and abandoned, the two remained together in a water-reservoir, content and smiling, untouched by any distress. Curious at their unwavering happiness, the king asked, “Are you not troubled, though you have been cast away?” When they were brought out of the reservoir, the pair answered him, “O king, here, in each other’s presence, beholding the flawless beauty of our faces, we are entranced. Even if our bodies were to be cut to pieces, we would not be disturbed.” No matter the punishment—whether surrounded by fire or bound at the feet of elephants, pierced by nails, or struck by whips—the two remained unshaken, their hearts joyful, delighting in the memory of each other. Even when sunk in mud or released from imagined nets of suffering, they always responded to the king with the same unwavering meaning. Indra spoke to the king, saying, “O king, for me, this world is filled with affection; these punishments do not trouble me at all. And for her as well, this whole world is a creation of the mind; thus, the pain of punishment does not touch us. We are called ‘mind,’ O king, for it is the mind that is truly the person; this body you see is but a projection. However many punishments may be inflicted, they cannot disturb a steady mind in the least. “What is this force, O great king, by which even firmly resolved minds might be broken? Whether the body falls, rises, or is scattered, the mind fixed upon its aim remains unchanged. The mind, absorbed in its object of desire, is not broken by anything that happens to the body. Whatever the mind intensely contemplates, it perceives as unmoving, regardless of the body’s actions. No deed, not even those involving boons or curses, can shake a mind endowed with intense force. The mind, deeply attached to its object, is immovable, just as animals cannot shift a great mountain. “O Rama, this dark-eyed woman dwells established in the treasury of my mind, as the goddess Bhagavati dwells in the lofty abode of the gods. Even if my beloved were lost, I would not be overcome by sorrow, just as a mountain does not suffer from the summer’s heat when embraced by clouds. Wherever I go or remain, O king, I experience nothing apart from my desired attachment. “This mind, called by names such as Ahalya’s beloved and Indra of the mind, becomes attached only through association, not by its own nature. The mind of one steadfast and fixed on a single aim is not shaken by boons or curses, just as Mount Meru stands unmoved. The body may change through boons or curses, but not the mind of the resolute, which has arisen with the desire to conquer. “These fragments of the body are not the cause of the mind; rather, the mind is the cause in these bodies, just as water pervades the groves and reeds. Know, O great-souled one, that the true body here is the mind; by it, the multitude of bodies is imagined in the world. Wherever the mind abides, there alone does it bear fruit for that person. “The mind is the main sprout of a person, from which bodies arise like shoots from a tree. When the sprout is destroyed, the glory of the shoots does not arise again, but the sprout does not perish when the leaves are destroyed. When the body perishes, the mind quickly creates new bodies, just as in a dream a new forest appears. But when the mind is destroyed, the body does nothing; therefore, preserve the jewel of the mind. “O king, in every direction I see only my beloved, the doe-eyed one; my mind is always delighted by her. I do not see, whether for a moment or a long time, any sorrow arising from the pleasures we share.” When Indra had spoken thus, the lotus-eyed king turned to the sage Bharata, seated nearby, and addressed him: “Venerable one, knower of all dharma, do you witness the great audacity displayed by this wicked man who has taken my wife? O great sage, grant him a curse fitting his sin; for the punishment of the unpunishable, only destruction is proper.” Thus urged by the king, the noble sage Bharata swiftly considered the sin of the transgressor and pronounced a curse: “With this evil-doer, corrupted by betrayal of her husband, you of corrupt mind—go to destruction together.” Because of the curse, the two, their minds bound by attachment, fell to the earth like leaves shaken from a tree. Bound to misfortune, they were born as deer; still attached, they were born again as birds. And now, O Lord, in this creation, they are born as a brahmin couple, deeply devoted to ascetic practice, bound together by mutual intention, and supremely virtuous. Indeed, O Lord, the curse of Bharata affected only their bodies, not the restraint of their minds.