being concerned with the kings condition and wanting to minister to him, they brought him back to the

city on a palanquin. The king, however, continued to remain in the same condition. At last, having found Ashtavakra, the ministers entreated him to remove the alleged spell and bring the king back to his normal condition. At the same time they charged him with the responsibility for having cast the spell. Ashtavakra treated their ignorant remarks with contempt and called the name of Janaka, who immediately saluted him, and responded to his call. The ministers were surprised. Ashtavakra told the king that he was being maliciously accused by the people of having brought him to some sad plight and asked him to tell the truth. On hearing this, the king angrily asked, Who said so? The ministers were taken by surprise and pleaded for mercy. Thereupon, the sage advised the king to resume his normal functions, adding that Brahma jnana could be taught only to competent persons and that since the king had successfully passed the test, he would now impart it to him. Then the sage remained alone with the king during the night and taught him the ultimate Truth, saying Brahman is not anything new or apart from oneself and no particular time or place is needed to realise It. He finally concluded by saying, That Thou Art (tat tvam asi). That is the Self, eternal and infinite. The next morning the ministers found that the king called the assembly and performed his functions as usual. In the assembled court Ashtavakra asked the king whether his former doubt about whether Brahma jnana could be attained as suddenly and as quickly as mentioned in the scriptures was cleared, and if so to bring the horse and demonstrate the truth of it. The king was all humility now and said, Lord! Because of my immaturity, I doubted the correctness of the scriptural text. I now realise every letter of it is true. The ministers thanked the sage.