of thing? Isn't it possible to prepare for heaven in your own
house?"

Then the counsellor said: "Your Majesty, one gets worldly
prosperity from generosity and that kind of thing. But a pilgrimage
gives eternal life. A prudent man should attend to it while he has
strength. The chance may be lost, for no one can be sure of his
health."

But the king was still arguing against it when the doorkeeper came
in and said: "Your Majesty, the glorious sun is diving beneath the
pool of heaven. Arise. The hour for your bath is slipping away."
And the king went immediately to bathe.

The counsellor went home, still determined on his pilgrimage. He
would not let his wife go with him, but started secretly. Not even
his servants knew.

He wandered alone through many countries to many holy places,
and finally came to the Odra country. There he saw a city near the
ocean, where he entered a temple to Shiva and sat down in the
court. There he sat, hot and dusty from long travel, when he was
seen by a merchant named Treasure who had come to worship the
god. The merchant gathered from his dress and appearance that he
was a high-born Brahman, and invited him home, and entertained
him with food, bathing, and the like.

When the counsellor was rested, the merchant asked him: "Who
are you? Whence do you come? And where are you going?" And
the other replied: "I am a Brahman named Farsight. I came here on