A roll of thunder in the distance, accompanies the rise of the curtain.]
Shanta. [He is reading a palm-leaf manuscript near the Sacred Plant. He looks up at the sky.] It forbodes a calamity.
[Suddenly the Temple doors open. Shukra stands framed in the doorway. Seeing that Shanta is alone, Shukra walks down the steps toward him.]
Shukra. Are you able to make out the words?
Shanta. Aye, Master.
Shukra. Where is Kanada?
Shanta. He will be here presently. Listen, master: it sayeth: "Only a hair's breadth divides the true from the false. Upon him who by thought, word or deed confuses the two, will descend the Judgment of Indra."
Shukra. The thunder of Indra is just. It will strike the erring and the unrighteous no matter where they hide themselves; in the heart of the forest or in the silence of the cloisters, Indra's Judgment will descend on them. Even the erring heart that knows not that it is erring will be smitten and chastised by Indra. [Thunder rumbles in the distance.]
Shanta. Master, when you speak, you not only fill the heart with ecstasy, but also the soul with the beauty of truth.
Shukra. To praise is good. But why praise me, who have yet to find God and,—[Shakes his head sadly.]