Scene 3
(The following day. With their eyes slightly open the two brothers are in a very high meditation. They are deeply absorbed in the transcendental consciousness of Brahma. Enter Brahma. The two aspirants immediately leave their seats and touch Brahma’s feet for benedictions.)BRAHMA: Your aspiration has pleased me. Your determination has pleased me. What can I do for you?
SUNDA: Lord, we want to equal the cosmic god Indra. Something more, we want to dethrone Indra and become the King of the gods.
UPASUNDA: We feel that in order to fulfil our heart’s desire we need only one thing, and that thing is an immortal life.
SUNDA AND UPASUNDA: You have just said that you are pleased with our aspiration and determination. If what you say is true, then please, please, please grant us an immortal life so that we can conquer Indra.
BRAHMA: No shadow of a doubt that I am truly pleased with you. But Indra’s supreme position is well-founded. Ask for another boon.
(Sunda and Upasunda are both sunk in despair.)
SUNDA: Then please give us at least the Life of Immortality. We do not want to be killed by anybody. We want our joint strength to be unparalleled in the entire history of the world.
UPASUNDA (seeing Brahma quite hesitant): All right. At least this much of a favour you can do: if we have to die at all, then we wish to die at the hands of each other.
BRAHMA (blessing them together): Tathastu. So be it.
(Exit Brahma. The two brothers embrace each other and dance with joy.)
UPASUNDA: So, we are now immortal!
SUNDA: Indeed, we are!
UPASUNDA: Brahma’s loftiest vision failed to see into our future.
SUNDA: His third eye didn’t function well today.
UPASUNDA (roaring with laughter): How can we kill each other? Our sweetest, deepest oneness inseparable shall last through eternity!
SUNDA (with another roaring laugh): How can we kill each other? Impossible! Creation has never seen and will never see such inseparable oneness.
UPASUNDA: That goes without saying. So we are now really immortal!
SUNDA: Indeed, we are. We are immortal forever!
UPASUNDA: Although Brahma says that that hostile Indra’s position is well-established, I simply don’t believe him. Do you?
SUNDA: Not in the least.
UPASUNDA: We know that our power is invincible.
SUNDA: Indeed, indeed!
UPASUNDA: We shall be able to conquer Indra. Look at that rascal! Even while we were practising hard austerities he had to bring down four most beautiful dancers to try to ruin our aspiration and determination.
SUNDA: You know, Brother, that Indra is a rascal of the deepest dye.
UPASUNDA: Let us first conquer all the kings on earth, and then with their added power — although we don’t exactly need any more power than we already have — we shall attack Indra, we shall dethrone Indra, and we shall chase Indra away like a cat out of Heaven!
SUNDA: How wonderful to hear that!
UPASUNDA: Let us go back to our palace. Let us wage war against all the kings immediately. Let us totally destroy their capitals. Delay is not for us. We can easily become the undisputed rulers of the whole world.
SIUNDA: Certainly we can.
UPASUNDA: No, nobody on earth will dare to question our supremacy. Once we have conquered the length and breadth of the world with our absolute power, we shall threaten, frighten, attack and dethrone Indra all at once.
SUNDA: Yes, Brother. We must do that. We must and we can. If we don’t, we can’t have everlasting joy.
UPASUNDA: We simply must do it.
SUNDA: And we easily can.
