सः समित्पाणिः पुनः एयाय तम् ह प्रजापतिः उवाच मघवन् यत् शान्तहृदयः प्राव्राजीः किम् इच्छन् पुनः आगमः इति सः ह उवाच तत् यदि अपि इदम् भगवः शरीरम् अन्धम् भवति अनन्धः सः भवति यदि स्रामम् अस्रामः न एव एषः अस्य दोषेण दुष्यति
saḥ samitpāṇiḥ punaḥ eyāya tam ha prajāpatiḥ uvāca maghavan yat śāntahṛdayaḥ prāvrājīḥ kim icchan punaḥ āgamaḥ iti saḥ ha uvāca tat yadi api idam bhagavaḥ śarīram andham bhavati anandhaḥ saḥ bhavati yadi srāmam asrāmaḥ na eva eṣaḥ asya doṣeṇa duṣyati
With fuel in his hands he came back again. Prajāpati said to him: "Maghavan, you went away with a heart at peace; desiring what have you come back?" He answered: "Sir, even if this body is blind, he is not blind; if it is lame, he is not lame. He suffers no harm from its defects…
e873c0a3e584 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:54:28 PM UTC
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The second return follows the same order: fuel, question, honest report. The story repeats its formulas word for word on purpose: discipleship is just such a repeating circle — going away with an answer, testing it against life, coming back with a question. There will be as many circles as are needed; the disgrace lies not in a circle but in an unwillingness to return.
Note that Indra each time begins his report with the merits of the lesson he is rejecting ("he is not blind… not lame") and only then names the flaw. He has learned this from Prajāpati himself: to surpass is not to disparage; every rung left behind is honoured as a rung. So too the tradition bids one leave lesser truths — with a bow.