he sun rises. Tell me who
in the highest of kingly lines is the supreme hero?

Chitra

Hermit, you are jealous of other men's fame. Do you not know
that all over the world the royal house of the Kurus is the most
famous?

Arjuna

The house of the Kurus!

Chitra

And have you never heard of the greatest name of that far-famed
house?

Arjuna

From your own lips let me hear it.

Chitra

Arjuna, the conqueror of the world. I have culled from the
mouths of the multitude that imperishable name and hidden it with
care in my maiden heart. Hermit, why do you look perturbed? Has
that name only a deceitful glitter? Say so, and I will not
hesitate to break this casket of my heart and throw the false gem
to the dust.

Arjuna

Be his name and fame, his bravery and prowess false or true, for
mercy's sake do not banish him from your heart--for he kneels at
your feet even now.

Chitra

You, Arjuna!

Arjuna

Yes, I am he, the love-hungered guest at your door.

Chitra

Then it is not true that Arjuna has taken a vow of chastity for
twelve long years?

Arjuna

But you have dissolved my vow even as the moon dissolves the
night's vow of obscurity.

Chitra

Oh, shame upon you! What have you seen in me that makes you
false to yourself? Whom do you seek in these dark eyes, in these
milk-white arms, if you are ready to pay for her the price of
your probity? Not my true self, I know. Surely this cannot be
love, this is not man's highest homage to woman! Alas, that this
frail disguise, the body, should make one blind to the light of
the deathless spirit! Yes, now indeed, I know, Arjuna, the fame
of your heroic manhood is false.

Arjuna

Ah, I feel how vain is fame, the pride of prowess! Everything
seems to me a dream. You alone are perfect; you are the wealth
of the world, the end of all poverty, the goal of all efforts,
the one woman! Oth