As a man abandons worn out garments and takes new ones,
So does the soul quit worn-out bodies and enter new ones.
Weapons cannot cleave it, fire cannot burn it,
nor water wet it, nor wind dry it.
It is said to be invisible, incomprehensible, immutable.
—Bhagavad Gita

“See that?” Hariaksa said, pointing to the moon’s reflection on the river’s twilit surface. “Now wrap your stubborn mind around this truth once and for all, Ishvari—no matter your predilection for drama, that golden stillness is, and always will be, your true nature.” Picking up a flat stone, he spun it neatly into the heart of the reflected orb, generating a swirl of glittering dots. “Look again, and look well,” he ordered. “This is...

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