Indra and Virochana

Prajapati announced, "The Self, free from sin and sorrow, is worth knowing." Both Indra (king of gods) and Virochana (king of demons) came to learn. Prajapati told them to look at their reflections in water. "What you see is the Self," he said. Virochana was satisfied immediately. "The body is the Self!" he declared and left to teach the demons that adorning the body is the highest good. But Indra hesitated. "If the Self is the body, then it ages and dies. That cannot be the complete truth." Indra returned again and again, studying for thirty-two years. Prajapati gradually revealed deeper truths: the Self is not the dreaming mind, not even the sleeping void. Finally he taught, "The Self is pure awareness — untouched by body, dream, or sleep." Only Indra's persistent questioning earned him the full truth.