Episode 1: The Conqueror and the Naked Sage

In 326 BCE, the unstoppable Sword of Macedonia reached the banks of the Jhelum. Alexander the Great had toppled empires and redrawn the maps of the world. But in India, he encountered an enemy he couldn’t slash: the Gymnosophists—sages who wore nothing but the truth.

The Ten Riddles of Survival

Alexander captured ten of these “Naked Sages” who had incited local resistance. He decided to play a game of wits, promising that the one who gave the worst answer would be executed first, with the eldest acting as the judge.

• On Life and Death: When asked whether the living or the dead were more numerous, a sage replied: “The living, for the dead no longer exist.”
• On the Greatest Beast: When asked which animal is the most cunning, the reply was: “The one which man has not yet discovered” (implying the beast within).
• On Sovereignty: Alexander asked how a man might be most loved. The sage replied: “By being the most powerful, and yet not inspiring fear.”
• On Day and Night: As we discussed, the sage claimed Day was older by one day, proving that hard questions require hard answers.

The Judgment: Where the Sword Folds

When the questions ended, Alexander turned to the eldest sage to judge who had given the worst answer. The sage smiled and said:

“Each has answered worse than the other.”

By refusing to rank the answers, the sage rendered Alexander’s threat of execution impossible to carry out without being illogical. The Sword was ready to strike, but the Word had tied Alexander’s logic in a knot.

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Conclusion: Why the Word Wins

Alexander entered India believing that power was measured by how much land a man could seize. He left realizing that power was measured by how much a man could renounce.

The Sword can take a life, but it cannot change a mind. The Word, however, travels across centuries. Alexander’s empire crumbled within years of his death, but the words of the Indian sages—the philosophy of detachment and the pursuit of inner truth—remain alive on sites like yours today.

In the battle of Harivulagam, the “S” moved: the Sword was sheathed, and the Word became the legacy.