I saw that there were two taps, one for cold water and one for hot. Like white milk, a vessel of porcelain—strong as stone—two hands long, one and a half hands wide, and two hands deep: was this bathing vessel not a small pool itself, embedded in the ground! Beside the tap, attached to the wall, was a place for a bar of soap, and above it, on some hooks, hung a white towel and a freshly washed lungi. The hot water tap was open, and the basin was filled to the brim; yet, the water did not overflow. I washed my hands and feet. Then I thought, now I should clean my teeth. But I saw no twig for brushing; however, near the soap, I noticed a silver box with a toothbrush on top. Upon opening the box, I found fragrant tooth powder within. I reflected that it seemed the custom of using twigs for brushing teeth had vanished. Later, Vishwamitra explained that a single Sebagram would require five thousand twigs daily. Here, after all, there are no useless trees. If good trees were to be cut for twigs, every day one or two trees would be ruined for just one village. And then, the population of the globe is one and a half billion. That is why arrangements have been made for brushes and tooth powder. After all, do we let the shells of almonds and such go to waste? From them, tooth powder or some other useful item is made.

I cleaned my teeth and mouth with the brush and powder, then entered the pool and bathed thoroughly, scrubbing myself well with soap. Thus, after bathing and changing my clothes, Dev came in, turned a tap, and all the water from the bathing vessel drained away. In the same room, by a window on one side, a clean mat was spread on a raised platform. I went there and did some exercise. After this, I came into the sitting room. By now, the red glow of the sun had spread across the eastern sky. Only a thin golden line of the sun’s disc was visible. Here and there, the sweet chirping of birds still continued. Gusts of wind were swaying the flowers in front. The beauty and cleanliness of the street and the houses opposite were scattered all around. My mind, too, was utterly calm and content.

Just then, Vishwamitra arrived. Padmavati was with him. At my invitation, both of them sat down on the chairs placed nearby. Although their faces—

Everyone’s entire body was covered; yet, in the warm house, where was the cold? There are thousands of things worth describing. How could one describe them all? The attire of men and women was not only exceedingly beautiful to behold, but there was nothing in it that was useless, superfluous, or harmful. During working hours, I saw both men and women wearing woolen shorts, long stockings underneath, and a kind of shoe that covered the whole