Vishvamitra

To answer the king's doubt, Shakuntala begins the story of her conception: how the god Indra, terrified by a sage's growing power, commanded the celestial dancer Menaka to seduce him, setting in motion a divine conspiracy.

Indra, alarmed by the sage Vishvamitra's growing power through austerities, sends the celestial dancer Menaka to seduce him. She enters his hermitage, and a divine wind strips her bare, presenting her beauty to the sage. Overcome, Vishvamitra abandons his penance to be with her.

The gandharva describes the sage Vashishtha, who conquered the unconquerable passions and endured the murder of his sons without vengeance. He then turns the tale into direct counsel for Arjuna: a king who wishes to conquer the earth must first appoint a qualified Brahmana as his priest.

Exhausted from hunting, King Vishvamitra arrives at Sage Vashishtha's hermitage and is lavishly hosted by the sage's divine cow, Nandini. Coveting her power, Vishvamitra tries to buy her, then tries to seize her by force. When Vashishtha refuses to retaliate, the cow herself creates armies that rout the king's forces, leading to a crisis of identity that changes his life forever.