# Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian/Frag. LV. B

Fragm. LV. B.
Ambrosius, De Moribus Brachmanorum, pp. 62, 68 et seq. ed. Pallad. Londin. 1668.
Of Calanus and Mandanis.
They (the Brachmans) eat what they find on the ground, snch as leaves of trees and wild herbs, like cattle. . . . .
"Calanus is your friend, but he is despised and trodden upon by us. He, then, who was the author of many evils among you, is honoured and worshipped by you; but since he is of no importance he is rejected by us, and those things we certainly do not seek, please Calanus because of his greediness for money. But he was not ours, a man such as has miserably injured and lost his soul, on which account he is plainly unworthy to be a friend either of God or of ours, nor has he deserved security among the woods in this world, nor can he hope for the glory which is promised in the future."
When the emperor Alexander came to the forests, he was not able to see Dandamis as he passed through. . . .
When, therefore, the above-mentioned messenger came to Dandamis, he addressed him thus:—"The emperor Alexander, the son of the great Jupiter, who is lord of the human race, has ordered that you should hasten to him, for if you come, he will give you many gifts, but if you refuse he will behead you as a punishment for your contempt." When these words came to the ears of Dandamis, he rose not from his leaves whereon he lay, but reclining and smiling he replied in this way:—"The greatest God," he said, "can do injury to no one, but ​restores again the light of life to those who have departed. Accordingly he alone is my lord who forbids murder and excites no wars. But Alexander is no God, for he himself will have to die. How, then, can he be the lord of all, who has not yet crossed the river Tyberoboas, nor has made the whole world his abode, nor crossed the zone of Gades, nor has beheld the course of the sun in the centre of the world? Therefore many nations do not yet even know his name. If, however, the country he possesses cannot contain him, let him cross our river and he will find a soil which is able to support men. All those things Alexander promises would be useless to me if he gave them: I have leaves for a house, live on the herbs at hand and water to drink; other things collected with labour, and which perish and yield nothing but sorrow to those seeking them or possessing them,—these I despise. I therefore now rest secure, and with closed eyes I care for nothing. If I wish to keep gold, I destroy my sleep; Earth supplies me with everything, as a mother does to her child. Wherever I wish to go, I proceed, and wherever I do not wish to be, no necessity of care can force me to go. And if he wish to cut off my head, he cannot take my soul; he will only take the fallen head, but the departing soul will leave the head like a portion of some garment, and will restore it to whence it received it, namely, to the earth. But when I shall have become a spirit I shall ascend to God, who has enclosed it within this flesh. When he did this he wished to try us, how, after leaving him, we would live in this world. And afterwards, when ​we shall have returned to him, he will demand from as an account of this life. Standing by him I shall see my injury, and shall contemplate his judgment on those who injured me: for the sighs and groans of the injured become the punishments of the oppressors.
"Let Alexander threaten with this them that desire riches or fear death, both of which I despise. For Brachmans neither love gold nor dread death. Go, therefore, and tell Alexander this:—'Dandamis seeks nothing of yours, but if you think you need Something of his, disdain not to go to him.'"
When Alexander heard these words through the interpreter, he wished the more to see such a man, since he, who had subdued many nations, was overcome by an old naked man, &c.