"
Alexander invited to Taxila a number of Brahmin ascetics noted for
their skill in answering philosophical questions with pithy wisdom.
An account of the verbal skirmish is given by Plutarch; Alexander
himself framed all the questions.
"Which be the more numerous, the living or the dead?"
"The living, for the dead are not."
"Which breeds the larger animals, the sea or the land?"
"The land, for the sea is only a part of land."
"Which is the cleverest of beasts?"
"That one with which man is not yet acquainted." (Man fears the
unknown.)
"Which existed first, the day or the night?"
"The day was first by one day." This reply caused Alexander to
betray surprise; the Brahmin added: "Impossible questions require
impossible answers."
"How best may a man make himself beloved?"
"A man will be beloved if, possessed with great power, he still
does not make himself feared."
"How may a man become a god?" {FN41-5}
"By doing that which it is impossible for a man to do."
"Which is stronger, life or death?"
"Life, because it bears so many evils."
Alexander succeeded in taking out of India, as his teacher, a true
yogi. This man was Swami Sphines, called "Kalanos" by the Greeks
because the saint, a devotee of God in the form of Kali, greeted
everyone by pronouncing Her auspicious name.
Kalanos accompanied Alexander to Persia. On a stated day, at Susa
in Persia, Kalanos gave up his aged body by entering a funeral
pyre in view of the whole Macedonian army.
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