Dasa’s Imagined Destiny

The Glass Bead Game

This flow follows Dasa through successive identities and experiences until he recognizes the yogi’s lesson and accepts discipleship.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Prince Displaced A Prince Displaced from "The Glass Bead Game". Exile into Pastoral Life A Political Threat Dasa’s stepmother seeks to remove him from succession. The Brahman Vasudeva arranges his escape with the cowherds.

A Prince Displaced from "The Glass Bead Game". Exile into Pastoral Life A Political Threat Dasa’s stepmother seeks to remove him from succession. The Brahman Vasudeva arranges his escape with the cowherds.

Exile into Pastoral Life A Political Threat Dasa’s stepmother seeks to remove him from succession. The Brahman Vasudeva arranges his escape with the cowherds. A New Upbringing The boy grows among cattle and forests, finding real belonging in a life far from court. His birth identity recedes into memory.

The Yogi’s Stillness The Yogi’s Stillness from "The Glass Bead Game". First Glimpse Awe Dasa sees a yogi absorbed in meditation and feels that the sage has crossed beyond ordinary sensory life.

The Yogi’s Stillness from "The Glass Bead Game". First Glimpse Awe Dasa sees a yogi absorbed in meditation and feels that the sage has crossed beyond ordinary sensory life.

First Glimpse Awe Dasa sees a yogi absorbed in meditation and feels that the sage has crossed beyond ordinary sensory life. The sight awakens a longing for disciplined detachment. Unfulfilled Desire He brings offerings but never becomes the yogi’s pupil. The possibility remains latent as he turns instead toward love and worldly life.

Love and Revenge Love and Revenge from "The Glass Bead Game". The Loss of Happiness Attachment Dasa gives up the herdsmen’s life for Pravati and believes love has secured his future.

Love and Revenge from "The Glass Bead Game". The Loss of Happiness Attachment Dasa gives up the herdsmen’s life for Pravati and believes love has secured his future.

The Loss of Happiness Attachment Dasa gives up the herdsmen’s life for Pravati and believes love has secured his future. Her departure with Nala destroys that confidence. Violence Dasa kills Nala and flees. His act makes him a fugitive and intensifies his longing for escape from the life he once chose.

A Dream of Sovereignty A Dream of Sovereignty from "The Glass Bead Game". A Worldly Life Recovered Restoration Pravati finds Dasa and tells him he has been restored as heir.

A Dream of Sovereignty from "The Glass Bead Game". A Worldly Life Recovered Restoration Pravati finds Dasa and tells him he has been restored as heir.

A Worldly Life Recovered Restoration Pravati finds Dasa and tells him he has been restored as heir. He becomes ruler, father, and husband again, with responsibilities and attachments multiplying. Approaching Ruin War with Govinda threatens his family and kingdom. Dasa’s love for his son drives him into the violence he had once wanted to leave.

Awakening at the Spring Awakening at the Spring from "The Glass Bead Game". The Lesson of Maya Collapse Dasa wakes beside the spring and discovers that his reign, family, and catastrophe formed part of the yogi’s demonstration.

Awakening at the Spring from "The Glass Bead Game". The Lesson of Maya Collapse Dasa wakes beside the spring and discovers that his reign, family, and catastrophe formed part of the yogi’s demonstration.

The Lesson of Maya Collapse Dasa wakes beside the spring and discovers that his reign, family, and catastrophe formed part of the yogi’s demonstration. The emotional reality of the vision remains vivid. Discipleship Rejecting the wish to extinguish himself, Dasa chooses to fetch water and obey. The yogi accepts him, turning disillusionment into the beginning of practice.

In Dasa’s childhood

During Dasa’s youth among the cowherds

After Dasa marries Pravati

After Dasa returns to the yogi’s spring

After the imagined defeat and Ravana’s death