It was in India that Alexander met the only men on earth he couldn’t conquer.
The yogis. Greek historians traveling with the feisty commander brought back a record of what they encountered:
In the woods, lying on a bed of leaves, Greek soldiers stumbled across a Brahmin sage named Dandamis.
Alexander was intensely curious about the fabled wisdom of the Holy men of India.
He sent Dandamis a message:
“Alexander, Son of God and Lord of the Earth, invites you into his presence. If you come, you will be richly rewarded. If you don’t you will die.”
Dandamis was not impressed. “There is only one King”, he answered,”The one who created light and life. He’s the only King I obey, and He abhors war.”
Dandamis continued:
How can this Alexander be the King of Earth as long as he remains subject to the King of Death ?
And what can he offer me when my mother the Earth already supplies and provides everything I need ?
I have no possessions I need to protect, so I sleep peacefully at night. Alexander may kill my body, but he can’t touch my soul.
Tell Your King that at the time of death each one of us will be asked to account four our actions in this life.
Ask him how he’s going to explain the agony of all those he has so painfully murdered and oppressed.
Your King can tempt those who crave gold. He can terrify those who fear death.
But we Brahmins care for neither. Go tell Alexander he has nothing I want and that I cannot see him.
When Alexander’s men brought back the sages reply, and he herd Dandamis’s answer, he admitted that he, the conquer of the great world, had been
conquered by a naked old man.
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