THERE was a time when kings and nobles vanished. The Pandawa princes disappeared into the jungle for 13 years; Rama moved out of the Ayodhya palace and lived in the forest for nearly one and a half decades. In these two epics, the forest eliminates appearance; but life becomes part of the rite towards victory.

In the Vedic tradition, this rite is called vanaprastha, 'retiring into a forest'. Even though this is not always meant literally, to be out