on learning that his real father is imprisoned by Bandī, Aṣṭāvakra decides to go to Mithilā to free his father. Aṣṭāvakra travels to Mithilā with his uncle Śvetaketu and defeats respectively the gatekeeper, king Janaka and Bandī in Śāstrārtha, and then secures the release of his father Kahola. On their way back home, Kahola makes Aṣṭāvakra bathe in the river Samaṅgā and Aṣṭāvakra becomes free of the eight deformities in his body. At the end, Aṣṭāvakra, inspired by the sage Vasiṣṭha, arrives in the court of Sītā and Rāma, and is elated to be honoured in the assembly of Ayodhyā. The-eight cantos Sambhava (Hindi: सम्भव, meaning Appearance): After invoking Sarasvatī, the poet introduces Aṣṭāvakra as the subject of the epic, who became the flag-bearer of the disabled. The sage Uddālaka stays with his wife in a Gurukula with 10,000 disciples. The couple have a daughter, Sujātā, who grows up learning the Vedas with the disciples. Uddālaka has a famous disciple by the name Kahola. At the end of his education, Kahola is requested by Uddālaka to marry a Brāhmaṇa woman who is suitable for him in all ways and enter Gārhasthya Āśrama. Kahola thinks of Sujātā but is hesitant as he is not certain if marrying the daughter of his Guru would be appropriate. Uddālaka learns of Kahola's disposition, and happily offers Sujātā in marriage to Kahola. Uddālaka also prophesies that Sujātā will bear him a son who will become a source of inspiration for the disabled. Kahola and Sujātā get married and choose a desolate forest for their Āśrama, where Kahola starts teaching disciples. Sujātā prays to Sūrya for a son whose life will offer solutions to the afflictions of the disabled, and Sūrya grants her the wish. The canto ends with Sujātā becoming pregnant and the couple delighted. Saṅkrānti (Hindi: सङ्क्रान्ति, meaning Revolution): In the first 27 verses (first quarter) of the canto, the poet expounds on Saṅkrānti, the concept of true revolution. It is not to be attained by spilling blood, but by spreading a thought. Rarely do people want such a revolution, their egos do not allow it. The narrative then proceeds – after the Puṃsavana and Sīmantonnayana Saṃskāras of Sujātā, one day, late in the night, Kahola is practising Vedic chanting, perfecting his knowledge of what he is to teach his disciples on the following day. Out of fatigue and the four defects of Bhrama,