The City of Nine Gates

The sages told the Pandavas of the parable of Puranjana, the king who dwelt in a city of nine gates - a story that the sage Narada once told to teach a king the truth of the soul, the body, and the bondage of desire. For it is an allegory: the king is the soul, the city is the body, and the whole tale a mirror of every embodied life.

There was, the sage said, a king named Puranjana, which means one who dwells in a city, who went wandering in search of a fit place to live. After long searching he came upon a beautiful city that had nine gates, adorned with gardens and towers and every delight - a city made ready for a dweller. And there, near the city, he met a lovely woman attended by her companions and guarded by a great serpent of many hoods; and the king, smitten with desire for her, asked her who she was and besought her to be his. So begins the parable: the soul, wandering, finds the body with its nine openings, and is captivated by the senses and the mind, and enters in to dwell.