object persistence across do_file calls

["mieow mieow" <mw218@...>]

i'm new to lua. i have this code:

P = { c = 0 }

function P:run (o)
	if o == nil then
	   o = {} setmetatable(o, self) self.__index = self
	   self.c = 999
	end
	print(self.c)
	return o
end

for i=1,2 do
	v  = P:run(v)
      --collectgarbage()
end

so, the object uses a global (v) to determine is it's been initialized or 
not. note on initialization it sets the value of c to 999.  the problem is 
that if i execute this script  twice in a row with 2 do file calls, ie,

	 lua_dofile(luavm, "P.lua");
	 lua_dofile(luavm, "P.lua");

then v persists, but c gets reverted to 0. (or null if  i remove the c=0 
line). it's as if the object does not persist, even though its handle 
remains. i thought it has to do with garbage collection. i tried to force 
collection in a loop to see if the object gets destroyed, but it does not. 
can someone explain what's going on ? i would like the object state to be 
kept so that whatever is there in the object has the same values accross 
dofile calls.

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