The next morning Yajnyawalkya was up well ahead of sunrise. His home was speaking to him from all quarters. Its thatched roof was visible faintly from the distance where he was standing and watching it catch the light of the dawn.
He remembered the inner sanctorum at the threshold of which he had suddenly accosted Maitreyi on the eve of his departure for Videha.
"What do you want?" he had asked her cruelly.
"I have come to release you," she had said swallowing his cruelty calmly.
"Let no enslavement come in the way of what you are seeking," she had said.
Those were her words to him before he left. Want, scarcity, need, a sense of something incomplete--everything had merged into a single wave of restlessness then.
Maitreyi had looked deep into all that and summed it up as 'enslavement" How true! And now, what was he to tell her? Did he find what he was seeking? Did he break free of enslavement?
He knew, she was not going to ask him these questions, though she was the only one who had the right to ask. He knew that these questions were being thrown at him by her deliberate withdrawal from him in his hour of homecoming.
Yajnyawalkya looked up at the sky to see how long it would take for the sunrise on the horizon beyond the hill. He was home, and yet so far away.
He started walking gingerly in the dark with steady step towards his home to get a feel of the dew-drops on the grass. His eyes were fixed on the ground when he was startled by the sight of two unshod feet walking towards him from the opposite direction.
He looked up and stopped abruptly. It was Maitreyi. She too noticed him only whenshe had reached too close to him to find a route of escape.
He stood still, afraid to move or speak, as if she would vanish in thin air at the slightest movement. She looked up and stood still, as if something that ought not to have happened did happen. He could not read her eyes in the dark. He was about to turn and move away from her when she said, "I don't want you to change your path because I came in your way." She stepped aside to make way for him.
To be contd
He remembered the inner sanctorum at the threshold of which he had suddenly accosted Maitreyi on the eve of his departure for Videha.
"What do you want?" he had asked her cruelly.
"I have come to release you," she had said swallowing his cruelty calmly.
"Let no enslavement come in the way of what you are seeking," she had said.
Those were her words to him before he left. Want, scarcity, need, a sense of something incomplete--everything had merged into a single wave of restlessness then.
Maitreyi had looked deep into all that and summed it up as 'enslavement" How true! And now, what was he to tell her? Did he find what he was seeking? Did he break free of enslavement?
He knew, she was not going to ask him these questions, though she was the only one who had the right to ask. He knew that these questions were being thrown at him by her deliberate withdrawal from him in his hour of homecoming.
Yajnyawalkya looked up at the sky to see how long it would take for the sunrise on the horizon beyond the hill. He was home, and yet so far away.
He started walking gingerly in the dark with steady step towards his home to get a feel of the dew-drops on the grass. His eyes were fixed on the ground when he was startled by the sight of two unshod feet walking towards him from the opposite direction.
He looked up and stopped abruptly. It was Maitreyi. She too noticed him only whenshe had reached too close to him to find a route of escape.
He stood still, afraid to move or speak, as if she would vanish in thin air at the slightest movement. She looked up and stood still, as if something that ought not to have happened did happen. He could not read her eyes in the dark. He was about to turn and move away from her when she said, "I don't want you to change your path because I came in your way." She stepped aside to make way for him.
To be contd
Can't wait for the continuation Sushama. It reads like a good mystery.
ReplyDeleteNothing by way of a mystery. We all experience it as life is being lived. Wish you a good day/night Anna. Thank you for keeping in touch.
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