Yajnyawalkya was alarmed by her perception. he asked, "Do you resent him? Because unknown to you and me, and perhaps unknown to him too, he caused our destiny."
Maitreyi said, "I can't say whether it was resentment or bewilderment at that point of time. All I could understand then was that it was a verdict pronounced on us beyond our comprehension. He was taller than all of us. Sages have knowledge, but Janaka has wisdom. Without his wisdom the sages would never speak. We mortals, ignorant a we are, need to understand and acknowledge the wisdom of that divine king. What we see as destiny is a power that would lie dormant unless it is thrown into activity. And it takes the spiritual prowess of a person of Janaka's caliber to initiate that mighty process."
Yajnyawalkya said,"In a deep sense, Janaka was my providence. But I will not be true to myself if I think of him only in that way. It is hypocrisy to deny what he was to me at the level of my life on this earth. He was next to my soul."
Maitreyi said, "Janaka could understand your distaste for scholastic life, because he knew it himself. You were kindred souls among aliens."
Yajnyawalkya said, "Kindred souls have a way of meeting and parting."
Maitreyi said, "There is no parting for kindred souls."
She lifted her eyes and looked long at him. The years gone by were condensed in her words, and her body, with all the life in it, became a single vibrant note. She yearned to reach out to him and affirm, "There is no parting."
He responded eagerly.
It was a union that gods in heaven yearn to see.
They saw each other and transcended vision; heard each other and transcended sound; touched and felt each other and and transcended mind; vibrated in each other's heart and transcended breath.
There was no Maitreyi; there was no Yajnyawalkya. A tidal wave rose and submerged everything. Their twin consciousness dissolved in it. As the wave receded, it was Yajnyawalkya who first reaffirmed the life of the body. Maitreyi was still in a trance. He bent over her and kept a vigil till she returned to the awareness of their separate existence.
Maitreyi opened her eyes and found him leaning over her, watchful and serene. She was straining to find her voice. He watched her wan and tranquil visage in the tender light of the dawn and kissed her gently. She surrendered herself to his embrace and lay peaceful in his arms. He shielded her from the fear of separation. Suddenly she felt him all over with her hands, as if to make sure that he was still there.
At last she spoke tremulously, "I don't want to lose you again. I don't want to die. I want to live. I want to be born into eternity, where you will be with me."
Yajnyawalkya clasped her arms and sealed her spirit in his heart. Who could ever be impervious to this last of all the human fears ; the fear of mortality? This earth was born out of the mating of the sky and the wind. But her children have no memory of their ethereal heritage. They are born without an understanding of the enigma of their existence : this mystery of love of the body given to us by the earth and the perpetual thirst for the unfenced life beyond the body!
Speak O Yajnyawalkya! This woman whom you are holding in your arms is seeking your help! Help her so she may unite her earth with heaven; unite the seen with the unseen, the language with the silence. It is not separation that she is afraid of. She longs to end the duality. Why are you overwhelmed? She is not dragging you back to the earth you had shunned all along. You, who were a solitary god, unmanifested to all, are being drawn to your roots, to the body of the woman, to reveal your essence. She wants to transcend the fear of death. She has the innate understanding that she can do it; she must do it; but she believes she cannot do it without you. She wants to realize immortality on this earth and carry the memory of it hereafter when there will be no earthly body left. She knows all this and yet does not know that she knows. This is the supreme mission you were born for, Yajnyawalkya! Fulfill it and you will be set free!
Maitreyi asked him again, "Speak to me. Your words are nectar to me."
Yajnyawalkya said, "I am no superhuman being, Maitreyi. I am a mortal, still struggling to understand why I am here. I have mortally wounded some souls with the venom in my tongue. How can my words have nectar?"
Maitreyi hid her head in his lap, . At that moment she was closest to the most secret springs of his being . It was impossible for him to make her accept what he was saying. She whispered, "You do not know what you are. I want the world to see you in the spirit that you are."
To be contd.
Maitreyi said, "I can't say whether it was resentment or bewilderment at that point of time. All I could understand then was that it was a verdict pronounced on us beyond our comprehension. He was taller than all of us. Sages have knowledge, but Janaka has wisdom. Without his wisdom the sages would never speak. We mortals, ignorant a we are, need to understand and acknowledge the wisdom of that divine king. What we see as destiny is a power that would lie dormant unless it is thrown into activity. And it takes the spiritual prowess of a person of Janaka's caliber to initiate that mighty process."
Yajnyawalkya said,"In a deep sense, Janaka was my providence. But I will not be true to myself if I think of him only in that way. It is hypocrisy to deny what he was to me at the level of my life on this earth. He was next to my soul."
Maitreyi said, "Janaka could understand your distaste for scholastic life, because he knew it himself. You were kindred souls among aliens."
Yajnyawalkya said, "Kindred souls have a way of meeting and parting."
Maitreyi said, "There is no parting for kindred souls."
She lifted her eyes and looked long at him. The years gone by were condensed in her words, and her body, with all the life in it, became a single vibrant note. She yearned to reach out to him and affirm, "There is no parting."
He responded eagerly.
It was a union that gods in heaven yearn to see.
They saw each other and transcended vision; heard each other and transcended sound; touched and felt each other and and transcended mind; vibrated in each other's heart and transcended breath.
There was no Maitreyi; there was no Yajnyawalkya. A tidal wave rose and submerged everything. Their twin consciousness dissolved in it. As the wave receded, it was Yajnyawalkya who first reaffirmed the life of the body. Maitreyi was still in a trance. He bent over her and kept a vigil till she returned to the awareness of their separate existence.
Maitreyi opened her eyes and found him leaning over her, watchful and serene. She was straining to find her voice. He watched her wan and tranquil visage in the tender light of the dawn and kissed her gently. She surrendered herself to his embrace and lay peaceful in his arms. He shielded her from the fear of separation. Suddenly she felt him all over with her hands, as if to make sure that he was still there.
At last she spoke tremulously, "I don't want to lose you again. I don't want to die. I want to live. I want to be born into eternity, where you will be with me."
Yajnyawalkya clasped her arms and sealed her spirit in his heart. Who could ever be impervious to this last of all the human fears ; the fear of mortality? This earth was born out of the mating of the sky and the wind. But her children have no memory of their ethereal heritage. They are born without an understanding of the enigma of their existence : this mystery of love of the body given to us by the earth and the perpetual thirst for the unfenced life beyond the body!
Speak O Yajnyawalkya! This woman whom you are holding in your arms is seeking your help! Help her so she may unite her earth with heaven; unite the seen with the unseen, the language with the silence. It is not separation that she is afraid of. She longs to end the duality. Why are you overwhelmed? She is not dragging you back to the earth you had shunned all along. You, who were a solitary god, unmanifested to all, are being drawn to your roots, to the body of the woman, to reveal your essence. She wants to transcend the fear of death. She has the innate understanding that she can do it; she must do it; but she believes she cannot do it without you. She wants to realize immortality on this earth and carry the memory of it hereafter when there will be no earthly body left. She knows all this and yet does not know that she knows. This is the supreme mission you were born for, Yajnyawalkya! Fulfill it and you will be set free!
Maitreyi asked him again, "Speak to me. Your words are nectar to me."
Yajnyawalkya said, "I am no superhuman being, Maitreyi. I am a mortal, still struggling to understand why I am here. I have mortally wounded some souls with the venom in my tongue. How can my words have nectar?"
Maitreyi hid her head in his lap, . At that moment she was closest to the most secret springs of his being . It was impossible for him to make her accept what he was saying. She whispered, "You do not know what you are. I want the world to see you in the spirit that you are."
To be contd.
No comments:
Post a Comment