Maitreyi fought back her tears resolutely and said, "You too, know it in your heart that your freedom cannot be bartered for pieces of gold nor can be mine. It grieves me to see that you expect me to be content and stop at the threshold of life. While you set out on the path of freedom, why do you expect me to gloat in wealth, live for it, and end in it?"
She was talking exasperatedly, with a fury that was never seen her before. Yajnyawalkya was called upon to do justice. In that self-same moment, he experienced the agitation of the woman who was wronged, and the penitence of the man who had caused the wrong. She was asking Yajnyawalkya to supersede the wrongdoer and dispense justice.
There was silence. It was not the silence that unites souls in love; it was the silence that divides one's own Self. It was the silence that does not let you move or touch the other.
The anguish of her wounded pride had leapt up like a sacrificial fire and was demanding its oblation. It was the ever recurring reminder to Man that he cannot meet Brahma : the Absolute and the Ultimate, before he embraces Woman, and let the fire in her annihilate him.
Maitreyi's voice dived low after that brief respite. Her fury subsided; she spoke, trying to get back her certitude. She did not know who was speaking, what, and to whom.
"I am insatiable, Yajnyawalkya, your wife is insatiable. She is thirsty. You may deluge her with wealth; she cannot be quenched. Do not ask her what she wants. She knows not what she wants. Her demands are ancient, as ancient as this earth. You were afraid to explore her land, afraid that the earth would take all of you unto herself. You are standing before me today, thinking that you have fulfilled yourself. You do not need to declare to the world how true you are. You have spurned the wealth which the world offered to you. Now that you have delivered your burden at my feet, you think you are free to walk out on me and the world, covered in ashes and absorbed in yourself.! I am not a devotee asking her God for grace. I am your very own Self, your incomplete Self, asking you to give her what she lacks: she wants her share in your knowledge of yourself. She knows not her Self without you."
To be contd.
She was talking exasperatedly, with a fury that was never seen her before. Yajnyawalkya was called upon to do justice. In that self-same moment, he experienced the agitation of the woman who was wronged, and the penitence of the man who had caused the wrong. She was asking Yajnyawalkya to supersede the wrongdoer and dispense justice.
There was silence. It was not the silence that unites souls in love; it was the silence that divides one's own Self. It was the silence that does not let you move or touch the other.
The anguish of her wounded pride had leapt up like a sacrificial fire and was demanding its oblation. It was the ever recurring reminder to Man that he cannot meet Brahma : the Absolute and the Ultimate, before he embraces Woman, and let the fire in her annihilate him.
Maitreyi's voice dived low after that brief respite. Her fury subsided; she spoke, trying to get back her certitude. She did not know who was speaking, what, and to whom.
"I am insatiable, Yajnyawalkya, your wife is insatiable. She is thirsty. You may deluge her with wealth; she cannot be quenched. Do not ask her what she wants. She knows not what she wants. Her demands are ancient, as ancient as this earth. You were afraid to explore her land, afraid that the earth would take all of you unto herself. You are standing before me today, thinking that you have fulfilled yourself. You do not need to declare to the world how true you are. You have spurned the wealth which the world offered to you. Now that you have delivered your burden at my feet, you think you are free to walk out on me and the world, covered in ashes and absorbed in yourself.! I am not a devotee asking her God for grace. I am your very own Self, your incomplete Self, asking you to give her what she lacks: she wants her share in your knowledge of yourself. She knows not her Self without you."
To be contd.
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