Timeless - Collection of Indian Short Stories

THE UNWAVERING PURPOSE

The world as we know, was still being formed.

The mountains, the hills and the rivers were coming alive. The world was fresh and new. Humans were far and few. The living were only capable of day-to-day survival. Some of them had discovered farming, but the lack of huge water resources made it a difficult exercise, forcing them to hunt and gather instead.

Amarkantak was the King of a small hill range in central India. After many years of penance, he was blessed with Narmada, a pious stream that flowed from his tallest peak.

Being his only child, Narmada was brought up with the utmost care. At the center of affections, she grew up to be free spirited and bright, but also most adventurous. She loved to wander among the hills, and watch the golden sun rising in the early hours of the morning. She carried seeds around in her spare time, disbursing them along her course, founding woodlands, covering her path in blooming flowers and sweet fruits.

When left unattended, she would flow down to the base of the hill and wander to unknown territories. Her entire Kingdom would then go looking for her and remain in anxiety until she was found.

Tired of her frequent escapades, the King forbade her to go beyond the premises of the Kingdom, rising a small boundary wall to keep her in check.

Though restricted, Narmada continued to receive the best in education and bounty. She grew up to be a gorgeous young lady with pale pebble skin and blue hair the likes of corals. Her eyes were as black as the fertile river bed, always thirsting for knowledge.

On her sixteenth birthday, the King let her venture outside the palace gate guarded by his huge eagle infantry called Garuda.

Thrilled by her father's gift, Narmada wore her best pearl silk with soft pearl earings, and ventured out into the world. But no farther than she had gone a few miles beyond the foothills, than harsh sharp stones began to scratch and bruise her skin.

"Ouch!" she screamed in pain. "I think I have had enough for the day. Let us go back home."

The watchful Garudas dutifully obeyed her.

Narmada soon became adept at all the Vedas. She was also very generous in nature, providing water to all she crossed. The King asked her what use she wanted to make of her life, since duty was the only way to attain enlightenment.

"Father, I would like to quench the thirst of all in the Kingdom," she stated.

"As you wish my dearest," was his prompt reply.

And so Narmada went about quenching everyone's thirst. Within a few years, she grew magnanimous, outgrowing the length and breadth of the protected boundary.

She now needed a bigger purpose. And so she meandered outside her home little into the woods, and decided to help the vegetation survive there.

Very soon she outgrew that as well, her strong currents craving for more. She then decided to help the humans at the bottom of the hills to set up a farm.

Very soon that task was accomplished too. The woods were green, thick with new leaves, sweet fruits hanging heavy on their branches. The humans gained expertise in growing staple crops, reducing their reliance on animal food.

Narmada, however, was soon left purposeless. She wandered along the hills, searching for something new to do. Each time she found a new goal, she worked towards it, and soon there was nothing left to be done. The cycle repeated endlessly and so disheartened, she took refuge in a cave.

As she explored the darkness, she was dazzled by a strange lumination emanating from the heart of it. Curious, she followed the light only to find it emanating from a cross legged sage.

The gurus radiant face shone in it's own light, his body bare except for the ascetic robes draped loosely around his muscles. It didn't take Narmada long to realize the great Hanuman meditating before her!

Unsure if she should awaken his meditative trance, she bowed low with folded hands, and began to flow at his feet, waiting for him to awaken.

"Please dont touch my feet mother," the figure stood up instantly.

The voice filled Narmada with the calmness she seeked.

"Dear Lord, I am grateful to witness your presence. What brings you here in these lonely hills, when there are hundreds who would want to be near you?"

"It is not the crowd that I crave, princess of the hills, but my solitude that helps me inch closer to my purpose."

"But is it not the world that helps us realize what we need to do?" she earnestly questioned.

With a faint smile, the great warrior proceeded to sit back in his earlier pose. "Oh, pious river, I have lived a thousand lives. My body changed each time, but the Atman inside of me remains indestructible. Unlike my decayable body, my Atman has a purpose, that it serves in every life. My body may have changed, but my purpose stays on, guiding my Atman in every birth through death, to fulfill its duty."

"And what dear Lord, is the purpose of the son of the wind and redeemer of obstacles?"

Folding his hands, the divine being replied, "To attain liberation through worship of Lord Ram."

Confused, Narmada questioned, "Dear Lord, I, however am a river. I am always restless, and cannot be still. How therefore, can I worship the divine?"

"That itself is your worship, river goddess. Channel the flow of your energy and you shall find your purpose," saying this, he bowed low, returning back to his prior meditative trance.

Narmada, touched by this divine experience, left in a reflective mood. She thought hard to discover the one true purpose of her own life, that would remain attached to her Atman forever.

After an entire night of reflection, she went to meet the King. When the early morning rays were turning the hills gold, she spoke, "Dear father, I thank you for all the love that you have bestowed on me. I'm forever indebted to you. However, I now wish to fulfill my life's purpose."

The King was surprisingly pleased. "And what is that my dearest?"

"To devote my life to Mother Earth and to flow until the end of time", she spoke with resolve.

"As you wish my dearest."

And so Narmada embarked on a perilous journey, with courage to leave her Kingdom's watchful eyes. She bruised herself from sharp stones a million times along her path. At times she got tired and sore, and even bled blue. But she swam and swam, till she met the ocean, traversing back to land through the clouds.

Through forests, slopes, deep dives and falls, she flowed and flowed, bringing water to all.

Flowing endlessly, she left behind her valuables, her home and her known life, to serve mother earth, the purpose that would be attached to her Atman for eons to come.

Her one true purpose for all her lives.