The Clan of Bhargava (Part 3)

37. The Final Stone

Music For The Chapter: Tu Mileya by Darshan Raval

The vimana then took us from Kurukshetra to Satara within a few minutes. I had to be super glad for the wonderful and superfast Vimanas that were created.

Satara, the district was historic. Chhatrapati Shahu ji had his capital here in Satara in 16th Century. It was the seat of Maratha since 1701, it was the seat of Maratha Empire. It was named so after the seven forts which surrounded the city. It is in Satara District that the River Krishna emerged. Bhuinj was around 20 km from Satara city. It was a small city on the banks of River Krishna.

The River of Krishna emerged from Mahabaleshwar, from the middle of the Western Ghats. Ages ago in a different Manavantara, the one of Caksuka Manavantara, the 6th Manavantara, Brahmaa was performing a yagya. Devi Savitri, his wife, was taking extremely long to arrive at the yagya and take a seat next to him as the wife of Yajamana. Hence, Brahmaa created a new wife, Gayatri, and made her sit next to him. When Devi Savitri returned, she was enraged. She cursed Vishnu and Siva to become rivers. Hence, Vishnu became the River Krishna and Siva became the River Venna. The two rivers meet down at Sangam Mahuli in Satara district. Both Krishna and Venna have their source in Mahabaleshwar.

Reaching Bhuinj, we stopped at the bank of the river. All of us decided to take the honor bath in the river. Taking off our shoes and leaving our bags at the beach. With the three stones we had managed to get, we took the bath.

When the stones were emersed in the waters of Krishna, they began to glow brightly. It showed its glorious form. Each stone glowed in a specific color and then fell silent.

Orange saree with red borders and ornaments made from tulsi beads. Long hair was tied in a bun to the side. Her eyes were starkly decorated with kohl and her hands and fed with mahawari. When Nanashree Bhrigu entered the Krishna River, he saw the figure dip into the river. He came up and looked at her in surprise.

"Maa?" He asked.

"Sometimes men often see their mothers in their daughters. That brings me to the question, are you associating me with Devi Savitri or Devi Vaaruni?" She asked.

Bhargavi was there next to him. She wasn't the Goddess Mahalakshmi who had gotten angry with him.

"Like this? Wouldn't my daughter be the Queen of Vaikuntha or Venkatdri?"

She laughed, "Remember lesson 4? When you seem to be extremely angry seek solace in tapasya and introspect about it. Sometimes the introspection itself will tell us the solution to our anger. I suppose I should be doing that. Secondly, my Swami has forgone his luxuries and indulged in tapasya. It would suit a loyal wife to enjoy royalties when her husband is doing hard penance."

"I do not understand what got into me. Pride has always gotten the better of me. I never wished to offend you or Swami."

"Why dwell in the past now?"

"How can I take Samadhi without emptying my mind from the guilt?"

"You got angry. I got angry. We're equal now, Pitashree. I should have followed my husband's behavior and kept my own temper in check. Swami and I were almost having an argument when you arrived and all that got converted into anger. He was saying that during Kaliyuga, he had to find a way to help all the humans. Kaliyuga has the most horrific effects on people. As a result, they would suffer terribly in their lives. All the Rishis are leaving for Satyaloka and hence there is no one to relive the horrible karma through curses. So, life after life they will suffer the effect of their karma. So, he was going to take a form on earth. But he kept insisting that I go first and that he'll follow me." He chuckled thinking about it, "Something about trying to tell people to follow their wives when they give good advice. Something about telling them the importance of their wives and how to respect them. Srinivasa. He decided on the name himself. I thought he was jesting with me. He sometimes does that. So, I refused to be his little scheming partner. The argument went on about who would be going on Earth first. Then you came along in the fit of rage."

She closed her eyes and winced when she remember the moment and then her own temper. "That argument. He told me that it was only fair that he puts me above this time because, in every birth before, I had followed him while he focused on his dharma. I couldn't tolerate that someone had insulted my husband in my presence. The temper rose like the sudden rise of milk when placed on the fire to boil. The time to process the fact that you had been the one to act so wasn't there. I couldn't settle it. In the end, what he said came out to be true. I had left Vaikuntha first and he followed me down here."

She sighed.

"I am sorry." He apologized.

"It is okay. All is forgiven. If we do not forgive people, it will burn us more than it burns them. So, if I do not forgive you, I will burn far more than you. I don't want either of us to make each other miserable with pain and anger. My swami says that the presence of anger toward someone or guilt about something is also kind of a karmic debt. You're not going to find peace with this guilt burdening you."

I could tell that Maa wanted to tell me something.

We returned to the matha. The Samadhi was turned into a matha. Almost uncared for. A small temple was present there. Hardly people came there. Bhuinj was a small town. 7414 people were its complete population. It wasn't exactly a tourist location. Relatively silent.

There was no one at the small temple which was built in respect for the samadhi.

"Is someone there?" We called. No one answered. After a while of looking, an old man came there. Perhaps one of the oldest people in the town. He seemed to be just a passerby who just offered his respects there.

"Ajoba, mandiraache pujari naahi aahe kaa aaj?" I asked him. (Dadaji, is the pujari nahi here today?)

"Pujaari naahi. Konitari aato deep laavto ani phool arpit karto. Bas evadecha." (There is no pujari. Someone just comes lights the diya, and offers flowers. That's it.)

"Tumi jaanto ka te kon aahe?" (Do you know who that person is?)

"Naahi. Loka phakta bolto ki konitari ekaadi stri disti jii tyaani gavati yavapurvi kadhidhi paahili naahi." He said, "Lokat bolte ki tii deep lavato phul dete and adrisya hote. Tumi ithe paryatak hote kaa? Mi iti purva tumi sagle kadhichi paahile naahi. Tumchi marathi hi vegli aahe." (No. People just say that some woman is seen by them that they have never seen before in the village) (People say she light the diya, offers flowers and disappears. Are you a tourist here? I have never seen you all here before. Your Marathi is also sounding different.)

"Ho, Marathi maaji maatrubhasa naahi bas sikhlo." (Yes. Marathi is not my mother tongue. I just learned it)

He just laughed affectionately. "Tya anusaar, khub changlo. Pan koi pujaari naahi ithe." (By that standard it is very good. But there is no pujari here)

"Oh, thanks. Theek aahe." (Alright)

He then left after offering his respects. We kept looking for the stone. Sona focused on Muladhara Chakra hoping to catch the signals and find it.

"It should be outside." She said. She pointed to a tree, "There."

"There? It is a tree, Sona. The whole tree can't be the stone."

"I can't sense the stone exactly but just the location by large."

"Now, that is a problem because this stone is from Earth itself. We don't know what the stone looks like. There can be hundreds of stones. There has to be specificity." Harsh added.

All of us tried to find the stone all over the tree.

Stop looking for random stones. Look for a saligrama.

"Look for a Saligrama. It should be here. Saligramas are the only energized stone here." I instantly relayed the information my father gave me.

We all started looking for a Saligrama. There was one small cavity in the tree, Omkara pushed his hand in the tree, "Stop. I think I found it." He told us. "Someone clearly knew about the Saligrama because it had tulsi leaves. It still smells of fresh chandan."

"Some woman comes and does all this. The question is that if this Saligrama has been here then how come the asuras never found out?" I asked, confused.

Who could make all of this so inconspicuous to all the asuras? Why would they just easily ignore this woman often offering tulsi and other things to the Saligrama. We decided that it was already getting dark so we could just wait for the woman. She would come to offer the Samadhi flowers, light the lamp and do the needful prayer to the Saligrama.

When she arrived at the small temple of the Samadhi, I cursed myself for being silly. The moment the old man said that it was a rumor that a woman was taking care of it, we should have known. It couldn't be just some woman who knew the way to take care of the samadhi of a Rishi or the ritual behind maintaining a Saligrama.

Because it was maa offering the prayers to the Saligrama, they didn't doubt. It wasn't unnatural for her to be worshipping a Saligrama. Her own energy presence made it inconspicuous.The orange saree with red borders. Exactly as I had seen her in the memory. All of us offered our respects to her.

"May you all be victorious." She blessed.

"Maa..." The only gold in her possesion were the anklets, her mangalasutra, her nose-ring, and her wedding ring. She could be a tapasvini but it did not take away the regalness in her aura. The nauvari could be the simplest saree she had ever worn but it didn't manage to make her look normal. In the opposite, it re-instated the memory that she was still the Queen of Vaikuntha. She smiled at me. "I often forget how quickly time passes away on Earth. I feel like it had been just a while ago that you were born." She placed her hand on my head.

"Accept my devotion at your feet, Mata." Omkara bowed down to her, touching his head to her feet. She smiled. She put her hand on his head and smiled at him.

"Vijayi Bhava, Sandheya. I hope this earth treats you well." She said.

"Other than the fact that he hates earth, yes, we've been nice to him." Sona interjected. Omkara gave her a 'shut up right now or I will stab you' look.

"Nonsense, Maa. It's been wonderful." Omkara said with a smile. Regardless of the fact that she knew he didn't like the Earth much she smiled at him.

"I'm sure you'll grow the liking."

"Maa...." He started off with a little bit of hesitation.

"Omkara, isn't it best if you stay out of that? I know what you're going to say. But if he does want Sri to return, that's his job." She answered.

"Maa, what is his job and your job? You're both the same. You're him and he is you. Please forget all this fight, Maa. Isn't it normal that married people quarrel? How long will you stay angry? You stay angry at him but still you chant ashtakshari. You know he is waiting for you."

"Really? Why? Is he not busy with devotees? Is he not busy with Gopis still around him?"

"Maa, now you're being silly. You know that he loves you dearly and you're his pranapriya." "Consider this my innocence, Omkara," The sass in her tone almost had me burst out laughing, "But if his plan was to send you to convince me, I must say he has made better plans than there. This so far is the least interesting one."

"Maa, he didn't send me. I'm just trying to play the good child. You can't seriously say that he's never made you think that he misses you." Omkara was almost getting hyper now.

I tapped on his shoulder, "Just cool it down, Sandheya. Don't get wrapped up."

"But he's waiting for her....." Sandheya exclaimed.

"So is she, Sandheya. I think it is better if we leave them to their own thing. Let's not get in between." I added.

He sighed but gave up. I hugged Maa. She kissed my forehead, "I know you will do your best. Just remember that I'm always there with you." I nodded with a smile, "Now go and fulfill your destiny."

With that, we took our leave from her with the stone. That wasn't where the trouble stopped.