HARIHARESHWARI 13 : DVOU PADOU VRISHABHAH

CHAPTER 9

"Kaha hai woh dono Mayavini !" Bhairavnath was blazing in anger as he and his students looked around.

"Gurudev woh dekhiye !" A student of his pointed out, at Balashree who was standing with folded arms, mischievously smiling at them.

"Teri saath wali Kanya kaha hai !?" Bhairavnath asked.

"Woh toh uss oor gayi hai." Balashree said pointing towards a hill.

"Abhi use pakad lunga." Bhairavnath muttered looking at that direction before snapping his gaze back at Balashree, "Kintu yeh mat samajhna ki tu bach jayegi !" He said pointing his musical fire tongs at her.

"Dekhte hai." Balashree said.

"Ise pakad ke baandh do !" Bhairavnath ordered his students before running towards the hill.

The students of Bhairavnath tried to lunge at Balashree but she swiftly escaped and ran to the downwards direction.

"Ruk ! Ruk jaa Kanya !"

"Abhi baandhte hai tujhe ! Theher jaa !"

"Arrey mujhe Shri Ram nahi baandh paaye tum kya baandhoge ?" Balashree laughed and ran further down the hill.

On the upper side of the hill, with the heart of the untamed wilderness, Bhairavnath consumed by anger raced through the dense forest and rugged hills, his heart pounding with a mixture of fury and determination. Twisted branches and thorny bushes clawed at his clothes and threatened to hinder his progress, but he paid them no heed, his focus set solely on his pursuit.

After covering a distance, he saw Baal Vaishnavi.

"Ruk ! Ruk ja Mayavini !" He called out, but the child form of the goddess didn't listen and ran forward swiftly.

After a few moments, Baal Vaishnavi once again left Bhairavnath so behind that he had to rely on his guess as to in which direction she went.

Reaching on top of the hill, the goddess heard someone chanting a mantra.

"Om aim hrim klim Chamundaye vicchey."

She went towards the direction where the recitation was coming from. There she saw a sage, sitting in deep meditation.

"Baba ! Baba !" She called.

The sage opened his eyes, seeing a little girl of divine radiance here at a barren place like this, looking like an afraid deer, he got bewildered.

"Kaun ho tum balikey ? Aur itni bhayebhit kyu ho ?" He asked.

"Baba, ek dusht Bhairav mere praano ke piche pada hai. Kripiya mujhe kahi chhupa do." She said.

The sage knew that she was more than what meets the eye, he looked around but there was no place for him to hide her, except one.

"Yaha uss chhoti gufa ke alawa koi sthaan nahi hai." He said.

"Koi baat nahi. Mai waha chhup jayungi." She said.

"Balikey, uss gufa mei shwas lena bhi kathin hai. Tum kaise rahogi waha ?" He asked concernedly.

"Jaise ek shishu 9 mahine apni Mata ke garbh mei rehta hai." She said with a smile.

And without wasting a moment, she rushed towards the small den and crawled inside. The sage once again closed his eyes and went back to meditation.

"Om aim hrim klim Chamundaye vicchey." He began chanting.

Soon Bhairavnath came, he looked around the place. He could sense a divine presence here.

"Samadhi se uth !" He said to the sage.

But the sage didn't open his eyes, for he was lost in deep meditation. But Bhairavnath was running out of patience. He raised his tongs and struck the sage on his back.