GANGA : The Arrow of Destiny

Karma

Tell me child, what is it that you dream? What do you see?  I have all the time in the world, but my eyes cannot see beyond your gaze.   What has mother shown you? What has she decided? 

There seated under a neem tree, Akash awoke from his vivid dream.  The night sky was dotted with a sea of twinkling stars. Blades of grass swayed back and forth, in a mild summer breeze. Light from a full moon danced across this seemingly endless landscape, highlighting every large or small hill into the foreseeable distance.  The calmness of the night masked an otherwise tortured soul.

Gathering what little strength remained; Akash peered back in the direction from which he came, making sure that he wasn't followed. Having meandered along the banks of the Saraswati river from Mount Abu, for the past few days, Akash allowed himself to believe that his burden would soon be over. The voice within his head would soon leave as well.

It was but a few days back, he was living a carefree life of a pupil at his Master's ashram.  Thoughts of his kind sage came flooding into his head. His Master had plucked him from the streets and begun to mold him into something worth saving. He sat alongside the children of kings and noblemen.  Students from distant lands came to learn from his well of knowledge. What kings handsomely paid for, he received freely;  that too with a tender smile. Who couldn't love someone so generous as his teacher, so giving, yet asking for nothing in return.

Suddenly a deep sadness overcame him; his hands began to quiver in his lap. Thinking of his kind Master made the betrayal that much deeper. There was no return or forgiveness for what he had done. His body and mind was no longer his, they belonged to the booming voice in his head, pushing him to his demise.

Remembering what he had taken, Akash reached for the object tucked at the small of his back, right below his saffron colored tunic. He knew he had but a few more miles to go before he could free himself of this burden.

Akash couldn't have been a day over fifteen.  However, the last few days had taken the life out of him.  His eyes had sunk into his head, glazed as if the sparkle of youth had been ripped out of him.  His hands had become unsteady like that of an elderly man, and his stomach never missed an opportunity to remind him of his ever growing hunger. Daylight was but an hour away and his instructions were to reach the shrine before dawn.

Having gathered his last bit of strength, Akash began his final dash towards a small shrine in the distance. As he began to race through the fields trying to beat the rising sun, a loud familiar voice boomed across the plain.

"AKAAAASH!"

Upon hearing his name, the boy instantly froze! His body began to tremble in fear! As suddenly as he heard the voice, he saw a figure appear out of thin air, hovering a few feet above the ground where boy had fallen to his knees. The man was garbed in a saffron robe, with the edges fluttering in the wind. His head was filled with long snow white hair, carefully tufted into a tight round bun, held in place with rosary of beads. His face also wore a clean white beard and a regal mustache like kings would often keep. His hands were crossed in front of his chest, and his eyes were fixed upon the boy on the ground.

"It took me a while to find you, but here we are! Please tell me, what the children say about you isn't true, and all this is a sad silly joke you've decided to play!" 

Akash, didn't have the strength to speak, nor the courage to look him in his eyes.

"Akash, I'm asking you!  Have you taken the arrow?"

Akash could only smatter.

"Ma-ma-ma-ster, ah-a I." 

The sun had begun to creep above the valley, and Master Vashishta's saffron robes burned brightly in the boy's eyes.