Beauty and the Beast

17

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"No. I am very serious."

"Marry you? This is simply getting more and more silly. I am not in any state of mind to be the brunt of your pranks."

"I am not playing any pranks. I am extremely serious."

"Marrying you is enough to learn about Moksha?"

"You think I want to marry you to explain you about Moksha?"

"You just said it. I asked you what I should do in order to seem worthy and you answered with 'marry me'. So, obviously that is what you mean."

"It is path ahead. Not the requirement. As the daughter to your father, you have the duty to offer him the fortune to perform kanyadaana. As your father, he has the duty to bring a suitable husband for you."

"That my mother is already on. Every day she reminds me of people who came to her asking to marry me. I will at some point get married. But is it a specific requirement that I should marry you? A specific requirement for Moksha?"

He just stared at her. Was she playing jokes? Because he could feel that buried anger raising. He is usually always calm when she is before him but not really understanding if she was playing jokes or being serious was annoying him. The only one who could make him feel all the extremes of emotions he puts behind him.

"Who else will you marry? Stop being silly."

"Saami, ee samsaaram lo eno manushulu unnaru ga?" //In this samsaara, aren't there several humans?//

"Amma??" Garuda exclaimed and put a hand over her mouth. Then covered his ears. "Hari...Hari.." then walked towards her, whispering to her, "you will definitely make him angry like this. You are Amma. You can't even think of anyone but him."

"Yes, I know that. I'm very dedicated to learning about him but what does that have to do with marriage? So many sages spend all their lives just thinking about him. Narada Muni also always thinks of him. There is no other thought in his mind except 'Narayana... Narayana'. Like that, even I think about him all the time."

Of course, he should have known. She wouldn't just let him get away with roaring at her in that enraged moment. If he was Narayana then she was Lakshmi. His better half. This is how she chose to torture him. Why did he expect her to easily let him hold her hand?

"There is a difference in how Narada thinks of me all the time and how you would."

"How would you know there is a difference?"

"Because I'm there inside you. Just as you are inside me. Would you give your husband the same thought that you give to me?"

"Wouldn't I and every other jeeva be a part of you? Then how is the individual relationship be weighed against any relationship with you?"

His patience wearing thin. He sighed. She was surely testing how far she could push his temper.

"Chenchita, my request to you is because I wish to be your husband. I wish to hold your hand and always keep you next to me. I could tell you that I've always been your husband but you wouldn't remember. So, I want to be clear. I wish to marry you."

She started laughing. She actually thought he was playing with her.

"Amma... He is not joking..." Garuda slowly whispered to her but wasn't much of a whisper because Narasimha could hear it quite well.

Chenchita stopped laughing and gave a look. She blinked a few times. She stood up.

"You wish to marry me? A forest girl? A girl from the tribe which lives in forests?"