KRISHAVYAYAM

55. Sins And Saviour

"And then, the lord of Vaikuntha in the form of a boar extricated Vasudha who was fettered from the clutches of the odious Hiranyaksha!" The wife of Durvasa exclaimed, her eyes widening dramatically and comically as her 5 year old gaped at her, then grinning broadly in elation.

"Did he slay him then and protect the pious?"

"Of course he did, my girl!" Kandali beamed, tilting the carafe to pour water into the beauteous bougainville plants and blooms wrung around their lodging's frontier. The murky clouds gave way to the auburn rays once in a while, highlighting the ravishing and rustic settlement and their features bathed in the jubilance of ideal grihastha. "Shri Hari comes to everyone who'd call to him from the bottom of their heart. Prabhu wishes for nothing but the pure intentions of the saadhaka, and love. I am told he holds a perpetual thirst for love and when you offer him that, he's bound to get allured."

Dhruvika's chuberic countenance whisked to the murti of Shri Hari, which now stood tall and in all his grace amidst their courtyard bathed in the tepid rays of the sun which had risen from the lap of hummocks sometime ago. The dusky Avyukta and his Chaturbhuja form was too entrancing for each and every being who'd have halted by to take even a brief gander. Ayudhina traced the anklet designs punctiliously chiselled in the marble, the lotus feet of Narayana cupped between her tiny, delicate palms, "If I call him, will he come for me too Mata?"

"He will, Dhruvi, if you have unconditional ardour. Besides, Moksha is the last Purushartha and attaining the lord is one motive of the soul who comes in a human form." Maharshi Durvasa strided into the hermitage premises, a brass kamandalu clasped between his callous fingers adroit at tracing the rudraksha beads of the japamala. He possessed an astute flicker on his visage, his lips pulled up in a buoyant smile.

"But before that, make sure that your emotions are unadulterated. Moksha is a firm motive, and therefore only a few are able to strain themselves to it." His daughter managed to scurry to him in her lehenga and circled around him, her ears perking up in rapt attention as Durvasa then swung her in his arms. "The lord can be attained through numerous bhava. Vatsalya, Dasya, Sakhya, Shanta and Madhurya are some of the chief bhavas through which humans devote themselves to Shri Hari."

"Pitashree, why is he always standing? Won't he be drained?" The child loured, dangling her feet and pointing at Hari who was imperceptibly simpering at the little one.

Maharshi chortled in mirth, "It's just his murti, Laado."

"But Maa said it's a prānapratishthita mūrtī, which means the lord does reside here. Moreover, her narrations also state that there's no place he doesn't, Pitashree, and therefore if my bhava is pure, he is bound to stay where I do." The RishiKanya threw a lopsided grin to her parents, who seemed to be experiencing bitter-sweetness from the wonders of time, mulling if it were just the day before when they had held her hands and taught her how to take her initial steps. "Matashree, I want him."

"He's no toy, Dhruvi, you must win over his heart in order to get to him." Kandali chuckled teasingly before gingerly sauntering inside of their dwelling.

"I never said if I am going to rob him off from Svamini Shri." Dhruvika nonchalantly shrugged as her father barked out another voracious laugh in amusement. "Or maybe I will, who knows? I am pretty sure Maiyya would gladly let me have him someday! It's her mercy after all that we mortals get to know Aadi; she's a sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Aadi?" Maharshi Durvasa perked a brow, a shimmer of gaiety in his baritone as he crossed his legs under the vast banyan which seemed to have been leaning to bask in the bāla-līlā of a devotee.

"You said he asked me to call him Adhrit back when he named me, father. I decided the name was too big, and therefore I gave him a nickname!"

"Very well, and what does he address you as?"