Oh Mother!

By Tribhuwan N. Bhan

Long ago, on reading the article by Kiran Dhar in the Times of India, I was too overwhelmed by the spiritual content of the article. Thinking deeply about the same lulled me to sleep. As I dozed off, the vision of Maa Ragnya of Kheerbhawani appeared to me.

Her visage had a divine radiance. Her penetrating gaze benumbed me. She sat on her throne with one hand raised, to bless me. "Oh Mother, you are blessing me at this moment, but why did you take away from me, in my childhood, the greatest blessing a child has? That blessing is his mother. My mother was in the prime of her youth. Not only that, you also took away my two sisters from me who were in their infancy. Why so revered Mother?" I questioned the divine Mother thus. The glow on Mother Ragnya's face was even more radiant when she said, "My child, your mother was a very delicate being having a sensitive mind, she could not stand all the agonies which she had to undergo at the hands of people around her. I could see she was withering away within herself and turning death pale as she became consumptive. Besides she was surrounded by callous indifference and not by compassion, an ailing person deserved. By taking her away from this cesspool of brazen hypocrisy, I took her to ELYSIUM a better place than planet earth. Over there, peace is overflowing. No doubt I took away your two sisters also, but at the time of their birth, your mother had to hear deplorable and derogatory comments from people with wagging tongues. All these years, they have been looked after with care and concern by people who care for them. They are with you once again in different form only, but not different otherwise. Inculcate in them a feeling of belonging and security. Look beyond and see yonder are the fields of light! Traverse to the edge of these fields.

There you will see a spring of the purest water. As I walked at the bidding of Mother, I realised, I was walking alone in those fields. My strides became faster but I did not feel weary at all. As I reached the outskirts of this field of light, I found myself standing at the edge of a spring, from its midst rose the apparition of my mother dressed in a blushing bride's attire wearing shining jewellery and all. Wondering with amazement at this dazzling sight, I could see two cruel hands approaching my mother from behind and taking away her jewellery piece by piece.

My mother did not protest. She allowed unscrupulous people to take advantage of her and deprive her of whatever she had. Ultimately, she stood there denuded of the jewellery she had worn as a bride. But now she stood without her radiance. Close by a dwelling was coming up, a haven for its inmates. I could see my mother bidding me adieu and floating away from me on the waters of the spring, like a swan in a lake.

Later on I kept on wishing if I could revive within me the divine image of Ma Ragnya, the sight of those fields of light, that celestial spring, that vision of the apparition of my mother! No, I could not revive all that. My wish remains unfulfilled till this day. But that episode has left an indelible imprint on my thoughts, which time cannot erase!

Source: Har-Van