We had celebrated Aai's seventy fifth birthday. One of the decorations was with seventy five diyas. That Tripuri Pournima, I decided to use these to light up the Shiva temple in a lane nearby. Of course, proper permissions were taken, and all.
I had to make some three trips there to make all the arrangements perfect. Then I took Aai there, and lit up each diya. The entire marble premises were bathed in light, of the diyas and the moonlight. So was her face, filled with literally divine delight, a memory I shall never ever forget.
Actually, Tripuri pournima ends the Tulasi Vivah period. One of my students once invited me for the ceremony. Indeed it is cute. I find the legend behind the ritual fascinating. It is a story of dedication and devotion.
In a way, the myth is rather like Ahilya's, with a few distant echoes of Savitri. Vrinda, the wife of the demon king Jalandhar, is such a dedicated better half that her piety, purity and devotion make him invincible. That gets gods in to trouble.
Apparently, to defeat him, the only way is to deceive her. It seems Vishnu approaches her, disguised as her husband. Being genuine herself, Vrinda never suspects anything. Immediately though, Jalandhar is defeated. As she thus realises the deception, she curses the Lord that he would become a stone. Hence the shaligram.
The Tulasi Vivah, the period with which begin the auspicious days for all such happy occasions as maunjibandhan and marriages, is a tribute to Vrinda's devotion. Why the Tulasi, the holy basil plant?
It seems when Lord Vishnu had churned the Ksheer Sagar to get amrut, he shed happy tears when he finally got it. One such tear fell in to the making of the basil plant, the Tulasi who took pity on the lonely shaligram. The Lord was pleased with her dedication and devotion. To mark these, it seems, is celebrated the ceremony.
What could be the relevance of such stories in the twenty first century when even feminism is shallowly considered passe in an era defined by individuated spaces in every sphere? May be, they echo the need for bonds that are currently getting thin and fragile? May be, the legends remind us that dedication and devotion in a relationship by each partner results in a happy togetherness? May be, it is a reminder that we are not, should not be islands, and that every bell that tolls talks to each of us, to quote John Donne.
Pratima@ Actually, this evening I attended a concert in which a talented young artist, Dr. Shantanu Gokhale, literally made the entire audience devoted and dedicated to a difficult instrument, the santoor. As he introduced the audience to a raga not much known, the memory of the concert, a pournima of sura and taal, would long linger in the memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment