One afternoon in Kailash mountain, Parvati sat on a rock beside the river and stared into the horizon.
Shiv glanced at her and knew instantly what she was thinking. He stood behind her and slowly braided her hair, “What are you thinking, Parvati ji.?”
“Shiv ji, have you ever wondered what life outside Kailash is like in the twenty first century?”
“It is the same as before, moving in circles around the wheel of time. Life of chaos and calm, love and war, strength and meekness. The same duality you see here at Kailash.”
“I wonder how people live. What songs they sing? What dances they do?”
“Well, some live with dharma while others are at the mercy of karma. Some sing of praise while others - they complain. Some dance in rythm while others live their whole lives without hearing the beat.”
Parvati kept looking at the horizon. Shiv knew that his discouraging descriptions were not working.
Parvati stood up and turned to face Shiv, “I wish to see the life outside Kailash.”
Shiv smiled.
“You are always free to wander the world whenever you wish. Nandi is always at your service my love.”
“If I wanted to go alone, I would have. But I know, the whole Kailash will tremble with your tandav if I stay away for more than a minute.”
Shiv was a little shocked.
“More than a minute? Parvati, seeing a hundered years of human life will exhaust you.”
He breathed in and closed his eyes for a few seconds, “I thought you only wished to see life.”
“How can you really see something without experiencing it?”
“It will not be without human suffering.”
“When I have you on my side, human suffering will feel like pleasure too.”
“We will not remember our divinity either.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Also, isn’t the goal of human life to remember the divine within the soul?”
Shiv said nothing more. He knew Parvati had made up her mind and even he could not change it.
Parvati smiled and looked back at the horizon.
“O Shiva, bounder of kaal, would you like to be bound by time for one human lifetime with your beloved.”
Shiv stepped forward to stand beside her.
“Ji, daughter of the mountains.”
written by
Arsh Kaur
arsheverest.com
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