Thursday, June 26, 2008

BHARAVI- A REPENTENT YET WORTHY SON

PART--2

Luckily Srikantha Sarma entered the house from the back door of the house and entered the kitchen; his wife was there waiting for his son and husband to come. She did not know of Bharavi’s arrival and his evil design and his preparation. Srikanth Sarma shivered with joy and shouted aloud with happiness;

“Oh! Dear Managla Gouri ! I am very very happy today. Our son has been crowned as Maha-Kavi-Chakravarthi(Emperoro of great poets & writers) today. He deserves that honour; I am proud of him. The fruits of our good deeds (Punyam) over the past 9 births was born to us as this son. May he live for a thousand years! I feared his longevity would decrease when all the elders and the king praised our boy profusely. So I told them modestly that it was their kindness and affection that made him great; he was young and immature. I do not mean it. But I talked only to ensure their / our praise should not affect his longevity. He is an invaluable jewel of our family. He is the son far far greater than his parents; I am very proud of him. Let us celebrate this great honour to our great son tomorrow on the Vijaya Dasami day with pomp and gaity. By the by, I have not seen the boy; he left well before I left the king’s court hall. You give him Harathi and welcome into the home; I shall recite manthras (sanskrit-verses) of blessings and bring him into our home. Make preparations soon. I shall stand at the main door and wait for him and invite him into the house.”

Bhaarvi heard what all his father told his mother. He realized his great mistake and misunderstanding. He repented his behviour and preparations to kill him. He threw the iron rod out on to the road; he rushed to his father and fell on his feet weeping. His parents were bewildered not knowing what happened and why their son was weeping. His father recovered first, lifted his son up embraced him and kissed him on the brow profusely. Both the parents expressed their joy and offered Harathi and verses of blessings. All the time Bhaaravi was weeping. Finally the asked him why he was weeping; actually he must be happy of the honour he received in the king’s court an hour earlier.

Bhaaravi told them of his misunderstanding his father’s speech in the royal court; how his anger killed his love and respect to his father; how he wanted to kill his father with an iron rod; & how he hid behind the main door. God was kind and his father entered the home by back door and entered the kitchen first and talked of his real pleasure to his mother. He understood the real love of his father and repented his evil design. He begged his father to punish him severely for this evil plan to kill him.

His parents were first shocked; but ; slowly recovered. They pardoned him whole-heartedly with immense love and affection. But Bhaaravi insisted that a suitable punishment must be given to him. He refused to take food and water unless and until he is given proper punishment. At last his father yielded to his son’s pressure. Alright you asked for it; please do not commit suicide if you feel the punishment is unbearable. If you feel it is unbearable, leave it and come home. If you promise to abide by this condition, then only I tell you the punishment. Bhaaravi agreed. His father, Srikanth Sarma told the punishment; “ You go to your father-in-law’s house three days before Divali festival; you stay there for one month (30 days).Do not act in haste in an unthoughtful manner there; suffer the punishment with patience and come home after conveying your thanks to their family for all their treatment during that one month. Do not tell them about this punishment or your long-stay there. Keep silent and take the treatment they give with coolness and rectitude.” Bhaaravi and his mother, both were surprised. Bhaaravi’s father-in-law was the elder brother of Smt. Managala Gouri, mother of Bhaaravi. She knew his brother and all his family loved and respected Bhaarvi and his family very much. The mother and son felt Sarma fooled them. But due to the love, respect & trust they had to Srikanth Sarma, the mother and son did not say anything against. After hearing the punishment, Bhaaravi felt relieved & took his dinner and rested for night. The next day the entire family celebrated Vijaya Dasami festival with pomp and gait to mark the great honor bestowed on Bhaaravi.

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