Gaadhi saw within the few
minutes inside the waters…
Gavala was now proud and
arrogant. His ego had bloated up enough to blind him to his own original
identity. He was becoming slightly careless in hiding the Chaandaala-ness from
others.
Once he was sitting alone in
his private chambers.
No one was around.
Gavala tired of all the heavy
attires he was forced to wear as a king, decided to remain as himself for some
time.
Eight years were a long span
of time.
There was no danger anymore
of losing his royal status.
He thought that nobody would
care any more. He was the king and nobody dare question him about his origin!
He removed all the gold and
diamond ornaments and also the shining royal garments. He wore some simple
garments.
He now was his own self, the
dark-hued Chaandaala.
Attired in a simple cloth,
his dark body shining like a moonless starless sky, he walked out of the room.
His heart felt light.
His life was settled. No more
will he suffer the tormented life of a Chaandaala. He will live as a king and
die as a king, enjoying every moment the pleasures of a royal status.
He smiled with contentment.
Slowly he descended down the
steps of the palace leading towards the servant quarters. His lifted his head
high proud and arrogant. All these lowly creatures will serve him like slaves.
Look at their misfortune living in the lowly courtyard waiting for his command
like dogs; whereas fate had favored him and lifted him high above them all and
placed him at the peak of the heaven as it were!
In the courtyard at the back
of the palace, the servants were grouped together as per their status and caste
differentiations.
Gavala smiled with a sadistic
contentment. He felt like walking among those lowly creatures and taste the joy
of being a Master to all of them.
Huddled in a corner of the
courtyard, a group of Chaandaalas were engaged in singing their own favorite
songs to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument. The sound was heavenly to
the Chaandaala king who was tired of the music played by the palace musicians.
He felt soothed by the melodious voice of the singer and inadvertently walked
towards the group.
Some old memories stirred
deep in his heart. He for a few moments forgot that he was enacting the king’s
role now and should not go near the low caste men at any cost. But nature
cannot be conquered by any one and the deceitful king was standing next to the
group of Chaandaalas who were enjoying their songs.
Suddenly an old man in the
group jumped up in joy. He was the leader of the group. He could see the king’s
face clearly now from that short distance and identified him as his old friend
Katanja.
He shouted excitedly-“Hey
Katanja!” and moved towards the king to embrace him. He felt that since his
friend was now the ruler, all the Chaandaalas will henceforward enjoy the
favors of the king and become rich. What a fortunate thing that one of his clan
has been parading as a king now! His joy
knew no bounds!
But to his amazement, the
king was moving away from that place very fast, angrily retorting to the
servant’s insolent behavior.
Gaadhi saw within the few
minutes inside the waters…
Poor Gavala!
He never expected the turn of
events that happened so fast!
He was shocked to see his old
friend getting up from the group and running towards him, shouting his original
name!
God forbid if any palace resident
found out his true identity! He quickly climbed up the stairs and entered the
safety of his private chambers, before the old Chaandaala servant messed up the
things further.
The surprised old man had
been held back and pushed back to his own corner by the angry guards.
Gavala sighed with relief in
the safety of his own room and smiled at the ladies who were supposed to
decorate him with garlands and ornaments. But nobody moved. They all stood like
statues and stared at him defiantly. Their faces were flushed as if they had
been shocked by some untoward event.
Why won’t they be?!
When the king had walked out
of his private chambers without any decorations, the girls had felt curious and
observed his actions from the window. They had seen how he was lured by the
music of the Chaandaalas; how he had stood there enjoying their songs; how one
old man had jumped up in excitement and had recognized the king as his old
friend etc etc.
Now they knew the secret of
the king’s origin.
They were disgusted; horrified;
shocked; grieved!
The word spread like wild
fire.
Their king was a Chaandaala!
All these days, all these
years they were ruled by a Chaandaala!
They had touched him;
worshipped him; adored him; obeyed him!
Oof!
Every citizen, every man and
woman felt that they had committed an enormous sin!
All the ministers felt that
they were deceived by a low-caste idiot and felt foolish!
Gaadhi saw within the few
minutes inside the waters…
Gavala tried to say
something; no one listened!
He cried, pleaded; no one
bothered!
He stood with his black body
bereft of all decorations alone in the middle of the room bearing the
humiliating look from one and all. Even the servants looked at him with disgust
as if he was a corpse placed in the palace.
The women folk cried and wept
disgusted with their own bodies which had contacted the Chaandaala.
No one wanted to live
anymore. The whole city was polluted. They could never ever perform any
auspicious act after this. There was no use in holding on to a life where the
four-fold goals of life could not be pursued!
All of them held a meeting
and the decision was reached that death alone could atone their sin of living
in the contact of a Chaandaala.
Huge fires were lit
everywhere.
Men, women, children all
entered the fire weeping and screaming!
Soon the whole city turned
into ashes!
Smell of the burning flesh
filled the quarters.
Gavala stood there watching
all that happened.
He was shocked by the fact
that he had been the cause of all these deaths.
His heart burnt with remorse.
He felt that he had no right
to live any more. He was a sinner and he deserved death! He walked into the
blazing flames.
He withered in pain as the
flames slowly engulfed his whole body and turned it into ashes.
Gaadhi woke up crying in pain
inside the waters of the lake!
Gaadhi woke up. He was not
burning in fire as he had imagined. There was cold water all around him, above
and below. He slowly came out of the water and collapsed on the bank exhausted
and confused.
For a moment he wondered who
he was. Then slowly all the things came back to his mind. He remembered that he
was Gaadhi the Brahmin who was
having his holy dip in the
lake. Then what had he experienced, he wondered.
A life as a Chaandaala? The
lowly beings who ate raw flesh of animals and lived in a state worse than the
animals?
He felt disgusted that he had
even in imagination had become a Chaandaala. He took bath again and walked back
to the hermitage.
Though the
Chaandaala-experience was a vivid experience of his mind, he brushed it away as
a stupid imagination of his mind. Or he might have had fainted inside the
waters for a few minutes and dreamed it all.
Good that it was just a
dream!
Feeling relieved that he was
still Gaadhi the Brahmin of esteemed character, he slowly treaded his way back
to the hut.
But his mind would not rest.
The experience of a life-time
of a Chaandaala was not just a dream, he thought.
But why such an experience?
Who was that Gaadhi who died
in his dream-like life? Who were there sitting as his mother and wife?
His actual parents had died
when he was very young; and he for sure had no wife to speak of. He did not
even glance at a woman in his celibate life of the Brahmin.
Then who were all those
relatives crying for the dead Gaadhi?
All his relatives, if he had
any, lived very far in different countries.
He didn’t even know them!
And why was he born as a
Chaandaala?
After performing penance for
so long, and after having the vision of Lord Vishnu, what demerit gave him such
an experience?
Gaadhi’s mind was troubled by
the whole thing.
He decided to forget all of
it like a distasteful nightmare and continue to live the routine life of
worship and fire-rites.
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