Moolshankar’s parents zeroed in on the suitable bride at last. Moolshankar was kept in the dark about his marriage because the parents were very apprehensive about the reaction of their unpredictable son. They hoped that they would trap the son in the marriage by surprise.
The date of the marriage got fixed and the preparation of the weeding began in earnest.
The women folk converged on the Karsanlal household and began singing the wedding songs. The singing disturbed the ever-scripture-studying Moolshankar.
He absent-mindedly guessed that may be, his sister was being married off. Some warning bell rang in the back of his mind reminding him that his sister was dead. There was no question of her marriage.
So???? Moolshankar got goose pimples.
Who else was there except him who could be married? In a panicky mood he enquired around and found out the truth. It was his marriage.
But he had no intention to be trapped in the wedding net. But the net had already been cast.
In desperation Moolshankar fled. As soon as it became known that the groom had disappeared the family got plunged in grief. All the festivities came to a sudden halt.
The father Karsanlal was feeling extremely embarrassed. It angered him.
He set out in furious mood to search out his son and give him a piece of his mind. He thought that the cowardly act of his son had damaged his reputation in the society gravely. Several other relatives were also hunting for Moolshankar.
But all the searches failed to retrieve the absconding groom.
Moolshankar had gone too far to be caught up with. Meanwhile the wandering explorer Moolshankar ran into a band of sadhus. The band consisted of tricksters who were going about in the sadhu guises. Poor Moolshankar had no idea about it.
He took them for genuine holymen and paid his obeisance to them.
“Where do you go, son?” the band leader asked.
“I am going to learn yoga meditation, baba,” the boy proudly informed.
“But you are all wrapped up in the worldly ties. How can you learn meditation which is for the ascetics who have renounced the world?”
“Baba, I have renounced the world.”
The band leader smiled and pointed at the apparel of Moolshankar saying, “I can’t believe it. You are wearing silk dress and a gold ring which is a living proof that you still are trapped in worldly desires and attachments.”
Moolshankar surveyed his ownself and felt embarrassed. He at once took off his gold ring and silk dress and surrendered them to the tricksters.
The phoney sadhus were sniggering. The band leader collected the loot with glee.
Then he said, “Son, now you are truly an ascetic. You will become an accomplished yogi. We bless you.”
The amused sadhus gave him a length of saffron cloth to wrap himself in. He was asked to go straight ahead.
Moolshankar followed the advice and marched on. After some journey he came across a hut that looked like the home of some holy man or a devotee. That hut infact belonged to a person named Santlal who was a devotee of some god.
Moolshankar requested him to take him into his fold. The devotee Santlal agreed. Moolshankar was rechristened ‘Shudh Chaitanya’ disciple of Santlal and the follower of whatever faith he subscribed to.
Santlal supplied him musical tong and a tambourine. Moolshankar was asked to sing prayers of a god santlal was devoted to. Thus, some time passed.
Soon, Moolshankar began to get disenchanted with the prayer singing exercise. It was getting him nowhere. There was no hope of finding the answers to the questions his mind was troubled with.
Then, he learnt that a fair was due to be held at a place called Sidhpur. The fair was supposed to be religion oriented where several holymen and yogis were to converge upon.
Moolshankar arrived at the fair.
On the way he had met an ascetic whom Moolshankar had met once before. The ascetic knew the story of Moolshankar who revealed to him what he had gone through after absconding from home to avoid the marriage.
The ascetic advised, “Moolshankar! Go back to your parents. Serve your father and the mother. That will be more sensible. You won’t achieve anything wandering around like this.”
Moolshankar said, “The earth is my mother and the sky is the father. This whole nature is my home. I can’t go anywhere. I know that the worldly attachments are traps to keep one away from the real spiritual knowledge. And I must find answers to the questions raised by my inner conscience to determine the aim of my life. I can’t quit my mission.”
“Alright,” the ascetic said in a resigned voice.
Moolshankar bade good bye to him. There was a distinct possibility that the ascetic might reveal to Karsanlal and his wife that their son was wandering around as a sadhu.
And it so happened. The ascetic went to Tankara village and told everyone that the prodigal son of Karsanlal had become a sadhu.
The news angered the father. He arrived at Sidhpur fair with some sepoys.
Meanwhile, Moolshankar alias Shudh Chaitanya settled in the temple of Sidhpur where a lot of other ascetics, sadhus, yogis and other types of godmen were also staying. All the godmen were busy in singing prayers when Pandit Karsanlal stormed in with sepoys. Moolshankar had seen his father arrive.
It shocked him.
Moolshankar was sitting among the praying holymen. He got up and touched the feet of his father who looked in a furious mood.
Karsanlal barked at his son, “So, you were wandering around and begging like a miserable alms seeker! Why do you have to do it to bring shame to the family? You can come home where you won’t have to beg for food. There still is time to own your mistake and mend your ways.”
Moolshankar said in a firm voice, “I have not been begging for food or have done anything to bring shame to the family. I am on a mission to seek the truth and the answers to the questions related to our lives and the death.”
It made no impression on the disgruntled father. He snatched the musical tong off the hands of his son and threw it away. Then, he grabbed his saffron rob and tore it to pieces in fury.
Moolshankar stood wrapped in utter embarrass-ment while the rest of the godmen watched in shock. Some of them were amused. Karsanlal declared to the world that the very next morning he would take his reclaimed son back home.
At night, everyone was fast asleep except Moolshankar who could not sleep due to the disturbing events that had overtaken him in the evening. He had been pondering over them and planning his future moves.
He rose up and slipped out of the temple. There was a huge peepal tree near by. He climbed up the tree and at a considerable height hid out of sight in the thick foliage.
In the morning when Karsanlal woke up he found his son missing. There was no trace of him. He set out in his son’s search accompanied by the sepoys.
They looked around all over but failed to spot Moolshankar who stayed holed up on the tree. Karsanlal at last gave up and returned to his home in defeat.
Moolshankar came down in the evening. He didn’t want to return to the mob of the sadhus. He feared that some sepoy of his father might be there lying in wait of him. And now somehow he had grown distrust for sadhus. They were not proving any help in his endeavour. No sadhu appeared to be capable of leading him into the right path.
To make the matters worse they were all blind worshippers of the idols Moolshankar no longer had any faith in.
He decided not to return to the sadhus.
So far Moolshankar had studied Sanskrit grammar and Vedic literature. He looked into those books for the information on the idol worship and its origin. He scanned the pages minutely but nowhere could he find any definite information on the subject. The origin of the idol worship had become a mystery for him.
Shopping Cart
