The Light Beckons

The Stories of Nammaazhvaar and Madhura Kavi

- LAKSHMI DEVNATH

Poorva saw a man walking, his total concentration focused on a bright light moving ahead of him in the skies. His gait suggested that he was intent on keeping it within sight. The light continued to travel. So did the man. As time passed, Poorva’s excitement turned into boredom. “Monotony sure doesn’t suit me,” she muttered. “This reminds me of the old movies shown on TV, where the same scene goes on and on.”

She had barely finished complaining, when the man stopped in front of a tree. Sitting in deep meditation beneath it was a young boy. His face was exceptionally luminous. The man had arrived at the source of the light. He stared at the boy with awe and reverence.

Equally astonished, Poorva questioned the Swami, “Who is this boy?” Before he could answer, she gazed at the tree and declared, “Wait a minute … This is the same tree under which the couple had left their baby. But there’s no baby … hello, is there anything here that adds up?”

“Allow me to sum it up,” the Swami said with his characteristic simplicity. “That boy is Maaran. He is now sixteen years of age.”

“Oh yeah, the same radiance … what? He’s sixteen! What happened in between?”