The Stage for Revealing the Secret of Past Life
In the previous part:
After Kusuma’s (the Prince's) departure, a mysterious drama troupe arrived in Chandangarh. At the curiosity of Princess Suvarna and the insistence of her companions, a special play was organized in the palace courtyard. The Prince, in the guise of a 'Dholi' (drummer/narrator), appeared on stage and declared that the play was based on his own dreams.
🥀°°°°🥀°°°°🥀°°°°🥀°°°°🥀
The staging of the play began on the stage. First of all, the Prince, in the guise of a 'Dholi' in simple attire, appeared on the stage and, setting the stage for the play, said, "So, audience! This play is not based on any heard folk tale, but on those mysterious dreams of mine that often make me restless. This is the saga of that spiritual sacrifice of 'Gaura-Gauraiya' that I have seen repeatedly with my closed eyes. This is the first time I have dramatized my dreams and this is our first performance; therefore, I apologize in advance for any potential mistakes. I and my troupe are confident that this presentation will seem interesting, compelling, and surprising to you and will touch your heart."
Hearing the name 'Gaura-Gauraiya' and the Prince's mention of 'dreams', Princess Swarnaprabha was stunned. She was struck by a deep wonder—how was the secret truth of her past life alive in the dreams of this stranger artist? She began to listen to the play with extreme curiosity and restlessness.
Dhruvdev was playing the character of the 'Tree', who was connecting the links like a narrator in the middle of the story. Along with him, the Prince, as the Dholi, was reciting poetic lines in between. Along with the words of these two, other artists of the troupe, wearing appropriate costumes, were performing vivid acting.
The Dholi began his dialogue in the form of a verse:
"Listen, listen, King and Queen! Princess, listen to the story!
This story is very old, told to me by my grandmother! Listen to the story, listen to the story..."
The sweet sound of musical instruments resonated. Thereafter, Dhruvdev, as the tree, said:
"There was a forest, very old, no one came or went.
On my branch used to dwell, a very beautiful nest.
There was a Gaura, one Gauraiya, together sailing the boat of life.
Happily the children grew, both picked grains together.
When the children grew and flew away, they gladdened the parents' hearts."
Then the Dholi joined in: "A night of winter came, the westerly wind was very fearsome."
An artist appeared on stage as a 'Traveler' and began to act shivering with cold, sitting under the tree. Dhruvdev continued the story: "A miserable traveler came, struck by hunger and cold."
Now a dialogue took place between the characters playing Gaura and Gauraiya:
Gauraiya: "Look dear, a guest has come beneath our nest."
Gaura: "Yes dear, he seems extremely afflicted. The cold is tormenting him. You gather dry wood; I will arrange for the fire. Together we will alleviate his suffering."
The artists on stage depicted the scene of lighting a fire. Over there, seeing this, a stream of tears began to flow from the eyes of the Princess and the Royal Preceptor, yet they continued to watch the scene in silence.
Gauraiya spoke again: "The guest rejoiced in the warmth of the fire, but is miserable without food. Where shall we go in the dark night? How shall we quench the guest's hunger?"
Gaura said: "Dear, this night is very harsh. Listen to me, if I sacrifice myself in this fire, the hunger of the guest can be satiated by this insignificant body."
Gauraiya cried out in distress: "No... no, Master! How shall I live without you? How will the rest of my life be spent? It is better that I offer myself and quench the guest's hunger."
A touching scene of argument and counter-argument between the two was shown on stage.
Dhruvdev, as the tree, said in a heavy voice: "Today my shade weeps, the lover makes the sacrifice."
And suddenly, the artist playing Gaura jumped into the symbolic fire. The words of the Prince as the Dholi echoed: "And thus, that night, that Gaura realized the ideal of 'Atithi Devo Bhava' (The Guest is God) and proved sacrifice to be supreme instead of cowardice."
The noise of musical instruments increased, but then a thin yet heart-piercing scream of the Princess resonated: "Stop all this... stop it right now!"
She began to sob and cry. The companions and the Queen Mother rushed to handle her. Although the King, Queen, and the Royal Preceptor knew that this was a memory of the Princess's past life, the Princess had never acknowledged it herself until today. They were all perplexed as to how this secret had suddenly come before everyone in the form of a play.
Seeing the Princess extremely distressed and angry, the Queen Mother began to console her, "This is only a play, Suvarna! What is the need to be so disturbed by it, daughter? This is just a fictional story."
The Princess said while sobbing, "No, no Mother, this is not a fictional story... this is my own story! This is the same truth that I have not been able to tell you all until today."
Out of curiosity, the King called that 'Dholi' (the Prince) near and questioned him. The Prince claimed with great ease, "This is the saga of my past life, Maharaj; I am that 'Gaura'." Hearing this, the Princess became irritated and shouted, "You are speaking a lie! A complete lie!"
That person (the Prince) spoke with extreme humility, "Forgive me, Princess, but I am not speaking an untruth. I was that Gaura... I had jumped into the fire before the Gauraiya. I do not know whether she also sacrificed herself to the fire after me, or if she forgot me and started a new life."
The Princess's anger increased further, "Shut up! I do not believe a single word of yours."
The King, Queen, and all the people present were amazed by this strange dispute and sequence of events; only a mysterious smile was on the face of the Royal Preceptor.
Whispering began all around. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, the King instructed the companions to take the Princess inside the palace. He ordered the minister to arrange for the drama troupe to stay in a secure part of the palace itself, so that an appropriate decision could be taken on this matter.
'To be Continued..'
🥀°°°°🥀°°°°🥀°°°°🥀°°°°🥀
In the next part:
Is that 'Dholi' indeed Suvarna's lost 'Gaura'? Is the Princess's anger a sign of her disbelief or her fear that someone might be playing with her emotions? What future truth is the Royal Preceptor's mysterious smile hinting at?
✍️ From the pen of ‘Nishabd’
🖌️ Images created with the assistance of Gemini, ChatGPT, & Copilot
No comments:
Post a Comment