Shantavana and Gyanwati were now very excited and enthusiastic having learnt the way to beget a son. They made preparations at once to leave for Naimish forest for twelve years. They did not want to waste any time.
With only essential items Shantavana and Gyanwati set out on their 12 year mission. The atmosphere at Naimish forest was very peaceful and conducive for spiritual exercises. It was cool inside the forest as the ground was shielded by trees cover from the sun rays. Cool breeze often kept blowing. Air was fragrant. On the branches of trees colourful birds perched and chirped encouragingly. Wild creature frolicked and gambolled around merrily. Green carpet of grass covered most of the ground. It was so soothing and spiritually uplifting. The penance makers Shantavana and Gyanwati got in peaceful mood. A spiritual mindset was building up in them.
In that spirit they scouted the forest enjoying the nature’s beauty and looking for spots for individual penance making. They needed a secluded spot. The spot would be their penance making venue and amidst greenery they could make their temporary abodes.
Shantavana spotted a big rock with flat big platfrom on the upperside. The rock platform was 4-5 feet above ground. Nature had created it just for penance makers for meditational exercises. He pointed at the rock platfrom and said, “Dear! How do you like that for our spiritual exercise?”
“Very fine, my master!” Gyanwati squealed in delight, “It is just made for penance makers like us. The scene all around is also beautiful.”
“Then we shall do our penance exercise here. There is plantation nearby with good cover and shade. It will be our resting place and abode.”
“I agree with you. We won’t find a better place than this. Creator himself would be delighted to see it.”
Having decided Shantavana and Gyanwati made the shady spot under plantation their abode. Now they prayed to Lord Brahma entire day sitting on the rock platform and would retire to their green abode at sunset. They rested after evening prayers.
For food they depended upon wild fruits and edible roots. Thus, they continued that spiritual regime religiously with single minded devotion. The days began to pass. Soon they fell into that routine so faithfully that they forgot about all the other realities of the world like spiritual robots they had become.
The time went by. Shantavana and Gyanwati endured the cold of the winter, heat of the summer and rains of the monsoon. Nothing could deter them. The seasons changed. The problems of the change of season did not worry them. Infact, it gave them joy because they signified another season gone from the 12 years seasonal cycle. The two penance makers no more worried about their physical state. Their only endeavour was to keep up their penance making regime without any fault or error. They were very conscious about that.
In that way 11 years went by. A few months of 12th year had also passed. Their meditation regime contiuned. Spiritually and mentally they were becoming more and more focussed and felt devotion vibes seep into their frail bodies. The two were getting closer.
One day, when they were incanting mantra of Creator ‘Om Brahmaya Namah’ they felt sudden change in environment around. A divine fragrance had begun to scent the air. Delighted penance makers inhaled deeply to fill their lungs with that divine air. If felt heaven and the feeling intensified.
Shantavana and Gyanwati completed the meditation exercise and opened their eyes. They looked at each other to find out if the partner too had experienced that divine fragrance. One look told them that the experience was real and common. No words they spoke. On that day they did not feel like getting up. They wanted to savour the experience as long as they could.
Shantavana and Gyanwati again closed their eyes and began incantation.
Very soon they felt as if the air around trees and plants were echoing the incantation of Om Brahmaya Namah. The birds fluttered, the leaves rustled and the clouds rumbled sounding Om Brahmaya Namah. Everything seemed to be incanting the same mantra.
Shantavana and Gyanwati were going through a divine experience of the nature around becoming part of their exercise. Nothing could break that spell. Every cell of their bodies was echoing the Brahma mantra. The incantation had gained a melodious touch.
Suddenly the entire area lit up with a divine glow. The penance makers even with eyes shut could feel the light. The glow didn’t release any heat. It was cool like moonlight. Something divine was happening around them. The two got up as they realised Lord Brahma was about to appear to them. With eyes closed and folded hands they continued incant the mantra.
“Shantavana and Gyanwati!”
They felt someone was calling out their name in a very endearing way just like a mother would call out to her baby. Slowly Shantavana and his wife Gyanwati opened their eyes.
They beheld Lord Brahma standing right in front of them.
Overwhelmed with devotional spirit Shantavana and his wife made obeisance to Creator.
“Shantavana, you had always been my faithful and regularly worshipped and prayed to me. Why did you have to come to this forest and make 12 years long hard penance?”
“Holy Father! I have always been your devotee and you too consider me your faithful. It is a matter of great fortune for me,” Shantavana said.
“May be, you are right in your own way.” There was a smile on the face of Creator. He asked, “But any way dear faithful, you had been worshipping me in the normal mundane way. Why did you undertake this hard penance? A reason there must be!”
“Lord! I felt that there was something amiss in my devotion,” Shantavana said leadingly to add, “So, to make our devotion full and accomplished, I and my wife made the penance.”
“Come clear with your real objective, son.”
“Holy Father! How can I speak about the real objective. You are omniscient and know everything. There is nothing that is hidden from you in your creation. You know our woe.”
Brahma was amused at the hesitation of the man in revealing his real selfish objective. He now looked at the woman, “Child, now you tell me what made you undertake such harsh penance making?”
“Holy Father, you know what is in anyone’s mind but if you want to hear it from my mouth I will obey your command.”
“Child you may go ahead and unburden your mind. Make yourself clear without hesitation.”
“Holy Father! Only a while ago you admitted that you consider us your devotees. But we felt our prayer or worship had some flaw. It won’t earn us your divine grace. If the idol is not pleased with the devotion of a faithful then what is the use of such devotion? What worth is his sentiment?”
“Tell me what gave you the feeling that we are not pleased with your devotional sentiment?”
“Father! In absensce of a natural gift that a man and a woman yearned for, that turned our joys into pain, life became a woe and our devotion felt like curse, it was simple for us to assume that you were not pleased with our worship.”
Brahma kept on smiling.
“O Creator! O Lord Supreme. You dictate all the joys and woes of one’s life,” Gyanwati spoke in emotionally charged state. “We are your faithful and that fact you admit. Banish the woes of your faithful. Drive away the dark clouds that shadow the happiness of their lives. You must consider the prayer of your faithful sympathetically.”
“Child Gyanwati. You are a wise woman of knowledge. Son Shantavana, we are pleased with your devotion,” Brahma consoled the man and his wife, “Now tell me specifically what is your woe? What is your pain?”
Shantavana prayed, “If you are pleased with us and our devotion remove the curse of being childless from our lives?
Brahma fell silent.
The silence of Creator was causing anguish to Shantavana and Gyanwati. They were waiting for the response of Brahma with baited breath.
Brahma at last spoke grimly, “Shantavana, you are not destined to see the face of your child.”
“You are the writer of the destinies,” Shantavana begged, “What will happen to the fate of your own faithful in this creation? To who shall they pray?”
“Son, the creation exists on several laws, rules and principles to create balances. These are determined first and then creation comes up based on them. We too have to abide by them to sustain the creation. Lawlessness is antithesis of creation. We don’t grant boons and put curses ignoring the laws.”
“Holy Father! you can at least tell us for what sin of ours we are being punished with childlessness?”
“We can tell you that.”
“Tell us, O holy father!”
“Shantavana! Recall your young age. As a boy you were very naughty and mischief monger. Any creature big, small or tiny could become target of your torments. You were arrogant and drew pleasure in arrogance,” then Brahma revealed, “Once there were bags of grains in you home. The rats had cut holes in the bags and used to eat grains. It angered you and you began to kill them. Seeing you with a stick the rats ran to their holes and hid. But a fat rat could not make it to her hole.
The fat rat was a pregnant female. She became the target of your wrath as others had got away.
The she rat made sounds begging of you to spare her life as she had babies inside her. She flopped at your feet pitiably. She could not run. The state of that she rat amused you because you could torment her at will. Instead of killing her in one blow you began to tease her with your stick. You had the danda (stick) and she became gilly (Bail). You got her out of your house using her as gilly with your stick. There you began to hit her on tail, legs and snout. Your aim was to cause pain to her without letting it die. For hours you played the cruel game and causing her excruciating pain. Her babies kept suffering inside her. At her every scream you laughed merrily. What was game for you was extreme torture for the poor rat. One heavier blow at her belly by you killed all her babies. It shocked the rat. She no more wanted to live.
She was begging you to kill her as well but you were enjoying your cruel game. She survived for some more time and while dying she said, “Evil human! I die without seeing my children arrive in the world. You will also never see the face of your children and die.”
The curse of a helpless weakling has a terrible power as it invokes the fundamental principle of creation and Power Eternal. I am helpless against the curse of that poor female rat because if I work against it my own creative power will get eroded.
You can see how the curse of a meek creature cancels out all your devotion and penance making. This is the balancing factor that sustains the universe.”
“Holy Father! Something done by me in young age is making big trouble for me. I am the big culprit, But there must be a way out of this or some way to make penance.”
“The only way is serve the punishment and that you are doing,” Brahma said frankly.
“Lord, shall we have to live the woe all our lives and die childless?” Gyanwati asked.
Brahma spoke after a pause, “Child, we are here to let you behold us and give you a chance to ask for a boon.”
“If you want to grant us a boon it be a son and nothing else,” Gyanwati prayed.
“And what do you say, Shantavana?” Brahma turned to the man to ask.
Shantavana spoke, “Holy Father, for our happy domestic life we only want a son. Nothing else makes sense to us, let us be devoted to you and parents of a child.”
“I have already told you that you are not fated to see the face of your child,” Brahma reiterated “You may ask for anything else.”
The man and his wife spoke in one voice, “Lord! Then, let we only be your faithful forever. No other mundane wish we have.”
“You have already been my faithful. Except offspring you may ask for any boon,” Brahma urged.
“Holy Father! We don’t need anything except the blessing of a child. If you are really pleased you may grant us a son otherwise we are happy just being devoted to you,” the man said firmly.
“I see,” said Brahma and mulled for a while. Then, he spoke, “Alright, we will grant you a son but you will have to make a sacrifice.”
“Lord, for a child we can make any sacrifice,” the man and his wife spoke in unison.
“Well, then you will have a son. I will boon you but when he gets born, you two will lose your eye sight. You will never see his face.”
“Alright Lord! With the boon of a child the curse of blindness is acceptable to us,” Shantavana said, “Now at least our this life and after life will not be hopeless. There will be something to look forward to.”
“So be it,” spoke Brahma and disappeared. The wish of Shantavana and Gyanwati had been fulfilled. They had gained a child. For a childless couple a child means everything at whatever cost. It is a very natural desire.
