Queen Leela and King Padma lead an idyllic life,
but as they age Leela fears he might die first, in which case her own life
would be intolerable. She does tapas to Goddess Saraswati and obtains the boon
to have her husband’s spirit always with her. She and the goddess astral travel
and time travel to see the couple’s prior life as simple brahmins when her
husband sees a lavish royal hunting party, creating a desire in him to possess
the wealth of an empire. That desire manifests after King Padma dies and the
queen and goddess see another reality in the deceased king’s mind. He is now
King Viduratha ruling a vast empire with a second Leela as his wife.
The sounds of brahmins
chanting on sacrificial altars were drowned under the sound of tambourines,
shouted announcements, and the loud praises of speakers, all re-echoed by the
uproar of elephants.
The vault of heaven
resounded to the sounds of vocal and instrumental music, and the dust raised by
the procession of elephants and chariots, and the trotting of horses’ hoofs,
hid the face of the sky like a cloud.
The fragrance of
flowers, camphor and heaps of frankincense perfumed the air, and the royal hall
was filled with presents sent from different provinces.
Then the ardent Leela
entered the royal assembly hall of the ruler of men. She was unseen by any,
just as one void mixes with another void, and as air is lost in the air.
She wandered about
without anyone there seeing her, just like a fair figure formed by false
imagination of our fond desires is not to be perceived by anyone outside
ourselves.
In this manner she
continued to walk about the palace unperceived by all, just like a castle in
the air built in one’s mind is not perceived by another.
She suddenly saw the
flames of wildfire spreading on all sides, even in broad midday light, and the
sun and moon appearing both at once in the sky, and the clouds roaring with a
tremendous noise, with the whistling of the winds.
She saw trees, hills,
rivers and cities flourishing with population, and the many towns and villages
and forests all about.
She saw her royal
consort as a boy of ten years of age after shaking off his former frame of old
age, sitting amidst the hall with all his former retinue, and all the
inhabitants of his village.
Leela, having seen all
these, began to reflect within herself whether the inhabitants of this place
were living beings or the ghosts of their former individual souls.
Then having recovered
her (ordinary) sense at the removal of her trance, she entered her inner
apartment at midnight and found the residents fast bound in sleep.
She woke her sleeping
companions one by one and said she was anxious to visit the royal hall. She
wanted to sit beside the throne of her lord and to clear her doubt by seeing
the courtiers all alive.
The royal servants rose
up at her call and obedient to her command they said, “Be it so” and attended
to their respective duties.
Dignified ministers and
chiefs attended first and took their respective seats, appearing as if they
were a set of newly created rulers of the various peoples of the world, or the
regents of the quarters of the sky.
There, Leela took her
seat on a golden seat by the side of the throne. She appeared as beautiful as
Rati seated in the joyous heart of Kama. She saw all the princes seated in
their order as before, and the elders of the people and the nobles of men and
all her friends and relatives seated in their proper places.
She was highly delighted
to see them all in their former states. Her face shone brightly like the moon
to find them all alive again.
Continued.....
Love.
