kingdom of hearts | sumellika

• chapter twelve •

Madhuri wrapped herself with a blanket as she turned a page of her book. Bhagavad Gita was emblazoned on its cover, as she gazed at the slightly smudged words, mesmerised.

Her Kanha had told this to Arjun. These were his actual words, Madhuri numbly thought.

While you speak words of wisdom, you are mourning for that which is not worthy of grief. The wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead. - Bhagavad Gita, 2.11.

Madhuri's eyes were transfixed on the page. How lucky Arjun must have been to have the Supreme Lord as his charioteer! She thought, a faint smile on her face.

O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent, and come and go like the winter and summer seasons. O descendent of Bharat, one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. - Bhagavad Gita, 2.14.

The meaning of his words were slowly sinking in, but they were still shrouded in mystery, as if it would take her much more time to truly understand what Lord Krishna had said.

And that might be true. For his words were as enticing and bewitching as the blue lord himself.

"O Kanha," she mumbled to herself, as she gently closed the book and kept it on the table beside her bed. "How I wish I lived in dwapar yug to catch a glimpse of you at least once in my life!"

But she could only dream.

🥀

Amar hummed a song he had heard one of the court artisans sing back in his kingdom as he dipped a brush into some bright blue dye. He sat in the garden of Queen Sakshi's kingdom, as his eyes scanned the scenery around him.

"A beautiful day, isn't it?" came Madhuri's voice, as he gently turned his head to look at her.

He nodded. "It is a beautiful day," he agreed, as he continued to swirl his brush onto paper, painting wide strokes.

"What are you doing?"

"Painting," he replied, his eyes on her as she walked towards a swing and sat down, clutching a book in her hands. "And what are you reading?"

"The Bhagavad Gita," she said, as she opened the book. A smile appeared on her face as if she was content. "It's beautiful."

"The book or...?"

"The book, and your painting," she said. "You're drawing Lord Krishna aren't you?"

He gazed at her, surprised. "How did you know?" he asked her.

"Intuition, I guess," she replied with a shrug.

They both had grown comfortable with each other within the past few weeks. It felt as if they hadn't become friends only five months back, but as if they had known the other from eons back.

"Read out a verse for me from the Bhagavad Gita," he said. "Lord Krishna told this to Arjun, right?"

She gave a subtle nod and smiled. "Do you really want me to read a verse?"

"Yes, I do, Madhuri," he said, as he checked his paints to see if he had any dark green dyes. "It'll make you happy, won't it?"

The way she beamed at him answered his question, as she flipped through pages.

"Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, O Arjun, at that time I manifest myself on earth," Madhuri read out loud from her book. "To protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to reestablish the principles of dharma I appear on this earth, age after age."