Mother's Chronicles - Book Six

Prologue :

Once upon a time, long, long ago, before I or you were born, before our parents or grandparents were born, even before their grandparents were born, some thousands of years ago, the Vindhya mountain was upset one day. And why was he so upset? "Why," he asked the Sun and the Moon, "why do you not go around me? Aren't I a greater Mountain than the Meru?"

The Sun thought to himself, "Oh, these old fellows! Look at his pride! Comparing himself with the golden Mahameru. Really!" Instead of answering politely, the Sun went on his daily business of going round the mountain Meru.

That surely made Vindhya angry "Ah, old! Am I! I shall show you who is old!" He too sent a silent message to the rude Sun. Vindhya was indeed a venerable old mountain. It bifurcates India into north and south, and was much older than the young Himalayas.

Vindhya then began to grow. He grew and grew and grew. He pierced the sky. When the Sun wanted to return to the South he found his way blocked by Vindhya. Vindhya now smiled grimly at the Sun. The Sun had to remain in the North. The constant heat of the Sun burnt the northern plains, while the South remained in constant darkness. An eternal day and an eternal night. The suffering was terrible on both sides of the Vindhya mountain. "How long! oh, how long, is this state of

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affairs going to last?" A desperate prayer from birds and beasts and trees and rivers rose to the Supreme God. "Come, oh come, and help us, Lord."

The Lord had been looking on the goings-on. He was not one to move a finger without being asked! But now that the whole creation was asking Him to do something, He gave the situation a thought. It was quite like Him to come up with an impish solution.

"Agastya," He spoke to the Rishi seated in front of him. "Will you do me a favour?"

Agastya was ever ready for adventures. He also knew something about the Lord. So he inclined his head.

'You see, Agastya," the Lord said sweetly, "how the creatures are suffering. Will you not help them?"

"How?" enquired Agastya.

"Well, you are the Guru of Vindhya. So when you go to him, he will bow down to you. And then ... then you tell him this ..." The Lord whispered into the Rishi's ear.

The valiant Agastya smiled. Maybe a little sadly? But he was game.

When he saw his guru approaching, Vindhya bowed down his head at his guru's feet, like the good-mannered person he was. Agastya blessed him. And then said, "O great Vindhya, I am pleased with you. But I have some urgent business down south. Will you please keep your head bowed like this till I come back?" Vindhya assented.

But Agastya never came back.

Since those times Vindhya never raised up his head again. And Agastya remained in the South.

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Repeating history, the Uttara Yogi, the Yogi from the North, came down to South India in our own times, but a few decades back. And he too never returned to the North.

He too had received a Command from the Lord.

The Uttara Yogi was our Sri Aurobindo.

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