If you would live, you must now come up to the
light, out of thedepths of your learning. Was he, then, fated to leave on theblack
touchstone of bereavement his mark of spuriousness?
If you have the patience todive deep, you will find
all calm there. Yet I was bound hand and foot by your devoteesin this dungeon of
devotion.
In Damini I see another aspect ofUniversal
Woman.
It seemed to me that it was my devotion to her
which Damini was usingthe mongoose to show off.
The day was fast declining, and the moon was long
pastits full.
Thus had Satish received from and given to his
uncle his all. Andwhile in such half-conscious state I actually felt a deep
breathingsomewhere near my bare feet.
I am in awful trouble with the mongoose,she said.
When I got Satish alone at last, I said to him: Look here, Satish! He must come up
for the free breath oflife. They have gone to a better place, said
Shivatosh.
In the drama which was being played, the hero and
the heroine spoketheir parts aside. Surely it was not that primeval creatureof my
imagining! River after river Icrossed, and trudged over endless fields.
But, allthe same, I have no patience with a man who
can thrust out his legs atyou like that. So that was the reason for her lack of
time. It seemed to me that it was my devotion to her which Damini was usingthe
mongoose to show off.
The gods,being fortunate, did not feel bound to
give it a hearing.
There was a mongrel pup, whose looks were on a par
with its breeding. Satish, who was there with us, was dumbfounded. But other little
mischiefs began to follow, which were clearly beyondthe powers of the cat. Jagamohan
replied:Mother, I see that you are determined to turn me into a theist in myold age.
For this difference I may have been partly responsible.
Annada bestowed on hisson-in-law a house in
Calcutta and sufficient money to keep him forlife. We had never been able to fathom
how deeply Satish loved his uncle.
VWe two friends took up our quarters, with the
Master, in Shivatoshshouse. Another evening Damini happened to be at home.