It was just past noon, when Baba and Sasi almost made it to the last of the peaks in the Ghats. With the fragrance of sandalwood trees greeting them already, they knew they are near the springs of Sandal River. The Mayaloki grew near the springs and nowhere else!
“Is that the Panchasarpa temple Baba?” Sasi wanted to hear something about the revered serpent god of the Ghats. It was believed that there lived a serpent in the Ghats with five heads, like in the legends of vasudeva, a shepherd who lived a long time ago.
“There are no Panchasarpas here in Ghats Sasi, it’s just a myth. How can a snake have 5 heads? Which one will it listen to?”
“but Baba,everyone believe these stories about Panchasarpa .”
“I’ll believe only my eyes son”
“Baba they also say that a Panchasarpa can grant you wishes”
“If so why can’t you make a wish in the temple? Right now…”
“Are you serious Baba ?”
Baba nodded, he just wanted Sasi to understand that it was all stories.
Sasi closed his eyes, fingers clasped and knelt down. He said out loud ”Panchasarpa, I wish I could fly whenever I want” a thunderous roar and a lightening came down from the sky. The lightening appeared as though it was the Panchasarpa itself showing up as a lightening. Subsequently a voice came from the skies “young maara, let your wish be granted” and then came down the showers.
“Ah, it is the monsoons. How dramatic! They made me believe for a second that something magical, is really happening” Baba couldn’t believe what he heard and tried to act as if he did not hear anything at all.
“Baba…. The voice from the sky, did you hear it?” Sasi’s dropped jaws were still open as he asked that.
“May be you heard it, because you wanted to hear it” still bedazzled, Baba turned back and started walking, trying to avoid Sasi.
The torrential showers brought into air the smell of wet earth pleasing Sasi. He was developing a mental portrait of him flying in the sky alongside the hawks and eagles having a viewpoint of the all majestic mother earth and the beauty of her creations. More than being an immortal, he preferred to have power to fly.
“Do you see the radiance coming from the top of the peak? We are here, the springs of Sandal River.”
“Baba Do I get to see the Mayaloki plants here? Can you help me collect some? I want to try it on poochi…”
“That’s so stupid Sasi. Even humans won’t survive it, why would you want to try it on a poor canine?”
“Baba he’s already dying. May be if it kills him also, it’ll be like mercy killing. I don’t want to see him suffering”
“Never mind we’ll collect some” Baba saw a point in his say.
The glow fromS the spring kept increasing as they neared it.
“The Mayaloki that’s what giving the glow” said Baba “when they get wet, they start glowing”
“Amazing” said Sasi picking up water from the springs. It was clearer than the clearest of the crystals in the world.
“Don’t even think about tasting it. You might start growing out wings you wished for” the old wizard quipped. It was a known folklore that wishes from the Panchasarpa temple becomes a realization only after drinking the water of the springs of Sandal River. For a second, Sasi had a hesitation, he never really wanted those wings. The voice he heard from the sky had really kept him perplexed. Nevertheless, he took some of that strikingly clear elixir from the spring. Something spectacular and awe inspiring happened and Baba’s eyes were out its burrow. Sasi began to transform into a stunningly stupendous muscular being, against the back drop of the glowing mayalokis. The wings fluttered and the inhuman figure rose up to the skies astoundingly ripping through the clouds that kept sending thunder-bolts.
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