God Who Emerged Out Of Earth; English Short Story; Author: Deepak Budki; Translator: Jawahar Lal Bhat

 God Who Emerged Out Of Earth;

 English Short Story; Author: Deepak Budki

 Translator: Jawahar Lal Bhat

After the return from a morning walk, he sat in a cane chair in his garden waiting for the morning tea. Suddenly he caught sight of a phallus-like object resembling the Shiv-Linga lying under a peepal tree nearby. He was astonished and couldn't believe his own eyes. Enthusiastically he called out for his wife in a loud voice, “Shobha, Shobha, come here, see what’s there under this tree!”

He could not meanwhile make out whence this brass Shiv-Linga had come from!

Soon an elderly woman, who had almost all her hair turned grey, appeared before him and asked, “What’s it? Why are you shouting? Have you spotted any snake or is it something else?”

“Come on dear, had it been a snake, I’d never have called you. Look what’s there under that tree?”

She curiously approached the tree and gingerly picked up the Shiv-Linga in her hand where after she began to examine it closely. “Oh Lord, it is truly a brass Shiv-Linga. We have been blessed! Don't you think it is a mystery? Where has it come from?”

“Who knows? Someone may have thrown it there!”

“What rubbish are you talking about? Who would dare to commit such a sin? I apprehend our daughter-in-law must have carried out some black magic in order to harm us.”

“Hey, don't speculate too much? Icons and images of Gods are not used for Black magic. They use bones of animals and skulls of the dead.”

“Then it has surely sprung up from under the earth but there are no signs of a fissure or cleft anywhere around.”

“It is certainly a mystery, who knows how it has appeared here? Only Almighty God above is the knower of the truth!”

Shobha, with great veneration and admiration, cleaned the soil accumulated over the idol with the end of her saree and then washed it thoroughly under the tap. She picked some flowers from the garden and performed a formal puja of the Shiv-Linga along with a recitation of some sacred mantras but the mystery wherefrom it had emerged in their garden remained alive forever in the minds of the couple.

In the meantime, the clock struck nine. Revti Lal Aggarwal had a quick bath, changed his clothes, lifted his walking stick and entered the drawing room.

“Get me my breakfast quick. I’ve to attend court. It is the hearing of our case today!” Revti Lal addressed his wife, “God knows how many bad deeds of my previous birth still haunts me! I continue to pay the price in this life. I regret the day when Sunder was married. From the very first day, our daughter-in-law stepped into this house trouble started. She had in fact come up with a plan to snatch our son from us and live separately but she couldn't succeed. Left with no choice she approached the court with various false allegations against us such as harassment, the demand for dowry, and domestic violence besides seeking divorce, alimony, and maintenance allowance. 

“That was the will of God! We had made so many inquiries about the girl at our level and her family before marriage. Unfortunately, it spoiled the life of our son, Sunder, who has become a patient of depression and gastric trouble. Now, at this ripe age of seventy, it is very difficult for me to attend the never-ending court proceedings.”

“Leave it dear. No use repeating this over and over again. Be careful on that busy road leading to the court, it is always full of traffic. I pray to Lord Shiva for a speedy dismissal of the case in our favour. God always stands with the truth. It is said, “God sees the truth but waits.”

Revti Lal picked up his walking stick and left the house with slow but measured steps.

For the whole day, Shobha remained fully immersed in the enigma of the appearance of the mysterious Shiv-Linga in the garden. Gradually she felt convinced that it must have emerged from the Earth and the ground must have levelled later on. She exclaimed with a sigh, “Strange are the ways of God!”

In the afternoon, at about two o'clock, Revti Lal returned home. His condition had grown miserable with thirst and hunger, nevertheless, he seemed beaming with joy. No sooner had he entered the house than he called Shobha and delivered her the tidings.

“Shobha, I have great news for you. Today the court delivered judgment in our favour and in addition imposed a penalty of twenty thousand rupees on the petitioner for undue harassment and putting us to trouble for no fault of ours. Moreover, if the Petitioner does not deposit the said amount in the court within two months he is liable to be put behind bars for two months.”

“O God, Your bounties are boundless! I bow before Your illustriousness!" Shobha almost cried, "Didn't I tell you that something good is certainly going to happen today? God has Himself appeared in our garden, that too early in the morning, it’s a miracle performed by Him. Let us wish for much more to come!"

“I also feel like that. To tell you the truth I had lost all hope in this case and was really fed up. Didn't know a way out. Now God has in fact appeared in our home to save us from this trouble.”

“Now listen, we need to acknowledge His blessings and perform our duty to reciprocate. We must arrange for the formal installation of the idol at the same place where it had popped up. I suggest that we construct a small private temple there. I believe it is the wish of God and we must fulfil it.”

“You are absolutely right! I’ll call a mason tomorrow and order the construction of a small temple. It has actually been a long-time requirement in our house. We don’t have any particular place for offering prayers to the Lord in the house.

The next day they searched for an auspicious date in the almanack. An order for the construction of a small temple under the peepal tree was also given. It dawned upon Revti Lal that the Shiv-Linga found at the place was too small compared to the size of the proposed temple. So he decided to purchase a large marble idol of Lord Shiva from the market and install it along with the little Shiv-Linga. Soon a beautiful white idol was purchased and kept ready for installation.

The auspicious time for the formal installation of the idol was fixed at three o'clock on the coming Sunday. Meanwhile, the temple was also made ready. A couple of Pundits were arranged for performing Havana, chanting of mantras and formal installation of the Shiv-Linga. Invitations were also sent to near relatives and neighbours to participate in the celebrations and have Prasad on the occasion.

Shoba decided to invite close neighbours in person because she thought it proper to inform them about the sudden appearance of the Lord in their house and the subsequent developments in the court case.

Early Sunday morning, Shoba called on at our house to invite us. I was having my breakfast. She came in and addressed my wife, “Daughter dear, it is a matter of great delight that God Himself has appeared in our house in the form of a Shiv-Linga. We’ve planned the formal installation of this sacred idol of Shiva today at three o'clock in a newly built temple in our garden. Both of you are invited to participate. The function will start with the recitation of Mantras and Havana at one o'clock accompanied by Bhajan and Keertan. In the end, Prasad will be distributed in the form of a simple meal. 

Archana, my wife, was greatly excited to hear this great news and felt like rushing instantly to see the God that had appeared so miraculously in her neighbourhood.

“Okay Auntie, I’ll surely come but it may not be possible for my husband to come. He has to attend a party in his office." She willfully fabricated the story of a party because she knew her husband doesn't believe in such things and would therefore not attend.”

The program was to start at one o'clock. Archana readied my lunch beforehand at twelve noon, dressed in the best of her clothes, and went to her neighbour’s house. I laughed from within for her superstitious beliefs and later took my meals in the dining room at 1.30 PM as usual. Thereafter I went to take a rest in my bedroom.

Archana returned at about 5 PM. She was very much charged up. It looked like she would bash any person whosoever faced her at that moment. As I felt her agitated temper I thought it better not to confront her. She however didn’t remain calm and almost shouted at me, “Go and see the result of your insane actions!”

“I do not understand you. What do you want to say?”

“That Shiv-Linga you had thrown out of the window in your frenzy had fallen near a tree in the Aggarwal’s garden. They thought it had emerged out of the ground."

I wanted to burst out with a hearty laugh but Archana was fuming with such intense anger that I preferred to remain calm.

A few days before, I had lost my temper badly on observing Archana’s superstitious attitude. In fact, my disbelief in unreasonable religious matters is no less than the extent of her irrational belief in religious superstitions. Her frequent directives regarding her obnoxious beliefs are very irksome to me.

“Today is your birthday, wear the sacred thread and put on the vermillion on your forehead.”

“It is Shiv-Ratri, your presence in night-long Puja is important.”

“I had prayed for your promotion. Now that God has fulfilled my wish, we must perform a Havan on the sacred day of Ashtami.”

I don’t know how I could bear with these idiosyncrasies for more than fifteen years of our married life in spite of her mind-boggling irrational beliefs. She had been overshadowing my thoughts and beliefs to such an extent that living life on my own terms was becoming impossible for me. My daily routine was so much influenced by her superstitious attitude that making a compromise seemed very hard for me. Her new activity that troubled me most was her visiting some imposter Swamis and false soothsayers and wasting money on them.    

I had been facing this trouble for a long time patiently but that day my anger crossed all limits and suddenly I caught hold of the Shiv-Linga in her kitchen almirah and threw it out of the window to a far-off unknown location. She was stunned by my action and her face turned red. She didn’t expect me to take such an extremely sacrilegious step. I don’t know what she was saying but she had been vocal for some time in her anger. She was shaken suddenly and a stream of tears rolled down her eyes. She went into her room and continued sobbing for a long time till she consoled herself but the wound of her shock didn’t die away before long.

Later in the evening when we sat at the dining table for dinner, she couldn’t control herself and said, “Do you know what was the result of your foolish action?” 

“What was the result? Let me also know!” I replied feigning keenness and deep astonishment.

“Perhaps you know the daughter-in-law of Aggarwal’s had filed a false suit in the court of law accusing them of harassment and demand for dowry and it had been going on for a long time. How these poor old people suffered, one cannot even imagine. Remember you had thrown the Shiv-Linga out of the window a few days back! It had fallen in their garden. The same day the case was decided in their favour and the litigant was also fined twenty thousand rupees as costs payable to them.”

“Oh, is it so. I was wondering why you were so furious when you returned from their house.”

“You take everything lightly. That poor old couple can't even imagine that the Shiv-Linga had been thrown into their garden by my frenzied husband. They firmly believe it has erupted from the earth due to the blessings of the Lord.” 

“Why didn’t you tell them the truth? They would at least know the facts. Otherwise, they will always be in a false impression that God had appeared to them by breaking open the earth.”  

“You and your reasoning, to hell with it. Their joy knows no bounds. They have purchased a large marble idol of Lord Shiva and installed it in the newly constructed temple along with the little Shiv-Linga. They got a small temple constructed and arranged for a Havan and a Bhoj. God not only appeared before them but also blessed them with large booty immediately. Sometimes one is benefitted enormously by withdrawing from the real world and surrendering to God Almighty. Do you think I should have gone out of my mind to snatch their joys from them?”

“Ah, dear! I think they have done wrong by confining the idol to one place. It has been here in our house for almost fifteen years now. It has not even bestowed us with a hundred rupee note. I shook it and threw it some distance away and it benefited them by twenty thousand. They should throw it further away into some other's house so that the people there would also be benefitted by another twenty thousand.” While uttering these words I couldn’t control my laughter.

“You need to definitely consult a psychiatrist. I feel your mental capacity has been affected.”

“Okay, fine! Let us go together. I feel you require the doctor’s consultation more than me.”

Nothing happened thereafter. None of us consulted a psychiatrist. But each one of us believed that only he or she is on the right path.

However, I must confess one thing. From that day onwards God neither performed any other miracle nor was such news received from anywhere.

 

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