Originally posted by RadhikaS0Dear Mansi,
I didn't want to but somehow ended up writing this "thesis" and am submitting it for your "approval". 😆
I know it is a little late in the day for this post but I kept thinking things over. Love is such a complex and subjective force that it is hard to define it in terms we can relate to.
Is love conditional or unconditional? Let's see.
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Love is like water; it takes the contours of the circumstances in which it is present.
Love is like air; it may be a gentle, refreshing breeze or a devastating tornado.
Love is like fire; it can make the souls engaged in it as pure as gold or burn them to ashes.
Love is as limitless and protective as the sky above our heads.
Love is as stable and supportive as the ground beneath our feet.
If we understand this, then we can begin to understand the love of Jalal and Jodha. Let's ponder on some questions that may lead us to the answer to the main question in blue above.
Did Jalal start loving Jodha before she started loving him?
It is hard to define the precise moment when one falls in love truly. And I mean "love", not infatuation, attraction or desire.
It is harder still to realize one has fallen in love, especially with that one person one would never have imagined one could ever love.
It is hardest to express the love one feels for another.
Does non-realization or non-expression of love indicate absence of love?
No.
Is physical demonstration through word, gesture or action necessary to prove the presence of love?
In the initial stages, yes. Once deep, abiding love is established, it can be felt in "total silence" also.
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I personally believe that it was only around the vishpan incident that both realized they loved the other.
Jalal realized he loved Jodha when he thought he had lost her forever. Before this, he may have loved her but the extent and depth of his love then is not known.
And he also realized that Jodha loved him equally for having the courage to take this step.
Similarly, it is hard to tell the extent to which Jodha felt any love for Jalal, before she discovered that his life was in grave danger from Benazir. In a poignant display of determination to save him, in spite of himself, she bore every humiliation stoically. Without even realizing why, she knew she could not live without him. Her soul heard much before Jalal's soul voiced the thought that their wajood was now inextricably linked together. They either lived together or died together. This subconscious soul realization drove her to drink the poison meant for Jalal.
Was either's love conditional at this point?
In other words, before the vishpan, can we say Jalal expected Jodha to surrender herself to him as a condition to accept and love her?
This is a debatable point (1) because Jalal himself did not expect this naturally as a consequence of his feelings for Jodha. The expectation of physical surrender as an expression of love was created in him by Maham.
After the vishpan, though he continued to harbor pangs of physical yearning, he realized that love need not be restricted to this. Love can rise over and above everything to heal his aching heart and nurture his troubled soul.
Did Jalal ask Jodha to drink the poison for him as a proof of her love?
No. He never set any condition for her except desiring that she may also love him the way he loved her. This is a very natural expectation from anyone in love.
Did Jodha drink the poison to prove a point?
The vishpan incident is the most powerful demonstration of Jodha's commitment to Jalal. I have not used the word "love" deliberately because Jodha herself had not yet realized that she had done so out of love. She did not expect anything in return from Jalal, least of all his love, because she simply did not understand then that her soul craved to be loved by him.
When exactly did Jodha realize her love for Jalal and that she wanted to be loved by him?
Subconsciously, Jodha voiced this after the boat ride with Jalal. She admitted that she could not bear to see him going to another wife , as she perceived it to be an insult to her love.
Jodha consciously started realizing this during the Sujamal track. There were two indications:
She could not bring herself to tell him the truth about her meetings with Sujamal because now she was afraid to lose Jalal. This was in stark contrast to the earlier defiant Jodha who would have openly dared him to stop her from meeting anyone.
She was highly insecure about Jalal's life and kept meeting Sujamal secretly to uncover the insiders who were plotting against Jalal.
Does Jalal's outburst indicate conditional love -
That he will love Jodha only if she is always honest and transparent with him?
That if Jodha really loves him, she will never hide anything from him?
This is debatable point 2. Again these expectations were set in him by Maham, overriding his natural tendency to believe her.
Does Jodha's going away indicate conditional love - that she can only love him and protect him if he respects her?
This is debatable point 3. But the extent of hurt and betrayal felt by both reaffirms their deepening love and associated expectations from each other. Like I said above, it is hardest to express love.
Jalal's love burst out like a tornado and blew away Jodha from his life. How did Jodha's love find expression? The shock of seeing a "dead" Jalal brought out her love for him, near the waterfront in Mathura, like a searing desert wind that burnt Jalal to the core.
Is Jodha's decision to return to Jalal, after his pardon of Shivani-Tej and repeal of the pilgrim tax, conditional?
No. She never asked him to do either of these as a pre-requisite to returning to Agra. In any conditional relationship, the conditions are stated at the outset. In fact, many members have already written how Jodha was moved not so much by these actions but by the "heart-felt" feelings behind them.
Is this again an indication of Jodha's conditional love - that she can love Jalal only if he is led by his heart?
No, because she loved him even when he took decisions dictated by his mind. And neither was she ever in doubt of his love. She only waited for this moment because only a heart-led Jalal can establish a deep, committed relationship with her, without being influenced by others. (See debatable points 1 and 2.)
If she had gone back earlier, then this awakening may not have happened in Jalal and their relationship would have continued to be a puppet in the hands of Maham and Ruq.
The thing to be noted here is that Jodha herself did not know when she would be ready to go back to Jalal. Hence the confusion and inability to voice what exactly it was that she wanted from Jalal. But when the moment happened, her soul understood that this was the Jalal she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. (She had briefly and hesitatingly put her finger on this point when she had told Shehnaz that she could not face the "man" in the "Shahenshah" earlier. That man she was then talking about was the Jalal whose mind could be influenced easily. That "man" had now been replaced by a "man" whose mind listened only to his heart and could no longer be influenced by others.)
What is the conclusion then to the theme question?
This is best summed up by Jalal and Maharana Pratap in Sukanya's wedding. They had then stated clearly that there can be no conditions in love or any relationship. If there are pre-set conditions, then the relationship is nothing but a commercial transaction.
If Jalal and Jodha's relationship had been only a political alliance or a commercial bargain, it would not be remembered today. Their love was so paksaf and unconditional that it has withstood the test of time.
