Supta Shila
Kuhu... Kuhoo...
From the thick branches of a mango tree, a koel is alerting the young to be cautious as spring spreads its enticing plumage across the surroundings.
The night was draped with captivating splendour, as if to honour the tempting mystery of springtime. The moon is reflected on the centre of the lake, and as the moonlight dances with the water, the water's surface is illuminated.
Ahalya was astounded at seeing her image next to the full moon, on the supple ripples, as she peered at nature with wide eyes.
With a smile, she started walking towards the woods, but she paused near a flowery creeper that transformed into a swing, tempting her to swing on it.
Her Sakhi Pramadwara, joined her to take a look at the moonlight-drenched lake and it's surroundings.
“ What is this, Sakhi? Why is my body and soul quivering like a falling leaf at this moment? This blooming garden, this floral swing, those soothing ripples on that lotus pond—everything in nature is beckoning me to bask in that beauty, which is beyond words... but my heart yearns for something at this moment. "
“Devi Ahalya, for the first time you are out of the hut during the night, that's why you are so excited. ”
“ How come this night lures me into the woods in pursuit of a hidden treasure? I have never seen such a beauty in nature! I felt like a mask was slipping off, all of a sudden exposing my previously hidden youthful quivers.”
“ Gurupatni Ahalya, be careful, the path is slippery...don't walk fast...” Sakhi cautioned her.
“ No... no, let me go, let me go; it feels like an unknown cosmos is luring me to run fast! Why was I yearning for something that I never had before? I'm perplexed by that strange burst of soft light in the shadows! See how the fireflies are rushing towards the embers on that side. Is it a conscious dream or a cruel trick on the young heart? ”
The night is extending its expanse in all directions! Ahalya started moving forward....
“ Ohh... This veil over my head—it is like a veil placed over my heart by traditions and customs for long—now, it began to slip as I continued to cross the hazy route of clouds to reach the opposite side of the sky! What has happened to me? Why am I deviating from the well-paved route of Dharma for this slippery path that compels me to rush, even if it turns my body into a mud-splattered dove? ”
Right now, the safety ropes of the swing are losing their grip, and the only thing keeping her on the descending swing is her yearning for something!
There is a maelstrom of sweet fragrance everywhere—the flowing breeze seems to be bewitching.
Emotions are reawakened, and the young heart is racing with passion. --- Unknown melodies cling to her lips, waking her up from the slumber of a few lives!
Her reflection in the water started tilting on its edge.
Her desire glistens like undulating waves, and her eyes sparkle with dreams, like a budding flower drenched in wistful dew!
“ Sakhi, let's take a stroll towards that side where those chakora birds are devouring the dewdrops falling from the starlight beams. Where are these brooks running, and what is the zephyr whispering to me? Let us go...let us go to see where the night is trying to take me. "
“ Rishi Patni Ahalya, let me go to search for Sunanda, who ventured out in the evening in search of oblations for tomorrow's Yajna."
“ Sakhi, don't go too far; I might get lost in the abyss of darkness. "
The shadow walked far away from Ahalya. She left alone, with a throbbing heart.
“How seductive the surroundings are!" She mused to herself. She felt fatigue creeping over her and lay down under the Tamala tree, which is surrounded by flowering plants that provide a soothing zephyr to ward off her tiredness.
She wasn't sure when her eyes closed due to unknown tiredness, but heaven's doors opened to her heart, and she was seized by an alluring, sweet scent that produced dizziness for a while.
In her subconscious mind, she was pondering:
' How alluring this dream is...why...why am I unable to wake up from it? Why am I losing myself in this conflict between pain and pleasure? Where did I lose myself, and why did I lose my existence all of a sudden? Right now...who am I? I tried to find myself in this tidal wave of joy, but I couldn't! A search, a struggle, a joy, but what is there at the end of it? A gap between the horizons? Is it Dharma's demise or the dawn of a new desire? What is this dithering? Why am I wandering in this pathless thicket? What will happen next? '
“ Please wake up from your sleep, Devi Ahalya! What has happened to you? Why is there so much ecstasy on your face? It's time to return to the ashram; Sage Goutam must be up and looking for you. He needs your assistance to start his day with Pratyusha Yajna; therefore, let's go back to the ashram fast. ”
She was still in her daze...
“ Sakhi, what shall I do? My heart is trembling like a falling leaf, and my feet are immobile. Why am I feeling like a frozen waterfall in this fierce wind? Why do I feel like an immovable stone in this dawn? ”
“ Devi Ahalya, come out of that illusion; your youthful veil has fallen, and your smile reveals something else that is not permitted in our hermitage. ”
“ Oh, Sakhi...listen...he was here, closer to me, like a ray of sunshine to awaken the lotus. He called my name with such affection. That voice is mellifluous! His lips were moist with honey. I cannot express how engrossed I was in his presence. ” Her eyes were half-closed, and her lips quivered as she recalled those moments.
A thunderclap erupted out of nowhere... She opened her eyes with fear, as if abruptly awakened from a dream, and saw a flame in the form of Sage Goutam in front of her.
Here he was... like an oblation that turned into an ember! His eyes narrowed, searching and dissecting every inch of her body, and there was fury in those probing eyes. For what reason?
“ Kalankini, " he shouted, and his furious gaze left blisters all over her body!
His anger was like a blazing hawankund, engulfing the person on the other end.
She wanted to question him, " Once, as your bride, I walked with you around the sacred fire in Saptapadi; is your love reduced to ashes now, Swami?
But, she stood like a void, as raw as the ebbing of numbness, and he stood there like an inferno, burning her dreams completely. Despite her desire to stop the triggering, she is terrified by her inability to undo the previous moment's bliss.
The sage, as a consequence of suspicion, cursed his wife, “ For being disobedient as my wife, you sleep in the dust for countless years; you live alone like a lifeless stone, so that no human eye will see your beauty. ”
She was stunned and wanted to ask him ---
'Why, Swami? What are you trying to find in my quivering body? It seems that I had suddenly become an object of sin! Is it wrong for a flower to bloom when spring begins to sing? Is it unjust if a peacock dances when a cloud appears? If a leaf quivers during a storm, is it sinful? Is it unethical for me to be happy about something natural, such as the smoke emitted when oblations are poured into a havankund?'
Her soul is silent; she is like a fallen leaf under frost at that moment, unable to talk. Instead of confronting his rage, she preferred to take refuge within herself.
A sage's curse started its course; her eyes blurred from seeing the beauty of nature now! No more Koel's melodious songs in her ears! She wanted to question him about what sin she had committed for this curse. But her lips were sealed. No more quivers in her heart; every cell in her body started losing its sensitivity. Her feet were cemented to the earth, and a stone emerged in lieu of a beautiful young figure. The nature was stunned seeing her; her Sakhi was frightened; and the seer moved forward to take a dip in the nearby lake to cool off his anger after cursing her.
Ahalya left there as Supta Shila—a sleeping stone.
From Saptapadi to Supta Shila, this is the age-old story of the psychological complexities of human relationships.
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That is the end of a beautiful young woman's story. 
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