[ Ego, Orpheus, amāvī eam
per somnia perinde ac ipse somniārem. ]
She had often wondered
what her dreams were just before she woke up. Did the sky remember her before
she was called by a name that was only hers? Was she made of light and shadows,
just like the women who were returning from hell? Did she have wings to hover
over the endless dark ocean that created an island just when she wanted to
rest? Although Shanaya was the elder sister of Sandhya, she often behaved as if
she were the younger, and why was that?
The vision of the deer
had introduced her to the wonders of the forest, with an unearthly desire to
disappear into the darkness. She yearned to lose herself to the sight of the pale
deer, waiting by the dense arcs in the hope that she might see him once again,
if not for another fleeting moment!
She tried to remember if
she could hear the flute when she saw the deer. To her surprise, she realized
that the music of the flute had suddenly paused, so that she could hear only
her impatient heartbeats in harmony with the obscure birdsong from the unknown.
The flowers around her
had felt comelier, and she felt that she desired to make a garland so that she
could give it to him! The happier she felt, the more unreal it was, and as she
looked up to the canopy of trees, she could feel that he was always around,
even in the breathtaking silence that surrounded her.
At times, she just wanted
to sit in the shade of the willow, slowly letting the warm winter sun kiss her eyelids
to a slumber that she wanted eagerly to surrender to. She felt as if she was
returning to an unbecoming, yet guarded by a sense of belonging even when
nothing seemed to be real, and all she wanted was to sleep by the side of her
lover.
When she had laid herself
to rest in a bed made of grass, she had asked the flowers to hide her form so
that Orpheus might not see her! This place was very far from the valley of dry
bones, so there were no mortals in this part of the woods. She had let her auburn
hair cover her naked shoulders like the soft fragrance of the wildflowers. She
had buried her face in her hair, only to feel how beautiful she was!
She wanted to lie there
until the deer appeared again, if not today, then another day.
She felt that she could
wait forever, eagerly listening to the distant melody of the flute that seemed
to come nearer one moment, and then again, carrying the songs of a far sky in
its pulse.
Shanaya had fallen into a
sweet sleep. When she woke up, she saw herself sleeping on her velvet bed in
her room, but she could not remember how she came back. It was as if he had
carried her while she was sleeping and had disappeared so that she was not
startled when she woke up! Or, did she walk to her palace in a trance and now
could not remember it?
For her life, she could not remember what she was
dreaming, but she was sure that it was never a nightmare! So, she thought, she
would ask her mirror. She was wearing a floral tiara, but did she make it
herself?
Such was the heart of the
woman when she sat smiling to herself in front of her mirror, brushing her hair
in the evening, and thinking of how magical love was!
Non mihi trīstis sum, et cōnsors quī per somnia appāruistī
Ēlysium ipse mīrāculō corporis,
Et transcēnsā morte mihi, et
arcānīs attigistī
Ergō mihi
in plēthōre vidēris tū, es tū amātor cordis meī
नाहं स्वात्मने
शोकाकुला, त्वमेव स सहचरः यः स्वप्नैः
प्रादुरभूः ।
त्वं स्वयं
शरीरस्य चमत्कारेण स्वर्गीयते प्राप्तवान्,
मत्कृते मृत्युं
च विजित्य गुह्य रहस्यानि अपि स्पृष्टवान् ॥
अत एव त्वं मम
पुरतः असीम-बाहुल्येन दृश्यसे, त्वमेव मम हृदयस्य प्रियः ॥
* Latin and Sanskrit written with the help of AI.
