Vedantic Tales : The Blue Pellet

Mother, Madhav cried, bursting into the room, I am going to renounce the world!

Barely were the words out of his mouth than he regretted their abruptness. He stood breathlessly; he had run all the way from the river to deliver this news to her. Might he not have paused to sense her mood, to wait for the moment when their thoughts were of an accord, as often they were? He realized that his eagerness was an act of cruelty, his words crashing like flung rocks into the contentment of her mind.

The book she was reading dropped from her hands, and the smile that had started to come into her face at the sight of him drained away. She looked suddenly old and frightened.

With three steps Madhav was kneeling beside her. It's not as though I were going to die, Mother! he said, attempting to make her laugh. Had she not taught him all along that a life devoted to God was the only truly vital life? In fact, he continued, it is quite the opposite.

She closed her dyes and breathed heavily, holding one hand to her heart and lifting the other to silence him until, in a moment, she could recover. He upbraided himself again for his gaucheness.

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