Sansaaraaranyaye Dadayakkaraya

(The hunter in the wilderness of sansara)

By Simon Navagaththegama

Chapter1 :(Part 8)

Ancient storied

The hunter continued to walk. He acquainted himself with the jungle and the life that was so foreign and mysterious to the world outside and in this manner travelled to its very heart. He lingered long when he encountered especially dark corners of the jungle. When his eyes became used to the dark he was able to capture in their circles and indeed absorb through his other senses even the tiniest life form clinging to a cobweb that was centuries old both in the black of thicket and cave. He would move on only when he had acquired such penetrative abilities.

A baby rabbit playing in a clearing dappled with sunlight streaming through the treetops looked at him and made its acquaintance. He thereafter followed the little creature to its parents and came to know of the cave that was their home. He moved on again. Golu Punch, in this manner, came upon the Mullegama Galkanda one moonlight night.

Upon seeing a pangolin curled up and fast asleep, the hunter felt slumber slowly seeping into his joints. He too wanted to curl up like the pangolin and sleep. He was nevertheless captured by some mysterious pull that seemed to have its drawing source in the gal kanda. It kept him awake and alert. The far away mountains stood still and in silence, bathed in moonlight. A light breeze made its way through the foliage. He wrinkled his nose like some wild animal and sniffed. He recognized that some human odour was being dragged along by the wind.

This made him even more alert. He started climbing the hill through the jungle. As he climbed higher the top of the hill came into view. It was sparse in greenery. He found himself standing by a pool of water. The bubbles that arose sporadically to the surface caught the moonlight and shone in silver, but the black water in the pond nevertheless remained still. His entire body broke out in goosebumps as though he had actually touched the icy cold water. Unable to bear the cold, he moved away from the pond and continued his climb.

He found the Hamuduruwo in the lotus position, under the shade of the Esatu tree, in the manner of one who had been awaiting his arrival.

The moment he set his eyes on the Hamuduruwo Golu Puncha's mind was quelled. The weariness in mind and body subsided and disappeared altogether. He quickly went up to the Hamuduruwo and stood respectfully but in the manner of expressing the unverbalized thought, 'And so, finally, in the end, I have come, haven't I?'

The Hamuduruwo, silent and still at the far end of the rock and at the foot of the Esatu tree, was like some granite landmark indicating the end of the hunter's foreordained journey.

Had the Hamuduruwo not been there he might well have been completely lost. It was possible that in such an eventuality the hunter would have found it extremely tedious to decide where he should journey from there onwards.

Time had not set aside a moment for the consideration of such an unfortunate query. The Hamuduruwo remained at the preordained rendezvous at the end of the hunter's long journey.

The Hamuduruwo remained silent and in deep meditation for a long, long time in this manner. Golu Puncha sat and waited patiently. He heard the cry of a doe reaching out through the dark night of the jungle at the foot of the mountain.

It was as though embedded in her cry was the contentment of divesting oneself of all parting sorrows at the end of the Sansaric journey as well as the plaintive cry of separation that instantaneously follows the moment of union.

'Do you hear the lustful entreaty of that doe, directed from the other end of the Sansaric universe straight to my mind?' the Hamuduruwo asked him, breaking the long silence.

'I employ the utmost determination and the greatest effort to cultivate the perfection of abstinence from lustful things, day and night, day and night. And yet, had you not been here today, right now, I would be walking up and down, thoroughly disturbed, body and mind entangled in a sinful web and absolutely incapable of securing clarity and balance.

This thick jungle, even as it assists me releases my mind in all directions. If someone like you were to be by my side you would be a loyal friend to my mind. It was with this hope that I awaited you for more than a century.

Golu Puncha became an abiththaya thereafter. His one task was to light a fire and cook the midday meal. He lacked the logic and intelligence to figure out what his other responsibilities were.

He did not know and did not seek to know. He attended to the Hamuduruwo's every need during this time. Every day, every morning. His mere existence itself testified to all this.