One of our heroines, Vanathi, has developed the habit of fainting often, hasn’t she? We must beg our readers to bear with it just this once. For the time when her malady will leave her is drawing near.

When Vanathi regained a little consciousness, at first it felt as though she were swinging gently. Then she imagined she was journeying through the sky. The sound of the rain, “rim rim,” “jim jim,” reached her ears. The cold wind blew “koob koob” against her body, sending shivers through her. All right, she thought, we are traveling through the clouds to the celestial realms. Darkness surrounded her on all sides, and now and then, flashes of lightning would blaze and vanish.

She faintly remembered the Prime Minister’s last words about Gajendra Moksha, and how the elephant had lifted her up, curling its trunk around her. Everything had happened just as Prime Minister Aniruddha had described. ‘My life in this mortal world is over; now I am on my way to salvation. In the world of liberation, I shall see the gods and goddesses.’

‘But among all the gods, I will not see the one who is the deity of my heart. What is the use of going to a heaven where my heart finds no joy?’

Oh dear! What is this swaying motion! My body is being lifted and carried like this! But the place where my head rests is soft and comfortable. It feels like a mother’s lap. No—more than that, it feels like the lap of the beloved younger princess, who loves me even more than my own mother!… Ah! What must Kundavai Devi be doing now in Pazhayarai? Would news of me have reached her by now?

‘It is true that I am traveling through the clouds to the world of liberation. But what vehicle am I traveling in? Is this the Pushpaka Vimana of the celestial world? Or is it Indra’s Airavata, the divine elephant? Oh! The very thought of an elephant brings a little fear! The elephant, with its swaying, curling trunk!—How much strength lies in that swaying trunk!—But what does it matter now? What is there to fear or worry about anymore?’

‘But why is the place where my head rests so soft, like silk? Because it is dark all around, I cannot see anything. Perhaps I can feel with my hand. Truly, it feels just like a silken drape. It is a little damp as well.’

‘Ah! What is this? Who is touching my cheeks? Is it not a hand as soft as jasmine petals that touches me?’

“Vanathi! Vanathi!”

“Akka! Is it you?”

“It is I. Who else could it be?”

“Are you coming with me to the world of salvation?”

“What hurry do you have to go to the world of salvation already? Have you grown weary of this world so soon?”

“Then, where are we going?”

“Have you even forgotten that? Don’t you know we are going to Anaimangalam?”

“What place is that? Please tell me once more!”

“Enough! We are going to Anaimangalam! We are riding on the back of an elephant!”

“Oh no! An elephant?”

“Silly girl! Why is your body trembling? Have you started to fear just at the mention of an elephant?”

“Akka! Did I fall asleep just now?”

“Yes, yes! In the luxury of traveling atop the elephant in the howdah, you fell into a blissful sleep!”

“There is no bliss in it, Akka! I saw terrifying dreams!”

“I thought as much! You were rambling all sorts of things!”

“What did I ramble, Akka?”

“You spoke of the Kalamukhas! Of sacrifice! Of Gajendra Moksha! Of the elephant’s trunk! Then you called the Prime Minister Aniruddha a ‘sinner, a revenger.’ That Brahmarayar must be pleased! If he had heard all the things you shouted about him in your sleep, he would not have slept for many days!”

“Sister, did all that truly happen in a dream?”

“Was it truly a dream? Or a false one? How would I know? I don’t even know what you dreamt.”

“The Kalamukhas seized me and took me away. The Prime Minister questioned me about the prince’s secret. I refused to tell him. At once, he summoned an elephant and ordered it to seize me with its trunk and hurl me to my death. Even then, I did not falter; I stood firm and courageous. Akka! At that moment, I remembered you. You were not there to witness my bravery.”

“Well, at least in your dream you behaved so bravely! That alone is cause for happiness!”

After a brief silence, Vanathi said, “I still can’t believe it!”

“What is it you cannot believe?”

“I cannot believe that all I saw was a dream.”

“Sometimes dreams are like that. They seem as real as waking life. Even I have had such dreams many times.”

“What kind of dreams have you had? Tell me, please?”

“Why? My brother often appears in my dreams. How many months has it been since he left for Lanka? Yet, whenever I close my eyes at night, he stands before me, just as he is…”

“You are fortunate, Akka!”

“You should praise my fortune. Since the news came that he leapt into the sea, you cannot imagine how my heart has been trembling.”

“Then that too is a dreadful dream, isn’t it? Only the news of his plunging into the sea is real, is it not?”

“If only that too had been a bad dream, how much better it would have been! But that alone is real, Vanathi! Someone who saw the prince leap into the sea with their own eyes came and told us! How can we not believe it?”

“You mean the valiant scion of the Vanar clan, don’t you? Didn’t he say something else about the prince? Didn’t he mention the boat-girl, and the Chudamani Vihara at Nagapattinam?”

“All that must have been your dream. Yes, you raved in your sleep about the boat-girl Poonguzhali, and about