26. Samskara

“If you have not experienced the Supreme Being, then my name is not Narayanappa,” he said, winking, and gulped down the liquor in his cup with a noisy swig, then let out a loud “Hey!” as he finished.

Acharya, deeply disturbed at the thought that this man could torment his own ailing wife in such a manner, spat out, “You wretch!” and hurried back home. That night, when he sat for his prayers, he found it impossible to restrain the whirl of thoughts. He grew anxious, repeating “Paramatma, Paramatma…” to himself. Instead of reading the usual evening tales full of flavor and delight, he began to narrate stories of moral conduct and religious vows. The result—his own enthusiasm for reciting the puranas faded away. The boys, whose bright, eager eyes and attentive listening had always brought joy to his heart, stopped coming. Only the widows and elders, those who sought to accumulate merit, who would belch and murmur the Lord’s name in the middle of the story, continued to attend.

Sitting in the hall, reading palm-leaf manuscripts and lost in thought, Praneshacharya noticed his wife groaning in pain. Realizing he had not yet given her the afternoon medicine, he brought the medicine on a plate, lifted her gently, cradled her to his chest, and poured the medicine into her mouth. “Lie down and sleep,” he said softly. Returning to the inner room, he stubbornly resumed reading: “If the Dharmashastra gives no answer to this, what does it mean?”

Chapter Four

Meanwhile, from Parijatapura, under the scorching sun and with hunger gnawing at him, someone trudged along, murmuring “Hari, Hari,” hoping to find some rest in his own home. But among the Brahmins, the council of their wives had already begun—chiefly with Garudacharya and Lakshmanacharya at the center.

Garudacharya’s only son, Shyama, had run away from home and joined the military, for reasons that were the subject of much speculation.

Samskara 27.

In the agrahara, they say: unable to bear his father’s punishment, he left. If it is Garudacharya, they say, “If it is Narayanappa, everyone who saw him was inspired by him to join the military.” Moreover, even after learning lessons from Praneshacharya, if he was to act with such wickedness and run away—Lakshmanacharya’s opinion is that the spell Garuda had cast on Narayanappa’s father has now turned back upon Garuda himself. Like Bhasmasura, who tried to burn his own creator, these spells and mantras have now recoiled. Had Garuda not performed the spell, “Why should Narayanappa, born in a noble family, become a chandala like this?”—so lamented Anasuya, Lakshmanacharya’s wife, grieving that a stain had come upon her mother’s lineage.

Because of the chandala Narayanappa’s influence, the son they had raised with such care was ruined and ran away—thus, Garudacharya’s wife, Sitadevi, gave up food and water, pined away, waited day and night at the threshold. After three months, a letter came from Shyama—saying he was in Pune, had joined the military, and that after joining, unless