THERE WAS A TIME

THERE WAS A TIME

It was the young seeker Shaunaka’s curiousity which finally got bits and pieces of Shiva’s known episodes out from the wise sage Suta. 
“ Tell us about Shiva, the timeless mountain God, respected Sutji ”, Shaunaka would implore the master.
What charmed Shaunaka the most was how animated his master Suta would become when he got into the details of Shiva’s stories. It was as if he saw the scene Himself, as if he vouchsafed being a witness. “Ah, but I have been a witness, my dear Shaunaka. But in a realm that is way too subtle for the ordinary eye to see, for the ordinary ear to hear, I have been witness” he would sigh and continue. “ There was a time when Shiva Himself told his story to the forest dwellers, and Vyasa, the bard used his prolific skill to record the self revelations of the timeless”
“and then?”
“and then, True to His trademark humility, Shiva receded into a background. “But , perhaps, wishing secretly that we would all remember Him, we would all know His legend, always”
{From the forthcoming book SHIVA by Shail Gulhati: Shiva and Mysticism.}