The parrot had settled on a tiled roof. Mahadev brought the cage along and showed it to the parrot, chanting ‘Sat gurudutt Shivdutt daata’. By then the boys of the village had gathered and were screaming and clapping. Even the crows were cawing incessantly. The parrot flew outside the village to sit on a tree. Mahadev ran after him, empty cage in hand. People were surprised at his agility. One could not imagine a more beautiful, lively and moving picture of a man chasing his desire.
It was afternoon and the farmers were returning from the fields. They found in it an opportunity for some fun. Everybody loved to tease Mahadev. Some threw stones, some clapped. The parrot took flight once again and entered the mangrove, where it alighted at the very top of a tree. Mahadev, too, leapt like a frog behind it, empty cage in hand. By the time he reached the mangrove the soles of his feet were on fire and his head was spinning. As soon as he recovered his breath, he picked up the cage again and began, ‘Sat gurudutt Shivdutt daata . . .’ The parrot descended to a lower branch but looked at Mahadev sceptically. Mahadev understood that it was scared. He put the cage down and hid behind a tree. The parrot looked around, and once assured, flew down to sit on the cage. Mahadev’s heart somersaulted and he began to chant ‘Sat gurudutt Shivdutt daata’, inching towards the parrot. As he reached out to grab the parrot, it eluded his grasp and flew away to sit atop a tree!
This continued till evening. The parrot sat on this branch, then another. Sometimes it would sit on the cage or peep in to look at its feed in the bowls and then fly away. If the old man was desire incarnate, the parrot was an epitome of illusion. This battle between desire and illusion faded into darkness.3
Then it was night and pitch darkness engulfed everything. The parrot was perhaps hidden among the leaves. Mahadev knew that the parrot would not fly away elsewhere in the night nor would it enter the cage; even then he refused to budge. He had not eaten anything the whole day. It was well past dinner time and he had not even had a drop of water, but he was neither hungry nor thirsty. Without the parrot, life appeared meaningless, barren and lonesome to him. He worked day and night because it was his calling; the other chores of his life were a matter of habit with him. In performing these tasks he had never experienced the slightest trace of liveliness. The parrot was the only thing that made him feel truly alive. Losing it was like the soul giving up the body. Mahadev, who had remained hungry and thirsty the whole day, would grow tired and doze off every now and then. But the very next moment he would jerk his eyes open and in the vast darkness his voice could be heard uttering ‘Sat gurudutt Shivdutt daata’.
It was past midnight when he was startled by the sound of some movement. He saw a dim lamp burning at the bottom of a tree and some men conversing around it. The smell of tobacco made him restless and with a loud incantation of ‘Sat gurudutt Shivdutt daata’ he made his way to the men to share their chillum. However, just as a deer bolts at the sound of a bullet, all the men too ran away as they heard him approach. Mahadev began screaming, ‘Hold on! Wait!’ It suddenly struck him that they might be thieves and so he began shouting loudly, ‘Robbers! Thieves! Catch them! Get them!’ As Mahadev went near the lamp, he found a rust-blackened urn and his heart began to throb with anticipation. He put his hand inside the urn and found coins. He took one out and peered at it in the light of the lamp. Oh yes! It was a gold coin! He immediately picked up the urn, blew out the lamp and hid under the tree. From a respectable man he had become a thief in that one instant.
Then he began to fear, ‘What if they come back and, on finding me alone, snatch away the coins?’ He took a few coins and tucked them into his waistband. Then he picked up a stick to dig several holes into the ground and filled them up with coins, covering them with mud.4
In his mind’s eye, Mahadev beheld a different world now, replete with desires and apprehensions. Even though the fear of losing the urn was still imminent, the desires had begun their work. A well-constructed house, a large goods store, reestablishing ties with kin, the accumulation of all the luxuries of life! Then he would set off on a pilgrimage and upon his return hold a prayer assembly and a feast for the Brahmins! A temple, a well and a garden, too, were added to the picture. Every day he would have the holy books read out to him and be venerated as a saint!
Suddenly, it struck him—if the thieves came back, would he be able to run? He decided to test himself by picking up the urn and running exceedingly fast for two
