Angulimala - 29

Mantani reminisces about her son
 

by G. K. Ananda Kumarasiri

Mantani was devastated at the thought that the son she bore and brought up so lovingly could be the cause of so much pain in the land. But the thought of him being captured and killed was simply unbearable for her. Instantly, she thought of venturing to the Jalini Forest to warn her dear son about the impending danger to his life.

She was convinced that she would be able to urge him to give up killing innocent people. “After all,” she thought, “I am his mother. Who else is better qualified to make him see the error of his ways and return to the righteous path?” As it was night and impossible for her to travel to the forest where wild animals roamed, she decided to wait till early the next morning. She planned to leave home even before Bhaggava woke up, thinking that he might dissuade her.

Much as she tried, Mantani could not sleep a wink that night. Her mind was filled with anxiety for her son’s safety and the desire to do anything to save him from certain death. She tossed and turned restlessly in bed. All her thoughts were on her dear Ahimsaka. The son she had carried in her womb for ten lunar months and nursed and looked after so caringly all the years.

Now the soldiers were going to hunt him down like a wild animal.

The last she saw him was when he bid farewell for Takkasila. She wondered how her poor Ahimsaka was surviving in the forest all alone “What a miserable life he must be suffering with no proper shelter and food to eat.

Food, food food,” she repeated to herself. Her motherly instinct to feed her son automatically arose in her. “I must take some home-cooked food for my starving Ahimsaka. I must cook his favourite dishes. My dear Ahimsaka must be missing home cooked food,” she told herself.

To be continued

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