Chapter 22
Gargi Vachaknavi, the learned daughter of the erudite sage Vachaknu, was defeated in argument by Yajnyawalkya. She, who had ensnared and conquered great men of wit and learning, was dismissed with not so much as a glance by Yajnyawalkya. Gargi was not one to writhe under the ignominy of the defeat. She who was the paragon of female power could not be defeated in this way. She who was the soul of perfection, she who was sought by man to gain awareness of himself, cannot be defeated thus without a combat. There is no defeat where there is no combat.
Yajnyawalkya had simply walked out on her. How was the world to know what Gargi felt in the innermost centre of her heart, that Yajnyawalkya had dismissed her not out of contempt, but out of fear? Gargi felt secretly elated by what her primal female instinct, made sharper and superior by a heightened self-awareness, whispered to her about Yajnyawalkya: “This man belongs to you as the sacrificer belongs to the sacrifice, as the rain belongs to the cloud, as the thunder belongs to lightening and the lightening belongs to the thunder, and as both in turn belong to the primordial forces of nature.”
And so Gargi must wait; must wait with the knowledge the falconer has of the movements of the falcon. But the falconer cannot rest with the knowledge he possesses. The world must know the object in possession of the falconer. The world must know, Yajnyawalkya’s victory heralds the beginning of Gargi's triumph.
Gargi waited restlessly and vigilantly for Yajnyawalkya to come to her. She waited as an enchantress waits silently, with bated breath for one under her spell. There was no anguish in her waiting. There was a greater awareness of what the fire within her demanded, and the more she waited, the more intense was the demand of that fire.
And then one day Gargi learnt about Yajnyawalkya's presence in Videha. There was an uncanny certainty about the gestation of their interlocked fate.
But the man did not come to her, although she saw him with her mind's eye, tormented, distraught, but keeping at bay.
So Gargi made the momentous decision to confront Yajnyawalkya once again with a determination possessed only by a woman who aspires to be more than a mortal woman!
Gargi Vachaknavi, the learned daughter of the erudite sage Vachaknu, was defeated in argument by Yajnyawalkya. She, who had ensnared and conquered great men of wit and learning, was dismissed with not so much as a glance by Yajnyawalkya. Gargi was not one to writhe under the ignominy of the defeat. She who was the paragon of female power could not be defeated in this way. She who was the soul of perfection, she who was sought by man to gain awareness of himself, cannot be defeated thus without a combat. There is no defeat where there is no combat.
Yajnyawalkya had simply walked out on her. How was the world to know what Gargi felt in the innermost centre of her heart, that Yajnyawalkya had dismissed her not out of contempt, but out of fear? Gargi felt secretly elated by what her primal female instinct, made sharper and superior by a heightened self-awareness, whispered to her about Yajnyawalkya: “This man belongs to you as the sacrificer belongs to the sacrifice, as the rain belongs to the cloud, as the thunder belongs to lightening and the lightening belongs to the thunder, and as both in turn belong to the primordial forces of nature.”
And so Gargi must wait; must wait with the knowledge the falconer has of the movements of the falcon. But the falconer cannot rest with the knowledge he possesses. The world must know the object in possession of the falconer. The world must know, Yajnyawalkya’s victory heralds the beginning of Gargi's triumph.
Gargi waited restlessly and vigilantly for Yajnyawalkya to come to her. She waited as an enchantress waits silently, with bated breath for one under her spell. There was no anguish in her waiting. There was a greater awareness of what the fire within her demanded, and the more she waited, the more intense was the demand of that fire.
And then one day Gargi learnt about Yajnyawalkya's presence in Videha. There was an uncanny certainty about the gestation of their interlocked fate.
But the man did not come to her, although she saw him with her mind's eye, tormented, distraught, but keeping at bay.
So Gargi made the momentous decision to confront Yajnyawalkya once again with a determination possessed only by a woman who aspires to be more than a mortal woman!
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