Where am I ???

"Kowsalya supraja Rama poorva sandhya pravarthathe...." 

The sound of the ringing bell, an atmosphere scented with the wafting smell of the incense sticks replaced my dreamy land of chocolates with a large statue of Tirupati Shree Venkataramana. The vibrations caused by the bell didn't allow me to sleep. I woke up - eyelids heavy, hair ruffled, head longing for the feathery touch of the pillow, and mind entirely confused. Where was I? I slowly got up and looked around .... just one amazing thing covered the entire atmosphere around me. White clouds covered me, hovered above and formed the surface I stood on. Donned in pure white clothes, I was looking strange - or rather spooky, I believe, for there was no mirror to give me clarity.

Scared, I began wondering where I was. There was no one around me. Where had I heard those sounds? Where was the temple? Whose voice had I heard? All these questions revolved around my head and I began to see stars during the day. Wait .....what time was it? I could only see light all around. Was it daytime, or was I in some lightbulb making factory?

What had happened last night? Had I not gone home? Why was I here? If I wrote down all the questions which came to my mind, then it would be enough to fill up a literature paper for 1000 marks, or so I felt. I only remembered that I had come back home from my orphanage, had my dinner, some pills and switched off the light and went to bed. Wasn't that what happened last night? As I was immersed in attempting to solve the mystery of my life, I kept on wandering around. Every place looked the same, I didn't know where I went. 

When I should have travelled an area of what felt like 1000 hectares, I felt that I would land nowhere. As I was about to give up, I saw some clouds forming a tall step ladder. I slowly gathered courage and climbed up the ladder, which seemed taller than the Olympus Mons, and when I reached the topmost rung, the sight I saw was enough to make me fall, but I held tight and stood awestruck at what I saw.

 

The divine sight, which was enough to wash away a 1000 sins of a 1000 lives. The beatific vision which would be enough to satisfy a 1000 needs of a 1000 saints. What is this sahasraakhyana?

Seeing the thousand-headed Shesha naga, residing with pride ......the pride of forming the couch for the Padmanaabha, Pankajaaksha, the Supreme Lord of the Universe, Lord Vishnu...My life burned with devotion and was purified the way gold burns and get pure in a fire. All this while, I had been travelling aimlessly in the Ksheersagar. As I saw below, I could see a million devotees worshipping and praying the Lord. A crore chants flowed flawlessly into my ear and the full world was visible. I understood that I had died .... my soul was drifting in the Vaikunta, the holy abode of Shree Vishnu. 

I had finally understood the bliss in death...