________________
"Oh, I will be glad to do anything if I can remain in your presence. There is no greater inspiration in my life than you and now I know that I will always be moving on this pure and clear path of Reverence for Life. Oh, now my life will be enriching and meaningful and complete!"
Thus they agreed that their life together would ever be guided by their dedication to the evolution of their own consciousness and by their commitment to life at large. Together they would move toward that pure state of love which knows no demand, no conditions. Through their example, many people would stop giving and receiving pain. They would discover their potentiality and meaning and come to see, as Gurudev saw, that “even in darkness there is light, even in grief there is joy, even in death there is life, and even in love there is freedom.”
They waited until late springtime to marry, a little before Gurudev planned to go to Africa. Out of compassion for those people who had been ar gered by his revolutionary step of traveling to the West, Gurudev decided not to make any public announcement. He thought, “In their way of thinking, I am taking an entirely radical step. While they are still percolating in emotion, they would not understand. Is it right to stir their violence and put people's lives in danger just to show the boldness?” He knew that one day, their emotions would subside and their thinking become clear. Then they would be ready to receive this news.
The marriage ceremony was witnessed by only two close friends. It was a gandharva marriage in which five symbols were exchanged. First, they lit candles, symbolizing the illumination they were bringing into each other's lives. This was an occasion in which to see one another as divine light and to shed that light on others. The second symbol was incense which they burned to represent their intention to consume their karmas, purify their consciousness, and move like the smoke, upward into higher life. Their presence, too, would bring a pleasant fragrance wherever they moved.
As they exchanged the third symbol, a flower, they under282
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
