When I met power...

In my previous post, God of ecstasy, I discussed Dionysus and the theory of self-worth. Today's post is an extension of the same concept, however, it's about the occasion when I met power. Before sharing the conversation I had with power, let me just narrate folklore, not from Greek literature but, from Nepal's. 

Sharing with you 'Who is the most powerful in N.Sharma's words:

'' Once upon a time, there was a powerful mouse king. Drunk with power, he gave himself the airs of a superhuman animal. He had a beautiful daughter. Many young aspirants, representing the mice tribes from all corners of the globe, came to his kingdom to seek his daughter's hand in marriage, but he refused to oblige any of them, for he had determined not to give his daughter away to anyone but the most powerful living being in the universe. 

He called a meeting of his courtiers to determine who would be the most fitting suitor for the mouse princess. The courtiers, after long deliberations, concluded that the Sun, by virtue of his being the most powerful, was the only one who deserved the hand of the princess. Thus, the mouse king sent emissaries to the court of the Sun, offering him the hand of his daughter. 

But the Sun said, 'If you think I am the most powerful person in this universe, you are mistaken. Cloud is more powerful than me, for he wishes to stand between the earth and myself, I can hardly do anything to dispel the earth's darkness.'

The emissaries then went to the realm of Cloud and conveyed their king's message. But Cloud protested that Wind was more powerful than himself, and added, 'No matter how I try, I can never stand against a gust of wind; it blows me away.'

When Wind was approached, he replied, 'If you are really looking for the most powerful to be the suitor to the mouse king's daughter, go to Mountain, for I have always lost in trials of strength with him and even my strongest blast has always been checked by him.'

Mountain, on hearing the mouse king's proposal, told his emissaries: 'Yes, I could stop all the world's wind and also the strongest gales, but for the bloody mouse. It burrows holes and tunnels inside me and lets the air in. If I am afraid of anything as a potential threat to my existence, it is the mouse.'

This was a great revelation to the mouse king. Little had he realized how powerful his own clansmen, the tiny mice folk, were and ashamed of his earlier aspirations, he offered his daughter's hand to a young mouse of his own tribe. ''

When I met power, I asked him who the most powerful is. He gave me a silver cup full of water. 'Water?' Power shook his head lightly, 'See.' I looked into the clear water. 'What do you see?', power asked. 'Myself.' 'Who is the most powerful then?', power smirked. I was baffled. 

Nepalese literature re-imagined the idea of self-esteem put forth by Greek literature. The linkage between pieces of literature written with an eternity's gap is mesmerizing. It may be hard to carry a mountain on your shoulders- although Hindu literature narrates Krishna's magnanimous act of holding a mountain on his finger- it is indeed you, the one reading, who sliced the mighty-looking mountains just to build bustling cities. 

So who is the most powerful? Ask the power itself.