The formidable personality reclined on the jagged rocks as comfortably as if he were sitting on the softest diwan in the universe. He looked like he had just come from a funeral—layers of freshly created ash were smeared in generous quantities over his body. The ash made his form appear grey; but on closer examination, one could see the light of Brahman emanating from all parts of the charismatic Being’s sinewy body. There was no sign of life or vegetation for hundreds of yojanas around this area. It seemed even the wind had trouble reaching this spot; yet there was a sense of peace and calm that prevailed here, which was difficult to discover even in the most favoured haunts in Swarglok. There were only two people in the entire universe that Brahma was in awe of, even a little scared of at times. He was standing in front of one of them right now. The last time he had angered the ash-clad person, Brahma had had to undergo untold mortification. But eventually, he had realized that this compelling person had helped him more with his castigation than he could ever have done through kind words.
