As with the previous question, the context remains the
same. The villagers have come to gather in the home of the woman who has been stung by
the scorpion. Understandably, she is enduring intense pain. The poison from the sting
is coursing through her veins and there is little anyone can do to alleviate what
unspeakable difficulty she has to withstand. The villagers speak to this condition in
offering what is almost like a hymn or prayer for her soul. It is apparent that the
villagers believe in Hinduism, or the specific belief that the soul is immortal and will
pass on even after the body dies. The soul will have to undergo more births in order to
achieve a stage of moksha, or redemptive liberation, as it seeks to recognize the
universality of Atman, the true essence. This rebirth process is one that seeks to "get
it right" and does so through what has been done in previous births. What has been done
good and noble helps to bring one closer to this true essence. What has been done which
is evil and malevolent moves one away from it, causing one to have to endure more births
to acknowledge the true essence of which the villagers believe all humans are an
inseparable part.
May the poison purify your
flesh
of desire, and your spirit of
ambition,
The
villagers acknowledge that the poison is painful. Their belief is that the endurance of
such pain is what will allow the woman's soul to be purified, preparing her way towards
a redemptive end. At the same time, they believe that some karmic alignment or force
has ordained that she endure the pain of the poison to balance out any bad deeds that
she might have undertaken in this life or her previous ones. This purification is what
the villagers believe the value of the poison to be.
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