A matter of a drop or a few drops of water

 

                        A matter of a drop or a few drops of water

       Interesting details as to what happens to a drop or few drops of water in association with something.

According to Sanskrit poet Bhartruhari, even the existence of a drop of water placed upon a piece of red hot iron, becomes unknown ( vanishes without any trace of it’s once existence), the same water drop when placed on a waxy surface of broad leaf of lotus flower shines like a pearl. On Swati constellation day, the same drop of rain water falling into an oyster transforms itself into a precious pearl. This verse is depicted as an example of the effect of association. Men acquire the lowest, average and the highest virtues in association with the nature of the associate.

A picturesque description of milk and water as a true self-sacrificing companionship. When milk is boiled on a stove, first a little water is put in the pan , then pure milk is poured over it  to prevent the milk from getting stuck at the bottom and getting charred. The water at the base prevents this spoilage and then merges with milk imbibing its sweetness . It is imagined as water prevents its friend from spoilage and takes the first onslaught of heat on itself, the milk in turn gives its sweetness to water by merging it within itself. You can separate water and milk. Then when the milk boils completely, it has a tendency to spill over the pan and falling itself into the flame of the stove. So to prevent this , a few drops of water poured over the boiling milk coming to the brim cool it and prevent from spillover.  It is as if milk is in distress and his friend water cools him down.

In the words of Bhartruhari, when heated, the water evaporates to save the milk from burning, and later when the milk boils over in distress, the water returns ( is added ) to calm it, showing a perfect friendly bond where each shares other’s pain and joy and become one.

Chataka bird ( Jacobi Cuckoo ) in Indian literature and folklore is depicted as the harbinger of monsoon and is believed to to wait for the rain, to drink its drops falling from the sky ( cloud ), not water from any other source.