Hymns to Ushas - The Radiant Dawn

Dadi: "Guddu, what's your favorite time of day?"

Guddu: "Probably evening when I can play games?"

Dadi: "*(smiling)* What about early morning, when the sky starts turning pink and gold?"

Guddu: "I'm usually asleep then, Dadi!"

Dadi: "That's why you might be missing the most beautiful moment! Our ancient sages wrote some of their most beautiful poems about dawn. They saw it as a goddess - Ushas."

Guddu: "Dawn is a goddess?"

Dadi: "Yes! Every morning when darkness gives way to light, that's Ushas arriving. She drives a chariot pulled by red-golden horses across the sky, bringing the sun behind her."

Guddu: "That's a cool image!"

Dadi: "The ancient hymns describe her like this: "The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendour like the waves of waters." She's compared to ocean waves - beautiful and powerful."

Guddu: "What does she do?"

Dadi: "She wakes up the world! "She comes, awakening us with news of treasure, driving away the hateful darkness from us." Every morning, she's basically saying: "Get up! A new day is your treasure!""

Guddu: "*(yawning dramatically)* Some treasure requires sleep though..."

Dadi: "*(laughing)* One hymn says: "Arise! The breath, the life, again hath reached us. Darkness hath passed away and light approacheth." Every morning isn't just sunrise - it's a new life beginning."

Guddu: "That's pretty deep for just the sun coming up."

Dadi: "That's what the sages understood, beta. Ushas wasn't just about physical light. She represented hope, new beginnings, the victory of good over darkness. Every single day, no matter how bad yesterday was, she returns."

Guddu: "She always comes back?"

Dadi: ""The goddess Dawn has eternally shown before, and the bounteous goddess shines here today. She will shine in days to come as well." No matter what - wars, floods, pain - dawn comes again."

Guddu: "That's kind of comforting."

Dadi: "Isn't it? When you feel sad or lost, remember Ushas. Night always ends. Dawn always returns. No darkness lasts forever."

Guddu: "What does she look like in the hymns?"

Dadi: ""Like a fair lady, Dawn has come unto us: She yokes her ruddy steeds and hastens onward." They imagined her as a beautiful young woman, always fresh, always new, dressed in light."

Guddu: "Does she bring anything special?"

Dadi: "Life itself! The hymns say she "maketh paths all easy, fair to travel." She opens the gates of day, makes roads visible, brings warmth that lets plants grow and people move. Without dawn, the world would be stuck in cold darkness."

Guddu: "Why did the sages pay so much attention to dawn?"

Dadi: "Because they were awake for it, beta! They meditated before sunrise. So they saw this miracle every single day - the sky changing colors, birds beginning to sing, the world waking up. They fell in love with that moment."

Guddu: "Maybe I should wake up early sometime..."

Dadi: "*(touching his cheek)* You should! Set an alarm, go outside, and watch. First you'll see the sky lighten. Then pink and gold streaks. Then - there! - the edge of the sun. The hymn says: "Shedding her light on human habitations, this Child of Heaven hath called us from our slumber.""

Guddu: "Child of Heaven... that's beautiful."

Dadi: "Ushas teaches us something important, Guddu. Unlike powerful gods who fight demons with weapons, she conquers darkness just by being light. She doesn't destroy the night - she gently replaces it."

Guddu: "Being gentle but still winning?"

Dadi: "Exactly. Strength doesn't always mean force. Sometimes the gentlest things - like dawn's soft light - change everything. The darkness doesn't fight back. It simply... fades."

Guddu: "I'll try to wake up early tomorrow, Dadi. To see Ushas."

Dadi: "*(delighted)* I'll wake you. And together we'll greet her, like our ancestors did thousands of years ago. The same dawn they praised still comes to us. Isn't that amazing?"

Guddu: "It's like being connected to them through the sunrise!"

Dadi: "*(hugging him)* That's exactly right. Every dawn connects us - to our ancestors, to the cosmos, to the endless cycle of renewal. Sweet dreams tonight, beta. And tomorrow, we meet the goddess of light."