Balarama and Revati - A Marriage Across Ages

Dadi: "Beta, what if someone told you that your bride-to-be was from millions of years in the past?"

Guddu: "That sounds impossible, Dadi!"

Dadi: "It does! But today's story contains one of the most fascinating ideas in our ancient texts - that time moves differently in different places."

Guddu: "What do you mean?"

Dadi: "Let me tell you about Princess Revati and how she married Balarama, even though she was born ages before him!"

Guddu: "How is that possible?"

Dadi: "Revati was the daughter of King Kakudmi, a ruler so powerful and wise that when it was time to find a husband for his daughter, he was not satisfied with any prince on Earth."

Guddu: "Not a single prince was good enough?"

Dadi: "Revati was extraordinarily beautiful and accomplished. Her father made a list of suitable princes, but none seemed worthy. So he decided to ask the highest authority - Lord Brahma himself, the creator of the universe!"

Guddu: "He went to meet Brahma?"

Dadi: "Father and daughter traveled together to Brahmaloka, the realm of Brahma. When they arrived, they found the creator listening to a divine musical performance."

Guddu: "Music in heaven!"

Dadi: "The most beautiful music ever created, beta. King Kakudmi waited patiently for the song to end. Finally, when there was a pause, he approached Brahma and presented his list of princes."

Guddu: "What did Brahma say?"

Dadi: "Brahma smiled, then laughed! "O King," he said, "while you waited for this song to finish, twenty-seven Chatur-Yugas have passed on Earth!""

Guddu: "What is a Chatur-Yuga?"

Dadi: "It is a cycle of four ages - Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali Yuga - lasting millions of years together. In the time it took for one divine song to play, millions and millions of years had passed on Earth!"

Guddu: "That is incredible!"

Dadi: "King Kakudmi was devastated, beta. "All those princes you listed," Brahma explained, "have been dead for millions of years. Their dynasties have risen and fallen. Even the geography of Earth has changed.""

Guddu: "Everyone he knew was gone!"

Dadi: "His kingdom, his relatives, countless generations - all vanished in what felt like minutes to him. But Brahma said, "Do not despair! Return to Earth now. You will find it in the Dwapara Yuga. There lives Balarama, a portion of Lord Vishnu himself. He alone is worthy of your daughter.""

Guddu: "So they went back to Earth?"

Dadi: "They descended to find a world utterly transformed. Different kingdoms, different people, different everything. But they found Balarama, and the match was indeed perfect."

Guddu: "Was there any problem?"

Dadi: "One problem, beta. Revati came from an earlier age when humans were larger. She was much taller than Balarama - she towered over him!"

Guddu: "That must have looked funny!"

Dadi: "Balarama simply touched her with his plough, his divine weapon, and adjusted her size to match humans of the current age. A small miracle for a cosmic being!"

Guddu: "And they lived happily?"

Dadi: "They did, beta. But think about Revati - everyone she had ever known, everything from her world, had been gone for millions of years. She found herself in a strange time, with strange customs, surrounded by people who were born ages after her."

Guddu: "That must have been so lonely!"

Dadi: "Perhaps only an eternal being like Balarama - who was actually the cosmic serpent Shesha - could truly understand someone who had lost everything to time. He was ageless too. They could share an understanding that ordinary couples never could."

Guddu: "Two timeless beings finding each other!"

Dadi: "Exactly. One who had traveled through time from the past, one who existed outside of time altogether. A perfect match made by Brahma himself."

Guddu: "What does this teach us, Dadi?"

Dadi: "Many things, beta! First, that time is mysterious - it does not flow the same everywhere. What seems like minutes to one person might be lifetimes to another."

Guddu: "Like when I am having fun and time flies by, but class seems to take forever!"

Dadi: "Ha! Something like that, but much bigger! Second, this story teaches us that perfect matches exist - we just need patience to find them. King Kakudmi traveled to heaven and lost millions of years, but found the right husband for his daughter."

Guddu: "Some things are worth waiting for."

Dadi: "Even if the waiting lasts millions of years! And finally, it teaches us that we can adapt to new situations. Revati lost her entire world but found love and purpose in a new age. When life changes dramatically, we can still find happiness."

Guddu: "I will remember that time is strange, Dadi!"

Dadi: "It is the strangest thing of all, beta. Scientists today talk about how time bends and stretches. Our ancient sages knew this thousands of years ago - they told stories like Revati's to make us wonder about the nature of the universe."

Guddu: "The old stories knew things before science!"

Dadi: "They expressed truths in different ways, beta. Whether through equations or stories, wisdom finds a way to reach us."