மஹ்திதாசன்

Sufi poets and thinkers have long described the relationship between the lover and Beloved as analogous to fish and its dependency on water—as Maulana Rumi states, “Everyone except the fish becomes sated with water,” (“Har ki juz māhī zi ābash sēr shud…”) in the same way a lover can never tire of the Beloved—nor even exist at all apart from Her.  There is an anecdote on this very subject associated with Tamil poet-saint Peer Mohammad Appa; once, he was invited by the “ruler of Kochi” to participate in a debate between various religious leaders, scholars, and mystics. The king asked: “Fish cannot exist without water. But is water dependent upon fish?”  What the hell kind of question…? Of course, the near-unanimous answer was, “No way! Water can surely exist without fish.” But Peerappa was strangely adamant. “No, no. In every body of water is a fish.”  The room erupted into laughter, and the king was equal parts befuddled and amused. “What do you mean?” he asked Peerappa. “...