Late last night, I was standing outside on our deck, looking at the waning moon. There was an illusion of darkness, a time when I can throw away the day’s mask. I think you must be standing in some part of this world, looking at the sky too and enjoying its expanse. There weren’t many stars visible in the sky, a joy of living in the city(sarcasm intended). After staring at the sky for a while, I did see a few stars that were bright. It will be a New moon in 2 days and a partial solar eclipse too in some parts of the world.

I remembered reading a list of the brightest starts in the sky and somehow the name Vega(known as Abhijit-the one who is unconquered, in the Hindu astronomical books) stood in my mind… Maybe because it was associated with a constellation named Lyra or Harp, an instrument I love listening to. I also remembered a sad Japanese (or was it Chinese?) love story associated with this Star. It’s a story of love and of the ache associated with separation.  So here I am sharing the story with you.

 The Emperor of the sky had 7 daughters. The youngest of them, called the weaver maiden, was very beautiful and adept at weaving. She wove beautiful clothes, clouds and rainbows making the sky very beautiful. Of all the daughters the emperor loved her the most. One day when the seven daughters descended from the heavens to a brooke to bathe, a cowherd chanced to see them. The mischievous cowherd took their clothes and hid them. The fairy princesses decide that only one of them will go out and ask him for the clothes, so they choose the youngest of them for the job. The weaver maiden gets out of the water and pleads with the cowherd for the clothes. The cowherd returns the clothes but in exchange he asks the weaving maiden to be his wife. She agrees to this condition. So the 6 princesses don their clothes and ascended to the heavens except for the youngest daughter. The weaver maiden and the cowherd married, fell in love with each other and had a good life.  She was a good wife to the cowherd. As the years rolled by they had two kids.

Meanwhile the Sky Emperor missed his beloved daughter. A hunt was launched and the Sky Empress was furious when she came to know that a mere Mortal had married her daughter. She meets with the weaving maiden and reminds her of her duty to her parents and to the prosperity of the earth. The weaver maiden, being very filial, reluctantly returns with her mother and the two of them begin their ascent to the heavens. The cowherd puts himself and the children in a basket laced with yarn from the fairy clothes and chases after his beloved wife. But the mother(grandmother in some versions) draws the Milky way between the two of them with her hairpin separating them forever… The Princess weaver maiden sits at her loom weaving on one side(the star Vega), while the cowherd lives on the other side with the two children(the star Altair and β and γ Aquilae). The two lovers watch each other, pining for togetherness, on the opposite sides of the Milky Way.

Every summer Vega forms the vertex of the Summer Triangle, an asterism(a pattern formed by stars that arent from the same constellation), which consists of Vega (in Lyra), Deneb(in Cygnus) and Altair (in Aquila). It is recognizable in the northern skies for there are few bright stars in its vicinity.

{Sources : wikipedia  and  All about Space}

Sad isnt it?  I wonder though, if they werent separated, would they  have lived happily ever after or would they like the many marriages today live with each other like travellers in an Inn? At least the cowherd and the maiden know they love each other,  in that world, maybe they were greedy.  In today’s world, knowing there is love, would be enough.  Musing as usual. Wondering what your thoughts are.

Signing off,
You know who.

P.S. This was something I wrote in September of 2007.