The Ox and the Bird: A Tale of Remembered Love. Jataka Tale [8/8] Illustrated in Virtual Reality

Описание

The Ox and the Bird: A Tale of Remembered Love
Jataka Tale [8/8] Illustrated in Virtual Reality #shorts
[Akasagarbha Bodhisattva x Ox]
Artwork ©Jelena Januskevic
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Long ago, across the endless plains where the wind whispered through dry grass and the sun scorched the earth, the Bodhisattva was born as an ox named Surabha.
His coat was the color of wet clay, and his eyes - dark and silent - held a depth that words could not reach.
He labored tirelessly, pulling carts, helping travelers, carving paths through wind and dust. And yet, deep within him was a quiet ache, like a melody he had once known but could no longer hear.
One sweltering day, weary and parched, Surabha stopped at the edge of the land. The air shimmered with heat. He was tired and thirsty.
Then - through the dry wind - he heard a song.
It was soft, like water murmuring from the earth.
He lifted his head and saw an oasis in the distance: greenery, stillness, and in the shade of a flowering neem tree, a pond covered in blooming lotuses.
And there, perched upon a branch, was a white bird.
Her name was Kumudā.
When their eyes met - Time unraveled.
And a memory returned - not of this life, but of the one before.
In that past life, Surabha had been a man - a brave, quiet soul who once ran into a burning house to save a child.
He carried the boy out… but the flames took him instead.
Kumudā had been a healer then, and his beloved.
She found him beneath broken beams and ash, cradled his burned body, and tried to save him. She wiped the soot from his face, gave him water, and held his head in her lap.
She sang to him - like she had once done in their quietest hours.
But death came anyway.
“I will find you again,” she whispered through tears.
And now - here they were. From that day on, they were never apart.
She sang to him stories of the stars. He carried her as he wandered from village to village, quietly helping those in need.
Some thought they were merely an ox and a bird.
But the wise ones said: “That is not an ox and a bird. That is love - remembered.”
One night, they both dreamed the same dream.
They were human again. They stood at the pond, as if no time had passed.
And from the heart of the water, a voice rose:
“Because you remembered. Because you loved without condition. You will be born together again - in a form where nothing will keep you apart. Next time, you will walk side by side.”
When they awoke, nothing needed to be said. They stayed by the pond - a red ox and a white bird, quiet in their perfect knowing.
And when the wind finally carried their bodies back into the earth, it carried their spirits forward into a new life.
At that same lotus pond, a girl with a voice like a birdsong met a boy with eyes full of ancient silence.
She looked at him, as if seeing something beyond his face.
He smiled.
“You came back,” she said.
“I found you,” he replied.
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