” When the time is ripe, I will come to you” Explain the line from “Abhisara – The Tryst”.
Question: The young ascetic answered ” Woman go on your way;/ When the time is ripe I will come to you”. Explain the line.
Answer: These lines are said by the monk Upagupta to Vasavadatta, the dancing girl of Mathura, when she invites the ascetic to her home.
Vasavadatta was a beautiful and famous court dancer of Mathura, who was very proud of her youthful beauty and wealth.
When Vasavadatta finds Upagupta, a young, charming and simple ascetic lying on the ground, she is fascinated by the simplicity of the ascetic. She invites him to come to her home.
Actually Vasavadatta offers him to abandon his simple life on the dusty earth and embrace her comfortable and luxurious life.
Upagupta is a Buddhist monk. He has devoted all his life to the service pf mankind. Selfless service is his true religion. Upagupta is indifferent towards the beauty and wealth of Vasavadatta, he turns down her offer and says –
“Woman, go on your way, /
When the time is ripe I will come to you”
Upagupta tells her to continue her way and reassures her that he will visit her when the right time would come.
This reflects the ascetic’s renunciation of worldly pleasure and attractions focussing instead on his spiritual path.
Upagupta thinks that the time is not right as Vasavadatta doesn’t need his help and service at this time. But when she would need his help, he would definitely come to help her. And that would be the right time to visit her.
This shows that Gid almighty has fixed everything previously and there is a right time for everything and it is not always when we expect it.
In the second part of the poem, the time has changed, Vasavadatta who was once proud of her beauty and wealth, is now a poor woman afflicted with a deadly disease. Her beauty is faded away, she was all covered with the sores of smallpox. She was lonely, unattended and driven away from the city and lying on the dusty ground.
At that time, Upagupta comes forward to help her. The phrase “when the time is ripe” here signifies the appropriate moment when his spiritual service is really needed, not a moment of indulgence.
Upagupta shows immense compassion and kindness. He chooses to comfort and care for the sick Vasavadatta.
Upagupta was unaffected by the physical appearance of Vasavadatta. He is indifferent towards her deadly and contagious disease and cleans her sores and applies sandal balm all over her body and comforts her. Upagupta’s compassion and care for the sick and abandoned Vasavadatta shows his true embodiment of the teachings of Buddha.
This is the time when Upagupta fulfills his promise to visit Vasavadatta. As at this time Vasavadatta needs his compassion, help and humanity the most. This is the right time to visit her.