In his preface to India Love Poems, Tambimuttu has beautifully summed up the dilemma created by The Creator when he made "woman as man's companion."
"In the beginning, Brahma created man. But when he came to the fashioning of women, he had no more solid materials left. So Brahma took - 'the clustering of rows of bees, and the joyous gaiety of sunbeams, and the weeping of clouds, and the fickleness of winds, and the timidity of the hare, and the vanity of the peacock, and the hardness of adamant, and the sweetness of honey, and the cruelty of the tiger, and the warm glow of fire, and the coldness of snow, and the chattering of jays, and the cooing of the kokila, and the hypocrisy of the crane, and the fidelity of the 'chakravaka', and compounding all these together, Brahma made woman and gave her to man.
Eight days later, the man returned to Brahma. "My Lord, the creature you gave me poisons my existence. She chatters without rest, she takes all my time, she laments for nothing at all, and is always ill. Take her back," and Brahma took the woman back.
But eight days later the man came again and said: "My Lord, my life is very solitary since I returned this creature. I remember she danced before me, singing. I recall how she glanced at me from the corner of her eye, how she played with me, clung to me. Give her back to me," and Brahma returned the woman to him.
Three days only passed and Brahma saw the man coming to him again. "My Lord," he said, "I do not understand exactly how it is, but I am sure that the woman causes me more annoyance than pleasure. I beg you to relieve me of her!"
But Brahma cried, "Go your way and do the best you can." And the man cried, "I cannot live with her!"
"Neither can you live without her!" replied Brahma.
And the man went away sorrowful, murmuring, "Woe is me, I can neither live with her nor without her!"
*Excerpts from a passage I read on the net*
"In the beginning, Brahma created man. But when he came to the fashioning of women, he had no more solid materials left. So Brahma took - 'the clustering of rows of bees, and the joyous gaiety of sunbeams, and the weeping of clouds, and the fickleness of winds, and the timidity of the hare, and the vanity of the peacock, and the hardness of adamant, and the sweetness of honey, and the cruelty of the tiger, and the warm glow of fire, and the coldness of snow, and the chattering of jays, and the cooing of the kokila, and the hypocrisy of the crane, and the fidelity of the 'chakravaka', and compounding all these together, Brahma made woman and gave her to man.
Eight days later, the man returned to Brahma. "My Lord, the creature you gave me poisons my existence. She chatters without rest, she takes all my time, she laments for nothing at all, and is always ill. Take her back," and Brahma took the woman back.
But eight days later the man came again and said: "My Lord, my life is very solitary since I returned this creature. I remember she danced before me, singing. I recall how she glanced at me from the corner of her eye, how she played with me, clung to me. Give her back to me," and Brahma returned the woman to him.
Three days only passed and Brahma saw the man coming to him again. "My Lord," he said, "I do not understand exactly how it is, but I am sure that the woman causes me more annoyance than pleasure. I beg you to relieve me of her!"
But Brahma cried, "Go your way and do the best you can." And the man cried, "I cannot live with her!"
"Neither can you live without her!" replied Brahma.
And the man went away sorrowful, murmuring, "Woe is me, I can neither live with her nor without her!"
*Excerpts from a passage I read on the net*
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