Vatsala was tired of her son’s ways. Being a single parent, she had raised him with great care and wanted him to settle down in his personal life. However, her efforts to convince her son, Vachaspati, had been futile as the latter’s desire was to become an ascetic after the completion of his commentary on Sri Shankara’s ‘Brahma Sutra’. ‘Brahma Sutra’ consists of 555 aphorisms, in four chapters. Each chapter is further divided into four sections each.

    It was the tenth century. Vachaspati Mishra was a philosopher of Advaita Vedanta. He was born in Mithila, now Vachaspati Nagar, Madhubani in the present-day Bihar. His Bhashyas (commentaries) on Hindu philosophy are much respected by scholars.

    Exasperated with him, Vatsala decided to take things in her own hands. She fixed a match for him with a girl from the neighbouring village. When the matter came to Vachaspati....