A monument to love

This incident happened many years after Shah Jahan's passing. In 1836 an English colonel and his wife went to visit the Taj Mahal, the most beautiful tomb in the world. They pitched their tent on the lawn in front of the main building. Then the colonel said to his wife, "Tell me, what do you think of this tomb?"

The wife replied, "If you ask me what I think about it, I will speak about the architecture, the workmanship and so forth. But if you ask me what I feel about it, then I will tell you my real feelings. Will you honour my feelings?"

The colonel said, "Of course. I want to know your feelings and definitely I will honour them."

His wife continued, "All right. Then I must tell you that I would be willing to put an end to my life tomorrow if you would build a Taj Mahal like this one for me. Are you prepared to do so? I am ready to take my life at this moment, but are you prepared to build another Taj Mahal for me? Do you have that kind of love for me?"

The husband was speechless. The wife went on, "I can fulfil my promise at any moment, but I can see that you are not ready to give me your promise. You will not even dare to promise to build another Taj Mahal for me. You do not have that kind of love for me!"

The poor husband looked at his wife in silence.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The Moghul Emperors, Agni Press, 2001
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/me