The sorrow of the worshippers was turned to joy,
For suddenly a light shone in the darkness:
The goddess had risen from the dead.
—Goldberg: The Sacred Fire

Harshal’s eyes brought the world to Ishvari’s feet; by noon the next day, supplicants were wending their way up the verdant slopes of the valley. As they neared the rock on which she sat, Ishvari saw an attractive young woman at the head of the small group panting with exertion, her eyes red-streaked and puffy. She was draped in a silken sky-blue tunic embroidered in vertical columns of red and gold and in her arms nestled an infant with severely deformed limbs.

Right behind her lumbered a grim-faced woman garbed in the green homespun of midwives, her hollow cheeks bearing test...

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