Poems from Prayers of the Pen

AUM

‘Aum’ is Brahma of one seed-letter

‘Beeja-akshara’ is thus of divine form

Chanting produces divinity in flutter

The divine manifesting by charm:

 

Aum is the origin of Vedas four

Beginning and end of literary lore:

To amplify secret knowledge it has power

Meditators go into it as if to supreme tower:

 

From it the visible world did emerge

Into it created it will converge:

Dhyana on Aum purifies mind,

For salvation seekers, it is a find

 

Aum is Brahma, for Vidya

We two are Guru and Shishya,

Let Pranava protect us

Pilgrims we are on path of progress,

Together hopefully we get energy vital,

Let learning bathe us light pivotal,

There shall be no count differential,

Salutation to Peace Eternal.

 

Prayers to Vighneswara

Vighneswara!

My motivating source you are –

Muladhara.

Light of your million suns

Charging my nib,

I do my nibbling ones!

 

Ganapathi!

Dispeller you are

Of doubt and durmathi.

Your tooth and sting

Sensitize my coil spring!

 

Kundalini

Moves your trunk

And my writing mutiny!

Serpent power

Seizes to rise

In my poetic tower!

 

Indeed!

The seed you are in Aum

And my creed of breed

Let me wish

Inflow of thought incessant

In me to flourish!

 

Salutations to Sadguru

Salutations to Sadguru!

Master of masters on Meru,

The receptacle of reality,

And symbol of immortality!

 

His bliss has no parallel,

And peace is but natural!

In every atma he glows,

And on all, his grace flows!

 

Dispeller of disease grave,

Preceptor unique and brave!

For this, I crave his indulgence,

The wave of poetic intransigence!

 

Neela Saraswathi & Others

Hail! Neela Saraswathi!

My ink you are and sympathy,

Devaraja! King of Gods!

I’m in your deft and royal hands.

 

Milk of Knowledge,

Apeeta Kuchamba, the bosoms beckon

But inexhaustible to reckon!

 

Accept my pledge

Arunachaleswara, ruler of Universe!

Fire my verse.

 

There’ll be no smudge,

Abhayeswara, Fountain of Fearlessness!

Sire my inky fineness!

 

Remove the hedge!

Wealth of material, Perfection’s acme,

Oh! Kubera Lakshmi!

 

Garuda

Hail, Pakshiraja!

Protector of pen-friends,

Wielder of my clip!

Oh! Garuda-ja!

Born of your beak

Your grace holds the grip.

 

King of birds!

Let me be sharpness

Of your beak golden,

Bereft of swords

Winged warrior, winner

Of wars! I’m beholden.

 

Vishnu’s carrier!

I pray to the Heavens

Sail me, Suvarna Paksha

You’ve no barrier,

Wanderings free you muster

To world of moksha.

 

Do predicate

My clip to point

Your spirit to sprint

To lokas I dedicate

My ‘beak’ of Bhu to point

Sathya, beauteous ascent

 

Oh! Garuda-dhwaja!

On to my clip

Your flag is fastened

My flying Theja,

Give vent to expression

Till it is hastened!

 

Bestower of boon!

Bondage, cries the clip.

But to you I cling.

Deliver me soon.

Imagery! Take a dip

Poetic, for me to sing.

 

Flier fantastic,

Not like pillar to post,

Bust fast you cover

Writer artistic,

The world around hoist

These lines for the lover.

 

What’s in a name?

My clip heaves your force

But not your fame!

What care I if it’s coarse

And the supporting leg lame?

Enough for me is your grace.

 

Arunachaleswara

Arunachaleswara,

Presiding Iswara!

Your celestial flame

Is of fiery frame.

 

Arunachaleswara,

Unique is your aurora!

Of solar, lunar rays

In Agni’s weird ways

 

Arunachaleswara,

Creator you are, Hara!

Of Hari and Brahma

Their delusion and drama!

 

Arunachaleswara,

Salutations Sarveswara!

Universe of your will

Is hidden in your hill.

 

Arunachaleswara,

Burner of sins plethora!

Purifier sui generis

Pray, be generous!

 

Arunachaleswara,

Hail, Hridayeswara!

Liver of hearty lotus

Lover of purity, bless us.

 

Iswara of Iswaras!

Not a blade of grass

Lives bereft of your will

Moves not, like the hill.

 

Arunachaleswara,

You are Shonachaleswara!

Pradakshina-priya your name!

Saviour of all, all the same.

 

Arunachaleswara

Wielder of moral era!

Vice of the wicked stings

Virtue of the wise rings!

 

Arunachaleswara

My Matru-bhuteswara!

Of doubt dispeller

And sins expeller.

 

Arunachaleswara!

From Samsara-sagara

You are boon bestower

And bondage liberator.

 

Arunachaleswara

You are Parameswara!

Remembrance, Skanda says

Is sufficient for your grace!

 

Arunachaleswara

Cause of Vighneswara!

Apeeta Kucha, your consort

To a play did you resort?

 

Arunachaleswara,

As hilly fauna, flora,

Your origin a fiery pillar,

Defied knowing you fuller.

 

Brahma-Chaitanya

At the centre of lotus of heart

As unmanifest and unseen sort,

Only to Hari, Hara and Brahma known

And by the yogi in deep contemplation,

That can destroy the fear of death

And apprehension of re-birth,

That stays as Sat-Chit form

And as seed of all creative storm,

Of every conceivable world

And the inconceivable unified field

As energy pure and primordial

Is Brahma-Chaitanya quintessential!

 

Among elements on the breakage,

Brahma-Chaitanya is the bondage;

Universal creation it sustains,

Individual longevity it maintains;

Elemental harmony it keeps,

For Mahan Seshadri it is tops;

Fear of conflict it vanishes;

Scourge of war it banishes!

Meditate on the prenatal vitality,

Shuddha-Chaitanya, the supreme reality!

 

Sapta Rishis

Kashyapa, the King

Among seven rishis,

The one all-pervading,

Cleanses life vicious!

 

Atri, maker of Datta mould,

Is of trinity fame,

Dispeller of cometary cloud

Over earthly frame!

 

Bharadwaja is the symbol

Of peace to the fore,

Protectors of the pull

Of Vedic lore!

 

Viswamitra, the custodian

Of Gayathri mantra,

Proved, as conqueror doyen,

Thapas is the top tantra!

 

Gautama, personification

Of rare purity,

Has shown high concern

For health of humanity!

 

Jamadagni, a fire-brand

Of blemishless mind,

Set an example grand

Though difficult to grind!

 

Vasishta, the paragon

Of peaceful bastion,

Champion uncommon

Of Kriya siddhi doctrine!

 

Saviours of mankind

Are the rishis seven?

To write on their legend

Is futile for the pen!

 

Shuka Nadi

This is the silver jubilee year

Of an experience I did not hear

But saw with an eye-fill

In a place known as “Blind-hill”!

‘Kurudumale’ is the shrine name

But ‘Kutadri’ of Puranic fame,

A meeting place of Gods great

Dedicated to Vinayaka of elephantine height

Worshipped by Krishna inimitable

And Shanmukha, the warrior invincible

Besides a blooming billion

For untold benefit and boon!

The presiding deity, known to reign,

Is a spiritually illimitable sovereign,

Saviour of mankind

And the divine and angelic kind,

Bestower of bliss

And permanent peace.

 

It was on a tranquil base

When the Moon was on the fourth phase

The Sun was on the Western horizon

And the five elements seemed to beckon

The whole world for worship

Of Vinayaka, His Lordship,

In perfect harmony,

Sruti, sound and symphony

That my senior friend and preceptor

Opened the palm-leaf literature

Authored by Shuka, the ageless sage,

Shuka Nadi – the veritable work of ancient age

Of Vedic and Vedantic visages

And a phantasmagoria of images.

 

The writing wasn’t with pen proverbial

But materialized by the Rishi’s will!

A blank leaf I lifted

For my venerable senior to read!

But Shuka’s pen invisible filled the page

In a minute to see the miracle of sage!

The leaf was put back after perusal

But I picked up one with inscription full.

I held the leaf with the inscribed ink

And soon it was blank

To permit old writing yielding place to new

My surprise adding to the mystic view!

I bow with my pen and flowers pinkl

To Vinayaka’s pendular trunk

And Shuka’s invisible pen and peculiar ink!

 

My blood is blue!

My blood is blue

But not the body

As a rare baby’s is true!

Shade makes me steady

And shapes my writing too.

 

The flood of thought

But not of body

Sharpens the biting bit!

The fluid heady

Flows fighting fit

And stirs the soul’s wit.

 

Body is banal

Soul immortal.

Undying soul is one

Immortal body none.

If you know that

You are “That”

 

Panther pink

Pervades my pal!

Disaster brink

Is to body Foul,

Indelible ink

Is like the soul!

 

Who is a Guru?

Who a Guru is, Shankara defines

Scarce qualities he combines!

 

On a foundation of discipline,

Learning and Scholarship are fine,

Finer the mastery of secret doctrine

But disciples welfare, the finest concern!

 

The whole brunt Adi Shankara bore!

Elevating four of shishyas to fore,

In Vedic text and Vedantic lore,

With thapas, austerity as core,

Talent and resources outstanding,

Radiating grace and peace to pour!

 

Secret of Sesha Brahman

Oh, Gods! Let our ears pair

Be for things good to hear,

And our eyes

Be to behold likewise!

Lets gather strength

Health and wealth

To spend our life

Sans strife

In divine contemplation,

Sublime thought and action;

True to word!

 

May Indra, the Knowledgeable one

And the all-knowing Sun,

Garuda, destroyer of misfortune

And Brihaspati, the wise fountain,

Bless us with powers of brain!

 

What’s the secret divine?

Vidya the best

Called Brahma Vidya in fine?

What’s the aspirant’s quest?

When set at rest,

Means vanishing point of sin,

Taking them to threshold

Of Brahman supreme, to win?

 

Pursuits enduring

Patience endearing

Detachment sine qua non

Desire for salvation –

Make up path of one,

The four-fold way to Brahman!

 

Brahma Vidya

Demands devotion;

Dedicated pursuit

Commands meditation.

 

Sanyasa sustains some

On sadhana to immortal home;

Karma, procreation and pelf

Never lead to knowledge of self!

 

The enlightened mind

Should in seat of Brahman bind,

Detachment purifying frame

Physical vibrating metaphysical name,

And knowledge by Vedantic means

Confirmed by Brahmic experience!

The blessed one then is Living Divinity

Amidst many a human entity!

When blissful body withers away,

As Sesha Brahman, blessed will stay!

 

Verily this is the path to Brahma-pada,

Surely the secret one in Atharva Veda!

 

Purusha

Fulfiller or aspiration

Purusha seems punier then my pen!

But of power profound and personification,

At the centre of the heart human,

He is the one!

Like the jyothi smokeless,

He shines, second to none,

As universal witness!

 

Purusha he is,

Purity par excellence

Rishis know this

So does the atma of Muni’s eminence!

Purusha pervades all

Ruler of the hoary past,

Heavenly future

And the present, pen and pal!

 

The Crown of Gods!

My cap is my crown

My articulation powers

It covers

Till faculties frown!

 

Hail, Hiranyagarbha!

Holder of all

Pen and pal

Hibernating in Gajagarbha!

 

Gem of head, jewels, it holds

Chance of creativity beholds

My cap flips

Idea but slips!

 

Force of fair expression

Seeks to fly,

Cap-barrier is but the bastion

On the sly!

 

Closed is the expressive gatee

Dharma desires

Karma denies

Cruel soul-less fate!

 

My Crusade

The class struggle,

War of survival,

Throws harmony into a jungle,

Heralding arrival

Of aspiration

Yielding place to exasperation,

Perspiration

And prompt denial!

 

I’ve an advantage

Over others ten

Armed with patent vintage

Point of my pen

The sharpened word

More piercing

Than the proverbial sword

 

The high class

Its citadel of despair

The top brass

Camouflage does it wear?

Financial purge

In name of national urge

“We lose all we own”,

The protagonists bemoan.

 

The ‘low’ class

Has its staring profile

And the confusion morass

Wild dreams tending to defile

The cold winter of despair

Its stinging poverty

Is bone-chilling affair

Of impecuniosity.

 

Whither ‘middle’ class?

Has it a place

Is it visible through opaque glass?

In the poverty race,

The middle class is fathoms deep

It’s time for archaeologist,

From oblivion to excavate and hoist

A dirty epitaph on a heap

Of desolation

When reborn

One foot regales in the tomb

Another ruminates in the womb!

 

The cure for class war

On divine care depends

Social equality karma amends,

Dharma Universal is bar

To stigma and the sticky far.

They say I’m mightier than sword

Then on with my crusade with every word!

 

Money

Indescribable is thy soul-stirring quality

A wonder of Creation, Master Money!

Key to revival of dead fraternity

Embodied in thy magical name, sweeter than honey!

 

Unfortunate is one bereft of bulging purse,

An unworthy member of human society?

Thy name can save from an evil curse

One and all from afflictions till eternity!

 

Thou art the mate of the oldest profession

The King-maker and the queen of treasures!

From trinkets to mind’s rousing mansion

Thy fame begets one’s endless pleasures!

 

Thou can impart beauty to a beastly brand

Match-maker thou art from time immemorial!

Thy bewitching name can buy things really grand

And invest the possessor with powers dictatorial!

 

Thou art the vanishing point of caste and creed

The mantle to shield shameful wrongs indeed!

My pen cracks under the crushing weight of karma

Gurudeva! Will you revive it and the height of dharma?

 

Twelve-faceted Gem

Banish your thirst for money,

Ignorant one!

Invoke intelligence, mental

Attachment to none;

Indulge in proper pursuits,

For pelf known,

Satiate your mind with

Self-acquisition!

 

Know that wealth will ever

Spell misfortune

No modicum of happiness there is

From it in fine

The affluent aren’t above reaction

By children own

Universal is the order,

This phenomenon!

 

Who is your son and

Who your wife?

Strange and amazing is the

Run of life

Who you are or who he is – is

One of strife

Brother, better bestow thought

To this question rife!

 

Youthful pride, weal and wealth,

Shall pay no price

Treachery of time terminates them

In a trice

Transcend barriers illusory

Of this Universe

Install yourself in the Brahman,

And arise!

 

Desire, anger, niggardliness and

Attachment, you shun;

“Who am I?” Shall your question

Be and introspection

Shorn of the spirit of en enquiry

About Atman,

The ignorant born have Hellish

Trial and tribulation.

 

Living beneath a tree, in the

precincts of temple

Sleeping on floor, sitting on skin,

To make living simple

Forsaking pleasures all and

Gifts to grapple!

Who will not be happy from

Detachment as example?

 

In you and me dwells Vishnu,

One and Universal,

Beyond bounds of patience your ire

On me is habitual

Perceive the Atman who manifests

In all is real

And purge your mind of all

Destinations Unreal

 

Friend or foe, son or relative,

Develop attachment not

Stay neutral to war and peace.

Take no part,

May equal be your outlook,

And fraternal great

Veritable Vishnu, the protector,

You’ll soon be by that!

 

Pranayama and pratyahara, yogic

Exercises pivotal

Practice them and nitya-anitya

Values vital

As also mantra japa and the

Matrix of upadhi

Sufficient stress there shall be

On citadel of Samadhi!

 

Like droplets seen unstable

On lotus leaf

Life also has its ever

Elusive half

Egoism and disease eclipse the

Overbearing self

Only to be overpowered by

Deathly grief!

 

Vacillating one! Your mind runs in

Directions eighteen!

Is there no one to show the

Distance between

Creation and destruction besides those

That intervene

And guide, by holding your hands

Firm and fine?

 

Place your devotion on lotus feet

Of guru and sage

Liberate yourself soon from

All earthly bondage

With sensory perceptions shall your mind

Retreat to vintage

And witness the lord of the heart –

Iswara’s visage!

 

The twelve-faceted gem is the

Guru’s initiation,

For shishyas to grasp the

Sermons in stone;

If bereft of commonsense, their

Tutorial tune

Will face the music indeed of

Many a misfortune!

 

Roam about like a Rhino!

Air can’t be trapped in net,

Lotus leaf isn’t in water wet,

Immune to comments you get,

And roam about like a Rhinoceros!

 

Unshaken by sound wild or oblivion,

The jungle king’s is call clarion,

Leap into arena divine like the lion,

Or roam about like a Rhinoceros!

 

On the path to salvation,

Untrammelled by obstruction,

And undeterred by obstacle,

As a solitary vehicle

Sporting a skin thick, oblivious,

Roam about like a Rhinoceros!

 

Like the Rhino horn stuff

Rib and nib are born tough!

 

Soul of Living

Was it a descent?

From the Garden of Eden

Or the very ascent

Of flowery run

From the Sogetsu school?

Feast to the full,

Unexcelled towers

Of arranged flowers!

 

Birds of paradise

Lotus-lilies arise

Marigold mercies

Monumental memories

Mother and child

In plants wild

Stills of life

Relief in rife

Make the mixing

Soul of living!

 

Guru Brahma

Keep awake, spirits kindred!

Do not relax but be vigilant;

Away from illusion dreaded,

Retreat from sensory enjoyment.

Search for the Guru lest you miss

Truth lying in Brahmic bliss!

 

The Sadguru has Shakti sui generis

Take refuge in his teaching

Before ruinous time brings crisis

Stake your means to reaching

The rich knowledge of his oasis

Never for a moment forgetting

To profit by his vast experience!

 

The spider winds its web

First by spinning the thread;

Plants come out of a blob

Most mystic from the seed;

Hairs grow from the bulb

On the skin from tiny tub;

So did Brahman with galactic web,

Cause all creative deed!

 

Body enveloped the Atman

Your innate divinity,

Universe and beyond the Brahman

Creator’s infinite reality!

Unless the enveloped is seen

There isn’t hope for humanity!

 

Dying for you!

People chase the Will-o ‘-the wisp

The mirage and the elusive grip;

Make mountainous turns

For meaningless returns

 

They know not the gaping gap

Betwixt the jot and lot

The trivial pleasures

And tremendous sorrows

Between mustard seeds

And the ocean of weeds

Momentary joys

And monumental decoys!

 

Victims of greed there have been

Myriads of men and women

Their tribulations beyond powers of pen!

Some driven to extremities of suicide

Only to enter the escapists’ den!

 

Some have died

For unfulfilled desires

Many have defied

Their masters and sires!

 

There are those who have died

For wine and women

For land or gold,

But how many in your fold

O Lord, have you seen dying for you?

 

Still Mind

To Ramana Maharshi, a swami went,

And met the master divine;

To his expression, he gave vent,

On seeing him in spirits fine

He was in week frame but face glowed!

How could he forget the body?

And experience Advaita, he asked,

Merging his self with the Universal?

The master advised, “Be still!”

 

A venerable swami from Skandagiri

Met a sanyasini on a giri.

The devout one asked him, face beaming,

All about his master’s teaching.

He took an hour to recount

Rich knowledge he had from the mount,

From the Vedic world to tantric lore

What he could have had and more!

He sought to know her learning out of run of mill.

She said all she got was “Stay still”.

 

Mahan Seshadri explained once,

Movement is characteristic of force

Trees, leaves and fruits ripe

Waters in a river run deep

Clouds above us move upon

Time inexorable marches on

Everything moves except jnani’s will

For, his passion is the Atman

And so his mind stays still!

 

On Failure

Deva!

If you do not redeem me

From shackles of domestic chain,

It isn’t any sort of acme

I’ll! Feel my sadhana is in vain,

As there’s none to protect me!

 

Sorrow and repentance aren’t new,

Imagine one surrendered to you:

If I fail in my divine race

The infamy will be on you!

For not shedding your rays

On me!

 

Symphony of Peace

Detracting from charms is a tongue foul

Indecorous it is to pierce the soul!

Hamlet of Shakespeare mused:

“I speak daggers to her, but use none!”

Can staggering ones be used?

Venturing an answer isn’t an easy one.

 

Gems get into words

In delicate hands of bards

Harsh ones hurled at by die-hards,

Cowherd and shepherd boys

Rob one of hard-earned joys!

 

How I wish to hear about peacock feathers!

Speech like a pleasing necklace of pearls

Recollection like the rich light of rubies

Talk excelling prismatic purity of crystals,

Growing in memory like emerald green

Expression engendering crescendo of delight

Tantalizing one akin to myriads to topaz light

Its power precisely like a shapely diamond,

Crowned with clarity of coral colour

Spreading the radiance of the blue sapphire

Across the world to build harmony

And sing the symphony of peace!

 

On Success

Righteous conduct is road to success,

For conquest of world are eleven others!

 

Truth is one and manifests reality,

Scriptures lay stress on this quality!

 

The third one is conquest of senses,

Step real towards spiritual progress!

 

All defects will thapas interne rout,

As Viswamitra proved beyond doubt!

 

Taking delight in other’s prosperity,

Only to exalted, surfaces such quality!

 

Modesty is part integral of life,

And Bashfulness is Dharma’s wife!

 

Prime quality is one of patience,

Else, energy divine vanishes hence!

 

Looking askance at others is mean,

Asking for trouble from the Dean!

 

Yajna is called Vedic sacrifice,

Prajna tells is elevating force!

 

Gifts given will return ten-fold,

Paces of success quicken manifold!

 

Courage essential to conquer karma,

Age of endurance ennobles dharma!

 

Salient feature is study of scriptures,

Recipe for success, bliss of raptures!

 

Epilogue

Rarities twelve occur by divine rate,

Even a few make one fortunate!

 

A great one sports qualities best,

Passing the test conquers the rest!

 

Conquest of Senses

Progress at peril by one that affects:

Amongst plethora are eighteen defects!

Swadharma give pride of place,

Give up righteousness and lose race!

Can someone’s success seek acceptance?

Jealousy, thy name is intolerance!

Desire is but a defective trait,

Snare of propensity is to covet!

Greed proverbial strays one’s path,

Avaricious one perishes like moth,

Anger tilts the balance of mind,

Ire burns the spiritual kind.

Sorrow spurned by scriptures,

Right attitude lies in raptures!

Pleasures material measure longevity,

Bliss alone brings Life’s surety.

Beware of limitless thirst and hunger,

Self-control is Hope’s harbinger!

Show of accusing finger or abusive voice,

Invites only divine anger and curse!

Pride blocks the human vision,

Fails fulfilment of life mission.

Prejudices cut the root of progress

Injudicious frame is but pernicious!

Distinct harm is offence to dharma,

Sadistic instinct child of karma!

Hatred houses sin against humanity,

Love to all is trait of divinity.

Quarrel not over tremendous trifles,

Growth of personality it stifles!

Brood not over unlucky phases,

Worry creates carrier of diseases.

Talk useless detracts from charms,

Gossips baulk one of good norms!

Disgusting demeanor is real destroyer

Divesting of dirt is the saviour.

Self-praise feeds the egoistic rod,

Let the deeds be assessed by God!

Ridding of defects cleanse lenses,

Conquering them conquers the senses.

 

Enemies Six, Man’s Fix!

1.Kama

Bless me Light of Lights!

The enemy of desire

As in-dweller it fights

Save me, Lord of Fire!

From my foe,

To thee I bow.

  1. Krodha

Protect me, Paragon of peace!

My frame is full of ire

As in-dweller, Iam ill at ease

Away from me, take the fire!

Burn my foe,

Innate inferno!

  1. Lobha

Lord, broaden my vision!

Fie on the miser in me

Against charitable disposition

Banish from anatomy

Qualities unkind

Inimical to mankind.

  1. Moha

Hence! Ugly attachment!

Of the Hell in me born

To covet unworthy enchantment

In spell of illusion forlorn,

Centered in self

On pitiless pelf!

  1. Mada

Steeped in pride incorrigible,

My inner frame a repository,

For its thirst insatiable,

My enemy legendary!

Cleanse my ‘red’

Condense my head!

  1. Matsara

Animosity, thy name is man!

Antar-atma, why this prejudice?

Inner devil scriptures ban!

Perfection grace and practice

Divinity acclaims

Guru proclaims.

 

Light of Mountain

Mercy as fountain

Let my birth obtain

Liberate me, everyone

From enemies six

The unedifying fix

 

On Friendship

Wish to shoot a friendly arrow,

And share your friend’s sorrow?

 

Feel happy at his rise you hear,

Proving concern for human care?

 

Rejoice in his moments of joy,

Get him things he would buy?

 

Sacrifice all as if for a ward,

And not expect any reward?

 

After extending help he deserved

Remain oblivious and disinterested?

 

Traditional conception of friend true,

Lies in sacrificing self too!

 

Lord Almighty is friend supreme

Never fails one who holds Him!

 

Knowledge and articulation

Hence, harrowing experience!

Of Hellish fib

And scratching nib

Groping in dark for commonsense!

 

Hail, all-knowing Hayagreeva!

Horse-head you wear

Banish my nightmare

Explode in me like supernova!

 

‘Nothing equals knowledge’

Vedas verily proclaim

Knowers avidly acclaim

My nervous nib on ribbon ridge!

 

Om is the Pranava song

Sound symbolic of origin

Pen-point of Brahman

The creative dot of Big Bang!

 

It is ‘That Purusha’

The vehicle of vision

Point of expression

Purusha pervades pourusha!

 

Bondage & Liberation

My triumph in sketching

Is art of my writing

Karma imprisons inking

Dharma liberates thinking?

 

Bondage and liberation

From no condition rise!

Keep your mind clean

There all the liberation lies.

 

Mind is root of appendage,

Life cycle and death is truth

Forgetting it begets bondage!

Realizing it salvation path.

 

Craving for prestige and pride

Cause of cycles and possession

Pride of place to prestigious tide

Of moksha, ensures march on and on!

 

In pretension lies bondage

Mere resolution to pursue knowledge!

If knowledge stands on vigilance,

You gain by dispelling ignorance.

 

Karma and dharma, facets of factor,

Controlled by Yama, the Ruler;

Dharma Guru acts as liberator

By emptying karma in accumulator!

 

Endless desire and delusions

Explain agony of attachment!

Chain of alluring passions

Cut by symphony of enlightenment.

 

Earthly iniquity blinds

Realities, to cause illusion.

Faith in Guru great finds

Path of ecstasy and liberation.

 

Discipline and Destination

His science rides the horse of wind,

Discipline rules Universe of mind,

Spiritual destination he will find!

 

He champions his waves mental,

Sensory organs run into control,

He will reach Brahman vital!

 

He releases intelligence step-wise,

Every step a spiritual rise,

He will traverse Vishnu’s place!

 

He sports awareness constant,

With mind and purity effervescent,

Will attain Reality transcendent!

 

Myth and Reality

For a man, woman is the illusion,

Dream of man, likewise, is delusion

For the down-to-earth, it looks real!

Path transcending may seem unreal.

 

It isn’t one of natural manifestation,

Verily it is the mind of pollution

Momentary wave in the Heart’s ocean

Brilliant bubbles aren’t gems of intuition.

 

Why then the wealth of a dying kind?

The wound from a vacillating mind?

Apparent breeze but a fiery wind?

Seeming moonlight but scorching find?

 

If the Lord wills, the cups fill

If the guru grants, set the quill!

Saviour of all is Arunachala hill;

Blessed by the Great, mind stays still!

 

Blaze of Bindu

Prana devata, prime mover!

I’m in dying danger;

As Asuneeti force vital,

Re-enter my sinking refill

Ere innate energy’s fall!

 

May my soul stay in word,

Mightier than the sword!

Migration, crescendo of karma,

Mystically stares at dharma,

Only Brahma knows the marma!

 

Re-entry failing writing boost,

Transmigration rules roost,

Neela Saraswathi, energies my ink

Ere blank one begins to blink!

 

Neelamani, Cosmic Blue-gem

Worldly wisdom and diadem

Breathe life into tiny tint

To see light pervade my point

Like glory in ceremony to anoint!

 

Hail, Bindu in blaze!

Poet’s and prophet’s craze;

Phase materialistic by-gone

Chase of spiritualist to dawn.

In latter’s hand, let me be pawn.

 

Descent of Divinity

On Shivaganga rock monolithic

Amidst jubilation and great expectation,

Ganga springs on the peak mystic

For Shiva to bathe in ostentation.

Where does water come from?

Do you know its timing is firm?

 

Over the Sabarimala hill and high

In the presence of massive humanity

Light Divine adorns the sky

For devotees to bathe in divinity.

It’s an annual occurrence

On a day reckoned for recurrence.

 

It is the solar month of Capricorn,

The first day of entry of sun

The descent of divinity for everyone

The spring of delight for all born!

Only if link divine follows

The ink in me flows!

 

The Chariot of Gods!

It was a holy day in the month of Karthika,

The Moon beckoned devoted humanity

To shed its rays as if from exalted Krittika

And drench devotees of Lord with divinity!

 

Lord Subramanya was installed with consorts,

On the glittering silver chariot devotees didn’t miss,

Men and women, young and old, of all sorts,

Had made lives sublime by darshan for bliss!

 

Know Atman is the God or Goddess

Mind is unchallengedly the chariot

Chequered wheels symbols of progress

And the processionists on divine fiat!

 

Temple Idol

O Atman!

Bereft of all impurities,

Being Brahman,

Transcending known qualities,

Thou art One,

Universal ruler,

Jyeshta-rajan!

Cosmic Creator

Spiritually illimitable sovereign!

 

O Atman Great!

Adorning my heart

Protecting its beat

And limbs as Mover Prime,

Thou art the idol

In the human temple frame,

And as Brahmic force

The sustainers of cosmos

Dispenser of ethos and pathos!

 

Songs on Stone

What matters if a monolith, bereft of beauty,

Rises to a colossal height?

What marvels can mass and detail inspire,

Divorced from divinity?

Nay! Only Gomateswara fuses, in harmony,

Splendours of peace and size

And stands unequalled among equals,

Inspiring reverence of the world;

Like Maruti facing Namakkal Narasimha

Transcending all barriers man-made

The ink in me descends in many a shade

To dance in ecstasy with songs on stone

 

That is the Brahman!

What cannot be known by speech?

But for its power it has to beseech,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

What cannot be cultivated by mind?

But what cultivates it from behind,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

What cannot be perceived by eyes?

But what makes them see in a trice,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

What cannot be heard by the ear?

But what really makes it hear,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

What cannot be known by smell?

But what the nose owes for its spell,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

What cannot be known by touch?

But what transcends its power as such,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

What cannot be written about by the pen?

But what really powers that one,

Know that it is verily the Brahman!

 

Sub-atomic Particles

Building blocks of nature

Particles are sub-atomic

Fifty they are in stature

Representing Shakti dynamic.

 

Prime centre is Muladhara

Particles four as Vighneswara!

 

Swadhishtana is six-petalled,

Particles in pairs get settled.

 

Manipura is a gem of petals

Ten in number are particles.

 

Anahata is lotus of heart

Twelve particles fuse in art

 

Vishuddi wheel is in neck region

Sixteen bedeck as particles legion

 

Ajna is chakra penultimate

Two particles to Reality Ultimate!

 

In the thousand-petalled lotus,

Particles as purest ray serene

Get the Brahman’s bonus

As divine sublimation in fine!

 

Gayathri

Open your eyes arise!

Behold the Gayathri profile!

She manifested in a trice,

Choosing to sit with a smile!

Prayer lasting a minute,

There she is, cool as ice

Like magic infinite,

To deliver us from bondage.

And all the appendage,

To bless us with bliss

And a Heavenly kiss.

 

Tricoloured frame

In six shades

Draped is the dame

Her five heads

Represent Pancha Brahmas

And the subtle dogmas!

She is Savithri who fuels

Our thought and spirit,

With myriad gems and jewels,

Ruling the world with her writ.

Her three-eyed lotus

Heralds no more life of foetus!

 

Amidst her bosom bower

Bejeweled diamonds twelve

And diadem of intuitive power

Necklace tending to delve

Into glorious splendour

Its threads converging to unity

Ike Atman and Brahman

Into unmistakable identity!

Saraswathi – she is the one,

Sruti of her ear ring

Tingles in thousand petals to sing

With mantra matrix and wing.

 

Pearl nose stud is her sport

Like nascent light of Chitta star

Sat-chit-ananda her fort

Doubt and delusion dispeller

Creator Brahma’s invincible power

The veritable shakti – Parashakti!

Symbol she is of mantle of mukti,

Humble my pen is in brand of bhakta!

 

The Motive Force

Parashakti!

You are the beautiful flow of bliss

The comic light one can’t miss!

Of Self-luminosity you’re the ray,

Worshipped in glory in every way!

Sign of truthful age and pure one,

Beginning or end you have none!

Player supreme in gamut of Creation,

Spiller however of spell of illusion!

All-pervader of animate and inanimate,

Bereft of distinctions and the palate

Bestower of beauty and name,

Of health, wealth and fame!

 

Parashakti!

You are the power behind the Universe,

And the motivator of this verse!

Champion of devotees’s adversity,

Of poverty and impecuniosity!

Conferrer of longevity and fortune,

Dispeller of doubt and misfortune!

Praised alike by priest and preceptor,

Worshipped though in heart of meditator!

You are virtually the son or spouse,

As everybody’s cause you espouse,

Giver of bhukti, mukti and bhakta,

Symbol of unity of Shiva and Shakti!

 

Saraswathi Saptakam

Vedantic doctrine focuses fame

On singularity and form same

She manifests likewise in name

May that Saraswathi protect me!

 

Vedas four sing praise’s rain

Second to none her divine sign

She is Brahma’s power in fine

May that Saraswathi protect me!

 

In letter and word, sense of belonging,

She personifies sentence and meaning;

Bereft she is of end or beginning

May that Saraswathi protect me!

 

The yogi toes the path of knowledge

With her grace breaks all bondage

On path salvation attains high stage

May that Saraswathi protect me!

 

Salutations do Devi, Brahmaani,

Sharada and Kashmirapuravasini,

My prayers ever to Vidya-dayini

May that Saraswathi bless me!

 

Beads she holds and trident spears

By book and noose she swears

Necklace of earls she wears

May that Saraswathi stay in my say!

 

Speech and shraddha she reigns

Dear to Brahma, wisdom she means,

Conferrer of qualities, peace and patience,

May that Saraswathi stay in my say!

 

Who am I?

I’m not intellect or mind,

Ego or airs,

Neither the nose nor tongue,

Eyes and ears

Nor the sky or matter

Fire and air,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

I’m not the five-fold air,

Force of life,

Neither fluids seven, nor

Sheaths of strife,

Not the limbs of action

Nor organs rife,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

I’ve no attachment or animosity

Or narrow tension,

Neither pride nor prejudice

Nor veil of illusion

Nor am I dharma itself,

Nor any aspiration,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

I’m not sorrow or happiness,

Virtue or vice,

Neither mantra nor theertha

And the Vedic force,

Nor food, its subject or object

Nor its piece,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

I’m no caste and creed, deathly

Fear to smother,

Neither birth nor death,

Father and mother,

Nor relative-friend and

Guru-shishya tether,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

I’m beyond delusion,

Bereft of film,

Transcending sensory perception,

All-pervading I am,

I’m the Lord of the Universe,

Above time, space continuum,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

I’m not the body and

Not the cap,

Neither the staying spring,

Nor the clip,

Neither the creative nib,

Nor inky dip,

I’m Shiva, Shiva I am,

In Sachidananda state!

 

Where do we go?

Million-dollar questions

Ever there will be.

Behold!

Invincible yaksha revels

Like the buzzing bee

Hurling knotty ones

And the upheavals!

 

“Answer me first”, he said

“And satiate my thirst

Else!

By fate you’ll fade

By drinking deathly water!

Tell me what is made

Most amazing by Creator?”

 

Did Yudhishtira break his spine

Or ruminate over Karma?

Nay!

Yaksha had drawn the line,

For repository of dharma;

Do or Die ‘twas in fine

On the home of dilemma!

 

Searching and sizzling

The poser and answer?

Yes! His answer:

“What’s more amazing

Than blindness of eye,

When Death keeps staring –

To say “Till eternity live!”

 

“After a death-ride joyous

Where do we go?”

Hell!

As Chitragupta unfolds

The catalogue of sins,

And Yama beholds

Our consignment to pins!

 

There’s a silver lining

An abode of wish

Heaven!

On unfoldment revealing

Tales bereft of blemish

A Life of sweet singing

Metal pure and its fetish!

 

There is a golden facet

Is the packet for all?

Mahan!

Redeem our imprisoned ray!

Arunachala is great

Keep the hand of Death at bay

Till the ray reaches Lord’s feet!

 

Women on High Pedestal

The Vedas vehemently declare

Equality to all women

Pride of place and position rare

Virtually excelling all men!

 

Vedic source is women’s right

Like the purusha, her spouse;

She had the Brahmavadin’s might

And was never a material mouse!

 

The parallels of rishi patni,

Yagnavalkya’s name and fame;

Spouses Maitreyi and Katyayini

Were not second to the sage!

 

On the eve of departure,

From Grihastashrama, family life

He gave his wealth away for

Living in seclusion bereft of wife!

 

“Maitreyi! Away I live henceforth

I’ll rescind the bondage with both”.

“Bhagavani! With wealth of all humanity

Would I attain immortality?”

 

“Like one of instruments, your life will contain

But there is no desire through them to attain”

“Will wealth liberates one? Oh, No!

Bhagavani Pray, tell me, what you know!”

 

“Maitreyi! Dear to me you were in past,

You are now spelling all that is present.

I’ll give lessons for your benefit;

When I do so, concentrate over it”

 

His lesson on Brahmic lore was deft

Vedantic essence excelled wealth left

Non-duality he taught, knowledge of Atman,

Maitreyi’s frame attained the Brahman.

 

Transferred Epithet

Divine Mother! Salutations to you!

Empress unique and the world too!

Your devotees say they’ll build on the way

A temple for you to stay!

Jewels to adorn you with glitter

Brocades to wear and make them titter!

Scents and aromatics to smell

Fragrance to break barriers of wall!

Sweets and flowers to make you flutter

Offerings many with ghee and butter

Honey, curds, dishes and milk

And a delicious lot in bulk!

 

A panoramic place to build your abode

Vying with one another to smother the code!

A gopuram to crown you with glory

And a chariot to complete the story!

Don’t these make onlookers cough?

But I know you have the last laugh!

 

Who owns the land but you?

Who gives them jewels to woo?

Whose is the fabric of illusion, Mayeswari?

Can they give eatables to Annapurneswari?

Strange it seems they want to give too

All that belongs only to you!

 

Mother Divine! Transferred are the epithets!

Have mercy on loyal ones, their leaflets!

They know not what they say in verse

They know not who created the Universe!

Legends lay down you come up in forms diverse!

Divine Mother! Who knows your fame?

Self-Manifestation is your name!

 

Paramatman

Like an inverted lotus lies the heart

Sushumna passes through the part

Flames invincible fire the centre

To all directions tending to enter;

Fiery frame is digestive medium

And the distribution fulcrum

Like wave of electrical energy

As subtle as the husk of grain

Glows a celestial tongue of golden hue;

Installed in its heart is the Paramatman!

He is Vishnu, Shiva and the Brahman,

Indra, Akshara and Transcendence

Mustering the insignia of independence!

 

The universe He pervades

All elements he invades!

He sustains worlds universal

The innate Atman He is in all

The in-dweller of the human heart

They key figure of the apple-cart!

 

Illusion

‘ Tis for body, world falls in haste,

A pot of stinking waste!

Seemingly a beautiful one

But concealing a ghostly skeleton!

After the bloody puss holds the sway

And the flowery flesh withers away

In Nature’s half acre,

It is a living sepulchre!

 

The world floats in space

Bottomless though its material face!

Its emptiness has nothing to spill

As victims can’t see the mystic hill!

Arunachaleswara, my Lord!

Only you can dispel the cloud

Of ignorance and disbelief

To bring solace and relief!

For one reposing in your faith incessant,

There’s no illusion en passant!

Sesha was wedded to “adri”

For forty years

To show a blissful world

Bereft of fears!

 

Sakshatkara

Vasihta and Vamadeva groomed a soul’s fate:

Viswamitra to triumph a Brahma-rishi great;

The trinity had something in common

They all had attained the Brahman!

 

Brahman-rishis are sustainers of Universe

Their life a symphony of living verse!

Whatever the field they traverse

The accursed is at once purified by transverse!

 

What was Vamadeva’s success among seers?

Adi Shankara has a message that cheers:

“The kind of Brahma-sakshatkara he had

Isn’t beyond man, rishi or God!”

 

Jeevan is Brahman before experience Brahmic

Though fails to see by ignorance karmic

Illusion clouds concept of corporeal appendage

Knowledge of identity cuts asunder bondage!

 

Was he He?

As I meditated in morning

silence scintillating,

Ruminating within me on the

mantra reverberating,

In darkness of fantasy

With feeling of ecstasy

A figure resplendent rose

in golden pink,

Making mockery of my poor

powers to think,

Image unfathomable

Effulgence indescribable

Saintly one of brilliant hue

and heavenly frame

In padmasana posture, hands locked

in yogic fame

Face serene but total

Peace full and pivotal

Was he a doctor of divinity

deliverer from bondage?

Or saviour of humanity

harbinger of New Age?

A messenger of hope?

With millions to rope?

That was the cluster of questions

Piercing the mental bastions!

The angelic vision vanished,

leaving impression indelible

In Memory’s photography

and thejas unforgettable

Experience though over

‘Tis of eternal hangover!

Was he He? Of kindness personified,

the ruler benign?

Was he He? Unique spiritual guide

the illimitable sovereign?

Without sitting on the hedge

You be the judge!

 

Sweet Salt

The story of world is of avaricious hold,

Man hankering after glitter of gold

Gratification of senses and strife

The delusions of human life

In pursuits mad of livelihood

At costly expense of common good

And only to spend time albeit

In swallowing fruits bitter and sweet!

 

Man the charioteer is a living corpse

As Vedas liken mind to restive horse!

Those fated to ride emptiness of life

Golden path but boyish disbelief rife

Impelled by Karma to eat the nut

Inability of some to get out of rut!

And this is the world and its strife

Bar the silver lining in every life!

Amidst nadirs of depression

Or peaks of ascension

We see the cloud of blockade

Clears by miracle as uncertainties recede.

Beyond the perception of sensory organ

There is the oft-repeated jargon

Of one Transcendental Reality

The order changing despite our entity!

 

Beyond the territories of sensory illusion,

Trials and tribulation, grandiose delusion,

About this world and the next game

Name, money and fame

The future of family tides

The sunny and the seamy sides,

Yonder lies the beacon or hope

To release ourselves from the tight,

Dissuade our man from the groping bent

And arrest his aimless movement!

Stop he shall at the sight of light

Tending to end the inward fight!

Neither the bright nor dark side he can see

But can watch another in serenity of sea!

 

Of personal glory and peace

Shorn of the sweet or bitter piece,

He seizes the lightening flash of life

Amidst vicissitudes of calm and strife!

The scene changes but soon

There’s an imposing one to spoon!

He settles eventually down

To peace even when others frown!

But rising again with a strong will

And see God and enjoy the cup of fill!

 

Bitter Sugar

Does bitter sugar’

On body vigour

Spiritual wealth

Critic of ill-health

Make a diabetic

Of dementia

Or Paranoia

Cause tension

Or delusion?

 

Journey’s end

Is but sweetened

But the path?

Bitter, in Nature’s wrath!

On body and mind

The wheels grind

We doubt if we find

The broken links

But blink we do

To break the hoodoo!

 

Milton mused:

“Zig-zag paths

And zuts of pointed rock!”

To make one mock

At the hard hedge

Like the razor’s edge

And to breathe air

Of onomatopoeic flare

Into sweet worlds

Of bitter worlds!

 

Blissful end and reins

Justify bitter means!

Path bitter,

End far far better!

 

Red and Green

On nothing a man ruminates

But a seed germinates

To a tree

In land free

As a banyan

Or a lemon!

 

Fruits ripen

Man beholden!

Eggs break into birds

Animals into herds!

Powers of man’s seat

And civilizations get effete!

 

The child grows into boyhood

And boys to manhood

Men, women start ageing

But their desires remain young!

There’s weathering effect on all

But sensory ones do not fall!

 

Even in the evening

They keep glowing

With a catalogue of desires in a row

Like the youthful colours of a rainbow!

 

Gaseous cloud

Becomes stars proud

But the time-piece on them said

They become giants red!

The cobra raises its hood

For anything except good!

Man remains green

And serpent power is seen!

 

Whither man’s profundity

Or women’s fecundity?

O Lord, let’s hear your say,

Or follow your way!

O Kundalini! Rise in sahasrara

With your resplendent aurora!

 

Unified Vision

Diversity there’s none in creation

Unity therein is the phenomenon!

 

The creator committed no blunder

Harmony perfect is its wonder!

 

Poetic rhyme marks the crest

Scientific rhythm rules the rest!

 

Time-honoured are space continuum,

Baffling distances ad infinitum!

 

Whole field of creation is unified

Whither its comprehension stupefied?

 

Blurred is our vision by karmic bondage

Grossness impairing the appendage!

 

Protection is beyond mind’s power

Its thinking of intellectual tower!

 

Brahman is maker of field unique

For Atman to unravel the technique!

 

The stars and seasons are legion

But relativity rules the region!

 

Planets are small in galaxies rife

But supporters big of beautiful life!

 

Massive bodies float in space

Lesser ones gravitate to their pace!

 

Elemental structure in field is the order

Brahma-chaitanya seed of divine border!

 

The nuclear field has a nexus

With Maker’s supreme power in excess!

 

Electro-magnetism is force to reckon

Brahman’s transcendence is there to beckon!

 

By strong and weak force scientists swear

But full many a force is yonder there!

 

Worlds invisible are far and beyond

Anti-universe, anti-particles abound!

 

Symmetry and symphony rule the tether

As Brahman holds them all together!

 

Creation cosmic was at his will itself

Scriptures say He manifested himself!

 

Religions all were created by Providence

For cultures of religious tolerance!

 

Religions do not change the soul

So do caste, creed or distinctions foul!

 

Life was there before birth

‘Tis very much alive after death!

 

Karmic strife sheds light on transmigration

Dharmic life ennobles reincarnation!

 

Between science and religion, see the synthesis,

Vision of unison is to know the genesis!

 

Brahman pervades the Unified Field

Distinctions between them none!

 

Identity opens the eye of the Jeevan

As world around can be seen within!

 

What isn’t in the body subtle

Exists nowhere outside its mettle!

 

Atman emerges as a force potential

To mark identity with Brahman’s level!

 

Powers of the duo are beyond measure

But non-duality is the secret treasure!

 

Unified cosmos is real manifestation

Its consciousness verily the Unified Vision!

 

Between myth and reality there’s a wedge

Unified Vision gives the profound edge!

 

‘Tis the Vision of peaceful insignia

For problems all, it is the panacea!

 

The mission of truth and tranquillity

The beaten track to immortality!

 

Alliteration

Rhythm and rhyme

Alliteration to attract attention,

To drive dialectical dimension

Into domain of divinity

Or to destroy the devil

The damned and the diabolical

Or deter foes from flagrant frauds,

Fuse fragrance to fields

And hoist heavenly holiness

Fraternity and friendliness,

The secret is the symphony of sound

The initial and the inimitable!

 

The recurrence of roaring rhyme

In poetry for pathfinders prime

In the army of aksharas

As in Big Bang

Stellar systems

Stars and seasons

Planets and paths

Gravity of galaxies

Relativity and rotations,

Penmanship is projection

Of primary point,

Creation cute,

Of architecture astounding!

 

Anatomy of alliteration

Admits of aspects anterior none

Attribute anon:

Aadi-madhyaanta-rahita!

 

As “a” is the alpha

Of alliteration

Origin of omega,

So is Parabrahman

In prayers of the Pen!

 

Onomatopoeia

The sound of onomatopoeic word

Is symbol of meaning of this world!

Figure of speech is suggestive one

Sans vibration, ventilative of none!

 

In murmur of voices many,

Words of war or of honey

In jarring sounds

Meaning abounds!

 

Body medium not withstanding

Idiom of soul is beyond understanding!

The soothing sound

Is fine all round;

The mellifluent air

Is literary fair.

 

Zig-zag walks and windings

Zoological phenomenon of wanderings

The humming note of Vedic hymns

Mean messages and mental synonyms!

 

The blissful Titan, Sabda-Brahman

Blesses the Samaritan, Satya-Atman!

 

Sound of body is but ethereal

Meaning of spirit is material!

It is the mark of Reality!

And pith of profundity!

 

Muse of Onomatopoeia!

Thy ruse is Utopia!

 

Oxymoron

Oxymoron is a bundle

of contradictions

Lighting the candle

of distinctions:

Many a pair opposite

And antithesis exquisite!

 

Like the sharp edge of swords

‘Tis a union of piercing words

Akin to the kind cruelty of users,

For faith unfaithful, of abusers!

 

Attitude of many

Menacingly peaceful

Like monotony

Of a regularly irregular handful

In gloriously poor Satsang

Inviting tragic melodies of Swan-song!

 

O Kala-agni Rudra

Lord of Silent Time!

Are you breathing

Opposite notes of chime

The oxymoron of poles apart

The antithetical doles to depart

Into the materially made?

Of spiritual facade,

To flourish and fade?

 

Hyperbole

He is a criminal

For offences penal

Acts banal,

For having brought blood

Of none but the good!

 

All the perfumes of Parimala

Or scents of Kollimala

Will not remove smell offensive,

Application though intensive,

Of the stinking hand,

Of the sinning brand!

 

If his spouse were alive

Filled she would have

Grand Canyon’s crevices abominable

With her tears interminable!

 

In Kali’s Yuga, many fall a prey

My million pen-friends can’t pray!

 

Simile

The soul is like the sun

And body like the moon

The light of day

And darkness of night

Show the fire-like ray

Aud its evening flight!

 

The portion of day

Can shed light

On anything vividly;

Darkness has its way,

The power of night

Exercising it avidly!

 

There are level-headed ones

Seeking brightness like hungry guns!

And some others but parallels none

As revellers in darkness as for fun!

 

Like an evening start over Sabarimala

Watch the luminosity of Hari-Hara’s son!

And over the hill divine in Arunachala,

Have visions clear of the night Sun!

 

Scriptural knowledge

Light of divine edge,

The exalted aspire!

The groping ones,

Bat-like species

Have no keen desire!

 

Simile awhile in solitude

Over figures of speech and simile

Beseech body and soul for comparison

For crimson ride and verisimilitude!

 

Metaphor

Simile is explicit

Metaphor implicit;

Speech that figures in the latter:

Comparisons converge into a matter!

 

Similes end reign

As metaphors begin!

Entities two in simile

Like Atman and Brahman

Converge into a “two-in-one”,

Heralding unity of concepts

Emerging from duality of aspects.

 

Simile is the double-headed dvaita

Metaphor the unified soul of advaita!

Atman is the fire of Jeevan

Galactic frie product of Brahman.

 

Message metaphor

Stays in meaning of figure!

In identification

Of Atman and Brahman,

In merger of Jeevan

With factor of Brahman!

 

‘Tis verily the device to dwell

On exalted pedestal!

Metaphor is the sanctuary

Of poetic excellence,

For attainment spiritual,

Progress cultural

And of Vedantic quintessence!

 

Synecdoche

Where are we?

What do we see?

Where is the world?

How is it hurled?

 

In the world we are,

And the world in Akshara!

From it is the alphabet

Of swaras and the rest!

 

That’s the Lord’s art

Putting whole into part

And the part for the whole

Secret in His synecdoche role!

 

His hand rocks the world

And rules the word!

Best brains can’t fathom power

Longest trains can’t reach His bower!

 

He has many mouths to feed

We are parts in His deed!

The parting role he plays

By withdrawing His rays!

 

How do we call Him by name?

He is well within our frame!

Akshara is Brahman

And so is the Atman!

 

Time-honoured is the thought

Though archaic;

Chiselled is the slot

But synecdochic!

 

Metonymy

Devil! Simhasaneswari!

Prayers to the throne, free us from worry!

From cradle to crematorium

You are the wholesome medium!

From re-birth to immortality

The force of one’s vitality!

 

Your devotees, Mother Divine!

Have won laurels in fine,

Drunk the immortal cup

Though each in your hands a pup!

Few play to the gallery

But you are the sole Ishwari!

 

O Shakti! The sense of transfer

Exists in Kalidasa and Kambar

Mastery they had over word,

Their pen mightier than sword,

For association of Metonymy,

My pen takes a plunge into anatomy!

 

Saraswathi! Your grace is its love!

For Metonymic figure it takes a vow

To salute Vak-devatas in a row

But not without an ode or bow!

I’m the field, you are the sower,

You have the wield, grace you shower!

 

Apostrophe

Apostrophe! Where’s your bed?

Experts in English have said

About direct address to the dead!

O Kindness! Where have you fled

To make way for cruelty in red?

 

O Liberty! The horse you ride

And its footprints give you no pride!

Around your circle white

Lays the domain beyond sight;

Is transcendence your right?

 

O Righteousness! Where’s your residence?

In the sanctuary of grave, forest dense?

Are you, in the sense of Kali, in past tense?

Whither your locational dearth?

Your Holiness! Whither your mystic death?

 

O Loneliness! Where’s the loveliness

Rishis have matched with holiness?

If apostrophe is a direct address

O Helplessness! What fails you to redress

The grievance, with readiness nonetheless?

 

O Jnanananda! You should be living

At this time streak

To behold Sat-Chit-Ananda Seshadri

On Arunachala peak!

He is the wound dresser,

Of grievance redresser!

 

Personification

Bereft of life are some objects

Intelligence enlivens ideas abstract!

Ideals prompt lively versification

And there comes the poem of Personification!

 

Death lays his strong hand on sinners

No doubt one day He embraces winners!

But righteousness rules his judgement

And justice delivers the punishment!

 

Just penalty is Lord’s weapon

He wields it but produces no pun!

Nor does Divinity derive fun

From the delinquent and use the gun!

 

Can Pride and Prejudice shape Creation?

Does Mediocrity claim equality with Bastion?

Creativity can seek to be son of Ambition

And Humility marks the Prayers of the Pen!

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