Glory And Shame

GANGA AT BENARAS YEAR 2010

I am Ganga

You can see my bubbling joy at my being
At the cave
Where first I reflected
The glory of Lord’s creation.
Awe struck, I shrank
with wonder in the locks of Shiva. Head bowed down
At His feet with gratitude
Who graced me
to wash off some load
of suffering mankind.

Up there in the golden abode
Wrapped up with silver clouds
I was lonely.

Down here pale people
Miserable beings
Thronged around and
Worshipped me.
With compassion and with pride I swelled.

I opened up to absorb
The flowing tears of Taramati
Standing on my shore
Begging her husband a piece of cloth
to cover her dead child.
And Truth made me swell.

I helped sages sitting
Beside me attain
Realisation of the Self
And I smiled.

I drowned in the faith
Of Kabir and Tulsi
And I swelled.

Life began and ended
In my lap.
For centuries I remained
The happy spectator
of the drama of life and death
Strangely fused together
And in that air of ultimate detachment
Contented I swelled.

Till

A choking jolted
my blissful trance
I was awakened to the blackened night.

Too much filth
Accumulated in my belly
And all along I was
showing my shimmering veil
pretending everything
was alright!

Tears are selfish
Prayers malicious
Arrogance and hypocrisy
Pushed me
aside.

Oh Father
My head bowed
down with
shame
I ask permission
To take shelter
again in Your locks.

How long after all
Can I carry corpses
on my breast?
Pardon me humans
Devour my Ghost to your fill
My soul already fled.

To bring me back
I need
Not one but
Bhagiraths and Bhagiraths.

After all
I need
ample water
to wash
the mark of Cain
that each one of you
carry under your
sandal – smeared
brow.

ALKA NIGAM

REFERENCES

GANGA is a mythological goddess and revered as mother in Hindu culture. Purity personified she  has the power to cleanse the sins of mankind and to help the dead  in their after- life journey.

SHIVA is a Hindu God.  The forceful descent of  goddess Ganga   as a river  from heaven was prevented by Shiva as he gently captured her in his hair and released it only from one lock.

TARAMATI was the wife of a virtuous king  Harishchandra in Treta yug. Under a  test he gave away his kingdom and had to sell himself, his wife and son as slaves.

TULSI DAS was a devout worshipper of God Ram.  The great epic Ramcharitmanas  composed by him is an immensely popular religious book very dear to the heart of Hindus . A part of this book was written on the banks of Ganga in Varanasi named after him as Tulsi Ghat.

KABIR DAS  is a Sufi saint and an  acclaimed poet of 15th Century . He met his  guru on the steps on the banks of river Ganga in Varanasi.

CAIN  the first born son of Adam and Eve is a biblical figure. He killed his brother Abel out of jealousy and as a punishment was banished from heaven by God.

BHAGIRATH is the legendary king of  Sagar dynasty . With the power of his thousand years of penance he was able to bring goddess Ganga  from heaven to earth.