Mahadeva

You.
Dark of form,
with ash-smeared body,
gnarnled, matted hair,
rudrakhsha and tiger skin.

You.
Who resides in the snow-clad abodes
of Kailasa, the five Kedars,
Mani Mahesh and Shrikhand Mahadev.
In Benares and Ujjain and Nasik.
And in the hearts of a countless.

You.
who are AshtaMurti, Chaumukha, Triambaka,
Sadashiv, Omkara, Rudra, Arunachalam,
Natraja, Pasupati and Ardhanarishvara.
Shankara, Shambhu and AdiYogi.
Bholenath and Kalabhairava.

You.
Who are without beginning and without end.
From whom the holy Ganga emanates.
On whose head rests the crescent.
The father of time.

You.
Who is merged into utter and absolute stillness.
Who exists in the emptiness beyond all that is.
Who is unbounded and all pervasive.
Whom tonight celebrates.
A night of intoxication and rapture.
Of fixity, enlightenment and dissolution.

You.
I humbly dedicate this to you.

Universal prayer for the world, for 2022

Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu
May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy and Free

Sarvesham Svastir-Bhavatu
Sarvesham Shantir-Bhavatu
Sarvesham Poornam-Bhavatu
Sarvesham Mangalam-Bhavatu
Om Shanti Shanti Shantih
May there be an abundance of well-being in all,
May there be an abundance of peace in all,
May there be an abundance of fulfilment in all,
May there be an abundance of auspiciousness in all,
Peace! Peace! Peace!

Om Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Lord lead me from the unreal to the real
Lead me from darkness to the light
From the earth to the open skies
Lead me from death to eternal light

FIRST SECOND SIGHT

I hold you in my gaze

Warm, the cockles of my heart

The beats, a now recognisable constant

Dull noir pulsates to hyper-saturated chromas

In breaths and out

Stream of consciousness triggering synapses

Agitated ‘Nowhere-ness’ to limpid ‘now-here-ness’

A discordant indigo mind turns into a more placid azure

Eyes well up

I blink away a tiny tear 

As the heart drinks deep

I am back

DEVPRAYAG – THE JOURNEY

Ups and downs
Twists and turns
Zigs and zags
A long walk
Stairs to climb
Bridges to cross
A thirst to quench
To reach that destination

A rushing rapid
A calming stream
Converging at a confluence

How befitting
An apt personification of life itself

Home Truth

Implosion

The Thirsty Fish

Title inspired by Wu’hsin, the Chinese philosopher

Ib’n Arabi – Alone with the Alone

PRALAYA*

While under COVID lockdown, and on a walk, I came across this striking metal mural of Lord Shiva – the Destroyer. I thought it apt for days like these when the end of the world seems nigh. And here below is my poem inspired by it:

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

“The world is my family”, originally comes from the Upanishads, ancient Sanskrit tomes.
In this time of  a global pandemic and near-universal lockdown, it has salience in that we’re truly all in it together – East, West, rich, poor, black, white, brown, Hindu, Muslim, young, old – and the only way to overcome, recover, heal it is by forming a brotherhood.