Reality and beyond... by Anirban Chatterjee
Part IV: Spirituality
Dear reader, thanks for having so far with me, deep into the realm where the boundaries of logic and reason mark the beginning of strange but beautiful world of belief, where we are not really alone. Where there is the fluid touch of faith, where we learn to believe, where we come to realize that there may be a higher purpose in our lives. We may not be random constructs of natural elements, but rather creations of some great being, some glorious being we call ‘God’, or ‘Divinity’. Without going into the debate whether God actually does exist or not, let us understand that spirituality is often best described as a momentary relief from day-to-day challenges that shape our lives. We have every liberty to believe, to see nature in a new light, to interpret the highest form of trancendental reality in a manner that suits us best. This is the liberty in the world of poetry, where, away from the chains of logic and science, we are free to explore new dimensions of possibilities.
My dear reader, let us take the road to this beautiful world of belief, this glorious realm where there is a higher purpose to everything. No matter you believe or not, you will find comfort here, I sincerely hope.
Come, let us begin...
I. A hymn to Raatri, Goddess of night
The glorious night, bringer of peace and comfort to man and beasts alike, is prayed to in the Vedas, and many other polytheistic religions such as those of the Greeks, and the Norsemen. Night is the other face of reality, she is the end of the day. Together with day, Raatri (Sanskrit) or Nyx (Greek) or Night as we call her in English is the stabiliser of nature. To strictest followers of Abrahamic religions, my hymn to her might sound ‘bleaphemous’, but we should never forget her importance in our lives. Here is my ode to her, personified.
A hymn to Raatri, Goddess of night
O come, calm, caring night,
Fill my eyes with sleep, under the starry light,
Come O giver of sleep, from the height of the sky
And fill the air with your misty sigh
O come, bringer of the aura of peace,
And spread your wings over farms and trees,
Come O bringer of the mist of sleep,
Come from the clouds, and the ocean’s deep...
O come, guard my soul while I rest,
Like the mother-bird protecting the nest
Come O night, healer of the deepest pain,
With the sound of first monsoon rain...
II. A hymn to Dawn
Here is the first of my twin hymns to Ushas, Dawn personified in the Vedas. Ushas, the bright-eyed, beautiful Aryan Goddess, similar to her Greek equivalent the glorious Aurora, brings light to the world at the beginning of each new day. Clad and radiant in armor of light, the bright-eyed Dawn sees everything, awakening the nature with her tuneful melodies in form of birds’ songs. Like a beautiful maiden who has just bathed, the indescribably beautiful goddess directs her chariot across the twin horizons, stirring us up from sleep.
A hymn to Dawn
Hail O dawn, radiant one, clad in armor of light,
The blessed one, destroyer of darkness and fright,
O hail, invoker of the bright gleam of days,
Between the volatile world you are who stays
Eternally young, forever bright and strong,.
Greeted by Vedic hymns, birds’ first song,
You bring forth in bounty, light emanated from the Sun,
And unleash your might, the evil shadows run
Into the depths of darkness, fearing your might.
Sleepers you waken, blessing their eyes with sight,
Taking away the veil of sleep, empowering them to stand
Strong, determined and firm, directed by thy invisible hand.
And on your golden chariot, drawn by the winds morn’s,
You glide across the horizon, above the misty hills and lawns.
The halo of your blessing rains down on the earth,
Shattering blackness of past, rejuvenating the weakened heart,
And fly from you afar, dark ghastly shadows of night,
Reduced to emptiness and void, by the gaze of your eyes bright.
Hail O glorious daughter of the heavens, hail O radiant Dawn!
Hail O destroyer of fears, your unparallel beauty drawn
By God’s celestial brush, on the sketch of the sky,
That perfect beauty you posses, none ever can deny.
Bringer of Heaven’s blessings, O Maiden Heaven-born,
Be eternally hailed by my tunes, O gracious radiant Dawn.
III. The light of Dawn
Resplendant in her majestic glory, luminous by her own light, the bright-eyed Dawn blesses us all each day with light, the revealer of everything. This is the second of my twin hymns to Dawn.
The light of Dawn
She emerges at the end of a long night,
Bringing the blessings of a new day,
And radiates the divine, all-pervading light,
On every earthly field, forest and way.
She hovers gently, over the northen hills,
And awakens softly the sleeping heart,
With energy and life, all things she fills,
She, the invoker of days’ scarlet start.
From worlds past the east and west,
The lady of light makes her path,
Over green meadows, the lonely bird’s nest,
Over trees and hills of a sleeping earth.
With her merry wand, she paints light-gold
The dark gray sky and all things below,
Joyously she blesses creatures young and old,
With her eternal, forever sacred glow.
The east and west kneel before her might,
And birds greet her with their first song,
Trees adore her, the bestower of sight,
By her grace, we awaken from slumbers long.
Carried by the golden chariot of grace,
Dressed in light, crowned by the morning star,
May she return at the end of night’s darkness,
Forever to erase our sorrows, and end our fear.
IV. A hymn to the Sun
Called by many names such as Surya, Pushan, Mitra, Aryamaan, Savitr, Aditya, Bhaskara in the Vedas, the glorious Sun, god or not, blesses us each his with his majesty and brilliance, with his warmth and light. If he is not worthy of worship, then who else is?
A hymn to the Sun
O hail, fiery light of the dazzling sky,
Light of the heavens, God of the high,
You who binds the planets and moons,
Accept my prayers with my humble tunes.
Drive away fears and perils and fright,
With your light, erase the darkest night,
Shine with your glory, glitter with the same,
O God resplendent, world’s holiest flame!
Every single day through time’s unceasing flow,
May we be bathed by your sacred glow,
Lord of men and beasts, O bestower of sight,
Shine our ways ahead with your resistless light!
Shadows of evil and malice and doom,
Wraiths of the dark and ghosts of gloom
Tremble when you rise, and inevitably die,
By your might, O God’s gleaming eye!
Fire of the heavens, light of the earth,
Bestower of harvest and bestower of hearth,
Lord of the planets, Lord of us all,
Bless us today, and hear our call,
And give us wisdom, intellect and joy,
Our cowardice and malice may you destroy,
And make us one, united human race,
Bathed by your light, and your grace!
Salutations to you, O bestower of sight,
Adoration to you, O maker of light,
Fill us your sons with your galactic might,
And take us from evi
V. My ode to light
Light is the revealer of everything, the remover of doubts and uncertainty. Light is nature’s greatest gift to us, for it makes us ‘see’ things in reality. Without light, there is no ‘us’, without us, light has no purpose, for we the human race are the children of light. Let us pray alike to the glorious light of the divine creator, to be potent and strong against all challenges, to be courageous and bold in front of all fears, to be united no matter what our differences are.
My ode to light
Light, O wondrous light,
Child of stars of the moonless night,
Rain down from the celestial height,
To fill our soul with joy and delight...
Light, O gracious light,
Aura of the Sun, forever bright,
Embodiment of God’s uncanny might,
Hail to you, oh unveiler of sight...
Light, O victorious light,
Move everywhere, to my left and right,
And wash darkness, and fear and fright,
And deliver us to bliss infinite...
Light, O marvellous light,
Forever our soul, may you guide,
In our journey, in our flight,
From death to life, from wrong to right...
VI. A hymn to hope
Without hope, we can neither live nor love. Hope is the absolute force that drives us onward, against all odds, against certainty of defeat. This is what makes us who we are, the human race that has stood victorious over all challenges of nature.
A hymn to hope
You emerge, from the misty ocean of sorrow,
In glittering colours of the rainbow,
You are my light, in the darkest night,
Killer of sadness and destroyer of fright...
Princess of compassion, your magical touch,
Turns sorrows to joy; from every Pine and Birch
Resonates your tune, like a soothing breeze,
Forever to our rejoice, you turn tears to bliss...
Merciful maiden, a stare of your eyes,
Causes my pain to fade like lies,
Noble savior of life, ‘tis you whom we praise,
Nourish and strengthen us, till the end of days...
VII. The sigh of silence
It is indeed great to believe, but often we face such blows from reality that our belief in god ceases to exist anymore. Many of us, including I myself, believe that almost certainly there is no god, for there can’t be any. But once I was a believer myself, and my transformation to agnosticism and then to atheism hadn’t been easy or comfortable. It re-shaped who I am, and the very shock of realizing that the very God whom I used to love and worship with all my life may not actually exist, just destroyed a portion of my self that can possibly never be regained. This is the question of the human mind, in search of the divine...
The sigh of silence
I stare at the wondrous night sky
Puzzled, bedazzled, my soul does cry
Out of fear, loneliness and pain
That on today’s humanity, has befallen...
“Is there no one? None to answer me?
None to take care of every creature and tree?”
I scream, time and again but just
My voice fades into the distant stardust...
The silent assurance that seemed to have made
To my soul, by the rivers rain-fed,
By the trees green and the rising Sun,
Now wry with time, and painfully burn...
Assured of his presence was my weeping soul,
So I searched the nature whole
For his blessings, for his grace,
For his love, his sacred embrace...
Will he not hear my fading call?
The master of nature, the Lord of all?
Standing at the edge of shadowy Lethe,
I see none else, other than death.
I question my past, was I wrong?
Was my faith on him a fruitless song?
None to answer me, at the cruel end I lie
And hear nothing, save silence’s sigh...
Fare thee well, dear reader!
Dear reader, thank you for having been so long with me. Here we’ve reached the end of the journey, and I believe the journey has been enjoyable to you. I myself have thoroughly enjoyed your company, and I believe you have now ‘seen’ me as well, through my writing, through my verses, through my poetry. I’ll look forward to accompany you once again, maybe someday in future, as we’ll be once again together beyond the limits of time and space, venturing into the world of poetry and imagination once again.
I would really love to hear how you liked my humble verses, and as a sign of friendship you can snd me a feedback to [email protected] I would also be very grateful to you, if you consider being a member of my site https://techtravelandtalks.blogspot.in or its facebook page Tech, Travel and Talks where I discuss all sorts of questions that arise in my mind, and try to find their answers. It would be very pleasant if you like to join the discussion.
Life is but a transient spark in the absolute nature of reality, and thus, one of the best thing in case of poetry is that, our verses continue to remain even when we don’t, anymore. Thus, as a parting gift, I’ve added one more poem to celebrate our journey as a final conclusion, a song of the immortality of poetry itself.
Immortal verses
Flow, O unheard verses, into the depths of the sea,
With the winds of Spring, with its babble and glee,
Hover over lands far beyond the edge of my gaze,
Through depths of forests, through clouds and haze...
Glide with the air, over streams of the Himalayan snow,
Glide over dunes of Thar, into Sun’s serene, intense glow,
Run beyond the horizon, to depths untouched by light,
The realms beyond thoughts, beyond my humble sight...
Flow, O deathless words, beyond cruel shadow of death,
Beyond transience of life, beyond the reaches of Lethe,
To some land unknown, uncorrupted by lust and greed,
The realm of Soma, of Haoma, Ambrosia and Meed...
And gleam with the light of immortality bright,
Vanish into the skies, rain down from its height,
And joyuous you be, and happier you stay,
As I, your creator, plunge into chaos and decay...
Fare thee well, my reader, may we meet again in future, once again to set out thus for another journey.
- Yours truly,
Anirban Chatterjee,
Delighted to have accompanied you.