Saturday, February 28, 2015

When Dharma Graced The Earth

In honour of International Mother Language Day on 21 February.  

From Wikipedia:
"International Mother Language Day . . .  is an observance held annually worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism."

Compose a poem on any subject/event which includes an experience of more than one language.  Make us experience it too.


image source: google images

In Ayodhya did Lord Ram take birth
In the era of Treta Yug
And Sita Dharti Mata's (Mother Earth) girl
Born as his love so true.

His purpose to come upon this Earth
Vinash (Destruction) of evil that was spreading
To also show our atma's (soul) true worth
And soul's liberating.

Dharma (Righteousness) was His life's principle
Maryada Purushottam (Lord Ram the Greatest of men)
A warrior gentle but invincible 
Sweet Sita his prema (love) devotion.

How blessed were they in Treta Yug
With Him to be face to face
Perhaps they'd done some great punya (merits)
To earn his love and grace.

The Lord has promised in every yug (age)
To walk upon the Earth
And so in this troubled age of Kali Yug
We await that Divya (Divine) birth.

~x~

Lord Ram = 7th avatar of Bhagwan (God) Vishnu

Sita = avatar of Goddess Laxmi, Lord Vishnu's consort

Yug = an era within a four age cycle called a kalpa, A kalpa is the period of time between the creation and recreation of a world or universe (from Wikipedia)

Treta Yug = the 2nd cycle within a kalpa

Kali Yug = the 4th age within a kalpa and the current age we are in. Kali Yug is supposed to be the age of destruction after which the golden age (Satya Yug) will begin again.

Dharma = is a difficult concept to explain as it encompasses many things - right action, right thought, right speech, right conduct, right way of living, virtues, respect, duty, good character, upholding law and order, religious / spiritual merit among other things.

Maryada Purushottam = Maryada = limits,  Purushottam - greatest of all men. Lord Ram although Divine and the avatar of Lord Vishnu always acted within human limitations and did not use his Divine powers. He was a loving son, brother, husband, father, king, friend and an upholder of dharma. He was a great and fearless warrior and annihilated evil from the Earth. Hence he was called Maryada Purshottam the greatest of all men who lived upholding human limitations.

Punya =  that which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts and which carries over throughout the life or the subsequent incarnations (from Wikipedia)

God's promise:
Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya Glanir Bhavati Bharatha
Abhyuthanam Adharmasya Tadathmanam Srijamyaham.
Parithranaya Sadhunam Vinashayacha Dushkritham
Dharma Samsthapanarthaya Sambhavami Yuge Yuge 

Whenever there is a fall in righteousness and a rise of unrighteousness, 
I manifest
For the protection of the good, for the annihilation of evil and 
to re-establish righteousness, I appear millennium after millennium.

~Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita~

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34 comments:

  1. Thanks for this Suzy..I must say I have very little knowledge of Indian Mythology...So your explanation after the poem of some words was really helpful

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    1. Thanks Naba. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the great historical (not mythological) epics of India. It's very sad that today's generation has so little knowledge of them as these are the foundations of dharmic living. Glad my post was helpful.

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  2. I honestly expected not to understand this but I actually did know most of it (except I still dont know the order of the first 3 yugs)
    Awaited avatar is Kalki, right?

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    1. That's right Roshan, Kalki is the awaited avatar in Kali Yug. The order are Satya Yug, Treta Yug, Dwapar Yug (during which Lord Krishna came to earth) and Kali Yug.

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  3. Lovely poem, Suzy. Perfect for the International Mother Language Day. I am so glad you wrote this to mark this special day. Looks like many of your readers are appreciating that you shared with them some of the fundamentals about Indian cultural-historical tradition. Great job!

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    1. Thanks Beloo. I think the Ramayana and Mahabharata are the foundations of dharmic culture in India. I tried to bring that out in my poem. Glad you liked it.

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  4. Forgive me for not understanding...I did try.

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    1. That's okay Mary. I have placed the meanings within my poem for easier reading. And I find I have interpreted the prompt completely differently from everyone else. The challenge did say a poem that experiences more than one language - perhaps I was too literal!

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  5. Oh Suzy I totally agree with your final stanza and love, love the phrase "Divya birth..."a beautiful poem reflecting a devotee's heart....

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    1. Thanks Sumana. Glad you liked it. This was not an easy prompt. It really challenged me to combine hindi / sanskrit with english. Some of my readers may struggle as Mary did.

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  6. Hoping for Ram Rajya again, Suzy.
    Ramayana is our favorite :)
    Nicely written with the apt lessons!

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    1. Wouldn't that be awesome. Thanks Anita. Glad you liked it.

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  7. Suzy--so sorry I missed seeing this mighty fine poem. I like seeing and sounding out the Sanskrit(?) words and love the progression to every age waiting for this face to face encounter. Beautiful poem.

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    1. Thanks Susan. Yes this is Sanskrit but also used in Hindi. We are all waiting for that Divine encounter. Blessings.

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  8. what mindful tribe.
    happy belated international mothers day.

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  9. powerful and random word flow here.

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  10. deep,
    thanks for sharing.

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  11. fun wording...
    thanks for introducing Indian culture and religion here.

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  12. that's poetic and fun in word choices and sentiments.

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  13. a positive view on a special culture,
    fun word flow.

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  14. Very interesting poem.

    We believe that good will triumph over evil in the end.In this Kal yug we surely need Lord Rama to remove evil from this world and restore justice. There is war, innocents killed, property destroyed, people dying of hunger, poverty, sickness, massive corruption etc. I hope a redeemer will appear soon.

    Best wishes

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    1. Thanks Joseph. We must believe that good will triumph over evil. God hasn't ever failed in that.

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  15. A wonderful tribute to a great epic :-)

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