Agni-Garh (Fire-Fort) At Tezpur Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

In Tezpur I am, the City of Blood,
Also known as Sonitpur,
The only place in which
Shiva fought with Krishna,
Who as King of Dwaraka,
Had come to fight for his grandson
Aniruddha, who had slept with
Usha, the charming princess of Tezpur,
Daughter of Banasura,
The dedicated devotee of Shiva.

In the war between the two mighty ones,
The Hari-Hara yuddha, blood flowed
Like rivers on all sides,
Around this city on the Northern bank
Of the mighty Brahmaputra.

Aniruddha, the natural son-in-law,
(They had done gandharva marriage,)
Had been thrown into prison.
This fire-test saved the couple
And today the hill on the bank
Is Agni-garh, a big tourist attraction.

With dimming reddish horizon at dusk
I was on top looking down the hill
On the scene of battle sculpture below.
Not able to identify all figures,
The one with a begging bowl in hand,
We climbed the steps down
To recognize that it was Brahma.

The local guide was enthusiastic
That Brahma advised in vain
Both Krishna and Shiva not to fight;
But then Kurukshetra did happen,
As displayed dead bodies prove
In that stone sculpture in the open.

Nevertheless the young lovers
Remained united in Tezpur.
First Aniruddha had appeared unknown
In her dream, and when she described
Him to Chitralekha her friend the painter
And daughter of Prime Minister,
She drew the picture and found
That it was he, the grandson of Krishna.

How he came to Tezpur and mingled
With her without father knowing
Is a mystery but common in tales of love.

The sociologist has suggested
That the new God Vishnu who was Krishna
Naturally wins over the primitive Rudra, the god
Of the Dravidians, setting echoes within me
Of Jupiter dethroning Saturn,
Aurangzeb putting father Shah Jehan
In prison within seeing distance of the Taj
Since Shah Jehan was purblind by then,
But kept seeing Mumtaz and tomb reflected
In a piece of mirror on the pillar,
Across the river Jumna.

Agni-garh at Tezpur or Taj Mahal at Agra,
Beauty sets the heart on fire by the river.