Message Ethereal...Part 1 Poem by Kesav Venkat Easwaran

Note: These poem excerpts are my independent works based on the story material of the Sanskrit poetic work ‘Megha Dootam'(Cloud Messenger) by Poet Great Kaali Daasa- 5th century AD


1
O worthy Cloud! I bow to thee,
Bestow your eyes on this hapless me,
On this Yaksha* unlucky
I am standing on my weakened feet,
In front of my hermitage, down this valley
2
My master, Kubera* the lord of wealth
Has expelled me from heaven
For my accused negligence of duty
Accused I was, I pampered my spouse
Failing to fall in time for my master's service
I bear his wrath, am in exile now on earth
In this Ramgiri* for one seasonal cycle
Unfortunately, I am left to live alone,
Separated from my beloved young wife...
3
Was it a crime? You tell me
For someone as youthful as me
If allotted his time, his heart,
More to his beloved new bride?
They are lords and their words are rules
They enjoy all the celestial bliss,
Despite having their own Devi*
They share shamelessly, the Apsaras* girls
O virtuous Cloud! I salute thee,
Tell me, who has sinned more now?
They or the poor servants like me?
4
^O Cloud, you mighty and dark,
As if a tusker is *made,
Butting against a mountain bank,
You appear high on the *Aashaad awaiting sky,
Full of water virile, of life,
You arouse my desires, my lust,
You rekindle my enthusiasm and the fire inside,
What if my armlets
Have slipped down my forearms
Weakened by the sustained blows of parting?
I pray to you, may you carry my message of love,
My feelings, in the distance to my grief-stricken wife...

(To be continued)

1. Yakhsha- one of the working classes in the heavens...the singers
2. Kubera- The controller of heavenly wealth
3. Devi- the lawful heavenly wife
4. Ramgiri- a place in the Chitrakood mountains of central India where Prince Ram and Sita stayed briefly while in exile from their kingdom of fourteen years
4. Apsaras girls- the celestial dancer nymphs
5. Aashaad- the month beginning the winter season
6. Madh- A periodic condition in bull elephants wherein they remain sexually charged and aggressive with copious discharge of thick secretion called, temporin, from the temporal ducts
7. ^ This Simile original of Kaali Daasa

18 04 2009