The Pinda-Dana Was Continuing In Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

It was broad daylight
And the sun was blazing hot over the country
With the panda-dana continuing in,
The conventional priest and the bald-headed clients
Were offering together with rolled and rounded food offerings
To the soul,
Dead and bereaved soul,
Departed and remembered so earnestly
With tears into the eyes of the relatives.

The sun was blazing hot
As it was summertime,
Generally the noon appears to be so,
The crows were crowing for food,
The villagers too waiting for the feast,
A country torn by hunger, scarcity and depravity
Whereas on the other the panda-dana was continuing in,
Just suppose you,
Man a lump of soil,
everything but body and matter and mass
And nothing else.

O the bereaved soul, departed spirit,
From whom am I,
Take you the panda,
Take you the water drops and the symbolic food offered too,
Bereave you not,
If weep you, we shall too!
Get you the shantih of the soul
Even though wait we for your coming,
But know we nothing can you back home!

You are fire, you are water, you are wind,
You are sky,
You are earth,
The things you were from,
This body is composed of,
You mingled with that,
There is nothing as permanent here,
There is nothing as that lasts here,
Everything but mingles with dust and clay
And it remains it not for long.

Om shantih shantih shantih,
Om shantih shantih shantih,
Om shantih shantih shantih.
Let there be shantih all around,
Leaving everything to peace and rest,
Let the Guiding Spirit guide us all.