When a prayer is plea packaged in veil,
And puja1, a covert plea for His pardon,
When a Bandagi2 begs for heaven’s bail,
And worship for a vaunted place in sun;
When sacrifice be secret plea for fruits,
Charity seeks to reserve place in heaven,
Gift gets given to gain matching return,
Pilgrimage a pass-time, no search for roots.
Yet, bless me Lord that my hopes breathe alive,
I pray thee that in happy peace I rest—
Content in my luxury-laden nest,
I pray, let honey sweeten my beehive,
And as thou keepest supplying my store,
I swear I’d love thee if so all the more.
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1. Puja: The Hindu worship, service offered to God.
2. Bandagi: The periodical namaz (kneeling) offered to
Allah by Muslims.
This sonnet is sung rather tongue-in-cheek and is a light
satire on prayers that be veiled pleas for wanting something
or the other and are not rendered as thanks-giving to God,
as all prayers should be.
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- Sonnets | 17.11.08 |
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Yet, bless me Lord that my hopes breathe alive, I pray thee that in happy peace I rest—Loved these lines. A beautiful poem on prayer has been astutely delineated. Thank you Pathak sir. Full vote.
Thank you once again for reading this old sonnet and liking it so much. My poem Joy Of Giving may have scored max feedback, but I feel there are better poems than that which have not received attention.