Being Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Sunday meseems a state be of being,
Resting and retiring from all chasing1,
Away from fruit-seeking doing,
Yonder the bounds of becoming.

A dress rehearsal ere retiring to forest2,
Learning to do without mundane joys3,
A day of rectitude and rest,
Listening to the inner voice.

To reflect on how the journey has been,
And if needed correcting course,
Listening to the voice within,
Letting the heart to head endorse.

The day ends up still all the more loaded,
For ruled ‘tis by the worldly winded head.
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1. Somewhat similar to Jewish Sabbath, Sunday
is the end of a week of work and devoted to
resting, retiring from it all, learning, and
reinventing.
2. Retiring to forest: In olden days among the
four phases of life, this was the third called
vāna-prasthāshrama. The present-day retiring
that we have is called here a dress rehearsal.

The life that a ‘modern’ man is living is too much
oriented to becoming. And we all find it hard to
escape from it all, if only temporarily. But one
needs to try—trying to recharge, if nothing else,
his low and lethargic batteries. But we often end up
making the Sunday all the more loaded with activity,
pursuing this or that. If only we halt, take a deep
breath, think, and reconfigure our life a little
differently. to look within, and feel the bliss of
the Self; the joys of simply being.
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- Sonnets | 09.06.08 |