#(Buddha) 11 In Search Of Truth Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Against the prior decision
Taken by the Heaven,
Who can change it,
Or challenge it?

The four sights, the old,
The sick, the dead,
And the mendicant,
Did work on his sentiment.

He thought one day,
“I’ll also fall a prey
To old age, disease
And death, like all others.”

“All luxuries and comforts
Are, no doubt, worthless.
Miseries and sorrows,
Take away the happiness.”

“In fact, nothing is eternal,
Nor this material life perpetual.
I’ve now seen what life is?
An eventual suffering it is.”

With his charioteer, one night,
In darkness, he went out,
Leaving his entire family,
Also wealth and power, silently.

After crossing Anouma river
He sent back his charioteer.
He marched towards Rajgriha,
The capital of Kingdom Magadha.

Bimbisara, King of Magadha,
Advised the prince, Siddhartha,
To give up his spiritual pursuit
And be an adviser in his court

He replied, “From my royal role,
I’ve willingly taken this bowl.
Again how can I go back,
When the spiritual life, I seek? ”

There were many caves,
In the neighboring hills,
Where many pious hermits,
Peacefully spent their lives.

Under the good guidance
Of some spiritual teachers
He practiced yoga first
And severe penance next.

Without taking any food
His body was reduced
To a skeleton almost.
He became weak at last.

It so happened once,
A folk song of some girls
Opened his both eyes
As a clue from the skies.

“Fair goes the dancing when the Sitar is tuned,
Tune us the Sitar, neither low nor high,
And we will dance away the hearts of men,
The string overstretched breaks, the music dies,
The string over-slack is dumb and the music dies,
Tune us the Sitar, neither low nor high.”

He learnt that moderation,
Not any extreme starvation,
Would allow the function
Of body for taking any action.

He gave up fasting
And started taking
A kind of soft diet
To keep his body fit.