To be virtuous is the path
To Heaven, the Promised Land
Says the Holy Scriptures, Masters
So does the society at large.
Thus a fake Harichandra was born
By cleverly hiding my genuine lies
For the path to heaven is not easy
Only honest beings will knock at the door
Thus a fake Good Samaritan was born
For heaven is only for the generous
Alms are given in plenty
By cleverly hiding my frugality
Courtesy and austerity became my hallmarks
Though I don't know the meaning of the both
I start respecting the women and the grey-haired
By genuinely hiding my vicious heart.
I start worshipping the God
Though an atheist I am
Thus I started nourishing my virtue
Drop by drop.
Now I'm burdened with too much virtue
It's a real burden indeed.
But people need this "ME" only
Not the real "ME' under these masks.
I want to be what I was
But a return seems not possible
The path seems impassable
It is already destroyed by my virtues.
I want to be dishonest, greedy and jealous
Only then I will be honest to myself
That's the way to my enlightenment
That's the first step to my virtuous life.
But, where is that old child? Who
Boldly said the King was naked.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Intriguing poem. Very interesting. Is a virtuous life disturbing our individual personality? Who is the real me? the soul that wants the virtues or the ego that wants us to win, to be greedy Children are generally brutally honest, which is a virtue, I think We have to live according to our inner fire, our true self. Conformity to everything society expects from us, is perhaps not a virtue. Great virtuous souls have sung the odes to non-conformity (Emmerson, Thoreau whose key works are all freely available on the net) . Society wants us to conform to their own falsehoods, which is not virtue.