Monologue With Lord Sankara! -Iii Poem by Varanasi Ramabrahmam

XXI

All professions have lost their respect and eminence
Associated dignity, compassion, love and care; became mechanical;
Individuals of all professions are only after money
And are exploiting one another in illegal ways;
I do not know who can save us, we are all being swept away
By swirling waters full of filth, Lord Sankara!

XXII

Many Vedantins, prophets, scientists, poets, theoreticians have taken birth,
Professed and enlightened us with their wisdom and compassion;
Such eminent people are available at present too;
There is no dearth for wise sayings,
Why still we are all leading stressed lives, Lord Sankara!

XXIII

Erecting statues after the demise of great persons,
Celebrating their birthdays, centenaries, and the associated
Pomp and “respect” and “devotion”
Never caring for them when they are alive,
Such eminent people and their eminence
Have been protected by You only, Lord Sankara!

XXIV

Not having any employment or stripped of present employment
Are stressed and strained, the men-folk without dignified life or marriage;
Unable to economically transact many girls too are pained,
Infants missing motherly care and the aged any care at all, are languishing;
All these pains and hurts are same in intensity;
Can’t any one do something about these, Lord Sankara!

XXV

The struggle of the individual when death is immediate
The labor pains experienced by the women while giving birth
The sense of loss, agony and helplessness of people devastated by natural disasters,
Are all unbearable situations,
Take those poisonous pains and retain them Garala Kantha [1], Lord Sankara!

XXVI

From my childhood my parents,
My teachers during learning and education,
And many books I went through, informed me
That all life and creation are Your manifestations,
And every one and every thing must be respected and loved;
Such instructions, feelings are laughed at and are trampled with
By religious fundamentalists and terrorists, what is this Lord Sankara!

XXVII

The boy, the girl, the child, the kid, she, he
They, we are all your children only;
Who created the animosities, inferiority, superiory?
Why you are silent, Lord Sankara!

XXVIII

Loving woman with pleasant and affectionate disposition
As mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend,
The Goddesses Parvathi, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Lord Vishnu,
Lord Ganesha, Lord Subrahmanya, Sun Lord,
And You, take care of us and our welfare affectionately, Lord Sankara!

XXIX

In bearing and being patient Goddess Earth and mothers,
Rivers in flowing, Lord Krishna in emancipating,
Warriors in taking risks and plunging into battle fields,
You in cheering the devotees, are prominent, Lord Sankara!

XXX

It is pleasant to court and being engaged in amorous play with beautiful youthful girls
It is pride to get a fabulous salary and associated dignity and recognition
It is sense of achievement in doing useful intellectual research to further knowledge
It is sense of fulfillment to make aesthetic hearts rejoice with pleasant verses
It is human to help fellow beings
It is wisdom and bliss to chant Siva Panchaskhari always,
Protect all these interests and pleasures till I breathe my last, Lord Sankara!

[1] Lord Siva - who retained poison in His throat without swallowing