Of What Use Is My Going To Kasi Any More? Poem by Ramprasad Sen

Of what use is my going to Kasi any more?
At Mother's feet lie Gaya, Ganga and Kasi.
I swim in the ocean of bliss
while I meditate on Her in my heart lotus.
O Kali's feet are red lotuses
wherein lie heaps of holy places.
All sins are destroyed by Kali's name
as heaps of cotton are burnt by fire.
How can a headless man have a headache?
People think, they will discharge their debts
to forefathers by offering them pinda at Gaya!
But, O! I laugh at him who meditates on Kali
and still goes to Gaya!
Shiva assures: Death at Kasi leads to salvation.
But devotion is the root of all;
O mind! Salvation is its maid.
Of what use is nirvana?
Water mingles in water.
O mind! becoming sugar is not desirable;
I am fond of eating sugar.

Bemused, Ramprasad says, 'By the strength of gracious
Mother, O! Meditation on Her, the wearer of disheveled
hair, puts four goods into the palm of our hands.

[Translated by by Elizabeth U. Harding]