Goddess Kali Temple, Lumding, Nagaon, Assam, India
—Poems by Pujish Kanti Deb, India
THE VERDICT OF A COIN
A catapult comprising of two fingers—
representing my lustful beckoning of eyes
and your passionate crawling
down to my unexplored mine
without any valid permit,
tosses a coin up
engraving me in one side of it
dancing with some blissful blossoms
and mirthful peacocks,
and leaving me alone in the other side
amid a dreadful desert
quite abandoned, ashamed, and injured.
The uprising coin flies up
to the Heaven and the Hell as well,
consults with the super authorities
and starts its inevitable downfall
confirming my fortune of tomorrow
and rushes down towards the land of reality
whereon I stand with my three trembling entities—
body, mind and soul
waiting for the unalterable verdict of the coin.
____________________________
A DEVOTEE OR A BEGGAR
It’s not universally applicable
but some devotees of the divinity
seem to be gentle beggars
in the guise of humble devotees,
become shameless flatterers
throughout their devotion to the God
as they keep oiling him again and again,
dropping their crocodile’s tears
in begging for their self-centered circle
of all-around earthly happiness
but drop neither tears
in showing their true love for the divinity
nor their selfless formal inquiry,
"How do you do, my God?"
A catapult comprising of two fingers—
representing my lustful beckoning of eyes
and your passionate crawling
down to my unexplored mine
without any valid permit,
tosses a coin up
engraving me in one side of it
dancing with some blissful blossoms
and mirthful peacocks,
and leaving me alone in the other side
amid a dreadful desert
quite abandoned, ashamed, and injured.
The uprising coin flies up
to the Heaven and the Hell as well,
consults with the super authorities
and starts its inevitable downfall
confirming my fortune of tomorrow
and rushes down towards the land of reality
whereon I stand with my three trembling entities—
body, mind and soul
waiting for the unalterable verdict of the coin.
____________________________
A DEVOTEE OR A BEGGAR
It’s not universally applicable
but some devotees of the divinity
seem to be gentle beggars
in the guise of humble devotees,
become shameless flatterers
throughout their devotion to the God
as they keep oiling him again and again,
dropping their crocodile’s tears
in begging for their self-centered circle
of all-around earthly happiness
but drop neither tears
in showing their true love for the divinity
nor their selfless formal inquiry,
"How do you do, my God?"
Goddess Shitala Temple, Lumding, Nagaon, Assam, India
SHE AND MY BELOVED WIFE
On the way to return to my sweetest home
tired and exhausted,
a sweet passionate voice flew in my ears
"Have fun with me."
a commercial solicitation of a line-girl
with an erotic embellishment
and a youthful gesture of submission.
I had never been to their parlor
where injured and abandoned hearts
rush for a little plaster and shelter.
To my dormant lustful instinct,
it seemed to be a passionate summons,
or an inquisitiveness for a new thing
which slowed down my stepping ahead
and I stopped and looked at her.
Was it a miracle or the spiritual power
of a God-fearing who ruled in my
body, mind and soul
resisting any beacon of hell?
I looked at her
but witnessed surprisingly
the sacred face of my beloved wife,
on her face and those blue eyes too,
where my dreams bloomed.
A wave of shamefulness
floated my shameless instinct away
and rejuvenated my trembling honesty
to show my back to the black passion.
On the way to return to my sweetest home
tired and exhausted,
a sweet passionate voice flew in my ears
"Have fun with me."
a commercial solicitation of a line-girl
with an erotic embellishment
and a youthful gesture of submission.
I had never been to their parlor
where injured and abandoned hearts
rush for a little plaster and shelter.
To my dormant lustful instinct,
it seemed to be a passionate summons,
or an inquisitiveness for a new thing
which slowed down my stepping ahead
and I stopped and looked at her.
Was it a miracle or the spiritual power
of a God-fearing who ruled in my
body, mind and soul
resisting any beacon of hell?
I looked at her
but witnessed surprisingly
the sacred face of my beloved wife,
on her face and those blue eyes too,
where my dreams bloomed.
A wave of shamefulness
floated my shameless instinct away
and rejuvenated my trembling honesty
to show my back to the black passion.
Kamakhya Temple, Assam, India
PRAYER OF A CONFUSED LIFE
Look, a life walks on
carrying the God and the Devil
on its either shoulder,
remains ever-confused and hesitant
as the inspiration and the temptation
both flow into the cavities of its sensation.
Feel the thrill of a tug-of-war
played between the God and the Devil
making a life as a rope 'round the clock
and pulling it towards them to own it.
But a sacred life is blissful and fearless
to show its back to Devil in bowing down to God
and prays generously from the depth of heart,
"Let our smile be bloomed on others' lips,
a hut be built in others' heart,
comfort be felt by the plaster on others' wound
and a life be lived with all sacrifices
to compel God to smile on our lips."
It looks at the Devil and continues its prayer:
"Let our selfishness be handicapped
in sharing the causes of smiles and enjoyments,
the flames of anger be extinguished
before humiliating the respectful and useful,
lustful passion be arrested in a moment
before biting the soft skin of honor
and a life be lived with all cleanliness
to compel the Devil to maintain
a million-mile distance from a sacred life."
Immersion of Goddess Durga
SIMPLICITY
Ought not to take advantage
From the
sacred simplicity
Or not to cross over the edge
Of its
patience or dignity.
Simplicity is the divine
identity
Of honesty in
earthly paradise
A stout, ethical quality
And blissful with
virtues to colonize.
So open and vast is the heart
That the
universe gets into it
The holy soul may construct
A home for God
to inhabit.
The warning is to be
remembered,
Ought not to
play with simplicity,
It is to be respectfully
spared
To evade the
judgement of divinity.
_______________________
—Medusa, wishing you a happy solstice tonight, and thanking Pijush Kanti Deb from Nagaon, Assam, India for today's poems and photos about his faith as we celebrate the spiritual lives of people around the world during this, our own season of meditation—whatever our spiritual roots—and, hopefully, joy. (Pijush was featured on Medusa's Kitchen on November 28, 2014.)
Goddess Shitala Temple, Lumding, Nogaon, Assam, India