Word Song (A Haibun)

Source

My heart breaks every time when I hear people say Sanskrit is a dead language, meaning it is not spoken any where any more. Then I wonder at the meaning of ‘Sanskrit’; ‘Refined’ it is. I came to learn that there is no word for expulsion in Sanskrit. What a joy to think of it in these dark days! No wonder we have lost all our refinement in our speech, behavior, taste and living, having traveled so far from the language that gave birth to thousand tongues in this land. Sorry, a mistake; it’s still now a ceremonial language meant for Hindu religious rituals.

I do regret that I have awakened to Sanskrit’s power so late in my life. The words now appear blurred and seen in a dream as it were; they chant to me in their ancient tune to look within and realize them. When I can’t pronounce the masculine words that needs much strength to utter them I am assured by their graceful feminine consorts. It is so shameful that I have even lost the physical strength to bear the grace and beauty of them. So unworthy descendant! Let me chant those mantras that the great ancient seers have left for us: Om Asato maa sad-gamaya (From Unreal [Ignorance] lead me to [Truth] Real), Tamaso  maa jyotir gamaya (From darkness lead me to light), Mrityormaa amrtim gamaya (From death lead me to Immortality). [Material world is regarded as unreal, dark and dead invoking a concept of the transcendental reality: Wikipedia]

 

 The forest* wakes up

Hymns burst forth in light and song

     My dream melts away

 

 

 

 

*Vanaprastha (Sanskrit: वनप्रस्थ) literally means “retiring into a forest”.^[1] It is also a concept in Hindu traditions, representing the third of four ashrama (stages) of human life, the other three being Brahmacharya (bachelor student, 1st stage), Grihastha (married householder, 2nd stage) and Sannyasa (renunciation ascetic, 4th stage).^[2]

Vanaprastha is part of the Vedic ashram system, which starts when a person hands over household responsibilities to the next generation, takes an advisory role, and gradually withdraws from the world.^[3][4] This stage typically follows Grihastha (householder), but a man or woman may choose to skip householder stage, and enter Vanaprastha directly after Brahmacharya (student) stage, as a prelude to San yasa (ascetic) and spiritual pursuits.^[5][6]

Vanaprastha stage is considered as a transition phase from a householder’s life with greater emphasis on Artha and Kama (wealth, security, pleasure and sexual pursuits) to one with greater emphasis on Moksha (spiritual liberation).^{[4][7]: Wikipedia}

Posted for Susan’s Midweek Motif ~ The Song of A Single Word @ Poets United

(Though the Motif was for a single word I used a whole language as a word)

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