Most of you must be familiar with the term Avatar coined for a movie released last year, if I am correct. An avatar means a birth in a form for a purpose.
I have tried to capture the essence of the ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu, one of the Hindu gods, for what they stood for as against what a human chooses to spend his life.
The Hindu mythology describes the ten different births or Dashaavatar of one of its Gods, Vishnu known to descend the Earth to uphold the morale staff for life and living. The scriptures detail four eras of human life. The one now is Kali Yuga the last of the four. All the four have one or more avatar dedicated to them, believed to be an embodiment of divine, worshipped to this day. The purpose of these Avatars is believed to be able to enable mankind to flower and flourish on the path of good values from which he is known to take a detour time and again. It is also believed that the last of the Avatars called Kalki is yet to happen.
I sieve my deeds with results
Seeing means to my end to thrive
Cowering under ‘Survival of the fittest”
I reason to bite the forbidden fruit
So long they feed me
An apple made of gold seems palatable
Who cares? Resounds my sense of sensitivity
To those eating and clothing scanty
To those who refuge on a square foot
Under a roof baring to the whims of the sky
I, me, myself define my concept of living
My boundaries are sacrosanct
My material satiations are sanctum
Twisting and turning lives around me, for me
Crowning me the king of all I survey.
Blinded to see them coming
As a fish, boar, tortoise, lion,
A man, in flesh and blood,
As a dwarf for a purpose, immense
Embodying divine in every era
When tolerance was challenged
Defining limits for human conflagration
On living and non-living
Rising above being a mere biological born
Abounding in wisdom read as simply truth and faith
They will come, keep coming,
Scriptures foretell, history proves
A train of thoughts chug in my deathbed
Of my hollow worships
Culminating into insane wars
A demon abounds in nothing
He germinates nothing but evil
Could I take a moment more for the soul to breathe?
Gasping for words for my children
To find life in light and not in the sword.
Shared with Poetics: The Creatures Of Mythology, Folklore and Fairy Taleshosted by hobgoblin2011 at the Pub.
Also shared with Poetry Pantry #149
Also shared with Poetry Pantry #149
finding life in light and not in the sword...great close and interesting on the avatars as well....wasn't familiar with the meaning...some nice wisdom in this as well...
ReplyDeleteThis is good. I never really considered the use of avatars in this manner before. But you're absolutely on to something. Love the way you crafted this piece. I've been doing a lot of reading on Hindu Theology/mythology lately and love some of the connects that resonate in here. I'm sure once I dig deeper into the readings, more aspects will appear as well. Very strong piece. thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeletereally nicely done....we only touch the base level of hinduism in the world history class i teach so this was rather fascinating...intriguing..i want to know more now...smiles.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic poem Akila!!
ReplyDeleteI love to read and think about religions. There are so many things happening here in this poem. Let me talk about one.
Like it always happens in any telling of any mythological story, in glorifying the good and the victor, they forget to say enough about the death of the tyrant. Ironically, that, more often than not is the lesson that should be learnt.
Every tyrant (at least the main one) in all the ten Avatar stories die thinking same/similar thought as in your poem. That is the biggest lesson of all these stories.
But then again, if everyone learnt to find life in light and not in sword, there wouldn't be any avatar. Life would be boring. Absolutely peaceful, but boring.
So unfamiliar am I with the history and stories from the Hindu tradition, that this poem formed a wondrous introduction. Well-crafted, and a beautiful response to the theme.
ReplyDeleteGreat take on this prompt. I too am not too familiar with the religion and history but your write provides very much insight.
ReplyDelete...very insightful Akila... and a lot to learn from here.... although i have already a li'l background about Vishnu and other Hindu Gods still this one really refreshes my knowledge about 'em... you provide a whole new introduction to us of the rich culture of the Hindus... and i just like the way you end this piece with that sort of campaign to a peaceful living that requires war no more... excellent! smiles...
ReplyDeleteThis is such a profound and intelligent poem, I thoroughly enjoy it! Fantastic job you have done here
ReplyDeleteProvoking me to learn more because of story and images, especially of the role of apples ... O, take a moment to breathe! The suffering cannot be OK to the avatar of the God, can it? Challenge tolerance. Yes, I want to read the passions here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this informative poem.
ReplyDeleteCould I take a moment more for the soul to breathe?
ReplyDeleteGasping for words for my children
To find life in light and not in the sword.
I love this last verse - beautiful! As parents it is our responsibility to teach love and respect for all life.
I echo that prayer for your children ... for all our children.
ReplyDelete