Seesam to Poem #5
Yesterday, Vaisakha Suddha Panchami, was Adi Sankara Jayanti. My father while reminding me this said it would be good if I can write a poem on Adi Sankara. While I was mulling over where to begin, a help came from Dhanikonda Ravi Prasad's posting in FB's Chandassu group. His weekly problem for metrical resolution went thus "Sankara, the one who allays all doubts". That gave me the required line to build the rest of the narrative.
To be very honest, I do not know in great detail Adi Sankara's achievements except those that are widely known. His life story was what I gathered from Amar Chitra Katha and also from bits of information by parents shared from their pravachanam listening experiences. So, I began and wrote a poem that in Corporate speak is "at 50,000ft". Here is the English version and the original Telugu one at the end.
Outgrowth raring to go, tearing out in many a varied way
Debilitating the core, necessitated the arrival
The peerless cure, Advaitha doctrine, that held sway
Took root and prevented the rot, A gift from Sankara Swamigal
The one who wrote and read, treatises and abstract sutras
At a tender age showing maturity beyond his years
Became the guiding light through his Bhaja Govinda mantras
For ages to come, for many a seeker allaying all fears
Fierce ignorants, asserting their own supremacy
Through Saiva or Vaishnava garbs, created
An unneeded confusion, layminds of the land at sea
Found their doubts vanish, banished, thirst for truth sated
The eternal path of Dharma thus gave the world its own
A son of unmatched brilliance that shone, to a universal renown
సీ. వేఱ్వేఱు శాఖల భేదభావంబుల
వృక్షంబు క్షీణింప వేగవచ్చి
అద్వితీయోషధి అద్వైత మనిదెల్పి
మూలంబు నిల్పిన మేలుకాడు
పిన్న ప్రాయంబున నెన్నియో గ్రంథము
లాకళించుకొనిన యతులితుండు
కైవల్య కాంక్షిత కలజనాళికి భజ
గోవింద కృతి నేర్పె కోవిదుండు
తే. వైష్ణవము శైవమున్ బౌద్ధవాదనములు
మిన్ను దాకుచు సామాన్యు లెన్నలేని
సంశయముల లోబడగఁ దైవాంశడయ్యు
శంకలను దీర్చువాడెగా శంకరుండు
Yesterday, Vaisakha Suddha Panchami, was Adi Sankara Jayanti. My father while reminding me this said it would be good if I can write a poem on Adi Sankara. While I was mulling over where to begin, a help came from Dhanikonda Ravi Prasad's posting in FB's Chandassu group. His weekly problem for metrical resolution went thus "Sankara, the one who allays all doubts". That gave me the required line to build the rest of the narrative.
To be very honest, I do not know in great detail Adi Sankara's achievements except those that are widely known. His life story was what I gathered from Amar Chitra Katha and also from bits of information by parents shared from their pravachanam listening experiences. So, I began and wrote a poem that in Corporate speak is "at 50,000ft". Here is the English version and the original Telugu one at the end.
Outgrowth raring to go, tearing out in many a varied way
Debilitating the core, necessitated the arrival
The peerless cure, Advaitha doctrine, that held sway
Took root and prevented the rot, A gift from Sankara Swamigal
The one who wrote and read, treatises and abstract sutras
At a tender age showing maturity beyond his years
Became the guiding light through his Bhaja Govinda mantras
For ages to come, for many a seeker allaying all fears
Fierce ignorants, asserting their own supremacy
Through Saiva or Vaishnava garbs, created
An unneeded confusion, layminds of the land at sea
Found their doubts vanish, banished, thirst for truth sated
The eternal path of Dharma thus gave the world its own
A son of unmatched brilliance that shone, to a universal renown
సీ. వేఱ్వేఱు శాఖల భేదభావంబుల
వృక్షంబు క్షీణింప వేగవచ్చి
అద్వితీయోషధి అద్వైత మనిదెల్పి
మూలంబు నిల్పిన మేలుకాడు
పిన్న ప్రాయంబున నెన్నియో గ్రంథము
లాకళించుకొనిన యతులితుండు
కైవల్య కాంక్షిత కలజనాళికి భజ
గోవింద కృతి నేర్పె కోవిదుండు
తే. వైష్ణవము శైవమున్ బౌద్ధవాదనములు
మిన్ను దాకుచు సామాన్యు లెన్నలేని
సంశయముల లోబడగఁ దైవాంశడయ్యు
శంకలను దీర్చువాడెగా శంకరుండు
