Faction (Poem)

From: Frosty Breath in the Wilderness
by Padma Devkota

"Faction"
2.

Old Sage:

Aum! May the Goddess Vak grant tongues to you all!
Now listen to the gospel of the Sky.
We are all in essence one. What flows down
from the source is not changed by the nature
of the terrain that encloses it. Aum!

Pupils:

Aum! We are all in essence one. Aum!

Old Sage:

Aum! We, the children of Nature, are fed
by father Infinite Space who loves us.
What love begets must not kick with anger.
Rebellion is a slow suicide.
Submit to ancestral wisdom. Aum!

Pupils:

Aum! We submit to ancestral wisdom. Aum!

Old Sage:

Aum! Upon the altar of Earth, like butter
the clouds melt with the fire of the Sun
to create heat, which is life. Without heat
there can be no life. Pour butter into
the holy pit each morning to appease
Agni, the fire that sustains life. Aum!

Pupils:

Aum! Without heat there can be no life. Aum!

Old Sage:

Aum! Upon the altar of life, shed actions
that melt like pure butter without residue
of greed, or lust, or desire. Appease
the Creator with pure devotion
to Him through nature and through gods. Aum!

Pupils:

Aum! We shall not desire nor lust. Aum!

Old Sage:

Aum! Listen to the gospel of the Sky.
It is a sea of individual minds.
The drop that refuses to lose itself
in the water of the palm shall dry dead.
Mingling with the rest it shall survive. Aum!

Pupils:

Aum! We shall merge like drops with other pools. Aum!

Old Sage:

Blessings upon you all! May Goddess Vak,
too, bless you with learning.
Dismiss. Now go
and leave me to my solitude where I
may with closed eyes read the gospel of the Sky.