Satyakāma

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Satyakāma

Poem- Part II

Briefly looked she at that cherished face
Shaped of her flesh and blood and fondness.
She then observed on his forehead familiar
Furrows shaped by some new unknown care.
She asked, ‘O light of my life, young tender sun,
Where didst thou venture, how the furrow begun
On thy forehead guarded by my bosom’s care?
Was it a mortal luring thee into a dubious snare,
Or some bored god coaxing thee for vain worship,
Or some abyss’ spawn courting thy fair kinship?
What ails thee my beloved child, of it now speak.’
He replied, ‘Not men, not god, nor any power meek
Has weighed my thoughts with a subtle burden,
Am moved by seekings my thoughts can’t pen.
I glimpsed in a miracle-moment a subtle vision
Of a thread that connects all things under the sun.
This unknown speaks to me in silence wordlessly
To it all my waking and sleep turns helplessly. 
Grant me thy blessing, O worshipped maternal feet,
That I find luminous end for this my subtle quest.’
Solemn she grew gathering silently her heartstrings,
Grew serene visage that strong maternal care brings.
In voice profound and weighed with motherly will,
‘So it shall be’, uttered she seeming a goddess in a temple.
Prostrate within and assimilating her benediction
He rose up with the priceless boon for his mission.
A query remained like shadow in day in his mind
Of lineage and ancestry and nobility of their blood.
In eleven cycles of the sun had never a paternal voice
Had intruded his hours, nor strong father arms caress. 
Of the father he did never ask to Amba his world,
For she sufficed alone for his care, sans man, sans god. 
So he gently loosened words like a defanged snake,
‘Mother, what gotra, what shaped my ancestry’s make?
For beyond the borders of our little safe habitation
All admittance and passage is based on one’s station.’

PS: To be continued..

Satyakāma- Part 1