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An agnostic’s prayer to stop the cruel death dance of a virus, by Arindam, exclusively for Different Truths.
The death dance of a virus has begun
Do I see you, O Bhimaya, manifest yourself
In an invisible form, unicellular, half-dead,
To mutate with lightning speed in eight substrains?
Angry god, are you not satitated?
Corona death worldwide is 93,673, while
Total Nos affected is 1.6 million[1] and still counting.
Worldover, people are frightened, O Ugraya!
Am confused, denying your existance till now,
I am on my knees, praying to you, O Sarvajnaya!
Not for me and my family alone,
But for Vishwa Kutumbam, the Global Family.
O Mritunjaya! Pause a while, ask yourself
When your people die, do you not die a little too —
Cell by cell, microcosm by microcosm
Are you not annihilating yourself?
Who are you punishing, O Neelkanth!
Aren’t you the one, who swallowed the poison,
To save gods, demons, humans, the entire Universe
During the Churning of the Cosmos, the Samudra Manthan?
Am perturbed, perplexed, baffeled, O Sadashivaya!
Have I got my metaphor wrong?
Are you the Coronavirus or am I a Covidiot?
Are you waiting for the Universe to suffer and heal?
O Bhootnath! Lord of the dead and the ghosts,
Samshan, the two burning ghats of Varanasi, where
Lit up pyres burn perpetually, like your lamps on Earth,
How many more corpses should fuel your Divine Light?
Tell me from where shall I begin the death counts:
New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore,
Wuhan, Rome, London, Paris, New York – the list is endless,
People’re dying faster than flies. Stop it, O Gangadharaya!
Such unprecedented lockdowns, globally,
Unheard of in human history, O Ashutosh!
Bustling megapolises have become ghost towns,
Scared people’re trapped in every home-prison, worldover.
Fortunatley, we have many a brave warriors,
Doctors, nurses, paramedics, nursing the sick and the dying,
The police, managing the lockdowns. Each of them
Have risked their lives. Some have died too, O Shankaraya!
Cities in my country are cruel, brutal for migrant labours
Without jobs, hopes and food, they walked hundreds of miles
To return to their unwelcome villages, if not dead
Weary and hungry on the way. What’s their fault, O Satvikaya!
Did you learn a thing or two from Goddess Kali?
In her grotesque barbaric form, she swallowed you,
Her husband, to deck up like a widow[2]? No one told me,
In my childhood, how you reemerged, O Haraya!
You are the God of gods, O Mahadevaya!
Strange might be your ways.
End this cruel death dance soon
Save us from untold suffering, disease and death.
Global economy is in dumps. Many have and
Millions will lose jobs. Let’s not be chocked to death,
Painfully. Let’s not be snatched from
Our people in the last days, and in death, O Shambhu!
Save us all before it’s too late, O Pashupatinath!
We are all pashus, animals, big and small,
At your mercy. Listen to the prayer of an agnostic
I seek delivarance for the entire humanity.
Shed your anger: come out of the wings
Before it’s too late. Save the suffering, I am your
Frightened child; accept my peace prayer, O Rudraya!
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!
Notes: Many names of Lord Shiva (in the corresponding stanzas)
1. Bhimaya: One who has Fearful Form
2. Ugraya: One who has Extremely Fierce Nature
3. Sarvajnaya: One who Knows Everything
4. Mritunjaya: One who is the Victor of Death
5. Neelkanth: One who Drank Kaalkoot (deadly posion), the Blue Throated
6. Sadashivaya: One who is Eternally Auspicious
7. Bhootnath: One who is the Lord of the Nether World, the Dead and the Ghosts
8. Gangadharaya: One who Holds the Ganga in His Hair
9. Ashutosh: One who can be Easily Pleased
10. Shankaraya: One who Gives Happiness and prosperity
11. Satvikaya: One who is the Lord of Boundless Energy
12. Haraya: One who Dissolves all Bondage and Sins
13. Mahadevaya: One is the God of the Gods
14. Shambhu: One who Exists in an Enlightened State of Highest Consciousness
15. Pashupatinath: One who is the Lord of the Fauna (Animal Kingdom)
16. Rudraya: One who Gets Sad by the Pain of the Devotees
[1]. Impact of Coronavirus worldwide when I was penning the poem, on April 10 (00.10 hrs in India)
[2]A Bengali poem describes Kali, ‘Nij saami nij grash kore sajlo bidobha’, translated in this stanza.
Photos from the Internet
Deeply reflective….and as I am also more inclined towards the Shaivait myths ….I found in particularly engrossing
Bhoothnath is not the lord of nether world. Bhoothnath means god or master of pancha bhoothas , the 5 elements earth sky water fire and air. He is digambara, one who wears sky as his clothes and chidananda roopa at the same time adiguru, the Dakshinamurrhy and fierce Rudra and Bhairava.. We all pray to Mahadeva for the end of this pandemic and to save mankind..Aum namah Shivaya
Hi Padma, Bhoot is a multilayered word. Other than the five elements, it also means, the past.
At another level, Lord Shiva is also named as Bhootnaath, because he is the main Swami/Master of all Ghosts like Bhoot-Pret, Pisach, Chudel, Kitchin, Yogini, Vaital, Rakt Pipashu, Pandubaa etc. These are some of Bhoot-Pret categories. There is existence of Ghost, which literate person deny the fact and say that it is superstitions. But to ignore the reality is also not correct. Bhoot Pret Pisach are the servants of Lord Shiva and they are still under the command of Lord Shiva, the Supreme Master and Lord of all embodiment. Though, Lord Shiva is considered as destroyer of the Universe, but he never did so in Past. He always thinks for the welfare of the common people. He is Bhkatvatsal and Param Vairagi also. Though, he never undermine his Asura Bhakta. So, Manav, Danav, devta, Gandharva, Apsara, Yaksha and Bhoot Pisach all are his Bhakta. He is also considered the Swami of Graha Nakshtras. He is prime cause of nature of 5 origin Tatva that earth, water, fire, Sky and wind. Our bodies are made of these Panchbhut- means Panch Tatva, which are mortal. But soul is immortal. Due to such nature and qualities of Lord Shiva, he is also named as Bhootnaath Baba.