THE PRAYER IN THE RAINS
Pic.: Madhusudan D. Jeurkar
This morning, as our Tai Chi session was in progress, it
was pouring heavily. “We have good rains
this time,” I said to Kannan, “God has been kind.”
After many Sundays, I found Kannan back in form, today. “Gerry,
there is a powerful Sanskrit shloka – a prayer – which is recited at the end of
most of the Hindu ceremonies...
I was curious… Kannan recited:
I was curious… Kannan recited:
“Kale varshatu parjanya,
Prithivi sasya shalini
Deshoyam kshobha rahitaha
Sajjana santu nirbhayaha”
Prithivi sasya shalini
Deshoyam kshobha rahitaha
Sajjana santu nirbhayaha”
“Let the monsoon be
timely and plentiful,
Let earth be covered with vegetation,
Let the country live without (conflicts) problems,
And let good people never have fear.”
Let earth be covered with vegetation,
Let the country live without (conflicts) problems,
And let good people never have fear.”
It struck me like a pleasant lightening… “Wow!” I said, “Kannan
sir, let me hear that prayer again.”
“Kale varshatu parjanya,”
“Let the monsoon be timely and plentiful,
“Prithivi sasya shalini”
“Prithivi sasya shalini”
“Let earth be covered with vegetation,”
“Deshoyam kshobha rahitaha”
“Deshoyam kshobha rahitaha”
“Let the country live without (conflicts) problems,”
“Sajjana santu nirbhayaha”
“Sajjana santu nirbhayaha”
“And
let good people never have fear.”
A beautiful prayer that is!
A good
monsoon is not in man’s hand… and, if monsoon is not good, there won’t be
enough food to eat… Therefore, God have mercy… Please give us good rains… May
crops grow… May we not starve.
But, then,
even though the rains are good and food is plenty, how can there be happiness
and peace if we do not know how to live on this planet with love and harmony?
And, yes, that last line: “Let good people never have fear”!
I
remembered Tagore’s famous poem:
“Where the mind is without
fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”
It is close
to 3 in the noon now… and it is still pouring heavily outside. It is my mom’s
81st birthday. An hour ago, I called to wish her… and, she said the
same thing to me, from the other end, in Mangalore…
“Son, we
have good rains this time… It has been pouring heavily, here, right since
midnight… God has been kind.”
At 81,
my mom has not been down with diabetes or blood-pressure… Except for some
knee-pain she often talks about, she has no complaints to make… about her
health or life. Really, God has been kind to her… and to her children as well.
What
Kannan said – the prayer in the rains – made lots of sense to me... Today!
Happy b’day
mom… The ROCK!
GERALD D’CUNHA
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