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Conquer Death with the drumbeat Ma! Ma! Ma!

by Ramprasad (Ramprasad Sen)
(1718? - 1775?) Timeline

English version by
Lex Hixon

Original Language
Bengali

Yoga / Hindu : Shakta (Goddess-oriented)
18th Century

Who is this unique warrior woman?
Her terrifying war cry
     pervades the universal battleground.
Who is this incomparable feminine principle?
Contemplating her limitless nature,
the passion to possess and be gratified dissolves.
Who is this elusive wisdom woman?
Her smooth and fragrant body of intense awareness
     is like the petal of a dark blue lotus.

A single eye of knowledge
     shines from her noble forehead
like a moon so full its light engulfs the sun.
This mysterious Goddess, eternally sixteen,
is naked brilliance, transparent insight.
Cascades of black hair stream down her back
     to touch her dancing feet.
Perfect in the art of wisdom warfare
she is the treasury of every excellence,
the reservoir of all that is good.

Her poet sings with unshakable assurance:
"Anyone who lives consciously in the presence
     of this resplendent savioress
can conquer Death with the drumbeat
     Ma! Ma! Ma!"

 

 

-- from Mother of the Universe: Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment, Translated by Lex Hixon

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Death
  Drum
  Light
  Lotus
  Moon


Recommended Books


Devoted to the Goddess : The Life and Work of Ramprasad, by Malcolm Mclean
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, by M. (Sri Mahendra Gupta) / Translated by Swami Nikhilananda
Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Ramprasad Sen - Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess, Translated by Leonard Nathan / Clinton Seely
Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna, by Lex Hixon
Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth U. Harding

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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