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Ma, You're inside me;

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

English version by
Rachel Fell McDermott

Original Language
Bengali

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

Ma, You're inside me;
who says You keep Your distance, Syama?
You're a stony girl, terrible illusion,
dressing in many guises.
For different methods of prayer You put on
the five chief forms.
But once someone realizes
the five are one,
there'll be no escape for You!
Understanding the truth,
he won't encumber You with false worship
and You'll have to stop
as if You'd sneezed
to take his burdens.

Once he knows the value of gold
will he welcome glass
by mistake?

Prasad says, My heart is shaped like a flawless lotus.
I place You there, my mental Goddess:
Now dance!

 

 

-- from Singing to the Goddess: Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal, Translated by Rachel Fell McDermott

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Heart
  Lotus
 
 
 


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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