Wednesday, August 27, 2014

HARIKATHA PITAMAHA

By Ganti Savitri Devi

Once upon a time,
There lived a man sublime;

There was music in his voice,
To the listeners’ hearts’ rejoice;

His fingers on the Veena’s strings,
Swayed us on to blissful springs;

His music had charm to bring in rain,
He made ‘Harikatha’ supremely reign;

His cute ditties and sweet melodies,
Told His stories, sang His glories;

He pranced and danced
In rhythm and rhymes;

He walked and talked
For Him of all times;

Readily, languages became his own,
For his memory too, he was well-known;

From his heart, gushed poetry,
As a mountain stream pours free;

In him, all arts cheerfully met
There can never be another like him, I bet;

He was Light to the sight,
And to hearts, Delight;

Him those who saw,
To him bowed in awe;

And he bowed to none,
But to the mighty One;

In great exhilaration,
Voices declared in unison;

‘Goddess of learning descended,
And took his form, splendid’;

Adibhatla  Narayana Das, his name,
An emperor in music and literature in fame;

He and his, His stories,
Shine in Time’s Glories.


(Excerpted from Drops in Rain)