Saturday 11 September 2021

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Thunder Bay, Ontario

Something New

 

nama om visnu padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale

srimate bhaktivedanta-svaminn iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura vani pracarine

nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

 

It was our morning-time focus,

When we offered you a lotus

At guru puja; always so cheerful —

No trace of anything at all tearful

 

It was the start of the year in Guyana

Where in abundance grow the lotus and banana

We didn’t know what was coming —

Temple operations were smoothly running

 

Then reports arrived in the month of January:

An attack came from a strange adversary,

An invisible creature who takes human lives,

A threat to children, men and precious wives.

 

Theories of conspiracies began to surface

As to the origin of a virus to hurt us

Going by the name COVID-19 –

A virus so ominous, dark and mean.

 

The public demanded answers to the questions they asked

And were told, “To be safe you must be masked,”

And social distancing at 6 feet is standard,

Wall coming together is now abandoned.

 

This pandemic spreads at the pace of a cheetah,

And disease is mentioned in Bhagavad-Gita,

Locked in arms are Kali and Covid —

You direct us to Krishna or Govind.

 

It is not surprising that bad omens come:

Sastra states duhkhalyam asasvatam.

Life’s leisurely ways are cut short;

We know it to be a reality distort.

 

The vision you share makes it all clear;

You offer hope when trouble is near.

Your question: “Are you able and ready?”

The answer: “When sadhana and love are steady.”

 

Prabhupada, you are helping us through this;

Your teachings burn a hole through this crisis.

Vaikuntha comes when the cycle is over,

Only when our hearts have that solid makeover.

 

Bless us to be tolerant like a tree.

Lessons on life are not always free:

They come at a price; we have to adjust.

It is as essential as the Earth’s crust.

 

Your servant,

Bhaktimarga Swami©

 

May the Source be with you!


 

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