!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Krishna’s advice to Arjuna by T. Wignesan/title> /div> div itemprop=”genre” id=”content”> p> 14: If the soul meets death when Sattva prevails,br /> then it goes to the pure regions of those who are seeking truth.br /> 15: If a man meets death in a state of Rajas,br /> he is reborn amongst those who are bound by their restless activity;br /> and if he dies in Tamas, he is reborn in the wombs of the irrational./p> p> The Bhagavad Gita, XIV, transl. Juan Mascaro./p> p> « It is incorrect to assume that Hindu thought strained excessively after the unattainable and wasbr /> guilty of indifference to the problems of the world. We cannot lose ourselves in inner piety whenbr /> the poor die at our doors, naked and hungry. The Gita asks us to live in the world and save it. »/p> p> S. Radhakrishnan, The Bhagavadgita./p> p> ————————————————————–/p> p> When Thodti was born at Nelveli in the latter half of the XXth centurybr /> his ancestors had been living out-of-rightbr /> for the past XXX centuriesbr /> hoveringbr /> on never-never land under villages with-out-back twenty-hutmentsbr /> now overgrown to two one-thousand hovels in towncentre marshalling yardsbr /> no sewers gurglecourse under their feetbr /> nor piped potable water flush their long-curdled alimentary canalsbr /> nor showers chase the clinging cloaca stenchbr /> nor even un-broken drainsbr /> tarred roadsbr /> garbage removal vansbr /> find mouth on election platforms/p> p>the towncentre = the bus-terminal churning flipping putrid mud after three-daybr /> drubbing stormsbr /> and bulging humanfleshed trainsbr /> run on forgotten timebr /> the lav’s stinging week-long turds splashvomits the feast of flies/p> p>temples carved with mantric-mouthed hands from the VIIteenth & VIIIteenthbr /> gopurams in congested tiered runaway curlicue rococo-baroque fantasybr /> rose chalk kunkumam ripe mango yellow pitch black indigobr /> bulging fuming thick mascara eyes Zapata moustaches dangling overbr /> burgeoning belliesbr /> lithe white cows gracing Ganesha’s flanksbr /> garlands of roses hibiscus jasminebr /> identical buxomy lasses ballooning commodious backs ample thighs their sareesbr /> a deliberately clasped transparent veneer of pudeurbr /> the jingling nautch girl ankletsbr /> vain reminders of Kannagibr /> bangles bracelets armlets tiaras talis earrings noserings fingerings toerings kolususbr /> the prancing stained eyelashes the full lascivious lipsbr /> and that eternally round-eyed vacant supercilious starebr /> past the invisible sanctum sanctorumbr /> the vast sinking steps of the holy tank murky with blodokbr /> torn bookmatches ceremonial paper ferns water-lilies lotuses and centuries-old oozebr /> caked ulcerous washing feet and tick-milling matted hair/p> p> see how trailing reams of wishes and private wantsbr /> rise in pre-paid puja-thin mantric magic smoke to high heaven/p> p> for Thodti trailing barefeet his dried coconut-stick broom on cracked macadambr /> in the gutter festering oozing fresh month-old drying turds urine remains of fed-up banana-leaves skins withered jasmine garlands drained motor-oil from scooter-taxis overfed flies lean stray kids fowl cowsbr /> all that was wonder from afarbr /> magic mythic mystery the lingo of gods on earthbr /> the brahmin vegetarian clattering-pans over order shouting eating-hotelsbr /> as though the heavens deigned to camp down on his doorstepbr /> derailed on their celestial inter-galactic circuit/p> p>his mind if he cared to exercise one was of little use to himbr /> nor were they to his ancestorsbr /> called upon only to clean the bottoms off those whobr /> shat upon his forefathers for agesbr /> his only use for his intelligencebr /> is to know his placebr /> minus the alphabetbr /> minus arithmeticbr /> minus the patinenkilkkanakkubr /> minus the grandold Vedic mystic gods and rishisbr /> minus the right to think for himself /p> p>only the dullard’s right to die daft dull damnedbr /> and be reborn in the womb of ignorance/p> p>So much for your Godly advice Charioteer Krishnabr /> For don’t Gods only talk to Gods on Earth/p> p>Detach yourself first thenbr /> KILLbr /> Do not feel for those you kill/p> p>For what lofty ideal the Mahabharathabr /> pitted mythically gambling polyandrous cousins/p> p>Is India today a magical-realist mythbr /> or a cranking up Indo-Pak Armageddon/p> p>Sattva Rajas Tamas/p> p> Sattva Rajas Thodti/p> p>Notes/p> p>Sattva: pure intelligence and goodnessbr /> Rajas: impure mental energy and restless passionbr /> Tamas: dullness and inertia/p> p>Blodok or belodok (also beluduh): Malay for large-eyed goby, found in tropical orbr /> equatorial muddy flatsbr /> Gopuram: the tiered, sculptured towers over the main entrances to Hindu temples/p> p>Kannagi: heroine of the medieval Tamil epic Cilappatikarambr /> Kolusu: ornamental anklet chains with bells worn by Tamil womenbr /> Kunkumam: saffron ( yellow or red) powder serving as adornment marks ofbr /> auspiciousness on women’s facesbr /> Patinenkilkkannakku: the traditionally collective name for eighteen Tamil classicalbr /> worksbr /> Tali: usually gold chains worn by married Tamil women round the neck or tumeric-br /> stained cords in lieu ofbr /> Thodti: a caste name for Night Soil Men/p> br> /body> /html>
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