Forgotten Ground Regained

Invocation

Image by Mahendra Singh
Author's Note
This poem is my version of Arthur Ryder and William Jones' translations of the opening nandi, or benediction, from the classical Sanskrit play, Shakuntala (ca. 450 CE). In India, most theatrical performances are prefaced by a request for divine favour. In this case, the author, Kalidasa, was a devotee of Shiva and so the play's nandi is addressed to the latter. Classical Sanskrit prosody is based on syllable length (like Latin and Greek poetry), the alliterative metre was my idea. Kalidasa would probably have hated it!
Aid us, Lord Shiva, eight-fold creator of first-born things: Fire and water, of sacred ritual, of sun and moon, of eternal sky, our earthly mother, of the air we breathe, bringer of life, bless us, Lord Shiva, lord of destruction.
Copyright Adam Bolivar, 2025
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