What a Sacrifice Sublime
About two thousand years ago
In the early morning hours of a cool day
When the wind was calm and the Sun had just
Started showing his sign in east
A small vessel boat standing near the shore
Was getting ready to move, after taking on its board,
A number of scholars, with their heavy load of knowledge
Lying near the boat, were the bundles full of load*
Which some scholars were trying to put on board
To carry away the much labored treasure of books*
For its final long journey from a near by seaport
These books were translated by scholars
Both Indians and Chinese, in more than a decade
Learning in those day’s early universities
Was possible only after tough labor
And facing hardest living ways
The priceless knowledge of that world
Was not much known to all those
Living in Beijing, Athens or Rome
Was being taken out of India to light-up
The dark areas and different paths of the globe
The Indian scholars with five others
Had come from university of Nalanda
To see off their Chinese guests up-to the port of Kalika
And wanted to go upto an inland near the shore
To say adieu and Good Bye, to their friends on board
The island was few miles away from the shore
From there the guest scholars, were going to start alone
Their long journey to far Far-East on their own
Ten years companionship had tied them in a bond
They came to say adieu to host scholars Shing and Yang
The boat was small but full of load
With crewmen and scholars
And lots of handwritten books on board
The boat left the shallow seashore
For the near by more deep Kalika port,
From there the boat was destined
For its final journey towards Far East
Towards an unknown land and shore
The wind had hardly driven them few miles away
When a crewman saw a storm coming from west
And saw the boat was staggering on waves
With heavy weights on it, its chances of survival was at stake
The storm was getting rough and waves were roaring high
A voice came from behind, to throw the books in sea
To save the boat and lives on board
The host scholars, who were eight
Knew the value of that work sublime
Took a decision to throw them selves instead of books
To save the torch of knowledge lighted up by them
In the form of manuscript’s load sublime
And said only ‘Good Bye’ to those on board
Before anyone could have understood
They all jumped into the sea and lost without a sign
The Chinese scholars exclaimed! ‘What a sacrifice Sublime’
Ravindra
*manuscripts (on Bhogpatras-A tree leaf used in early days)
Copyright © Ravindra K Kapoor | Year Posted 2009
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