In first, earned knowledge none any,
Nor in second whatso money,
Name nor fame in third if brought forth,
Wonder, what will ye whilst the fourth?
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Translation | 06.11.2025 | learning/education, life, money, name for self
Note: This Subhaashhitam refers to four ashrams (stages of pursuits in life) as per Indic philosophy. The first stage is Bhrammacharya ashram of celibacy and pursuit of knowledge (foundation). The second is Grihastha (householder) ashram for the pursuit of artha, or means and money. The third, vaana-prastha ashram (getting detached), is retiring slowly from mundane and material pursuits. And the fourth, Sannyaasa ashram of total dispassion and renunciation. The transliteration of Sanskrit text is as under:
Prathame na arjitaa vidyaa dviteeye na arjitam dhanam ||
Trteeye na arjitam keertim chaturthe kim karishyati || subhaashhitam ||
Eons back there was naught what so,
Cosmic existence as we know,
Matter nor space now so rife,
Day nor night, death nor life,
All there was, was darkness
All around wrapped in nothingness,
And all-pervading cosmic will
Whence rose desire, the seed primeval—
Desire to manifest,
But who knows it the best?
One Alone, He may know,
Or He too may not know.
Perchance, love made first move,
When naught was, there was love.
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Musings |06.10.2022|
Poet’s note: A Sukta on creation of cosmic reality in Rig Veda conjectures on how it all started. Where this all came from? It wonders if even God knows. Based on scientific evidence we now know all this cosmos is very much there and it started off from that Big Bang over 14 billion years ago. Thousands of years back Indic seers made this Sukta, based on no scientific evidence, nor reasoning, but on ‘visionary, yogic, or mystical experience put in words’. Rig Veda says it was cosmic will, desire to manifest. This piece , a free verse, says: at the root of it all it is love. ‘When naught was there, there was love’.
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