Indian Poetry

Indian Poetry

ॐ गणानां त्वा गणपतिग्ं हवामहे कवि कवीनामुपश्रवस्तमम्।
ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रहणां ब्रहणस्पत आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिस्सीद सादनम्।।
प्रणो देवी सरस्वती वाजेभिर्वाजिनीवती।
धीनामवित्र्यवतु। गणेशाय नमः।सरस्वत्यै नमः। श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः। हरिः ओम्।।

I pray to you; the lord of groups of demi-gods who removes obstacles. You are omniscient with complete knowledge; you know more than anybody else. I have come to you, recognising your greatness. You are the emperor of emperors. You are yourself Brahma. I have propitiated you with my chanting of adoring hymns. I salute you for the fulfilment of my desires. You are the highest treasure among all treasures. You grant your devotees both treasure of food and the treasure of wisdom.

We invoke Saraswati the goddess of speech. May she be pleased with us and inspire our intelligence. Prostrations to Ganesha, Saraswati, and Shri Guru. (English translation taken from Veda Pushpanjali, compiled by M. Sai Roopak. Copyright of Sri Sathya Sai Research Centre.)

This prayer is the inspiring hymn that ancient Indian poets used to chant before they began writing or chanting poetic verses. The fundamental theme of this chant was to invoke the power within which actually helps the cause of poetry. Ancient Indian poets were more concerned about writing the verses that come directly from God. Here one very good concept of sound comes up, which differentiates two types of Sounds: Aahat and Anaahat (आहत, अनाहत). In English, this means, struck and non-struck. Ancient Indian poets were more concerned about the unstruck sound that pervades the entire universe. Only highly spiritual and elevated people can attune themselves to hear that type of sound. And in fact, almost all the scripture of the world are rendered thus–they are believed to be the voice of God and compiled by the chosen saints and seers.

What would you say about the word poetry—this is one of the finest forms of human expression that has ventured to describe Lord in his various myriad forms from time to time? Poets all over the world, speaking different languages, and having different backgrounds of social and educational systems have described Him as what they felt!

Though it was one of the finest arts, but due to modern age and due to increased reliance on video forms, it has lost most of its impact on human minds, and they snub the fact as mere boring stuff. Human mind is so much vulnerable to videos now that it forbids making any conception or imagination that is latent in all the forms of poetry.

Poets all over the world suffer financial constraints, and also, they do not have wide appeal as other artists have: musicians, actors, painters, singers, and sportsperson, etc., relish more popularity and fame. This said, imagine the fate of poets who write in vernaculars and regional languages and do not write for international audience! They suffer what can not be described but can only be felt and seen!

But as it is said that poetry is so sublime and uplifting that the thought of fame, popularity, finance, and other sundry things do not even flash in the mind of a genuine poet. And if does happens somehow, then the poet has not reached the highest levels of poetry and he or she lacks the vision that almost all the poets relish in their hearts.

I am a published poet and a novice really, as I do not have any formal education for that art and am an engineer—mechanical engineer. I have read little poetry, but what I have read, I feel that if somebody can not write like this, then surely he or she has missed the essence of poetry. Yes, I am talking about the persons like Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore), Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, and Sir Alfred Nobel.

Their poetry is sublime and transcends the limits of human mind, as it deals more with human soul—Ah, what a peace is felt when one reads some passages of those great pens! If someone can write that level of lines and has to suffer some financial constraints of some sort, then there is nothing to worry about and it should never be mentioned. It is like belittling their wisdom before some paltry sum of currency notes. We will present poems that would sound inspiring to you on spiritual ground.