AN ARRIVAL AUSPICIOUS
V. Lalitha Kumari
Interest widening their lotus eyes
The comely wives of the Sakya king
Found therein beautiful bowers.
Thick-set bushes of lovely flowers.
Feasting her eyes on the pleasant sights
The queen relaxed after a strenuous ride
There she espied a mango tree
That spread its branches far and wide.
She ordered the chariot to a halt:
As her maids lent their loving support,
Her face aglow with a kindly smile,
She alighted with her sister sweet.
With soft rosy hands she pressed to her breast
A tender twig of a mango plant
That filled the air with odours fragrant
And planted a honeyed kiss on it.
Seeing which her sister smiled
And wondered how gracious would be
The son of such a merciful mother.
Anon the queen showed signs of labour.
On the grounds of pious Lumbini
Inside a groove of mango saplings
In a canvas cottage beautiful
The queen gave birth to a lovely boy.
Like an epic immortal born of thought sublime
From the blessed womb of the noble queen
Was born such a bewitching beauty
As could enthrall the entire world.
In that auspicious moment when he arrived
The earth was thrilled, oceans swelled;
The skies cleared, the sun brightened
The morning breeze gently moved.
The welcome signs at the child’s birth
Filled the mother’s heart with joy and mirth
The earth and heaven were brought together
In a bond heard of never before.
A proudly standing ‘palasa’ plant
Bowed with its boughs towards the babe
It was like a canopy, of white silk made
Set up by gods to provide him shade.
The One that in the Upanishads praised
Was at that moment in Lumbini grounds
He who lights up the Vedic lore
Appeared in swathes by his mother’s side.
Swayed by the gentle western winds.
Flowering plants sent down showers;
The bees that were made heady by honey
Sang in abandon in Lumbini.
The waters of the nearby brook
O’er flowed to kiss the infant’s feet
That were liquid-soft, shapely and lovely,
Like the new-born lotuses in pond.
The parrot couples on the trees around
Talked in whispers along themselves;
About the baby’s cherubic cheeks
That glowed in all the pink of health.
The sight of the son overwhelmed the mother.
The milk of love spilled from her breasts
Her emotions flowed from her eyes
She felt a thrill that roused her heart.
Like divine benediction like desires’ blossom
Like a heaven at hand, a treasure preserved.
Like the Kalpaka tree. Like Fortune’s favour,
Beamed the babe beside his mother.