ARUNA
(Rendered
from Kannada)
Son of Vinata,
charioteer to the Lord of day,
God of unconquerable
and unending youth,
Awakener of the
universe and giver of joy for ever,
Pure of inner being,
haloed in taintless light,
Oh Ruddy One!
When from the egg in
which you were growing
You attempted before
your time to free yourself,
Bursting your shell,
Your mother, deeply
distressed, earnestly warned you:
“Why are you
impatient? Take not birth just yet.
“The time for it will
come. Listen to me.”
This cry of your
anxious mother you heeded not at all
And obstinate,
unwilling to suffer delay,
You burst your shell
and came out
Wearing a winsome
smile on your beautiful young face.
Bright was the face;
and shining the cheeks;
Shining were the eyes
and the arms like arrows;
Sweet and frolicsome
was the smile;
Beauteous the half of
you,
But as you came out
before your time
Only a half of you was
formed without the lower half.
Vinata saw you and was
filled with unutterable grief;
She took you to her
lord, your father, and placed you at his feet
And said:
“I know not what evil
of mine in the past
“Has brought this
retribution today,
“I have borne a lame
son, I pray you;
“Look on him with
grace and save him.
“Garuda, our other
son, is servant to Vishnu
“And bears Him through
space on his shoulders.
“Shall this son of
ours, lacking feet,
“Crawl on the ground
to go about?
“What a life were
this!
“I have come upon
sorrow that is more than I can bear.
“Be gracious and grant
me my prayer,
“Grant to this boy the
half of the body without which he has taken birth,
“And save the poor
little imp.”
Thus praying to your
father for grace on your behalf
Vinata looked on your
face and was overcome with grief:
“Alas, that a face so
winsome and a form so fair to see.
“Should be but a half
of a body!
“Woe is me, alas!”
That progenitor of the
gods of heaven, your father,
Looked with
unperturbed eye on you, and on your noble mother,
And said to her in a
voice of perfect peace:
“Grieve not,
auspicious one;
“This, our son, even
like our other son
“Will take high place
in the order
“Of this universe.
“The gods of heaven
are youths all without exception
“And count not a
single boy among them.
“This son of yours,
oh, auspicious, will be the only boy amidst them.
“Because of his
beautiful face, captivating the hearts of all who behold him.
“He will be known
among the gods as the Ruddy One.
“Cast off fear and
return happy.
“In due time they will
come and invite him.
“To his allotted
task.”
Ere long there came to
Vinata and bent in reverence before her
The sons of Aditi, the
gods of heaven, all in a body.
“The Sun has agreed,”
they said, “to light the three worlds and go round them,
“Time after time,
seated in his chariot.
“To sit in front of
him and drive the chariot
“Not one of us is fit;
“For not one of us has
the high heart, the balance of mind,
“The endurance or the
playfulness of boyhood.
“Aruna is
high-hearted, balanced of mind and benignant:
“We pray you, mother,
please send him for this work.”
“Should the Sun, the moment
that he rises, show his powerful ray.
“All living things
will take fright and run into shelter
“And grow in darkness
uninterrupted, not knowing day from night,
“And the world will
stay as created and never see change or progress.
“If Aruna should become
the Sun’s charioteer
“And screen the power
of his rays of light
“They will be
bearable.
“Looking on the smile
on Aruna’s face
“The living things of
creation will feel reassured
“And will learn to
stand the light as it grows in power by noon
“And thus will
themselves grow and progress.”
Your mother Vinata,
Listening to the
prayer of the gods, O Aruna,
And nothing doubting
and without hesitation
Sent you along, to be
charioteer to the Sun.
You came then and sat
in front of the great Lord of light
And as his charioteer
from that moment to this,
Have been driving his
car for him.
Going around the three
worlds,
Oh boy of the gods, is
to you but play.
In this play you go to
all the corners of all the worlds,
Oh enthusiastic,
delighting living things.
Where in the vast
spaces of the firmament the stars
Dance their eternal
dance, there you go to them
And join in their
dance and thence move down the planes–
They are said to be
seven–of the winds that fill the heavens,
And in your course you
leap
From universe
To universe;
And skirting past the
mount of Meru
You stand on the
mounts of another globe
And so in the course
of a day and a night
Yon wander up and down
all the planes of the created world
And to all places
carry your own spirit of frolicsomeness,
Feeling all the while
that all of it is play.
Like
little fish floating with larger fish
Motionless
in translucent waters,
Little stars are
shining in the sky with the larger stars
With unwinking eye,
When you, like a
mischievous youngster
Thrust your fingers
amidst them, and they scamper off
In
sudden fright,
And
from a distance, standing to a side,
They turn to see if
they are being pursued.
Sure enough, you are
there and frighten them again
And as they run and
disappear
You stop and laugh in
glee.
As I stand here
looking forward to your coming,
I see your clear light
Rise and spread and
flood through the leaves
Of the Margosa tree in
front, many-branched and motionless,
Till it look a thing
of mere lines
And never solid stuff;
And as your light
fills space like
Molten gold made thin,
The tree with branch
and leaf, suspended within it,
Stands like a peacock
limned
With feathers spread
out in joy
To see the lightning
in the days of rain.
In sweet and pleasing
converse and sport with her lover
The beloved spent a
half of the night;
And then, reluctant,
dropped into sleep;
As towards approach of
day she is turning over in her dream
The joy of the earlier
hours,
You come and pass
between the lids that screen her happy eyes
And touch her gently
with your soft rays and wake her
And say: “Noble Lady,
“The darkness is gone
and a new day is dawning,”
And as she gets up
from her rest
You place on her face
the gladsome light that becomes returning day
And go on your way.
Towards dawn, in its
nest,
The little bird,
asleep in the soft warmth of its mother’s feathers,
Feels hungry and
dreams that the mother is feeding it
And, silly creature,
lies with open mouth.
To it you come
And stand by the side
and “Oh brother,” you say,
“If You lie in sleep
like a log and merely open your beak
“Will your hunger be
satistied?
“Wake up, O simple
one, and chirrup and make some noise.
“Your mother will go
and bring something for your little stomach.”
Beside a couple asleep
on their couch
In the happiness of
new years of life together,
Asleep their little
boy lies, a figure cast from out of their love.
Well before the dawn
You fly to where he is
And kiss the little
one;
Joyous the young
fellow starts
And you play with him
for some moments
And tell him, “Oh
little flower,
“Wake up your father
and mother
“And transport them
with joy even as you do me,”
And pass on your way.
In the distance far
away, where on the bosom of the sea
Majestic zephyr rests,
there you go to him,
And wake him up and
say: “Oh wind, upon the earth
“The countless flowers
have blossomed in fragrance measureless
“And pure and clear at
heart
“Are all awaiting you.
“Go to them with
gentle motion as is your daily wont
“And receive from them
the tribute of their fragrance.”
As the youthful wind
Goes on this errand to
the flowers
You, oh boy eternal,
god of being pure
Follow him and see him
frolic with the flowers.
Thus in the width of
creation to all that is beauteous and sweet
And all that is happy
and bright and all in which grace abides,
Oh charioteer of the
Sun, you go as each day dawns
Unfailing, and give to
them
Your glamour ever new.
To love the light.
Though a cripple you
wear a smile on your face ever
And, busy in your task
of making life rejoice,
You wander up and down
the vasty universe
And, making others
happy, find your own happiness.
Ruddy One, son of
Vinata,
Charioteer to the Lord
of day,
Boy, unvanquished and
eternal,
Awakener of the
universe, granter of eternal bliss,
Mantled in bright and
clearest light,
Aruna, place in the
hearts of men
That innocent ardour
that is all your own,
Touch them with that
intelligence unblemished,
And play in these our
hearts, removing what is dark.
Delighting thus all
life in all the universe
Stay, oh Ruddy One,
Through all eternity.