Poetry

Daniel Lee photo

By

Indunil Madhusankha

Retelling the Story of Yasodhara

In the nightly cold of the Esala full moon day,

perhaps she felt an abrupt rush of the bizarre wind

in her usual entanglements – the cozy and pacifying dreams

as He looked at her on the sly,

for one last moment

to bid silent farewells

He saw the huggable baby in its gentle cradle

feathered with downy pillows

The candles lit beside the bedstead melted away

with the milky tears trickling down hastily

Then He crossed the border of Anoma Nadee

and left behind on the other side,

the beloveds in the elegant edifices

to embrace the Renunciation

in search of the perpetual Truth

She threw the glinting jewelry away

and also the silky garments of splendid embellishments

Swathed in a yellow robe,

she confined herself to the barren cell upstairs

No longer did she taste the luscious royal dishes

She even dared rebuff the love suit of many eminent lords

Sans answers, she is saturated in acute melancholia

“Are you sleeping on a flower-laden divan in the Himalayas?

Does it ache your sweet feet when you stroll barefoot?

Are the divine gods sentineling you with no deficiency?

As majestic as a regal tusker, my dearest, where have you disappeared?”

Immersed in reminiscence,

she would do nothing, but utter incessant prayers

“May all the wild berries and drupes be delicious!

May the disciples abound as a swarm of bees for a flower!

May the scorching rays of the blinding sun shine diminish!

May celestial palaces emerge from league to league!”

Note: The ideas for the stanzas in the italic form have been derived respectively from the verses 98 and 100 of the Sri Lankan Sinhala folk poem, Yasodharavata (The Story of Yasodhara) the author of which is unknown.

Glossary

Yasodhara – The princess Yasodhara was the wife of prince Siddhartha who later attained the Great Emancipation (Nirvana) and became known as Lord Buddha in the name of Gautama

Esala – The full moon day of the month of July. It was on such a day that the prince Siddhartha relinquished the worldly life in order to practice as an ascetic with the great expectation of attaining Nirvana.

Anoma Nadee – A river in the vicinity of Kapilavastu of the Southern Nepal

Himalayas – The Northern face of the Mount Everest and it has a profound influence on the Buddhist culture.

Indunil Madhusankha

Indunil Madhusankha is currently an undergraduate reading for a BSc Special Degree in Mathematics at the Faculty of Science of the University of Colombo. Even though he is academically involved with the subjects of Mathematics and Statistics, he also pursues a successful career in the field of English language and literature as a budding young researcher, reviewer, poet and content writer. Basically, he explores the miscellaneous complications of the human existence through his poetry by focussing on the burning issues in the contemporary society. Moreover, Indunil’s works have been featured in many international anthologies, magazines and journals.