SITARA
THE STAR
Are you afraid of the moon or the dawn?
Are you conscious of the end of beauty?
Are you afraid of being robbed of light’s wealth?
Are you afraid of annihilation like the spark?
The sky has settled you far from the earth;
it has wrapped you in gold’s mantle like the moon.
It is outrageous that your feeble life is still in fear;
your whole night passes in trembling with fear.
* The reply to the questions in the first three verses is obviously in the negative. In that case the fourth verse expresses surprise at the conditions stated in it. The amazement is satisfied in the last four verses according to which all creation, irrespective of its beauty and station in the universe is ephemeral and is destined to die or be annihilated.
O shining traveler! This habitation is strange;
the rise of one leads to the fall of the other.
The birth of one sun is the death of a myriad stars;
annihilation’s sleep is the ecstasy of life’s wine.
Flower bud’s departure is the secret of flower’s birth. Is annihilation life’s end, or is the equivalent of life!
Quiescence is difficult in the universe; only change is permanent in the universe.
July 01, 2022
