Slow spinning Redemption...

Recumbent in his chamber, as God pondered over a chessboard
He heard angry noises from the palace doors
As the hounds growled and agitation spread
Sentries shouted till their voice turned hoarse.

God stepped into his verandah that faced the palace entrance
To see a battered man jostling at the gate
God signaled at the sentry allowing the man in
To pacify the commotion, the stranger did create.

Robed in silk God sat on his throne
As the battered intruder stumbled up to him
The man was haggard, old, restless and thirsty
And tears filled his eyes to the brim.

“What makes you bring yourself to my doorstep?” God asked,
“Why is it that you quake the tranquility of my abode”
As the man looked up at God’s dazzling persona
The tears in his eyes he could not behold.

“I am a miserable son of yours, o lord, o father.
I have committed grave sins throughout my life
In the process I have lost everything
My hearth, my happiness, my children and wife.”

“I repent my deeds, I lament my actions.
I am ashamed of the act that I have performed.
I beseech you to show me the path of redemption
My maligned soul, I want to reform.”

Having said this the sinner bitterly cried
Rubbing his head on the palace floor
God stared at the subject in dubious dilemma
How to resolve the riddle that lay before?

Struck by this silence, the sinner looked up
And looked into God’s smiling eyes
Time stood still and all worlds watched
As God opened his mouth to surmise.

“The entire purpose of human existence so to speak
Lies in benevolent service of fellow beings
To selflessly serve those who come to you
Be it angels, or be it fiends.

Serve your friend, serve your enemy
Compassionately serve your master and slave
Be a staff of life to all who approach you
From their cradle to your grave.

It is in this benign charity where salvation lies
Not in shunning the world or rattling script
It is these altruists, who find true peace,
People who resisted the materialistic drift.

Go repentant mortal, go to thy world
And redeem for the sins thou hath done
Cleanse thy wounds with the elixir of service
And wash away your sins one by one.”

Audience to this extempore, the heavens stood up in reverence,
Left speechless by the profound monologue
The fragrant zephyrs danced in euphoria
With the vitality the speech had invoked.

Having said this God departed to his chessboard
Leaving the man in his redemption groove
Dumbfounded by the stupendous sermon
Not even an eyelid, the man could move.

On his way out of the palace, he made God a promise
To enact his sermon in thought and deed
To dedicate every breath to the service of society
And stand by every man in his hour of need.

This soliloquy hence became the disciple’s mission
To selflessly serve humanity on His behalf
“A true altruist, compassionate and humane.”
Were finally, the words inscribed on his epitaph.


- Nitin Varma
04 September 2006