Taramala
Seventh bead of the Taramala
Jingling bells announce
the arrival of cows;
dust and aroma fill the air,
commencing Godhuli Muhurtam.
Calves dance for milk,
kids run home;
parijata blooms at dusk,
eyes and ears transfixed elsewhere.
Baby steps into the ritual,
invocation in progress;
dogs bark in the distance,
sugandha fills the air.
With every step closer,
aroma grows stronger,
my Swami has arrived,
my Aradhya is here.
Washing his feet in reverence,
offering arghyam to his palms,
Madhuparkam to quench his thirst,
bathing him in fragrant shuddhodaka.
Special sugandham, Vibhuti to smear,
Swami Vigraha smiles, my heart expands,
patra and pushpa at his feet,
moksha to all offering.
Special Naivedyam, cherished by Aradhya,
offering with held breath and closed eyes,
may I not consume it by air or sight
until offered to my Swami, my heart delights.
After the ritual, as I rise to depart,
small footprints, Batuka remnants,
the wind adorns the path with flowers,
dogs and cows beam, blissful delight.
My Swami had arrived,
my Batuka was here.
Heart melts, tears rolling,
Taradasa waits lifetimes, Swami appear.
~Tāradāsa
01.07.24
This is the seventh bead of the Taramala. Taramala is a collection of poems dedicated to the divine Mother Tara and Batuka Bhairava, where each poem represents a bead in a mala dedicated to Maa Tara. These poems are dedicated to the lotus feet of the master who introduced the Nama-Amrutham of Maa Tara to me.
Sri Pavankumar, who writes under the pen name of Tāradāsa, is a member of Kamakhya Bhairava Upasaka Foundation. He is an ardent devotee of Ma Tara and Bhairava. The following lines shared by him exemplify his bhakti towards his Ishta-
‘Bhagawati’s guard,
Her name my shield and my strength,
I obey her call.’
