Reincarnation (Photo credit: GrahamKing)
Bisharjan by Rabindranath Tagore
Two young sons died one after another
they were less than two years old.
When another son was born this time
Mollika’s husband died too. Friends
explained ,in her former life there were too many sins,
which is why there is so much pain and sorrow.
The grieving woman submissively acknowledged
her sins in her previous life
and attentively devoted to sacrifice. from temple to temple
here and there,the villages she went around offering her prayer;
voluntarily started fasting,offered water to gods and daily worship
spent her time in the temple.
She tied an amulet in her hair which she picked up;
listened to the words from Ramayan; visited the religious people
and invited them to come to her home and bless the son.
she called herself the lowliest of all
she looked for kindness from everyone,
she was kind to animals,birds and the like
was afraid somehow she might offend them.
When the child was a year and a half
he became ill ,she
made an offering to deities
she prayed day and night for her son
she sold everything to please the deity
so her son would recover
she went to the Brahmin for her son,
he told her,’my child people are not honest anymore
this is the age when honesty is gone.’
Wherever she went she was told she has no hope
home she came dejected,all the days of sacrifice came to nothing
she took her very sick son to the pond
and prayed to the gods to relieve his fever.
there she was meditating eyes shut
she dreamt the goddess returned her healthy son
she opened her eyes and found the son was taken
away by the river;she screamed to get back her son.
but all was quiet and her screaming brought no result.
Sabethville 