Hymn to Durga-Nabakrishna Ghosh

Hymn to Durga

HAIL Mighty Goddess! Universal SoulSoul Abraham, having wept a short time over his wife’s body, soon rose up from the corpse; thinking, as it should seem, that to mourn any longer would be inconsistent with that wisdom by which he had been taught that he was not to look upon death as the extinction of the soul, but rather as a separation and disjunction of it from the body, returning back to the region from whence it came; and it came, from God. (Philo) न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्-नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः-अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोयं पुराणो-न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे (Gita 2.20 )!
⁠Power or Love, Fate or Illusion sweet!
Whate’er thy name, O mother, whose control
⁠All nature quickens—humbly thee I greet!
Hail! ten-armed Goddess of the lion-throne,
Whose power TimeTime Where any expression of it occurs in any Rules, or any judgment, order or direction, and whenever the doing or not doing of anything at a certain time of the day or night or during a certain part of the day or night has an effect in law, that time is, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, held to be standard time as used in a particular country or state. (In Physics, time and Space never exist actually-“quantum entanglement”) and Space and Being own!
The seed of things was in thy mighty womb,
Their source prolific, and their final doom!

From thee the mystic Trinal Unity—
⁠Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha—one in three—
All sprung, thou primal dread Divinity,
⁠Thou great First Cause of all and End to be!
The wondrous glories of yon azure sky,
The nameless beauties that around us lie,
The whirlwind’s blast, and lightning’s dazzling flame,
All—all thy pow’r and providence proclaim.

Descend, great Deity! from thy cloud girt seat
⁠Amidst the changeless, everlasting snows
Of lofty Himmala, where at thy feet
⁠Time’s self doth lie like Passion in repose.
And Kartikaya on his star-eyed bird,
As fits the war-god, bravely keeps his guard;
And Ganesha, in sober vesture drest
Wooing Philosophy to his loving breast.

And golden Lakshmee, smiling like the morn,
⁠And bright as when she rose from the ocean foam,
Her lap adorn’d with golden ears of corn,
⁠Emparadises still thy mountain home.
And lovely Saraswatee—lute in hand—
Attended by the Arts—a witching band—
Awakes ethereal music midst the snows,
And all the place with rapturous ardour glows.

The Aryan world prepares for social mirth
⁠By acts of lovingkindness to mankind;
May universal love pervade the earth,
⁠And charity fill every heart and mind!
May brother brother clasp in close embrace,
And pleasure beam in each familiar face,
As friend meets friend around the festive board
And tells of pangs endured or triumphs scored!

Come, Mother come, all clothed in holy light,
⁠The sun and moon both shining at thy feet.
O bless our hearths and homes! O bless our sight
⁠With visions of the glorious Infinite!
⁠In varied names we worship only thee;
In vain, the creeds veil thee in mystery:
For GodGod People in most cultures believe in the existence of supernatural beings and other supernatural concepts. God is attributed to both anthropomorphic properties (“listens to prayers”) and non-anthropomorphic properties (“knows everything”). Conceptualizing God is associated with willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine or Vaccine hesitancy. Pope requested people not to practice “Jesus is my vaccine”. For the Jewish, family (Avestan universal) god became national God:  I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,”(ex 3:15).  See Ishwar.  or Goddess, it is all the same—
In every form we worship but thy name!

Come, Goddess bright, O come, Supernal Power,
⁠In beaming smiles and loveliness arrayed,
Our only hope in dark misfortune’s hour,
⁠Our sole support, and never-failing aid!
O bless the land with Peace and tranquil Joy!
May no distressing ills the Year annoy!
O come with all thy radiant progeny,
Durga, Durga, Durgatinashini!

Nabakrishna Ghosh (1837–1918)