Candaka : May he protect you

Candaka (290? – 365? CE) was an Indian Vaishnavite poet, but there is no information about his personal life.

Krishna went out to play
Mother
and he ate dirt

Is that true Krishna

No
who said it

Your brother Balarama

Not true
Look at my face

Open your mouth

he opened it
and she stood speechless
inside was
the universe

may he protect you

Translation W. S. Merwin & J. Moussaieff Mason

2 Replies to “Candaka : May he protect you”

  1. Howard Olivier

    This is delightful, with the absence of punctuation, which had me looping through it multiple times to get the voices right and so forth. It felt like I was more of a participant than a spectator, I’m eager to sit with it longer to hear all that it is whispering…

    Reply
    • Nawab Pasnak Post author

      Yes, the simplicity of the words and the presentation somehow helps to put us in the humble, rural village where the young cow-herd mother had to be sure her toddler wasn’t eating dirt.

      Reply

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