Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 8

A Prayer

IF thou must give something

Give me the undying lamp,

the lamp of thy Love:

And silently shalll bow down

and quietly depart.

Give to my beggar heart the touch of thy Light,

May it bloom like a morning flower on my bosom!

O Mother, thy seat bounded by the moon and the stars

is spread in the vast stilled spaces!

And yet afar from there, oh, touch the earth's heart

and pour down thy Grace!

Let my soul, drowned here in loud noises,

listen to the music,

The music of silence filling my whole being:

May the world with eyes wide open see

Peace come down unending:

O pour out the delight that shall enliven my journey,

The light of thy Grace shining like the

pole star in the sky:

In darkness, unmoving, alone, uncompanioned

May it flare like a torch and illumine the path

carrying the infinite Love.

I ask for nothing - only this that thy Love

bring down upon the worn out bosom of this earth

the endless flow of Immortality.

That I ask for, grant it, O Mother!

BHASKAR GUPTA

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