Seizing the unimaginable
There is a form which does not bind form to form,
Word to word, sense or sight or sound, day to day;
And the calm wind turns into song of colourful zest,
The stringless harp strumming into seven notes;
Seven rapturous wings promote seven flights,
Even as seven flames burn in the flameless fire;
Mystery is wrapped in the spirit’s quiet,
Making imagination seize the unimaginable.
5 September 2024
अकल्पनीयं ग्रहणम्
अस्ति रूपं यत् रूपं रूपं न बध्नाति,
शब्दं शब्दं, अर्थं वा दर्शनं वा गुञ्जनं वा, दिने दिने;
शान्तवायुश्च रङ्गिणः रसस्य गीतं परिणमति,
सप्तस्वरेषु तारं विना वीणा;
सप्त हृष्टपक्षाः सप्त उड्डयनं प्रवर्धयन्ति,
यथा सप्त ज्वाला निर्ज्वालाग्नौ प्रज्वलन्ति;
रहस्यं आत्मनः शान्तं वेष्टितं भवति,
अकल्पनीयं कल्पनां गृह्णाति कृत्वा।
५ सितम्बर २०२४
“There it is a form which does not bind form to form. There the figures do not become sensuous, and the face is always a mirror of composed elegance and confidence. Carved Ellora rocks display Indian artistic richness in stone, figures silently but with a kind of distinctive eloquence speaking in their postures and gestures, of deeper psychological dispositions and self-assurances; there is in them a philosophy embodying some great living tradition. The expressive mythology is to bring out loftiness that has come down from the upper sky.”
“No wonder,” continued Leon, “even the gods were astonished by this Rock Temple dedicated to Shiva, the Kailasa Temple. They saw that this is a work that is possible only on the earth, how so much rich and versatile the heavens and their gods and goddesses might be, or how so much blemished life on earth might be. It needs a sure psycho-spiritual element which is indeed what the real man is. It was there, to a certain extent, with the Renaissance artists and sculptures. But it was taken much farther by the inspired creative Indian genius.”
“I will completely agree with you,” said Françesca.
[The Book of Love, The Story of Françesca and Leon, 2022,
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Love-Story-Fran%C3%A7esca-Leon/dp/B09S6WBC69/ ]
The Book of Love —

Painting by Dhanavanti Nagda

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