Akash Ganga was she;
Mighty and splendorous,
White and winding,
Along the cosmic paths.
Men, irrespective of their stature
Of being gods, envied the beauty
That they could not possess.
They brought her down
Unsympathetically desirous
To see her tinkling waters
Turn swarthy with pain.
She found love; entangled
In the locks of the destroyer
Who in a kind pretense
Sheltered her in his locks
Only to calm her rushing tears
Again to send
her off
To her fateful fall
Back to her father’s lap.
The warmth of filial love
Still melted her
And she sprinted forth
To explore her new abode.
A new freedom surrounded her
And her formidable splendor
Ignited awe in the lesser mortals.
They held her in veneration.
Slowly, fright turned into familiarity.
They came nearer and nearer
To wash their hideous possessions
In her innocent waters.
Strangled with their offerings:
Ashes, hairs, coins, flowers,
Rotting bodies and the holy fire,
Choked with the tears
Of love and
suffering alike,
She continued to surge.
The brought her all they could offer;
And throw away too.
They became oblivious of her charm,
As a woman, a lovable dame,
A silent temptress as she was.
In the face of prolonged affliction
Comes acceptance.
Swelled with her own tears,
Ignored and robbed of her chastity,
Bereft of care and gratitude,
She made the plunge;
Into the soothing waters
Of the compelling
deep marine.
Akash Ganga was she;
The most beautiful and adorable.
If such is her fate,
What more can her daughters expect?
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