HARIKATHA PITAMAHA

By Ganti Savitri Devi

Once upon a time,

There lived a man sublime;

There was music in his voice,

To the listeners’ hearts’ rejoice;

His fingers on the Veena’s strings,

Swayed us on to blissful springs;

His music had charm to bring in rain,

He made ‘Harikatha’ supremely reign;

His cute ditties and sweet melodies,

Told His stories, sang His glories;

He pranced and danced

In rhythm and rhymes;

He walked and talked

For Him of all times;

Readily, languages became his own,

For his memory too, he was well-known;

From his heart, gushed poetry,

As a mountain stream pours free;

In him, all arts cheerfully met

There can never be another like him, I bet;

He was Light to the sight,

And to hearts, Delight;

Him those who saw,

To him bowed in awe;

And he bowed to none,

But to the mighty One;

In great exhilaration,

Voices declared in unison;

‘Goddess of learning descended,

And took his form, splendid’;

Adibhatla  Narayana Das, his name,

An emperor in music and literature in fame;

He and his, His stories,

Shine in Time’s Glories.

(Excerpted from Drops in Rain)