Dinkar's 'Kurukshetra': A Poetic Masterpiece on The Mahabharata

"Before every war man wonders

if weaponry is the only unfailing remedy

for injustice, degradation, poison, and venomous treachery.

But, man has to fight.

Even after victory he sees

truth weeping on the battlefield:

it laments in the pages of history

and throws scornful looks

at the name of the victorious man.

By the stroke of that truth

helpless veins of life quiver

like the strings of a lyre

struck abruptly by an unskilled hand.

Life is now restless, knowing

there is no reply to this stroke."

This is an extract from Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's long poem 'Kurukshetra.' I've put the whole poem on my to read list. Just reading this made me agree with Harivansh Rai Bachchan, who said that Dinkar deserved not one but four Jnanpith awards - one for poetry, another for prose, a third for language, and a fourth for service to Hindi.

I like the personification of truth and how it keeps weeping - in the present, in the future. His metaphor is very energetic and unusual - it's easy to imagine a person convulsing like a guitar would if I'd play it!

I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z.