Mithya

Swami Ganeshaswarupananda

Oh, Headache! Ouch, back pain!!

Take an aspirin, swallow Brufen.

I’m told the world is an illusion

Why then this pain persecution?

Body of pains and aches I am.

Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam.

At competitive crossword

Got stuck in “Big black bird”

With a seven-letter clue

In frustration, turned blue.

Is this Mithya? How come?

Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam.

I won! I left the rest behind,

To all else I am totally blind.

Of joy there is great profusion,

Or is this also only illusion?

To think great I have become.

Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam.

I struck lucky in the pools,

Now I am surrounded by fools.

Riches make me feel high.

Is this make-believe? I sigh.

To think everywhere I am welcome.

Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam.

Today I have become pauper,

Having come a heavy cropper.

Great sadness sweeps over me.

From everyone I want to flee,

To go back to my own mum.

Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam.

In a far land the child died,

His father’s hopes belied.

The pain truly undeniable,

Depth of scar justifiable.

It is Maya -- subtract or sum.

Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam.

(‘Sad asadbhyam anirvachaniyam’ literally means Mithya. That which can neither be categorically called ‘Sat,’ reality, nor dismissed as ‘Asat,’ non-existent.)