In between takes, I scribble my take on events involving Arjuna in the Mahabharata.
As an actor, I like to dabble, dipping into a little history, a bit of geography especially related to the Epic. It puts things in context, I feel, and helps me enact a scene. For example, we think of forests as precious these days - as they were too in the days of the Mahabharata, but again it depends on context. I read somewhere that the rich but clay-heavy soil in the area made it difficult to till and one of the ways was to burn down forest areas to a debris that would allow future fields, easier to till. Therefore, in keeping with dharma, it was the right thing for Arjuna and Krishna to burn down that dead wood.
So here goes my little poem:
swans glide in the sylvan glade where sages spring serene
ham-sa, so ham intones their breath with summer's breeze
crystallising the autumn sun mellows streams aquamarine
sleepy dove and dreamy deer dappling the winter trees
natural harmony, moving reel each season
sometimes the rhythm stills to a stagnation
even sattwa sans rajas turns tamasic treason
flow swamped, deadwood seeks conflagration
feral now the ancient forest fetid grows
dank dark mushrooms drink deluge cloud
back to reptile reverts, the warm-blood slows
piling python chokes the peacock proud
ravaging roots spread far and wide
blood-suckers drain to barren the land
hark to the flame! Arjun and Krshna ride!
destroy to create - too few understand.
Arjuna does what it takes
Krishna action awakes!
From Khandava
Rise Indraprastha!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
