오세호 (Oh Se-ho)

Oh you poor broken boy
Raised by a tyrant
In a gilded cage

Oh father of this hateful man
Who follows his hateful parent
In a misguided rampage

Alas, alas! O destroyer you
Betrayer of friends
And teacher's woe

May 복수's 복수*
Not fail to reclaim your soul
May he further your goal

Dedicated to the antagonist of the drama My Strange Hero (aka Bok-su is back, 복수가 돌아왔다)

*pronounced Bok-su, it is the protagonist's name, and means 'revenge' in Korean

State of mind

Many screeds I read
Many creeds I repeat
Regardless of their merit I pay them heed
Ideas come and go in on a two-way street
My theories of everything will never be complete

In deep waters I hide
In deep waters I reside
The burden of this ocean I carry inside
Stirred by currents and eddies and the shifting tide
My mind is an arena where these thoughts collide

The tides of fiction, currents of affairs
With notions abstract
And pretensions of fact
They seek my attention, they give me nightmares
I cannot go without
They're all I think about

So I drown myself in vice
And my body pays the price
I can tolerate this pain
At least I'm not insane

(Sung to the tune of Gasoline, by Halsey)

화유기 2

(Hwayugi 2)

On the occasion of Vijayadaśami, and the departure of the Goddess, I wrote this summary of the mythological Korean Drama Hwayugi in Sanskrit, dedicating it to the Goddess Gwan-eum (Sanskrit: Avalokitasvarā) who secretly controls the plot of this story in the form of 'the peddler'. May the Goddess bless us all.

धर्मार्थकामदां देवीं नमामि शोकनाशिनीं ।
निर्वाणरूपांवरदां आर्यामवलोकितस्वराम् ।।

I bow to the noble Goddess Avalokitasvarā, who is the provider of dharma, artha and kāma, the destroyer of grief, the granter of boons and the embodiment of nirvāṇa.

बन्ध्नासित्वं हरिश्रेष्ठं चञ्चलं प्रीतिनिग्रहे ।
येनसः रतिमान्लेभे दैवैपि विजयं शुभम् ।।

You bind the best of monkeys, who is capricious, in the bonds of love, owing to which the smitten one achieves victory even over fate.

याजातातवप्रसादेन अहिंहन्यतेतया ।
सुबोधिनः च देवानाम् सिध्यतैवतारया ।। 

The dragon is slain by the woman born by your grace; (the mission) of Subodhi and the Gods is accomplished by that Avatar.

सुरासुरयोः मध्येत्वं संधिंघटयसिप्रियम् ।
रक्षसि वृशभपुत्रं क्षमसेतस्यमातरम् ।।

You cause a delightful union between the Gods and Monsters; you protect the son of the Bull and forgive his mother (i.e. the Bull's wife).

एषा कथा रमणीया कीर्तिभिः तव प्रेरिता ।
विरचिता हङ् स्वसृभ्यां भासतांमेहृदिसदा ।।

May this gratifying tale inspired by your exploits and composed by the two Hong sisters always shine in my heart.

Note: Feedback on errors in my Sanskrit composition are welcome. 

화유기

(Hwayugi)

Invocation

तुष्यत देव देवेश अन्याः श्रेष्ठाः च द्वादशाः ।
मोक्षयात तापात्दीनान्  श्रेयसि यान्तु ते सदा ।।

Tale

I dreamt I was Indiana Jones
Chased by a rolling stone
But the tunnel was a Mobius strip
And there was no way back home

The ceiling was broken in parts
Opening out to the sky

But for the purpose of escape
It was just a bit too high

On and on and on again
I ran then fell then walked
As soon as I thought it was gone
The stubborn stone appeared

Unable to run, unable to rest
Too hopeful to die
I was trapped in this cycle
Too weary even to cry

Cornered then I had no choice
But to turn around and look
And observe my nemesis
As the ground it shook

And I found the boulder then
Was of a curious sort
Just slow enough to outrun
But too fast for comfort

So placing my trust in my brains
And my heart in my hand
I braced myself for impact
Making it my last stand

Lo and behold! The boulder bold
Stopped right there in its track
The walls all came tumbling down
And I woke up on my back

This parable that Morpheus wove
I do now understand,
The Gods may write a cruel fate
But not one we can’t stand

With pluck and smarts and faith besides
All doom is overcome
The monkey with the heart of stone
Will to the monk succumb

Epilogue

I am no good at verse or to converse (to), but around good company I begin to think that although no meteor may cross my sky, the stars will always be bright.

The Bell of Mithra

I found in an abandoned temple

A bell, wrapped in cobwebs and silence

That once honored an ancient deity

Who even now lay asleep within

Curious, my heathen hand

Reached out to the sacred metal

And along with the silvery peals

A whisper filled the air

Softly, it spoke of the memories

Of the exploits of that divinity

The prayers answered, The miracles wrought

The feats achieved by the devoted flock

Until one day when the winds of chance

Filled the sails of their ambitions

And drove them, each to divers ports

Away from their community

"Some carried the light of their faith"

Said the voice, "and that is why"

"Despite their distance and my age

Uninvoked, I am still alive"

"And who are you?", I asked the presence

"What is the faith that sustains you?

How is it that you fell asleep?

And how come you are now awake?"

"I am Mithra, Lord of the Covenant

Friendship is the faith that sustains me

Space and time may send me to slumber

But remembrance will awaken me"

"Whether you be part of a fleet

Or single ships that pass in the night

I am the basis of your joy

I am the pillar of your comfort"

"My bell is none but your lines and cables

Borne on pylons and buried under the sea

This copper and glass, it lies in wait

For those who would communicate"

"Dwell not on the encounters of the past

Or of the years lost in separation

But ring my bell, here and now

So new memories may be made"

And thus enlightened I dedicate

This year past and the year forthcoming

To the old friends in distant ports

To the new ones that are not yet so

Fortune I thank for bringing us together

More than once in our lifetime

But to you I owe a greater debt

For you have never let me go.