Page 123 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art
P. 123
The Rockefeller Krishna
He smiles his charming smile
little white teeth in pink mouth
like silvery crescent moon
in a coral sunset sky –
The lord who reclines on Ananta
the great precious gem
Vasudeva from whose conch-strung girdle
hangs the tortoise pendant –
Will he not walk his toddling walk!
With chuckling laughter he comes
dripping water from his mouth
like sugarcane from an open pot –
I am drowned in waves of joy
as he trips forward
to kiss me with that honeyed mouth.
That cloud-colored One
Lord of the sacred form –
over the heads of those who oppose him
will he not walk his toddling walk!
- Periyalvar, Periyalvar Torumoli 1.7.2, taken from V. Dehejia, Slaves
of the Lord: the Path of the Tamil Saints, New Delhi, 1988, p. 101.
