राजेन्द्र उपाध्याय की कविताएं
By ग़जैन्द्र उपाध्याय
Summary
The text presents two poems. The first poem, by Gajendra Upadhyay, explores the paradox of inner richness versus outer emptiness. The speaker recalls a childhood when only a few grains could fit in his fist, but now his fist can hold the entire sky and earth, yet remains empty. Despite this, his inner world remains vibrant: a blue sky, birds feeding, a rabbit hopping on green grass, flourishing trees and fields, a calling cuckoo, nesting birds, and swimming fish persist within him. This inner life continues even as the outer world deteriorates—time has set invisible traps, poison crawls everywhere, thorny floods rise, seas and rivers turn to desert, and people flee from earthquakes and fire. Yet inside, children still frolic. The second poem is a plea for time. The speaker asks for enough time to smell a flower, rest under a tree, laugh with a child, pat a cow’s back, dress a pigeon’s wound, and hear his mother’s voice from within. The poem concludes with a metaphor: the speaker was born like a star in a distant sky, and by the time his light reaches the listener, he will have departed. The text is from Jain Bharati, November 2003.
Conclusion
This document’s poems reveal a profound tension between inner resilience and outer decay. The speaker’s childhood fist that once held a few grains now contains the entire sky and earth, yet remains empty—suggesting that spiritual or imaginative abundance does not translate into material fulfillment. Despite encroaching poison, barrenness, and disaster, the inner world persists with green fields, singing birds, and playing children. The implications are clear: the human spirit can sustain life and hope even when external reality becomes hostile or desolate. The plea for time to tend to simple, humane acts—stroking a cow, bandaging a pigeon, hearing a mother’s voice—underscores a desperate need for connection and slowness in a world that offers neither. Ultimately, the poems imply that meaning and survival depend on protecting this inner sanctuary, even as the outer world collapses.