In an age before time, a king ruled
A land so vast and beautiful
The sun, moon and stars spectators
From a heaven so bountiful
The sun holding up the blue canopy
Stars twinkling with hope and dreams
Moon doing its dance to its crescentic fullest
Kingly eyes watched the heavens above
The Oracle praised the five lagoons
On the road to victory that must be crossed
A journey of unity requiring five horses of
Black, white, gold, brown and gray
The king had not five princes to spare
But two valiant sons brought the kingdom alive
One as dynamic as the sun
The other as luminescent as the moon
Follow the winds north, the Oracle said
Dusty plains left in the wake
A noble dilemma the king must face
Send the prince of the day or of the night
A king’s sacrifice is much to bear
In the hour of farewell the princes embrace
Drawing energy from the sun and moon
Strengthening body and mind for the quest ahead
Three nobles afraid to part
Look at the scroll that lays the plot
Twilight’s shadows lengthen into the night
A winged guide joins their camp
As the auroras dance in the starry sky
The kingdom lines up its honor guard
When the five great winds unite
The great bird takes a mighty flight
A sign from the heavens, the Oracle would say
The princes gather their saddles and reins
Galloping horses through the night
Guided by the bird and aided by wind
Across the grassy plains they travel
As the sun and the moon eclipse one another
A momentary twilight lengthens for days
Winds don’t blow, guiding the bird to rest
The Oracle prophesied the land they saw
Another world it seemed at first
Where humans tread no more
The land of the five lagoons was there at last
The kingdom forsaken was remembered
Four directions stretching to the yellow horizon
Earthy smells wrapping a knot that binds
Where the thought of escape does not arise
The first lagoon guarded by the moon above
Danger lurks in the waters below
Drawing the power of the five horses
The princes dive to taste the depths
As the breath suspends in the watery world
A crocodile swims a lonely course
Taking them to the lord of the sea
Tasting the deathless nectar their deed is done
The second lagoon seems a fiery sea
The waters of desire is there to see
Emotions are swallowed and awareness expands
Their lifeblood enriched, the princes move on
Waters of the third lagoon are hard to touch
Light as a leaf floating unattached
A balance is reached that shows the way
Crossroads of life that could go north or south
The princes hear the sounds above
A nectar shower from the clouds
But the fourth lagoon can be deadly poison
Shunned by white elephants in every dream
Speaking without words, hearing without ears
Turning their efforts to churn the waters
Nectary essence fills the clouds above
The cosmic rain is pure and sweet
The future is revealed at lagoon five
Blue waters hold a pink lotus
Fed by three rivers the mind desires
Truth is one but roads are many
One eye that sees shows the way
The Oracle’s tale has made its mark
At journey’s end they see their king
Looking at them, an immortal glance
A door awaits to a thousand worlds
The king and his princes dissolve their walls
Reaching a blissful state in a static void
They reenter the world below, where other princes follow
-N Seshadri
