Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Ranchan's creativity comes from "diverse registers." During his formative phase,
Ranchan came in contact with a variety of people comprising Yogis, Sufis, Ministers of
the Church, Hippies, etc. He never tempered with his "inner space" and allowed it to be
conscious in handling his "inner materials." In an interview with Ved Sharma, Ranchan
says, "I have an organic awareness of my inner life. It makes for a psycho-dynamic
structure and becomes a part of writing process. My epic meditations have a mythopoeic
being in the self (Sharma 3). Ranchan's perception of the self is not religion-centered.
Despite the fact that he was formally initiated into meditation in 1968 by Swami
Prabhvananda, Ranchan remained minister with the Church of Antioch. Here he got the
opportunity to do lot of pastoral counseling. He even held special classes to teach the
techniques of counseling for the ministers. This camaraderie with the Christian ministers
left an indelible mark on Ranchan's creative consciousness. Moreover during his stay of
more than eleven years in the United States as a Professor of English and American
Literatures, Comparative Literature and inter-disciplinary studies, brought him into the
ambit of Christianity cosiderably. In an interview with P.V. Bisht, Ranchan tells that he
also became the President of the Church of Antioch, which incidentally was more ancient
than the Roman Church (Sharma 8). This brief but intense engagement with the Church
of Antioch got settled in Ranchan poetic imagination and took nearly sixteen years to
fructify as a ftiU fledged dialogic poem in the form of Christ and i which was written in
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1982. A.K. Srivastava aptly remarks that "Ranchan's poetry is in praise of process and
his typical problem has been the reconciliation of the individual with the process [. . . ] "
(Ken 24). Nevertheless the "notion of Christhood" forms the core of Christ and i and the
"radiating world of reference drawn from the life of Christ becomes poem's locus that
defines its curcumference" (Ken, 25). Anil Wilson's perception is remarkably subtle
when he states that the Christ and i is "'i' vis-a-vis Christ, and not about Christ vis-a-vis
'I.' The difference [. . .] is of essence." Wilson further argues that the importance of
Wisdom Figures such as Christ and Vivekananda lies not in their "historicity or abstract
teachings," but it lies in the "impact" that they have on human "heart and mind" (Ken,
37). As a matter of fact Ranchan successfully manages to humanize the Wisdom Figures
such as Vivekananda, Krishna, Christ, et al. He does this primarily on account of dialogic
need of his polyphonous psyche. Moreover, the predominant devotional strain in his
dialogic poems impels him to actualize God in the closest humane quarters. Resultantly
one may observe that Ranchan's poetic endeavour is laudable keeping in view his
successful scooping of the divine figures from their conventional / ritual contexts thereby
II
As the poem Christ and i begins, the poet-disciple invokes rather unconventionally St.
John to cleanse his negative complexes such as inflated ego along with the inner darkness
that hinder his life. Responding to the poet-disciple's invocation, St. John says that he has
coming/ happening of one Great Revelation who alone will have the power to cleanse
him from all the negativities and the dross of inflated ego. Thus, it is significant to note
that as per the Christian tradition, there is always a divine messenger who informs the
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people about the coming of the Son of God. His role is prefatory as he informs the people
to go through initial purification for the reception of the Great Revelation.' St. John also
advises the poet-disciple while he is baptizing the people in the water of river Jordan that
the Son of God will be one of them. It is a time of formal preparation to see the
appearance of the diving figure (i.e. Christ). The poet beautifully states it thus:
heart of light
The lightning in the sky and diving of the bird from the "heart of light" (10) along with
the roaring, resounding sound rupturing the sense of time thereby causing timelessness
effectively bespeak of the extraordinary circumstances under which the Christ will
surface. St. John advises the poet-disciple to fall at the feet of that Great Revelation to
Thereafter the poet-seeker is face to face with the Divine Figure. He confesses his
sins, pride, ego, vanity, arrogance and weaknesses in the form of a long poetic tirade to
Christ. He expresses his displeasure upon wasting his efforts to see the demons outside
while they were wdthin him all the time. He offers his apology before Jesus Christ and
beseeches to show him the right path. He does a lot of self-introspection and self-
exploration so that he can avoid the vicious influence of the evil forces in life. The poet
completely surrenders himself to God to dissolve his sins. He is all set for the baptism of
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fire. To speak metaphorically, the poet-disciple is bent upon dispelling his inner
darkness. He wants his soul to be purged of all sins and therefore, seeks an inner
transformation, which may prepare him to face the struggle of life. This dialogic
encounter with the Divine Figure (Christ) continues as the poet expresses his reluctance
to reach the Lord. The poet-disciple is greatly fascinated/ influenced by the teaching of
God through parables and paradoxes. Nevertheless, owing to his weaknesses such as
inflated ego, intellect, fears along v^th samaskaras, he cannot put his thoughts and inner
resolves into action. The poet implores the Lord to cleanse his heart and soul of all
ofJordan
After that the poet expresses his wish for regeneration through the ritual of fire:
Hit me
T S Eliot also speaks of the fire of destruction and of purgation in his poem "Four
Quartets." T.S. Eliot also refers to "fire" in Part IV of "Little Gidding" (1942) which
comprises the last part of Four Quartets (1943). The Holy Spirit (represented by the
image of "dove" in the poem) descends piercing the air "with the flame of incandescent
The poet admits that he has become proud and inflated again as he identifies himself
Lord
Lord
to thee
I am leprous again
After a little while, the poet-disciple apologizes before the Lord on account of the sense
of compunction that he experiences due to his arrogance and lack of humility and
kindness. He just remains stuck with his health, knowledge and worldly desires. It is only
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after realizing the pettiness and meaninglessness of his life that the poet-disciple decides
to dedicate himself for the weal and welfare of others. He decides to shed his inflated ego
Lord
This is a reference from the Four Gospels^ The Centurion was the Roman Officer. Once
his servant was terribly sick and was at the point of death. Jesus healed him and the
servant became quite well. This story is narrated by Luke (7:1-10) in the New Testament
{The Holy Bible 1978). The poet bewails the contemporary situation which has resulted in
crisis of a sort as the people have completely forgotten/ done away with the basic values
such as love, care and concern for one's fellow beings in life. What is left is greed,
ment' with the other) with the old Centurion as he feels choked due to the apathy and
unconcern he observes around him. The intensity of yearning for regeneration on the pjirt
My ribcage emaciated
The poet realizes that only the Lord can save mankind in the hour of such a serious
spiritual crisis. Only God has the power to protect the world, which is on the verge of
extinction.
The encounter between the poet and Jesus is continued as the poet-seeker invokes
the spirit of the Christ to discuss his problems. He confesses that his spectacles are
dropped and broken. He, therefore, surrenders himself to seek solace in terms of
knowledge but finds himself enmeshed in the social life. He offers an excuse that he has
to perform the ritual of the burial of his father (18). This reference is also from the Four
Gospels. At this juncture, the Christ advises the poet-seeker that we should always look
forward and achieve our goal instead of looking backwards: "Leave the dead to bury their
own dead/ But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God"^ (18). We should do a
little introspection to go forward with higher spiritual impulse. The poet clings to God
who shows him the right path. The God asks him to carry out the task of preaching and
healing without being perturbed by the questions of faith, insight, ego and knowledge:
As such, the poet-disciple becomes an identification of an agent from the abode of God to
convey. In other words, he is conveying the message of love to the suffering humanity as
well as spreading the message of good will among the people of diverse religions across
the globe. It becomes evident in section six when the Lord says: "You're my agent for
(20). The poet in his devotional attitude expresses his feelings to God and makes a
complete surrender before Him. Describing his experiences with holy men who would
recoil from "touch," Ranchan reveals to Jesus thus: "Jesus/ Many holy men withdrew
their feet/ When I bent to touch them/ Many jerked their knees/ When I went to touch
them" (20). But the Lord does not differentiate between Him and the poet-seeker. Jesus
says: "The essence of the divine that was/ on me is upon you also" (22). In fact, the Lord
has come to teach the basic principle of mankind that man must have concern for the
other. He suggests that he is living with all people of all religions in the world. He is
enlightening the people about the meaning and objective of humaneness. He wants to
blow on the light inside those who are living in darkness. The Lord who is with all says:
At this juncture, Christ assumes the tone of Lord Krishna of the Gita who permeates the
whole creation. Christ's divinity in the given lines envelops Sufis, Vedantins, saints and
sinners but Lord Krishna of To Krishna with Love transcends the human plane thereby
assuming subtle as well as cosmic proportions simultaneously. The poet-disciple has the
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appearance of God in a "visionary dream" (23) in his apartment. Jesus is seen as a white
man who is carrying a book of all knowledge. According to Kirpal Singh, "The dialogue
[between the poet and the God] is intense and brisk. The poet-disciple narrates his
physical and mental sufferings in life and his vain attempts to overcome his difficulties
through various yogic "mantras" and "yantras" (Singh 66)." The Lord suggests him not to
care about suffering but focus on the aim for which he had come in the world and that
one must fight for the cause of righteousness. Lord's advice to the poet is akin to that of
Buddha who said that instead of resisting dukkha (suffering), it is better to cherish the
wounds wdthout resentment and fear. He fiarther suggests that "By not accepting,
Thereafter Ranchan talks about two types of suffering such as physical and
psychological. The trouble of the physical suffering is not spared even to the "ascetics"
who exercise tremendous control in terms of their eating habits. As far as the
day life and becomes evident through "evasions of overwork, drink/ argument, squalor,
brawl" (26). The poet-seeker wants to purge all kinds of suffering through divine help. At
this juncture, the Jesus recapitulates the imendurable pain that he was made to undergo
before his crucifixion and suggests to the poet-seeker to learn to suffer without ever
taking recourse to either self-pity or rancour. In Section Eight, Jesus asks the poet-seeker
and love (28). In order to reiterate the relative importance of "love," Ranchan repeats it
thrice in the text. Soon after that, Jesus departs. Nevertheless, the transformation at the
irmer level is triggered. As a result of it, the poet-seeker feels ultra-light as if a huge pile
of the garbage of millennia has been taken off his head—a pile that he had "gilded as
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suffering" (28). The experience is liberating from the viewpoint of the poet-seeker. Jesus
not only relieves him of the pain of suffering, but also cleanses his psyche of all the
to my innards
The dialoguing encounter between the poet and the Lord continues in Section Eighteen
wherein the poet pays homage to the divine figure of Christ who is always doing
something for the weal and welfare of mankind. In the third and last part of this section, a
rich homage is paid to Mother Mary too who "accepts sin, guilt, cereal offerings" in her
"infinite mercy" (56). In the last Section, Saint Peter appears in the dream vision of the
poet-seeker who turns confessional thereby revealing each and every strain of his
spiritual quest. He further confesses that he is "somehow stuck" (57) and has not
completely got rid of his "ego inflation and ego insecurity" (58) in life. After listening to
He further assures the poet-quester regarding cleansing through the baptism of fire that
Ill
At this point, it is pertinent to focus at the central motifs in Christ and i. One of the
central motifs in the poem is that of suffering. The poet has certain insights into his own
and aggressions," being "self-willed" and not appreciative of others "difficulties"(l 1), for
his cutting and murderous analysis and for projecting shadow demons on others. His
suffering (as he sees it through his confessions to Lord) has come from resistance and
from not being able to expand the insights received, and from never translating them into
action. His resistance also comes from not accepting the gifts that Christ gives. This ego-
orientation and resistance to the higher self turns him into a leper. Leprosy is another
major motif in Christ and i. To put it existentially*and psychologically-, during the times
of Christ (or in the medieval times) leprosy was the ultimate experience of ugliness and
alienation. As such, in his anguish with reference to his personal predicament and the
and the problems posed by it. The crookedness of intellectual knowledge is conveyed to
the poet-seeker through his glasses in which the right lens is cracked. He wants to see
things clearly but his glasses come in the way enlarging the obvious and not seeing the
Lord
I see crooked
of looking at things
Subject to resistance
The lord, however, has no problem with his leprosy and other afflictions pertaining to the
ego, pride and intellectual obfuscation. The Lord only wants him to make a commitment,
which he does more or less, and for which he is favoured too. In his dream encounters, he
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wants again to take up his problem of suffering in depth and detail after having tried
many systems to overcome it. The Lord gives him an extended discourse on suffering.
The key point in the discourse on suffering (be it physical, mental or supernatural) has to
be accepted. Suffering cannot be escaped from. According to the Vedantic way, this
world is seen as not real 'maya' causing suffering. This cannot be nulled, says the Lord,
through meditation in "samadhi state" (24). The Lord cites the example of his own life
and recommends the true accepting and enduring of the suffering which can eventually
turn into ecstasy. Before bidding adieu to the Lord, there is a book for consultation for the
poet-seeker. The book is neither the Bible, nor the Four Gospels, nor the Bhagwad Gila.
chapters (27)
Thus, one may observe that Ranchan is talking about the book of life, which has vast and
illimitable scope. It comprises everything that life offers. The reference to lots of "blank
pages" and "unfinished chapters," points towards its openendedness. It is ever there
waiting to be lived through and written afresh. It epitomizes the very flux of life which is
unstoppable, perennial.
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Another motif is that of "inflation" (9, 11, 58) which comes from wealth, health
and a sense of well being, which make one feel better as also superior to others. Inflation
at times also comes from a sense of insecurity and confusion. In such kind of inflation,
one tends to hide one's superior attitude. In fact, this kind of inflation is basically
inferiority turned into superiority. The dream vision of Christ on the part of the poet
persona is yet another powerfiil motif in the poem. Through this, we get a fulsome
bright
in ringlets
broad shoulders
In the Fourteenth Section also, we come across lucid and life-like description of the Lord:
Chin pointed
Satan's force to tempt the Lord repeatedly (whom he is offering "luxury and Joy /
undreamt o f ) emerges as an important motif in the poem. The Lord ultimately spurns
"the riches of the Earth" (29). He clings to the path of righteousness and makes the
distinction between the good and the evil. He even sermonizes Satan regarding the
The tiredness of Jesus and his complete surrender to the God is another major motif in the
poem. Jesus confesses that he preached the message of God to the people of every caste,
creed and religion. The God advises him to continue his mission till the end and when the
right time will come, the Lord says: "I'll allow you to spit the body/ out and join me in
the light"(37).
Other motifs in the poem are that of "water" and "fire." Water traditionally
belongs to a subterranean region below the human plane. It signifies slow purgation while
the fire is identified with the city of God in the Apocalypse meant for big change/ total
transformation. St. John is immersing the people in the water of Jordan but the.poet is
ready for the baptism of fire. According to Kirpal Singh, "fire is celestial and is imaged in
various forms: angels of fire and light, the burning man in the saint's halo, the tree of life
as burning tree, the burning bush of Moses, so on and so forth." (Singh 68)
Both, the poet-seeker and Christ are fully realized in the poem. They are seriously
engaged in the process of dialoguing in which the former finally becomes the latter's
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devotee. The poet has great respect for the Lord and shows his hospitality by inviting
Him to the dinner. He prepares special "Fried fish smothered in onions and mushrooms"
which the Lord likes the best and says: "I'll eat it with relish for my disciples, devotees, /
women, children and humble folks" (47). The portrayal of the Christ's personality is
based on the Four Gospels. He is a blend of Christianity, Vedanta and Tantra and his
with the Four Gospels. But he also relies on his own active imagination (in Jungian
sense) along with his creative force. Moreover, to have a fuller perspective of Christ, he
may be seen in terms of his encounters with Satan, Mary Magdalene, God and also with
Mother Mary.
For instance, Christ is seen in terms of his encounter with Satan who is tempting
him to deviate from the right path in Section Nine. His temptations are alluring, like the
Devil's temptations in Doctor Faustus. This encounter mainly centers on the question of
pleasure and self-abnegation, virtue and vice. Christ is sitting on fast that will last for
forty days in the desert. On the thirty-third day, when he is completely exhausted (but is
still thinking about his devotion, controlling his desires), Satan tries to allure him by
citing an instance from the past by saying that once he too was close to God but he
expelled him in favour of Adam and Eve. Satan then tries to tempt Jesus by offering him
undreamt o f (29)
Jesus listens to Satan's offer but instead of ignoring, he remembers God. He also
remembers that he has to suffer for the cause of humanity and that it is his duty to help
the needy and the poor who have been discarded by the "commanders and priests" (30).
Jesus also knows that he has come to save human beings from exploitation and torture
without caring a wee bit about his own suffering. He firmly advocates that one must
always believe in action. Upon this, Satan becomes enraged and seeks to test Jesus if he
is actually the Son of God. Satan always challenges Jesus by saying that he must turn the
stone into bread. Jesus, however, is solely devoted to God and does not show any
into bread
He further advises Satan that he has no need to challenge the Lord and to humiliate the
thing like stone which is also the part of God and has its own importance in the larger
scheme of things. Satan loses all self-control and challenges Jesus again by saying that if
he is really the Son of God, he must roll over a hill and God should come to save his life.
But Jesus is very polite and patient and wants to show him the path of God by saying:
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Jesus further tells Satan that once he realizes the glory and greatness of the Lord, he will
himself bow before Him in supplication. He says that a profound feeling of reverence for
the Lord will dawn upon him, which will make him curious to see God and follow His
path. Jesus also reminds him of the incident when he was baptized by St. John and how
the sky flashed with lightning. At this juncture, Jesus stops as He has unshakable faith in
the Lord and waits for the fortieth day of his fast. But before He departs, Jesus
You'll realize
At this juncture, Satan leaves the desert, "muttering murder" (33) only to make his
appearance later in Section Thirteen when Christ is hung on the Cross. Satan feels pity
and sympathy for Christ whom at one time he offered the riches of the world. SatJin
believes that the sacrifice of Christ for the sake of humanity has proven futile. He feels
sorry for Christ because whatever he taught to the men living in this world has resulted in
nothing as they still go on conmiitting all types of sins. He is remorseful that had Christ
listened to him, nothing would have happened to him. Satan now reminds him of his offer
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about the luxuries of the world which he outrightly rejects. He sarcastically comments on
the Christ's wish to change the world and remarks: "You goddamn flamboyant histrionic/
actor tragic enacting/ the messiah routine" (41). But Jesus does not react, as he has no ill
will against Satan. In fact, he is genuinely concerned about Satan and wants to show him
Nevertheless, Jesus is still friendly with him. Satan feels obliged to Jesus and
understands his feeling for him. Satan now has the realization of his inflated ego on
account of which he could not understand God and his followers. Christ's words astound
him when Satan is told that he has always thought about him and has always been well
aware of his mission on the earth. Christ's concern for Satan is evidenced in his parting
done
Satan is touched by a genuine sense of concern and compassion exuding from the
The encounter between Christ and Magdalene revolves around the question of
selfishness pervading the world. But ultimately it is Christ who shows her the right path
in life. Magdalene is a sufferer and is deserted by everyone in life. She could not get the
love and affection of her parents due to their callousness and apathy towards her. Her
husband also neglected and ill-treated her. Consequent upon this series of traumas, she
takes to sexuality. Eventually, it is the Christ who helps her thereby offering her a
positive compensation. What happens in her life is not at all according to her will. In fact,
her circumstances impel her to resort to whoring. Christ being compassion incarnate,
acknowledges her and explicitly endorses the purity of her being: "You're a pure woman,
Mary/ You have too much feeling/ And sensation electric" (34). Later he suggests her to
go back home and relax as she has already undergone enormous suffering. He promises
her that "That day is not far when I'll/ come to thee/1 promise in the name of the Lord"
(35). Dialoguing with God, Christ tells Him about his physical and mental exhaustion due
to the performance of his duty sincerely. He has performed each task assigned by God for
the sake of humanity. During his long journey he has helped all types of people.
This, however, is not the end for Jesus as the Lord counsels him that there is no
rest for him because "The confrontation is on/ for two years at least/ You, my son, must
undergo work, / pain, hunger fatigue" (37). It is the will of God that Jesus must continue
with his preaching to ameliorate the lot of the suffering humanity, and which is his sole
mission in this world. The Lord made Jesus realise that one day he will be on the cross to
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be crucified "That day I'll allow you to spit the body / out and join me in the light / That
was is and will be" (37). Christ follows His advice and continues his mission of visiting
his disciples and readily helping the sufferers in every possible way since that was the
The encounter between the poet-disciple and Mother Mary is seen in Christian
and Vedantic terms and also in terms of Durga symbology. At the beginning, the poet-
disciple offers his homage to the Mother Mary who is tender and perfect and is known
through numerous names and roles assigned to her. Mother is a great devotee of God and
does her job according to His will and advice. The poet-disciple expands and enlarges her
feminine reality and frames her in Durga symbology. In Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Sections in the poem, Mother is invoked as a Mountain Shepherdess, grazing her sheep
and yaks (50) in the high mountains and she has an encounter with Moon God who
speaks to her with overwhelming resonance: "Mary, Mary, I've chosen thee for the/ birth
of my son, Jesus Christ/ In times before you've given birth to/ others like him" (50).
Mother conceives from Moon God. Needless to say that Christ was bom as a result of
this conception. Mary's conception from the Moon God is a departure from Catholic
in world mythologies. In India, even today, barren women worship the Moon by offering
milk in plenty for the sake of conception. Incidentally this symbolism is enacted by
Bhabani Bhattacharya also in his novel Music for Mohini. In India's civilizational history.
Moon-centered worship had been prevalent since Vedic times as also during Indus Valley
Civilization in Mohenjo-daro. It is worthwhile to observe that Ranchan does not use the
course, they become available to him in a heightened state during the creative process.
The multiple symbols push their way from the subliminal to the threshold of
consciousness of the poet, which then fertilize his Muse. However, the Moon is not only
the lover of Mary, but also becomes her guide in which capacity he unfolds before her
The Sixteenth and Seventeenth sections in Christ and i invoke the Nav Durga-
the nine manifestations of Goddess Durga who is Power {Shakti) incarnate in Devi
mythology of India. These forms {roopa) of Durga have been explicated from various
perspectives by Ranchan. As such, a discerning reader does not have to look outside the
poems for the understanding of the nine Goddesses {Nov Durga). The first Goddess is
Shailputri, the daughter of the Mountain who stands for concrete humanization which
means she represents the heights, the massive gravity and beauty of the high mountains.
She, therefore, represents lofted and variegated consciousness in order to tune with this
range of consciousness. With its strata one has to tune to truth, not the truth which comes
from the books but that which comes from intuitions and insights. The second goddess is
Brahmacharini. She is not taken in the reductive sense the woman who is into celibacy
(52). The third goddess is Chandraghanta—the gong of the Moon. Even in the poem God
Moon's moving resonance during his dialogue with Mary is underscored. The yogic
symbology of Chandraghanta is naad and its various frequencies. The idea is that when
you enter into the consciousness from the perspective of truth, you naturally hear the
the Absolute. One may think of these three goddesses as constituting a triad.
compound word made of 'kush' (grass which is known for its heat and it is used as a
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sheaf for meditation) and 'manda' meaning 'egg.' As such, Kushmanda is an enamouring
goddess with sensuous breasts and heavy buttocks. The poet describes her his "Pumpkin
Lady/ who ripens with the divine seed with/ the heat of ardour" (53). The fifth goddess is
Skandamata. In Indian mythology Skand is the hero son of Shiva. Skand literally means
the originator sperm of semen. The idea is that Skandmata gives birth to heroes. She is
the mother of the active-doer. The sixth goddess is Katayayani who is conceived of as a
virgin. It symbolically signifies that woman ever remains intact and can never be defiled.
It is interesting to note in this context that in the making of Durga statue mud is taken
from sixteen places and one place belongs to what be called the house of prostitute for
women who have conceived. Just as the first three goddesses (Shailputri, Brahmacharini
constitute the material triad in ordinary life. The seventh goddess is Kalaratri. The name
is obvious. She is the Goddess who wanders through the nights of time. Metaphorically,
she epitomizes the one who goes through all kinds of experiences—pleasant and
unpleasant, fair and foul and high and low. These experiences are to be valued as each of
them is initiatory. Kalaratri is shown as a naked woman with her hair floating over which
she has no control. To speaking psychologically, most people are not properly able to go
The eighth goddess is Mahagauri. Gauri is one of the names of Mother Parvati,
the spouse of Shiva. It is interesting to note that in Devi symbology she comes after
Kalaratri. The entry into Mahagauri is possible only through mystical state/s. She is
unapproachable materially. The ninth goddess is Siddhidhatri who can give anything in
the locales oidharma, artha, kama and moksha. Perhaps it should be mentioned here that
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Mother Sharda once told her mother, Shyam Sundari to forget about Kali and worship
instead Siddhidhatri/
place. For that matter even Catholic Christianity unfortunately is not centralized which is
too much into God and his Son. The feminine principle is not accorded a prominent
place. Here, Ranchan may be especially commended for magnifying Mother Mary
through Durga symbology. Christianity should also provide an interactive space for what
the poet presents in his poem Christ and i. Christ's coming to Mary and vice versa is
dramatic encounters, narratorial sequences and incantatorial chants which are specifically
found in the two longer poems (48-55) addressed to Mother Mary. In regard to Ranchan's
lexical strategy one may say that it is simple, down to earth and conversational. It is free
from jargon and pedantry. Its dialogic form enables the poet to dramatize the conflict
within his psyche. The diction and its arrangement force us to regard the poet as a scholar
with highly developed centers of intuition and feelings. Jungian terminology may puzzle
the reader initially but once the reader enters the creative contours of the poet carefully,
Notes
1. This has reference to the Book of Revelation also known as the Revelation to
John which contains the two visions of St. John. The first concerned the Son of
Man (i.e. Jesus) and the second related to the end of the world. Ranchan refers to
2. This phrase is used to signify the relationship between Jesus and God. In John 5:7,
it is clearly mentioned that there are three who were present in the beginning—the
Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. These Three are One God (also known
3. The phrase "baptism of fire" finds mention at two places in the Bible:
(a) "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who is
carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Matthew
3:11)
(b) John answered, saying to them all, "I indeed baptize you with water;
but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy
to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Luke
3:16)
In fact, John the Baptist said that Jesus will baptize people with the Holy Spirit
4. There are Four Gospels accounts in the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. All four gospels present Jesus as both—^the Son of God and son of man.
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They all record this baptism, Mary's anointing of the Lord Jesus, His betrayal,
5. This refers to Matthew 8:22 (18-23>—"Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own
dead.' Later in the Gospel of Luke (9:57-62) Jesus again says: "Let the dead bury
their own dead, but you go and preach the Kingdom of God." (The Holy Bible
1982)
6. Jung employed active imagination as a tool to have insight into dream material.
his or her psyche" (Hopche 56). In other words active imagination implies an
3). As such, in active imagination "the T is always there." It is made to enter into
7. Mother Sharda, in fact, knew that Siddhidhatri was the fulfiller of wishes and
sitting on a lotus, holding a conch shell, a lotus, a mace and a discus. She is
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