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Leaping Carp – Poetry by Jayanta

Miracle of Mustard

Posted on May 18, 2022May 19, 2022 by Jayanta

*It is said that devotees would rub Srila Prabhupada with mustard oil, and he attributed his good health to those massages.


Following Harivilas suggestion, 
I soaked my new beads in mustard oil 
and dried them in the sun.

I did not stop there,
I applied mustard oil all over myself.
One heats it, and notes the deep aroma.
Rub it in vigorously, and then a brief warm shower
to be sure you don't wash it all off.

So I went to bed with oil still on my skin. 
Pleasantly smooth, relaxed.

I kept sliding out of bed like a seal on the ice.
I slid out of my house and kept sliding on the snowy streets.
I slid all the way to the Indian grocery,
I asked for more so I could do it again.

I thought it was the fragrant shop in New Jersey,
my source of pickle and ghee,
bags of spice.
But there was no cash register, and
I had in my pocket only little rupee notes.
The grocer was a resident of Vraj.

 I had slid to India over the sea.
   Sleek dolphins and whales my escorts,
   shiny beasts that know God,
   in the waters cool and deep,
   in the stars they see 
   as they leap free.

As they swam, throbbing and quick,
   weaving under and up and over,
   from their glances I could feel,
   in a moment of ecstasy, 
   that they knew me, too.


Hari said: Mustard seed oil has many benefits.

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