𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐀- 𝐀 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙯𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨, 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙈𝙖𝙟𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙈𝘾, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜( 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙮) 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙮𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙚𝙮𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙈𝘾, 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧.
I grew up reading stories of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana
And often wondered,
If the Gods and the warriors lived,
With magical arrows, unbreakable swords and shields
On the Kurukshetra plains of great Bharat.
I wondered
If Rama lived in exile in the jungle with Sita and Lakshmana,
And made friends with Hanuman, the king of monkeys
And fought Ravana of Lanka with his warrior monkeys.
I was amazed by the power and magic in the stories,
The grace and beauty, and power of Kings and people,
I was enthralled by Arjun’s prowess with his arrows,
The herculean strength of Bheema,
The invincibility of Drona and Beeshma,
And Krishna, the God among the warring men.
How can Hanuman lift a mountain on his palm and fly?
How could it have been possible to make bridges across the sea
With boulders monkeys carried from the hills,
And for Ravana to have ten heads ear to ear?
I think these are stories Sage Ved Vyasa and Valmiki wrote
To counsel people on virtues and vices, the good and evil,
To enlighten the spirit of men to the virtuous and the righteous,
To teach about truth and loyalty, benevolence and sacrifice,
To present the value of culture and customs, dharma and karma,
Woven into an epic centuries ago.
When I was a child,
I listened to my father reading aloud on the bamboo balcony
The story of Ling Gesar Gyalpo, a heroic king,
An emanation of Padmasambhava, an indestructible bodhisattva warrior,
And compassionate too, even to his rivals after a battle was won.
His horse was as swift as the wind, and his sword faster than lightning,
On his divine quest to subdue evils in the world
To make the world a happier place to be.
I wondered
How King Gesar looked in his kingly grandeur,
And where was his great palace of Ling?
Was it just another story a wise man wrote to enlighten men?
To educate children to live a life of bravery and benevolence,
To awaken our inner goodness, to devote to spirituality,
To have fear and faith in the sublime?
Today, when I look at my beloved King, Our People’s King,
When I listen to His exalted speeches, the golden words,
Vision beyond human call and the transcendental wisdom,
I know my King is Gesar, a legend,
And only with his vision, his compassion and enduring love
We can bask in the sun of everlasting happiness.
I wonder if people will believe that there lived a King
In a small country in the heart of the Himalayas,
Who said he would not sit on the throne for a day, and never did?
To build his country and design promises for eternal happiness,
A king who said he would work tirelessly to leave a legacy
Of a sovereign sanctuary;
This will one day become a myth, an impossible history
Of a Compassionate King who envisioned a future of Drukyul,
With dauntless courage and improbable sacrifices,
A King who trusted His wisdom to build a city of Vajrayana,
The Gelephu Mindfulness City on the plains of southern Bhutan,
To propagate and uphold Buddha’s tenets and the Guru’s teachings,
To live with nature in its pristine landscapes,
With a bridge that houses a temple,
With a ridge that houses hermitages,
In the city without skyscrapers, rivers without boats!
When I see my king travel the world sharing His dream,
Talking to His people about a dream no one dared dream,
Of a nation within a nation, a Diamond Strategy,
A foundation of a future built brick by brick,
Without a day’s rest, without a night’s repose,
Laid by the King, carried by the queen and princes,
On the fallow plain two thousand six hundred swathes vast,
And thousands of men, year after year, raise the dream
Of a King for his people to live happily for centuries.
I think,
The ancient stories of great kings and warriors from the epics
Were not mere myths told for ages by some wise men,
There must have lived some great kings, some great saints,
Some men who lived the story we hear today.
The story of a Bodhisattva King in the Kingdom of Bhutan
Is a story never told in the past, will never begin in the future,
An embodiment of sheer compassion,
Who lives by his words to serve with humble hands,
Walks the land to lead by example,
In the sun, in the rain,
In the mud, in the forest,
Over mountain trails and endless roads
Travels the world to learn greater ways
Resting under a shed, sitting on a rock,
Rarely upon the Golden Throne and palace comforts.
The Heart of Shangri-la is born, the GMC-
The receptacle of the Buddha’s teachings,
In the Luminous Mind, a Wish-fulfilling City,
Cherished in His regal heart is a Gift
To make Bhutan the epitome of Happiness,
A destination for the world to delight
The extraordinary home in the Himalayan foothills,
Pristine rivers cruising in their naked chimes,
Where people and the wild shall live in harmony,
In meditative calmness,
In serene quietude,
Another wonder of the world is born.
𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙪 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚, 𝙖 𝙢𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙖 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.
(This is a small tribute to My King)
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