Because Thou lovest the shmashAna,
I have made a shmashAna of my heart
That Thou, Dark One, haunter of the shmashAna,
Mayest dance Thy eternal dance…
Nought else is within my heart, O Mother
Day and night blazes the funeral pyre
The ashes of the dead, strewn all about
I have preserved against Thy coming…
With death-conquering mahAkAla neath Thy feet
Do Thou enter in, dancing Thy rhythmic dance,
That I may behold Thee with closed eyes…
(An old Bengali song, and a 12th c. sculpture in Mewar.)
भारतेन्दु 