O Krishna O Son!

‘O Krishna O Son! Why did you go away? Why did you pledge to return and never did? Did I fail you as a mother?’ wails Yashoda. She is inconsolable and grieves for the rest of her life. Markanda Das a 15th Century Odia poet wrote Keshava Koili a poignant poem voicing Yashoda’s agony. The iconic song popular even today became a metaphor for separation and sorrow loss and lament. In this book the author provides a lucid translation along with perceptive elucidation to highlight how the poem transcends Yashoda’s personal grief to become a sublime prayer.