##15 (Vivekananda) Prayers To Goddess Kali Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Once Narendra had decided
An ascetic life to lead,
To go ahead in that route,
His Guru’s help he sought

In the meantime, he secured,
A small job that provided
Just enough for the family
To manage their needs daily.

He told his guru one day,
“Oh Guru, why not you pray
To Mother Kali to take pity
And remove my poverty.”

Guru replied, “Oh my son,
True, Kali will surely listen
If you also sincerely pray
On this auspicious day.”

“Since you’ve doubted her,
And also her real power
All these days, you had to suffer,
But she fulfils her devotee’s prayer.”

To the Kali Temple he went,
Late by the same night,
But he forgot about his poverty,
When he stood before the Deity.

He saw her as real one,
Not an ordinary stone,
Ready to give him boon
When he asked for one.

This, he told his Master,
“I saw real Kali Mother,
And before her beauty,
I forgot about my poverty.”

In his life, this incident,
Acted as a turning point,
Bringing a change in him,
On the spiritual platform.

He became an ardent devotee
Of Kali, the presiding Deity,
From that moment onward,
Not turning again backward.

In the cycle of manifestation,
Mother Kali is all in one;
To the virtuous, a kind Mother,
And to the offenders, a terror.

As the Universal Mother
She has all the powers
Of creation, protection,
And also destruction.

As a Universal symbol,
Her manifestation is total.
She’s the Most Merciful,
And also All Powerful.