THE KING OF THE KUNG FU

 

Long long ago, when the preachers preached

And travelled through lonely forests,

They had a risk of being attacked

By bandits and by all threats.

And no one knows how many monks

Had sacrificed their life to them,

As being monks they renounced all war

And renounced fight as a mayhem.

But how can then the holy message be spread?

And how can people be served?

How can one relay the teachings 

Of the great Buddha?

Perhaps, the way of such a cult

Was not to end so soon,

And nature chose it's own protector

On a seraphic night of full-moon.

The protector of Shaolin and Buddhism was born

In the Pallava kingdom of the South,

Only time was needed, to remove all worries

And bring along the fearless scout.

Bodhittara was the youngest prince

Born with all princely treasures,

But none of the riches or the royal bliss

Could bring his mind any pleasure.

  At a very young age, he was swayed by truth

And enlightenment flooded his soul,

Into Buddhism he poured himself

Never to return to the shore.

He learnt Kalaripayattu from Guru Agasthya

And was guided by his Guru to life,

To complete his mission he journeyed North

To shape an ore into a knife.

Months in practice and weeks of patience

Had by then blessed his Karma,

With a divine mission, to protect the monks

Bodhittara became Bodhidharman.

By the end of the 6th century

He reached the Chinese lands,

And as a Prophet he was welcomed

By the Emperor, with his own hands.

Wu, the monarch, throughout his life

Had built numerous temples,

And halls of meditation and preached Buddhism

And made it lucid and simple.

And he hoped to be apexing the cult

Of Nirvana as a reward,

So, to Bodhi, he asked with hope

What was his road forward.

But disappointing the Emperor, Bodhi said

You don't have place even in Hell,

For the man who counts the deeds he do

Has done nothing so well.

Wu was sad but he wasn't bad

He wished to get rid of his thought,

And Bodhi said, "Majesty, have a blank mind

And walk in Buddha's accord.

The Mahayana I know, and the cult that I chose

Will give you whatever you deserve,

Just be free from all worries

And truth shall fill and preserve."

And Bodhidharman kept moving North

And stopped at the doorsteps of Shaolin,

To meditate for 9 long years

Before he extended the doctrine.

Dazo Huine, a Chinese General

Had come in Bodhi's search

But finding his master meditating,

He waited under a birch.

And when finally Bodhidharman rose

And Dazo presented his wish,

To be a disciple of Bodhidharman

And to follow his path of bliss.

Bodhidharman had rejected his will

Saying that would only be true,

If the snow turns red someday

And this left Dazo with no clue.

But his desperation to be a monk

Had overruled his sense of pain,

He cut his arm and waved it around

Unless the snow got red.

When Bodhi saw this he was impressed

And thus Dazo became his smile,

And from there Kung Fu got

It's famous one-handed style.

After a week, Bodhi arrived at Shaolin

And found the monks so meek,

He understood what they actually needed

And the path, those monks have to seek.

Remembering his master Agasthya's teachings

And the free-hand order of Parashuram,

He pledged to teach the monks of Shaolin

A defense art of global charm.

Observations and learnings from the nature

Had empowered his vision of combat,

Within few months of the toughest of trainings

The monks had a command on that.

The newly formed art became assuring

As it taught a free-handed fight,

But to prevent from adversities

It was to be used for the right.

All of Shaolin pledged that day

To never use it for wrong,

But only use it protect from danger

Of themselves and the other monks.

But Shaolin had some weird prejudices

Which darkened their own virtue,

The head monk had a dream in which he was told

To make Bodhidharman's statue.

But there was catch, that the statue would be

Different from  the others by all chance,

Because Bodhi alive would be poisoned 

And cemented the Shaolin's entrance.

Respecting the holy cause, and the superstitious dream

Bodhidharma agreed to such a plea,

And was mummified into a live statue

By the end of the 6th century.

Although the world in it's fast pace

Has forgotten the legend's tale,

But even today if you visit Shaolin

Bodhidharman will welcome at the gate.

What makes me proud in the entire context

Is the impact of my nation so true,

As I, pay my deepest homage 

To the founder and the King of the Kung Fu.

- Lucifer