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Originally written by Sri Aurobindo (vegetarian) in 1899, whilst still in civil service, “Love and Death” is an enchanting poem which recounts the tale of Ruru and Priyumvada from the Mahabharata and emphasizes the ephemeral nature of life and the pain and suffering people experience at the death of a loved one. “A sole thing the Gods Demand from all men living, sacrifice: Nor without this shall any crown be grasped. Yet many sacrifices are there, […] And prayers, […] and pious flowers, Blood and the fierce expense of mind, and pure Incense of perfect actions, perfect thoughts, Or liberality wide as the sun’s, Or ruthless labour or disastrous tears, Exile or death or pain more hard than death, Absence, a desert, from the faces loved; Even sin may be a sumptuous sacrifice Acceptable for unholy fruits.”“Men live like stars that see each other in Heaven, But one knows not the pleasure and the grief The others feel: he lonely rapture has, Or bears his incommunicable pain. O Ruru, there are many beautiful faces, But one thyself. Think then how thou shall mourn When thou has shortened joy and feels at last The shadow that thou had for such sweet store.”
