Gold in the Grave

Posted on by Reena Saxena

Carry all this gold to your grave,
Stack it high—be bold, be brave!
Line your tomb with diamond lace,
Karma’s blind, but loves good taste.

Let angels weigh your golden stash,
Ignore the deeds, just count the cash.
If guilt arrives, just pay it off
A little coin should make it scoff.

So hoard it all, don’t share, don’t bend
Your karma’s just a dividend.
And when you rise (or fall) someday,
You’ll sparkle all the guilt away

Friday Faithfuls

24 thoughts on “Gold in the Grave”

  3. Excellent poem, Reena.

    यस्यास्ति वित्तं स नरः कुलीनः स पण्डितः स श्रुतवान् गुणज्ञः।
    स एव वक्ता स च दर्शनीयः सर्वे गुणाः कांचनमाश्रयन्ति।।

    Bhartṛhari sarcastically highlights a truth about a materialistic society: if a person has money, society perceives them as possessing all virtues, regardless of their actual character. Money acts as a cover for shortcomings.

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  9. Ha! Good to know my pyramid-building ambitions were just practicing for my glittering afterlife. Stack it high, let karma squint a little, brilliant plan!
    Nicely written Reena.

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  11. Ancient Egyptians viewed gold as divine flesh, that acted as a magical armor to preserve the body and spirit.  Pharaohs used gold to signify their transition into a divine being in the afterlife, as they believed they needed gold for immortality, protection, and maintaining divine status.  Since gold did not tarnish, it represented the indestructible nature of the sun god Ra and the eternal life they sought. 

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    1. Thanks for the information!

      Hindus put a small piece of gold (everybody cannot afford what a Pharaoh could) in the corpse’s mouth, while dressing it up for cremation.

      My father had a gold filling in his tooth cavity, and my mother would jocularly say “those who have gold in the mouth cannot speak lies.”

      Yes, so the purity aspect reflects in rituals as well as gold standards set by central banking authorities.

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