Vikramshila (How Had It Been Vikramshila, I Think!)

Vikramshila in its heyday, I think Would have been grand And gorgeous With the students Coming from Distant lands, Tibet and beyond, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa! Vikramshila, One of the seats of learning, One of the varsities Ancient and famous for, A citadel of learning With the bhikkus and acharyas Dwelling in And meditating, Think I, imagine I! A mahavihara Of the Pala period, Established by Dharampal, It was a Buddhist monastery Well-famed for Education and learning, Gnan and dhamma, A meditational centre, A place residential For the learners and the teachers. Together with others Forming a circuit of education, A centre of learning, Vikramshila, A Buddhist monastery Storied and housing Teachers and students alike, Those seeker after knowledge And wisdom. Against the backdrop and scenery Of the hills green, The Ganges flowing by, Vikramshila stood by The banks At a distance With the bhikkus and acharyas Taking and giving education. The brick-built structure So huge and gigantic, Spreading over a stretch of land, With the stupa And the stories around Opening to the terrace As for meeting And the cells around The square. The sideways decorated With the terracotta plates With figurines and sculptures Of Hindu gods and Buddhas, All made form brick and clay, Mud mortar And the stairs Leading unto the stupa. Around the stupa A little far from There lie in a few scattered structures Supposed to be Tibetan and Hindu temples And the stone pillars At the entrance. On seeing the site of excavation, The mahavihara In ruins With the stupa and the stairs Leading unto With all around structures With the cells and rooms For housing, There grows a desire to learn from. Vikramshila, How would it have been During its heyday, I think, Think about Vikramshila And the ruins of it, The citadel of learning Once had been in its heyday. Who the artisans At work, Working at the sire, Who the sculptors sculpting And decorating That built they the varsity Forting it From all around? Who the builders, What the date, Who the witness, How the evidence, None knows it, None knows it, Everyone but guesses at, Presumes to be? Under the earth Lay it Unearthed Vikramshila, As a mouldering heap, A mound of earth And ruins, Emerging from The excavation done. The terraces with the wall carvings And terracotta work And the plaques Plastered with lime, Depicting Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Manjusri And others, The mahavihara standing With the adhyaksha and dwarpalas, Upadhyayas and bhikkus. Where the texts, how the references, How the connections, Going beyond, Linking far, How the scholars coming to, Through the paths unknown, Domains unchartered and impregnable, Conversing in which language? Vikramshila, Vikramshila, talk I, dream I The historical site And its reference, The residential complex For the students and the monks, The antechambers to meditate, The stupa at the centre Of the square complex With the fort-like projections.