The Rebel

Speak, O Hero

Speak, with your head held high!

I bow not before any,

While the Himalayas bow before me!

Speak, O Hero,

I tear through the vast cosmos,

Leaving behind the moon, sun, planets, and stars.

Piercing through earth, sky, and heavens,

I ascend to the Creator’s very throne!

I am the eternal wonder of the Universe,

My forehead bears the crown of a radiant God of Victory.

Speak, O Hero—

I stand with my head forever held high!

I am forever indomitable, untamable, fierce.

I am the dance of destruction, the cyclone, I am annihilation!

I am terror, I am the curse of the Earth,

I am unstoppable,

I shatter everything into pieces!

I am chaos, unbound,

I trample upon all chains, all rules, all order!

I recognize no law.

I am the storm that drowns the fullest ship,

I am the torpedo, the mighty floating mine!

I am the thunderous cyclone, the untamed tempest of summer storms,

I am the Rebel, the child of rebellion, challenging the Creator of the universe!

Speak, O Hero,

With your head forever held high!

I am the tempest, the whirlwind,

I crush whatever comes in my path.

I am mad with rhythm,

I dance to my own beats, I am the free spirit of life!

I am the roar, I am the stormy tune of the clouds,

I am the restless wind, dancing with a sudden, playful skip,

Like the chirp of a bird in flight.

I am the fleeting, restless wave!

I do whatever I wish when this heart desires—

I embrace my enemies, I wrestle with death.

I am wild, I am the storm!

I am the plague, the terror of this earth,

I am relentless, the scorching fire of eternal wrath!

Speak, O Hero,

With your head forever held high!

I am the unrestrained spirit of rebellion,

I am relentless, my heart brims with defiance.

I am the sacrificial flame, the fire of Jamadagni,

I am the sacred offering, the priest, I am fire itself!

I am creation, I am destruction,

I am civilization, I am the cremation ground,

I am both the end and the eternal beginning.

With the moon in my hand and the sun on my brow,

In one hand, I carry the flute, and in the other, the war trumpet.

I am Krishna’s dark neck, drinking the venom of the ocean of sorrows,

I hold the untethered flow of the Ganges from its source!

Speak, O Hero,

With your head forever held high!

I am the ascetic, the soldier of song,

I am the prince, dressed in faded royal robes.

I am the Bedouin, I am Genghis,

I bow to none but myself!

I am thunder, I roar like the cosmic voice of creation,

I am the horn of Israfel, the great trumpet blast!

I am the drum and trident of Lord Shiva, the rod of Dharma,

I am the chakram and the conch shell, I am the deafening sound of creation!

I am the mad sage Durvasa, the disciple of Vishwamitra,

I am the wildfire that will consume the world.

I am the open, joyous laughter, the destroyer of creation’s enemies—

I am the eclipse that will engulf the twelve suns of the apocalypse!

Sometimes serene, sometimes a stormy despot,

I am the blood-red dawn of revolution, the arrogance that defies destiny!

I am the surge of passion, the great wave of the ocean.

I am blazing, radiant,

I am the shimmering, restless dance of life’s eternal waves!

I am the flute of the unchained maiden,

The fire in the eyes of the slender one,

I am the wild passion in a young girl’s heart.

I am the rebellious heartbeat of a widow’s lament—

The searing pain in the heart of the forsaken.

I am the grief, the unquenchable thirst,

The deep sighs of love unspoken, the trembling thrill of a maiden’s first love.

I am the fleeting glance of a secret lover,

I am the playful flirtation, the jingling of bangles.

I am forever a child, forever a youth,

The fear in the heart of a village girl’s blushing cheek!

I am the autumn breeze, the silent east wind,

I am the poet’s song in the flute and the lute.

I am the burning thirst of summer, I am the scorching sun,

I am the oasis in the desert, the shadow of the trees,

I rush with the wild joy of life—am I mad, truly mad?

Suddenly, I have realized myself; all my bonds have broken free!

I am the rise and fall, the unconscious force made conscious,

I carry the victory banner of mankind to the gates of the universe!

I ride the wild Buraq and Uchaisrava, galloping on the wind,

Fearless and unstoppable!

Speak, O Hero—

I am the wild rebel,

With my head forever held high!