We commit one of our own
to the wind's embrace.
May the flames that we kindle
and the smoke thereof
carry their spirit up and away
above the flowing waters of the Bagmati,
above the monkey-coated walls and roofs of this place.
May they seek repose on the breeze.
May they find peace on the wind.
May they rest eternally in the sky.
And may we all remember
the fervor of that life
that burned as brightly
as the pyre we light
on these banks in the sun.
Written at Pashupatinath Temple, a major Hindu temple in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Dozens of cremations take place here every day on the banks of the river.
