Mourning Sat's passing

THE EDITOR: It is with profound sorrow that I learnt of the passing of the late great Satnarayan Maharaj.

To say that I have lost a very good friend and brother is to be parsimonious in my description of the sense of loss at his passing.

It is normal to mourn the loss of a friend, of a family member, or someone who has been well known and close to you.

In reminiscing on the life of the late Satnarayan Maharaj, we have undoubtedly lost a leader of titanic proportions. His contribution to the development of our country, particularly those of us of East Indian descent, will long be chronicled in the prose, poetry, song, dance and in diverse other ways.

I am equally confident that it will also resonate throughout the region and even beyond our Caribbean shores. But all is not lost, because when we recall the words of Lord Krishna to Arjuna at the battle of Kuresetra, as recorded in the Bhagavad Gita, we take solace from the belief, as we commit his mortal remains to the power of Agni Devata, that, "the soul is never born, nor dies; nor does it exist on coming into being. It is eternal, everlasting and primeval."

We must therefore look to those he left behind to carry on the work of Sanatan Dharma and the sustained development and advancement of our country. It is up to his son Vijay, to whom the mantle has been passed, to be the keeper of the flame. In his hands, we are confident it will continue to shine brightly in all its glory, as we traverse the paths of peace, unity and sustained growth and prosperity, not only for those of us of Indian ancestry, but of the nation as a whole.

As we witness the passing of someone of Olympian proportions and of an era, the Mukdar, in all its splendour and glory will continue to be held aloft. It will be wielded with equal vigour and in the same spirit of equity and justice, so amply demonstrated by its incomparable fore-bearer.

To the family of my illustrious departed friend and brother; I say we must, "bear lightly what needs must be" as the late Satnaryan Maharaj transits from mortality to immortality. Sita Ram!

PATRICK EDWARDS

Ambassador (Retired)