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Daud Kamal's poem "An Ancient Indian Coin"


The poem begins with an epigraph from colonial historian HG Keene, referencing the arrival of invaders from beyond the Himalayas, possibly Central Asian or Afghan tribes. Keene's Eurocentric framing—"a swarm of hard, hungry savages"—reflects colonial historiography, where indigenous cultures are seen as stagnant and external invasions as the main force of historical change. Kamal’s use of this quote sets up a meditation on history, cultural erosion, and shifting power dynamics. 

Stanza 1

Gazelle embossed on a lop-sided moon.
Vasanta had only been rendered insensible
By the outrage in the garden
A sadhu watches his toe-nails grow
In his Himalayan cave.

This stanza paints a picture of something once beautiful that’s now damaged or lost. The gazelle carved on a lop-sided moon is probably an image from an old coin—showing how past beauty and grace (the gazelle) are now seen through something distorted or broken (the lop-sided moon). It suggests that history and culture have been changed or damaged over time.

Then we hear about Vasanta, the spring season, which usually means life, beauty, and love in Indian poetry. But here, spring seems dull or numb, maybe because something violent or upsetting happened in the “garden”—a symbol for the natural or cultural world. This shows how modern life has lost its connection to beauty or meaning.

Finally, there’s a sadhu (a holy man) who just sits in his cave watching his toenails grow. This image might feel a little funny or strange—but it’s actually showing how spiritual people today seem to have no real connection to the world either. They are just waiting, doing nothing, while everything outside is falling apart.

In short, the poet is saying: our past was full of beauty and meaning, but now things feel broken, numb, or hollow. Even nature and spirituality don’t feel powerful anymore—a bit like what T. S. Eliot showed in his poem The Waste Land, where the modern world feels empty and disconnected from its past.

Stanza 2

Men create their own gods
And a learned Brahmin is exempt
From all taxation
But a piece of gold
Does not take one very far.

This stanza reflects the modern disillusionment with religion and the rise of materialism.

The line “Men create their own gods aligns with Nietzsche’s philosophy, particularly his idea that “God is dead”—not literally, but that modern society no longer relies on traditional religion or divine authority for meaning. People now invent their own belief systems—whether that's wealth, fame, ideology, or even power itself. So gods are no longer sacred, they're human-made and self-serving.

The “learned Brahmin”—a symbol of traditional spiritual authority in Hindu society—is still respected, even above the law, as he is exempt from all taxation.” But that privilege seems hollow, especially when contrasted with the next line.

“But a piece of gold does not take one very far.” This is a powerful irony: even in a world where money is worshipped, gold still can't solve real human problems. It shows that both old religion and modern materialism have failed to give people true meaning, justice, or peace.

Earlier, in Stanza 1, the sadhu (holy man) represented spiritual detachment, but now we see that even spiritual traditions have become stagnant, while money has become the new god—yet it also falls short.

This critique of both religious systems and modern capitalism resembles the tone of modernist poets like T. S. Eliot. In The Hollow Men and The Waste Land, Eliot also explores how traditional belief systems have collapsed, and how modern man is left empty—spiritually and morally.

Stanza 3

Out of the seven jade goblets
They dug up
Only one was whole.
The king’s hunting-dogs are better fed
Than most of his subjects.

The “seven jade goblets” are symbols of wealth and luxury—jade being a precious stone often linked to power and royalty. But only one goblet is whole, meaning that most of the riches have been broken, lost, or wasted over time. This reflects how great civilizations and their wealth don’t last forever; they crumble or get plundered.

The next lines show a cruel reality i.e., the king's god are better fed than most of his peoples (subjects). Kamal shows this social injustice of modern by using a a metaphor for rulers or elites who care more about their pleasures and status than about their people’s wellbeing.

This echoes the historical reality of many ancient and even modern societies, including parts of South Asia, where wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few, while most people lived in poverty. It also reminds us of how imperial power can be both grand and hollow.

This stanza’s social critique is similar to what T. S. Eliot and other modernist poets explored — how old empires have fallen, their wealth meaningless, and society fragmented. The broken goblet is like the broken civilization Eliot writes about in The Waste Land, where the surface beauty hides deep decay.

In a South Asian context, it might remind us of the decline of ancient kingdoms like the Maurya or Gupta empires, where decadence often preceded downfall.

Stanza 4

Look, the Indus is choked with stars
And the glaciers are beginning to melt.
I try to calm myself
But my tongue is smothered
By its own thickness.
Solitude, silence, stone.

This stanza shifts from historical observation to personal reflection, blending natural imagery with emotional and political unease.

The Indus River, one of the oldest cradles of civilization, represents history, culture, and continuity in South Asian identity. But here, it is “choked with stars”—a surreal, dreamlike image. Stars are symbols of hope, poetry, and perhaps the divine, but “choked” suggests overwhelm, suffocation, or even a disconnect between beauty and reality. It could mean that the past is cluttered with unreachable ideals, or that too much longing for the golden age has paralyzed the present.

The glaciers are melting bringing about environmental change, but symbolically, it suggests a slow collapse of permanence. Glaciers are ancient and stable—so their melting implies that even the deepest, most rooted traditions and truths are breaking down.

The poet’s own voice breaks here: “I try to calm myself / But my tongue is smothered / By its own thickness.” This is a moment of emotional paralysis, showing how history, decay, and disillusionment (that Kamal had come across) makes his own creative expression (writing this very poem) difficult. There’s a strong resemblance to the modernist theme of linguistic failure—like in T. S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men, where people “grope together and avoid speech.” Speech becomes ineffective or burdensome, which reflects the modern struggle to communicate meaningfully in a fragmented world.

Eliot ends The Waste Land with “Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. / Shantih shantih shantih.” These are Sanskrit words from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, meaning.

  1. Datta — Give (selflessness) 
  2. Dayadhvam — Be compassionate 
  3. Damyata — Show control 
  4. Shantih shantih shantih — “The peace which passeth understanding”

 Kamal borrows this style, presenting his own version of peace (shanti) such as 

  1. SolitudeTapasya, withdrawal from the noise of the world, central to the life of a sadhu or renunciate. 
  2. SilenceMaun, a spiritual practice for inner reflection and discipline, often considered necessary for true knowledge. 
  3. Stone — symbolic of endurance, permanence, and even sacred stillness, like a shivlinga or temple statue.

These could be interpreted as virtues—the poet turning toward a stoic inner calm, away from a collapsing civilization, echoing the Indian path of renunciation and reflection when faced with a morally bankrupt world.

Thus, Kamal’s An Ancient Indian Coin is a meditation on the impermanence of power, cultural loss, and the haunting continuity of oppression. Through evocative imagery and historical allusion, he situates South Asian heritage within a broader cycle of conquest, fragmentation, and silence—echoing global modernist anxieties while remaining deeply rooted in local historical consciousness.

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