49. What is austerity hard but Thou?
1Dana, 2 Dhyana, 3Japa Thou
And Jnana, Bhakti, Karma Thou
Of 4Dharmas - the very core.
The brave effort of seekers, Thou
The flash of genius too;
Thou art Brahma, the Truth, the Source
The First Primaeval cause.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
50. The sky and fire, and wind and water,
And earth-the components five,
And work and form and touch and taste
And smell-their objects five;
All these are forms of Thee.
Thou art the one pervading Life
In all the starry spheres.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
51. The sweating hard persistence
Of those who toll is Thou;
The zeal, and zest and spirit
Of those who dare is Thou;
And thou art the silent witness
Of the worlds Thou dost evolve.
1 Charity. 2 Meditation. 3 Incantation. 4 That which sustains (life) i.e. religion
The inner Being of purest souls,
Their outer action, too.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
52. Thou art the valour and strength and Soul
Of brave and mighty souls;
And when they win titanic fights
Thou art their victory proud.
And Thou, the Beauty the most bewitching
Of all that charms the eye.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
53. Of all the dharams of the world
Thou art the staff and stay;
The one central changeless Life
In creation’s constant shifts,
Thou art the First, and God of Gods
The 1Purusha who ever lives.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
54. When troubles pour on saints and bhaktas
They look up to Thee for help;
With feelings more intense than theirs
Thou needest must rush and save;
Who can reach or plum Thy depth?
Who know the secret of Thy Self?
Thou art the pure quintessence
Of all that 2Shastras say.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
1 The oversoul 2 Gospels
55. The Active Inspiring energy, Thou;
The Quiet Joy and Wisdom, Thou;
As Purusha, the one pervading Aye
In the vastness of time and space.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
56. None can fully comprehend
Be he a god or sage,
Such Thou art, the ever Unknown,
The horizon that ever recedes.
But the melting soon with pity for saints
Thou waitest their approach.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
57. Thou art the vitalizing sap of trees
Of shrubs and creepers—all that’s green;
Thou art Moon, the Lord of rasa,
Of love and life and joy.
And thou art that rasa itself, again.
Like the silken string that’s hid behind
The lustrous pearls that shine,
Thou art in all, in Thee is all contained
Oh! Inconceivable Thou!
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
58. From Brahma, Trinity, gods and men,
And creatures lower still
To things like stone which many think
Are Nature’s lifeless things;
All this at the time the universe ends
Is merged in Thee.
Then, again, from Thy Golden Seed doth grow
A universe which starts anew.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
59. Eternal Thou, Unchanging Thou,
The one permanent form.
All that lives will die;
All that grows, decays.
Thou art beyond the grip of both
Destruction and decay.
Death spreads its tentacles
To devour all that lives.
Alas! For death! For once, it falls—
Since Thou wert never born
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
60. Thou art the light and majesty
Of souls divine and grand;
Thou art the soul of efforts brave
In all the worlds that are.
Innocent, pure and blameless, Thou,
Dispassionate and detached.
Thou art the Final Place of Rest
Which attained, no forced return
By 1Karma’s law remains;
He lives in the Holiest Purest Home
Of the Changeless, Formless, Thou.
To That Lord of my Heart, I Bow.
1 Law of cause and effect.