Though one, He appears as Shiva and Shakti. Whether it is Shiva joined to Shakti
Or Shakti joined to Shiva,
No one can tell.
I bow to these parents of the worlds,
Who, by revealing to each other their oneness, Enable me also to know it.
I make obeisance to Shambhu (Shiva), That perfect Lord who is
The cause of the beginning, Preservation, and end of the world; The manifestation of the beginning, Middle and end of the world;
And the dissolution of the three as well.
...
So long as Unity is undisturbed,
And a graceful pleasure is thereby derived,
Why should not the water find delight
In the floral fragrance of its own rippled surface?
60. It is in this manner, I bow
To the inseparable Shiva and Shakti.
61. A reflected image vanishes When the mirror is taken away; The ripples on the water vanish When the wind becomes still.
62. A man returns to himself
When he awakens from sleep;
Likewise, I have perceived the God and Goddess By waking from my ego.
63. When salt dissolves [in the ocean], It becomes one with the ocean; When my ego dissolved,
I became one with Shiva and Shakti.
64. I have paid homage to Shiva and Shakti By uniting with them;
Just as, when the outer covering
Of the hollow banyan tree is removed,
The inner space becomes united with the outer.
...And...
A wise person is aware
That he, himself, is the Lord, Shiva; Therefore, even when he is not worshipping, He is worshipping.
50. Now the lamps of action and inaction Have both been snuffed out,
And worshipping and not worshipping Are sitting in the same seat,
And eating from the same bowl.
In such a state,
The sacred scriptures are the same as censure, And censure itself
Is the same as a sweet hymn of praise.
52. Both praise and censure
Are, in fact, reduced to silence;
Even though there is speech, It is silence.
53. No matter where he goes,
That sage is making pilgrimage to Shiva; And, if he attains to Shiva,
That attainment is non-attainment.
...
And...
55. No matter what his eyes fall upon At any time,
He always enjoys the vision of Shiva.
56. If Shiva Himself appears before him, It is as if he has seen nothing;
For God and His devotee Are on the same level.
57. Of its own nature,
A ball falls to the ground,
And bounces up again, Enraptured in its own bliss.
58. If ever we could watch The play of a ball,
We might be able to say something About the behavior of the sage.
59. The spontaneous, natural devotion Cannot be touched by the hand of action, Nor can knowledge penetrate it.
60. It goes on without end, In communion with itself.
What bliss can be compared to this?
61. This natural devotion is a wonderful secret; It is the place in which meditation
And knowledge become merged.
62. Hari and Hara (Vishnu and Shiva) Are, of course, really the same;
But now, even their names and forms Have become identical.
63. Oh, and Shiva and Shakti,
Who were swallowing each other,
Are now both swallowed up simultaneously.
64. And even the subtlest speech, Eating up all objects
And drinking up gross speech, Has now taken its rest in sleep.
65. O blissful and almighty Lord!
You have made us the sole sovereign In the kingdom of perfect bliss.
66. How wonderful
That You have awakened the wakeful, Laid to rest those who are sleeping, And made us to realize
Our own Self!
67. We are Yours entirely! Out of love,
You include us as Your own, As is befitting Your greatness.
68. You do not receive anything from anyone, Nor do You give anything of
Yourself to anyone else.
We do not know how You enjoy your greatness.
69. As the Guru, you are the greatest of the great; But You are also very light,
Capable of buoying up your disciples,
And thus saving them from drowning in the world.
Only by Your grace can these dual qualities Of Yours be understood.
70. Would the scriptures have extolled You, If, by sharing it with Your disciple,
Your unity were disturbed?
71. O noble One!
It is Your pleasure
To become our nearest and dearest By taking away from us
Our sense of difference from You.
And:
Now I offer salutations to him
Who is the well-spring of the garden of sadhana, 1
The auspicious conduit of divine Will, And, though formless,
The very incarnation of compassion.
2. I offer salutations to him
Who comes to the aid of the Self Which is suffering limitation
In the wilderness of ignorance.
3. I bow to my Guru, Nivritti,
Who, by slaying the elephant of Maya, Has made a dish of the pearls
Taken from its temple.
4. By his mere glance, Bondage becomes liberation,
And the knower becomes the known.
5. He distributes the gold of liberation to all, Both the great and the small;
It is He who gives the vision of the Self.
6. As for his powers,
He surpasses even the greatness of Shiva. He is a mirror in which the Self
Sees the reflection of its own Bliss.
7. It is by his grace
That all the moon-phases of sadhana Culminate in the full moon of realization.
8. All the sadhaka’s efforts cease When he meets the Guru.
He is the ocean in which the river of activity has ceased to be.
9. When he is absent,
One wears the lovely cloak of appearance; When he appears,
The cloak of diversity vanishes.
10. The Sun of his grace turns the darkness of ignorance
Into the light of Self-knowledge.
11. The water of his grace Washes the soul so clean
That he regards even Shiva as unclean, And does not wish to be touched
Even by him.
12. He abandoned the greatness of his own state To save his disciple,
Yet his true greatness has never been abandoned.
...
When knowledge discovers him within, He swallows up the knower;
And still he does not become impure.
16. With his help,
The soul attains the state of Brahman; But if he is indifferent,
Brahman has no more worth than a blade of grass.
17. Those who faithfully endeavor, Regarding his will as law,
Obtain the ripe fruit of their efforts.
18. Unless the well-spring of his glance Waters the garden of knowledge, There will be no fruit in the hand.
19. By casting a mere glance,
He makes the world of appearance Recede and vanish.
Though his conquest is great,
He does not call it his own.
20. He has attained the great status of Guru By possessing no status.
His wealth is his ability
To rid us of what does not exist.
...
To the Sun, there is no night;
To pure water, there is no salt;
To one who is awake, there is no sleep.
42. In the presence of fire, camphor cannot remain;
In his presence, name and form cease to be.
43. Though I try to bow to him,
He does not remain before me
As an object of my worship.
He does not allow any sense of difference.
44. The Sun does not become something else In order to serve as a means for its rising; Neither does he become an object for my
worship.
45. By no means may one place oneself before him;
He has removed the possibility
Of his being an object of anyone’s worship.
46. If you mirror the sky,
No reflection may be seen;
Neither is he an object
Which someone may worship.
47. So what if he is not an object of worship! Why should it seem so mysterious to me? But he does not leave any trace
Of the one who goes to worship!
48. When the outside of a garment is opened, The inside is opened as well.
49. Or, as a mirrored image must vanish When the object of reflection is gone, So must the one who worships vanish When the object of worship disappears.
50. Our vision is worthless where there is no form.
We are placed in such a state By the grace of his feet.
51. The flame of a lamp is kept burning continually By the combination of the wick and the oil;
A piece of camphor cannot keep it burning.
52. For, as soon as the camphor and flame are united, Both of them vanish at the same time.
53. When he is seen,
Both worshipper and the object of worship vanish, As dreams vanish at the moment of waking.
54. By these verses, I have made a finish of duality And also honored by beloved Sri Guru.
55. How wonderful is his friendship! He has manifested duality
In the form of Guru and disciple
Where there is not even a place for one!
56. How does he have a close relationship with himself When there is no one other than himself?
He can never become anything other than himself!
57. He becomes as vast as the sky,
Including the entire universe within himself. Within him,
Even darkness and non-existence dwell.
58. An ocean fulfills the needs of all,
Yet it cannot be fulfilled itself.
Also, in the Guru’s house
Such contradictions happily live together.
...
60. Although the supreme Reality is one, Differences arise within It;
But how does differentiation detract From the unity of the whole?
..
Just as the awakened and the awakener are the same,
The Guru is both the receiver of knowledge
And the one who imparts it as well.
Still, he continues to uphold the relationship of Master and disciple.
68. If one could see his own eye without a mirror, There would be no need of this sport of theGuru.
69. Therefore, he nourishes this intimate relationship
Without causing duality or disturbing the unity.
...
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