Breaking of Bonds

Poetic Renderinghen the Brahmin calls himself a devotee,he still clings to the thread of pride and lineage.When the flower-seller turns to devotion,he keeps the same stale well of illusion beside…

Flicker to Flame

Poetic RenderingSee, brother how shallow devotion can be!On the first day, the head bends in reverence.On the second, the hands move by habit.By the third, the eyelids droop,and drowsiness defeats…

Soul Remembers

Poetic RenderingCaught in the hunter’s snare,I struggle like a frightened beasttwisting, pulling, strainingyet the net of this world will not loosen.Like the doe bereft of her fawn,I wander crying through…

Silence of Oneness

Poetic RenderingThey asked him, “Basava, tell us trulyare there any real devotees left in this mortal world?”He smiled and said,“None, none, none!I alone am but a Bhakta,a mere seeker at…

Rolling Stones

Poetic RenderingStones rolling down a hill,a bottle gourd bobbing beside themtogether for a moment,yet never truly one.So too in this world:when those without the heart of devotionare taken as companions,discord…

False Company

Poetic RenderingFalse company burns the hearta heat that scorches, a presence that divides.The company of self-praise,that crowns itself in vanity,breeds only stench and turmoil.The company that destroys,that lifts another only…

Forget flavor 

Poetic RenderingO mind,like the monkey that once tasted jaggeryand forever remembers its sweetnesshold fast to what is true.Slip not awaylike the fox that, though its belly is full of cane,runs…

Divinity Knocks

Poetic RenderingWhen the Jangama arrives from afar,a traveler steeped in stillness, bearing truth’s own fragrancewe rise in reverence, seeing only the Linga in him.But if, in that moment,we forget the…