Poetic RenderingWealth stained by wrongdoingcan never serve the holyjust as the milk of a dognourishes only its own kind.How can devotion’s nectar arisefrom the poison of greed?Gold washed in another’s…

Poetic RenderingThey promised they would comeyet the path lies empty still.Whom shall I send as messenger now?To whom shall I bow and plead again?Whose feet remain for me to seek?If…

Poetic RenderingWhat use is muddy water that neither quenches nor cleanses?What use is gold if it lies hidden, never shared nor spent?What joy in a mango ripening high upon the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Poetic RenderingPlant bitter neem, then build around ita wall of sugared sweetnessmilk it with kindness,bathe it in honey,pour over it all the gentleness of the worldyet will the neem turn…

Poetic RenderingWho can be called a bhaktaif he still clings to the companythat pulls him from the path?Who is a Maheshwaraif desire and greed still stirfor another’s wealth?Who is a…

Poetic RenderingWhen a bhakta steps into the home of another bhakta,let service rise from the heartas naturally as breath.For if we think, even for a moment,that we are doing him…