Paramahansa Yogananda

“ Dig, dig, yet deeper dig
In the stony earth for fount of song
Dig, dig, yet deeper dig
In soil of muse’s heart along.
Some sparkle is seen,
Some bubble is heard:
’T is then unseen,—
The bubble is dead. ”

“ The crowds of lilies, the linnet,
Perfumed blossoms, honey-mad bees,
Did meet on yonder bowered trees;
Now the lonesome field alone is left.
The bubbles, lilies, friends, dramatic thoughts—
They all their part did play and entertain,
And now beneath the grassy screen, to change
their displayed coats,
They quiet, concealed remain.
VARIETY
I sought for twins
I could not find;
I search my mind,
No twins have seen.
They seem alike,
Man and man, beast and brute,
Yet no faces two are like;
Ne’er the same song sang the lute.
Ne’er two hearts are same. ”

“ The petal-hours, unfolding smile,
My drooping, lagging heart beguile.
Day spreads its petals all
Of novel hopes and joys withal.
The rose-buds’ there,—
“Today” is here;
In time the rose-bud blooms,—
While lazy day often glooms. ”

“ The bounty of the trees did cease,
Colossal men have come and gone;—
But still my soul is marching on.
The aeons one by one are flying,—
The arrows one by one are lost,
Dimly, slowly life is fading,—
But still my soul is marching on. ”

“ The mysteries by life’s bare brink,—
Ambrosial fount that sleep beneath
The mystery caves on soil of truth:
Weep more drops, nay streams—oceans—of tears,
Thy duty is for peace to weep; thy only care
To seek thy work ”

“ Is where I humbly rest and lean:
A sacred heart
Tear washed and true
Doth draw me with its rue.
I take no bribe
Of strength or wealth
Of caste or church or scribe,
Of fame or faith or festive breath,
But wail for truth ”

“ In thee I wish to cease, or swoon.
Thou taught’st me first to love
Thy sky, the stars, the God above;
So my first homage meets,
O India, at thy feet!
From thee I now have learn’d to see,
To love all lands alike as thee ”

“ In her defense the thorns do sting,
To keep thee out by thorny ring;
Yet the perfumed petals’ show
Thy drowsing soul doth wake and draw:
If thou dost love the beauty alone
Why would’st thou rush to bleed from prickly
thorns? ”

“ Where travelers all of earth
Do walk in joyous haste
Or slothful sorrow’s state
I walk and wonder,—
In truth or blunder.
The path is cleft
To right and left,
In front, behind;—
The diverse ways I find,
Bewildered am I—
As baffling mazes do they lie ”

“ I'll burst the clouds, I'll clean the shoals,
I'll rip the sky in twain,
I’ll break my heart,
With question crush my brain—
I’ll ask and pray,
Will beg or steal
To find the friends long stolen away,
To know their woe or weal. ”

“ O Sovereign Soul, this earth and gods’
All high-abode and all encircling spheres,
Directions all, and earthly sods,
By Thee pervaded, far and near,
The worldly beings, struck by fear,
Thy wondrous form adore. ”

“ In stillness dark,
When noisy dreams have slept,
The house is gone to rest,
And busy life
Doth cease from strife,—
The soul in pity soft doth kiss
The truant flesh to soothe, and speak
With mind-transcending grace
Its soundless voice of peace. ”

“ Nor doomsday’s thunder drear
Dismantling earth and stars,
The cosmic beauties all to mar;
Dishevelling of trees
And light-haired skies,
Nor nature’s murderous mutiny
Nor man’s all-powerful destiny
Can touch me here. ”

“ THE HUMAN MIND
I love to roam alone, unseen,
In cities of the human mind,
Untrodden by the crooked thoughts
Vile-born,—unkind.
Incognito I wish to wander,
To living lanes my thoughts surrender
With simple wish to know and learn
The straight nice paths and danger turns. ”

“ In my mind doth rest thy throne—
Thy home
In me, in me.
O Ocean! endless to the eye
In boundless stretches thou dost lie;
But to me thou art small:
A tiny drop upon a ball,—
Thou art in me, in me. ”

“ All snug beneath the shady trees,
Enliv'n'd by birds and bumble bees,
Fanned by mothering air,-
From warmth and tear
I'll bathe my weary mind
In new-made joyous day:
Away dish-washing, cups and saucers, all away! ”

“ Arjuna, still human, was perplexed, being unable to reconcile the benign aspect of the Lord with His destructive aspect: doing good to men and the world as a whole on the one hand, and bringing death and destruction to countless creatures and worlds on the other. It has been shown here that life and death are both momentary scenes in the cosmic drama, meant not to hurt or please anybody, but designed to afford infinite opportunities to the Lord’s children for the attainment of higher and higher states of evolution through apparently unpleasant disturbances caused by great changes. ”

“ THE EVER NEW
Newer joys adorn the day,
Brighter burn through livelong night
The stars with purer light,
Brighter thoughts do brace my voice,
Newer words await my choice,
With heart of th’ new I ’ll sing my lay. ”

“ Layout 2
I AM HERE
I roamed alone by ocean’s shore
And watched: the wrestling, brawling waves did roar
Alive with Thy own restless Life.
Thy angry mood and ripply quiver,
Thy wrathful vastness made me shiver ”

“ Sage science splits
Each atom knit
By Thee, to find apace
Thy hiding place.
Is heart of atom,—electron,
Thy secret throne?
Deep we bore
To find Thy art, and lore
Of doings all sublime;
E’er hidden betimes. ”

“ Feigning dread the sky is blushing red
At the creeping sun’s gentle tread.
The earth changes robes
Of black and star-lit night
For dazzling silver light.
Dame Nature loves herself t’ array
In changing seasons’ colors gay ”

“ Delicious joys undreamed.
Behind the thin bright veil
Of scented feelings
I saw some fitful flash:
Some Glistening Presence rush.
I tiptoe stood,
Listening, watching;
I poured my heart,
Listening, watching. ”

“ Hence this allows no room for the finite questioning of Arjuna as to whether the Lord is benign or destructive. To him, to destroy life is not an absence of benignity, nor to give life a presence of it, as is the case with us. The Lord views life and death as forms of change only, according to His Cosmic Law. A law is law. It has been His nature, and always will be. There is no question about benignity or otherwise. ”

“ Or rustling leaves of trees.
When drunk in folly
I wander gaily
By the sandy shore,—
Who wakes me with a sudden roar?
When clouds do spread a veil
My precious joy to steal,—
Who tears the sheet away
To burst in redd’ning ray? ”

“ Oh, will that day arrive
When I shall ceaselessly ask, and drive
Eternal questions
Into Thine ear, O Eternity, and await solution
As to how weak weeds do grow and stand unbent,
Unshak’n beneath the trampling current ”

“ With boundless poise
He doth His will without a noise,
Ungrateful moods ignoring,
Unkindness all forgiving.
Truth clearly speaks to all,
But speaks not loud;
They hear its call
Who noises enthrall. ”

“ VANISHING BUBBLES
Many unknown bubbles float and flow,
Many ripples dance by me
And melt away in sea.
I like to know, ah, whence they come or whither
go—
The rain drops and dies,
My thoughts play wild and vanish quick,
The red clouds melt in skies ”

“ With the immortal spark of thought,
By the friction process brought
Of concentration
And distraction;—
The darkness burns
With a million tongues,
And now I spy
All past, all distant things as nigh. ”

“ Every individual is expected to do his duty unattached,with the consciousness of an intelligent agent merely, that he can reach those higher stages easily, and finally be in tune with that Great Being. ”

“ Where sparkling lives do dance so free:
As insects lost in beauty’s game
All swiftly, thoughtless rush to flame,
So fog-born passion’s fires pretend
To glow like Heav’nly light of Thine,
And draw on mortals to attend
The trumpet call to deathly line. ”

“ Whence, Oh, this soundless roar doth come
When drowseth matter’s dreary drum?—
The booming Om [1] on bliss’ shore breaks;
All heaven, all earth, all body shakes.
Cords bound to flesh are broken all,
Vibrations vile do fly and fall ”

“ Away, the partial love
That ’boldens nature to sit above
Her Maker! ”

“ But fears his baneful thirst to flame.
When, hark! a voice of counsel deep
Forbids him this to soil with lip.
The cup so small to mortal eye,—
The cup whose depth the wise can spy
Dries up, alas! if mortals drink ”