Two Lutes, One note

[Guest guest]

The Lover, out of boundless love,

Takes the form of the Beloved.

What beauty!

 

 

Both are made of the same nectar

And share the same food.

Out of supreme love

They swallow up each other

But separate again

For the joy of being two.

They are not completely the same

But neither are they different.

No one can tell exactly what they are.

 

 

How intense is their longing

To be with each other.

This is their greatest bliss.

Never, not even in jest,

Do they allow their unity

To be disturbed.

They are so averse to separation

That even though they have become

This entire world,

Never for a moment do they let

A difference come between them

 

 

 

 

Even though they see

All that is animate & inanimate,

Arising from within themselves,

They never recognize a third.

They sit together in the same place,

Both wearing a garment of light.

>From the beginning of time

They have been together,

Reveling in their own Supreme Love.

They created a difference

To enjoy this world.

When that "difference"

Had one glimpse of their intimacy

It could not help but merge

Back into the bliss

Of their eternal union.

 

 

 

 

Without the God,

There is no Goddess,

And without the Goddess

There is no God.

 

 

How sweet is their love!

The entire universe is too small

To contain them,

Yet they live happily

In the tiniest particle.

The life of one

Is the life of the other,

And not even a blade of grass

Can grow without both of them.

 

 

Only these two live

In this house

Called the universe.

When either one is asleep

The other stays awake

And plays the part of both.

Should both of them awake,

The whole universe

Would vanish without a trace.

 

 

They become two

For the sake of divine play,

But in every moment

They seek to become one again.

Both of them see together,

Both of them are seen together.

They are happy only when together.

 

 

Shiva has become all forms:

Both dark & light,

Both male & female.

By the union of these two halves

The whole universe comes to be.

 

 

Two lutes make one note.

Two roses make one fragrance.

Two lamps make one light.

Two lips - one word.

Two eyes - one sight.

Shiva & Shakti - one universe.

Though appearing separate

They are forever joined,

 

 

She cannot live without Her Lord.

And without Her,

The one who can do everything

Cannot even appear.

 

 

How can we distinguish

These two from each other?

He appears because of Her,

And she exists because of Him.

 

 

We cannot tell sugar

>From its sweetness

Nor camphor

>From its fragrance.

To capture light

We take hold of fire.

To capture the Supreme Shiva

We must take hold of Shakti.

 

 

Light illumines the Sun,

But the Sun itself

Creates that light.

The glorious Sun & its light

Are one & the same.

 

 

An object has a reflection:

When looking we see two images,

Yet there is only one thing.

Likewise, this world is a reflection

Of the Supreme Lord.

 

 

We may see two,

Yet only One exists.

Out of pure emptiness

She gives rise to the entire world.

Everything depends on Her.

Yet She exists only because

Of Her Lord.

Her form is the whole world,

It is the glory of God made manifest.

God Himself created Her form,

God Himself became that form.

Seeing Herself beautifully adorned,

She could not bear that Her Lord

Might have less then Herself.

And so she adorned Him

With every name & form in the universe.

 

 

Merged in unity

There was nothing to do.

So Shakti, the bringer of good fortune,

Created this world for the sake of divine play.

She reveals Her Lord's splendor

By melting Herself & becoming everything;

 

And He glorifies Her,

By hiding Himself completely.

Out of His great love to see Her

He becomes the Seer of the universe.

If he could not watch Her play,

He would have no reason to exist.

To meet her call

He takes on the form

Of the whole universe;

 

 

Without Her He remains naked.

He is so mysterious & subtle,

That while apparent

He cannot be seen.

It is by Her grace alone

That He comes into being.

She awakens Her Lord,

And serves Him a feast

The size of the universe.

 

 

With great delight

He swallows up every dish

And also the one who serves Him.

 

 

While He is sleeping,

She gives birth to all that exists

And all that does not exist.

While She is sleeping

He has no form at all.

Look!

He is hidden,

And cannot be found without Her.

For they are mirrors,

Each revealing the other.

Embracing Her,

Shiva enjoys His own bliss.

Though all the joy

Of the world belongs to Him,

There is no joy without Her.

She is His very form,

But Her radiance comes from Him.

Blending into one,

They enjoy the nectar of their own union.

Shiva & Shakti are one,

Like air & the wind,

Like gold & its luster.

Shiva & Shakti cannot be separated.

They are like musk & its fragrance,

Like fire & its heat.

In the light of the Sun

There is no difference between day & night

In the Light of the Supreme Truth

There is no difference between Shiva & Shakti.

 

 

Embracing each other

they merge into One,

As darkness merges with the light

At the breaking of dawn.

When we discover their Unity,

All words and all thoughts

dissolve into silence.