The Feminine

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

First a song, and then a question.....

 

 

LADY OF MY VOYAGE

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In the morning I awoke at the flutter of thy boat-sails,

 

Lady of my Voyage, and I left the shore to follow the

beckoning waves.

 

I asked thee, 'Does the dream-harvest ripen in the island

beyond the blue?'

 

The silence of thy smile fell on my question like the

silence of sunlight on waves.

 

The day passed on through storm and through calm,

 

The perplexed winds changed their course, time after time,

and the sea moaned.

 

I asked thee, 'Does thy sleep-tower stand somewhere beyond

the dying embers of the day's funeral pyre?'

 

No answer came from thee, only thine eyes smiled like the

edge of a sunset cloud.

 

It is night. Thy figure grows dim in the dark. Thy wind-blown

hair flits on my cheek and thrills my sadness with its scent.

 

My hands grope to touch the hem of thy robe, and I ask thee -

'Is there thy garden of death beyond the stars, Lady of my

Voyage, where thy silence blossoms into songs?'

 

Thy smile shines in the heart of the hush like the star-mist

of midnight.

 

............(From a translation by Rabindranath Tagore.)

 

 

THE QUESTION

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What is the position of the Feminine in Advaita?

 

Is she the beguiler and illusion to be discarded?

 

 

Warm regards,

Chittaranjan