1. The Witness.
Somewhere, deep, in the mists of Time,
I lived in some faraway land,
An unknown bond bound us together,
Like some mighty ocean to sand!
The waves came to wash and recede,
Left behind a crest of foam,
Scattered lifetimes that came to naught
How far I was from home!
But I’ve always heard your voice,
It came to me clear and sweet,
I knew you were my guide, Baba
So I held fast to your feet.
I have no fears of this life, Baba
Or the future in any clime,
For I know you lead me, Baba
Across the sands of Time!
2. The World is a Mela.
The world is a mere Mela, Baba
With its distracting sights and sounds
But it can never hold me in thrall, Baba
You will keep me out of its bounds!
I never have to shed desires, Baba
Never have to grapple with them
They simply fall along the way-
Like ripe leaves off a stem!
This is your doing, Baba
I hold so firmly to you,
This unbreakable bond, Baba
You have given to few!
But you did not deny me life, though-
I’ve lived like a full blown flower
Exposed to you, my radiant sun
Drowned in your drenching shower!
I gather the harvest, now, Baba
As if untouched by it all
Unmoved like a witness, Baba
Now ready for your call!
3. A Lotus Blooms, Unseen.
A lotus blooms, unseen,
As if hidden from view
Nurtured by the waters
And nourished by dew
Out of sight forever-
In this beautiful and dark
Heart’s pool of silence
Waiting for the radiance
Of the sun’s presence!
It rises like a beam of light
Upright on its stem
This lovely unseen flower
Glowing like a gem.
It shall be in bloom forever
Always pure and sweet,
My heart’s lotus laid out
For Baba’s Holy Feet!
4. Poems
How many poems must I write?
Before you summon me?
My anxious heart is like a brook
Running out to meet the sea!
Please, call me, Baba,
Before I lose my way
Beckon to me, Baba
So I can call it a day!
5. Only For Giving
Look at the rose in her garden bed
All dressed for Baba, in her robe of red
With her sweet and fragrant heart-
She stands upright like a work of art!
O! But a precious flower, living and breathing,
With a brief life meant only for giving!
Look at the lily, so pure and so white!
Absorbing the sun and radiating light
Stopping the heart and stunning the eye!
So gracious and lovely, she makes me cry!
Look at the lotus, embellishing the water!
Seat of the Gods, Heaven’s own daughter!
Creating an aura of beauty and light
Purifying our hearts with her auspicious sight!
What to speak of other flowers?
Captivating, exquisite, imbued with powers
To gladden our hearts and uplifting our mind
Drawing it away from the daily grind!
Often I wonder, why they attract me so
In their presence, our souls seem to grow!
In their short span of life- they say
“Live in glory if only for a day”!
6. The Wild Rose.
A wild rose is abloom
Ready to play its part,
Biding its time, quietly
In the cavern of my heart.
A beautiful rose
A many- petalled one
Silently waiting
For Baba-the Sun!
7. Baba, the best.
In the pond, you are the lotus,
So auspicious and bright,
Spreading an aura of magic
With your beauty and light.
In the forest, you are the tree,
The tallest and the best
Branches casting shade
With flowers in its crest.
In the sky, you are the sun
Glorious lamp at hand
Bringing sunrise and sunset,
On a canvas so grand!
In the depths of the earth
You are many a gem
Precious and sparkling
Like a diadem!
In the night you are the moon,
So benevolent and cool
Looking on in tenderness,
A divine pool!
Oh! Baba, you are so wonderful
The most precious, the best,
Those who can divine you
Are truly blest!
8. The Song of the Soul.
This life is a song
Which I must sing-
With a rainbow of ragas
So it could be strung-
I have plucked the melodies,
In silence and quiet
With a cadence, unbroken
In darkness or light,
I’ve laid out the lyrics
So it might unfold
Known only to me
With strings of gold.
Every experience, a verse
With rhyme and metre,
Whose meaning eludes me
Now, glimpsed only later!
Now, gathering them like sprays
Who can contain it now?
It leaps like a flood
To take its bow!
You are my sole audience, Baba
My inspiration and goal
To you, I offer, Baba
The song of my soul!
9. The Rose
Our spirits rise, at the sight of a rose
Beautiful, poised, striking a pose
Aloft on her stem, a splash of colour-
Who can resist her immense power?
So fresh, perfect, exquisite and red
Her fragrance through the garden she’ll spread
Unaware of her perfection or glory
The world knows her from times hoary!
Always in harmony with the world around
Living for others in silence profound.
Help us to be like you, show us the way
Spreading light and joy, day after day!
10. Sai Ram.
When the world wears you down
With its problems and its stress
Not knowing how to cope
You are in sheer distress!
Stop for a moment-
Simply get off track!
Don’t let worry breathe
Down your back!
It’s time to be still,
Time to be calm
Chanting the sacred mantra
Sai Ram! Sai Ram!
Sai Ram is the mantra
All- powerful and great!
Puts you forthwith
In that blessed state,
Unlocks all the treasures
Baba is waiting to give
Lessons in love and peace
And the right way to live!
Knowing which, we
Will be set free
Soar like a bird of Heaven
Towards Eternity!
11. The River.
The river has burst its banks
It won’t stop a minute-
It must rush like thunder
Now, who can contain it?
It will hurtle on its way
Performing many a feat,
Rushing to pay homage
At the ocean’s feet!
My heart is like the river
That must find its goal
Cannot rest content, until
I find Baba-my Over Soul!
13. God Is
Gaze into the heart of a rose
Smell its fragrant depths
And know that God is.
Watch the sun at dawn
Touch the world with light
And know God is.
Feel deeply the kindness,
The goodness in the human soul
And know God is.
14. Two Faces.
Come, watch this flower abloom
A spot of light in the green gloom
Hear the wind laugh and sing
There’s so much joy in everything!
The bubbling stream winds its way
No coaxing will make him stop or stay
Ever and on, he must go
To the silent centre, we will never know!
Things are born, grow old and die
Laughter now turns to a tear or sigh!
In human affairs when things perish
There is pain and much anguish
But look at the flowers, do they weep,
When the time comes for them to sleep?
One day in splendour, they stand
The next they vanish to another land!
Life and death are just two faces
One or the other must take their places
Return again and again to repeat their story
Come even like us for a momentary glory!
15. Listen to your Heart.
The heart has its reasons
No less profound than the head;
They spring from a fullness
Anchored deep, unsaid.
When one is washed by
This grand flood-tide
Know that no less a person
Than God is your guide!
16. Your Poem.
When a poem comes from you
It is like a sparkling stream!
Pure and pellucid-
A mountain stream!
That dips into yonder pool!
Perfect like-the mythical bird’
In its composure!
Its voice of silence, never heard!
Rejoicing in itself
Radiant to sight1
Content to dazzle
In its own light!
17. The Golden Book
The Golden Book sits on its stand
Opening its pages-
To visions so grand!
Opening my eyes
To some great mystery
I hope will help me to express
What I see!
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18. Your Pen.
You are the writer
You are the Giver,
Holding my hand
Forever and ever!
I look out frantically
As if searching in the dark
Looking continuously
For that divine spark,
To crown this work
With Your Divine Name!
Living always in the shadow
Of your Name and fame!
Have always been on pins
Never stopped writing
Since I heard you call-
You –the sole inspiration
Behind it all!
19. Baba.
You are all
Mighty Divinity,
Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu,
The Holy Trinity!
Mahalakshmi,
Saraswathi,
Parvathi-
Ensconced in Puttaparthi!
Who can forget you?
Who can resist?
What you are is
Evident everywhere-
What you are not
Doesn’t exist!
20. The ‘Padam’
Through swirling silk and a pleat,
We catch a glimpse of your sacred feet;
Someday, I shall rest my weary cheek
On your holy padam-that’s all I seek!
Here, I shall rest, where no senses can beguile
Quenched forever, in the sunshine of your smile!
I - a blossom, living in the glade
Having found my sheltering shade!
21. Nature in the act of Worship.
Winding pathways, full of grass,
Converge or diverge, as we pass!
Lead us on to sacred places
Dark, cool, holy spaces!
There’s so much more than meets the eye
Laid out lovingly betwixt earth to sky!
Here, are flowers along the way
Garlands laid out for you, today!
All Nature in the act of worship
In such harmony and kinship!
Here, comes a brook, rippling down
O’er damp rocks, rough and brown
Singing bhajans as it skips along
Filling the forest with its song!
Look! At the moss, so soft and sweet!
Laid out like a carpet for thy holy Feet,
With a heart full of words unsaid
Waiting for your divine tread!
Look at the gorgeous trees all aflame
In summer robes to call thy Name!
Their branches sway and call’
“Sai Baba! You are all!”
A lone cloud comes floating by
Whispers to a stretch of sky
We bow to you, Oh! Sathya Sai!
We bow to you Oh! Sathya Sai!
22. The Golden Rose
You scatter scenes so I can hold
Them to me like nuggets of gold!
A cool, drenching April shower,
A radiant rosy, puja flower!
Everything, a source of delight
Every object a sacred sight!
Now, what’s this-today, I see?
Against the garden shrubbery?
Baba, what a form you chose
Coming in the form of a golden rose!
23. The Koel
The koel has been calling
What does he seek?
Searching the sky endlessly
With his upturned beak?
His song floats
In the morning air
Stops my heart
Like a fervent prayer!
Baba, we are pilgrims both
The koel and I
Searching the stretch
Of the limitless sky!
Stopping for a moment
To sing or sigh
Looking in vain for
Our beloved Sai!
24. The Chakora Bird
I thirst like yon Chakora bird
For a sip of holy water!
My face turned towards the clouds
A long-lost Heaven’s daughter!
Come, Baba, like the rain
Stirring the summer breeze
Fill this parched heart
With your grace and peace!
I can bear separation
The long wait, I will endure
Knowing you will come one day
With raindrops sweet and pure!
I shall thirst no more,
When I reach thy holy Feet!
For I shall have drunk
To my heart’s content-ambrosia-sweet!
25. In the Ocean of Nectar
As these verses and poems
Come pouring-
Settle in my heart,
And keep my spirits soaring!
I am drunk it seems,
On these honeyed sips
As they come to me
In drops and drips.
In this ocean of Nectar, Baba
I remain asleep like the bee
Nestled in thy Heart
And sure of Eternity!
26. If Creation is you
Sometimes I don’t know what to do
If everything in Creation is you
Then every object is worthy of deference
And has to be looked upon
With utmost reverence!
Give me fresh insights
So I can sing
Find you in the heart
Of everything!
27. The Call
I stop and wonder every morning
Will the call, come today?
What do I do with every breath?
But pray, pray, pray!
And when it, finally comes
Should I not be ready?
Light pouring out from every side
To make me steady, steady, steady!
Baba, it shall not be easy
To leave everything behind!
Only you can rein in
My mind, mind, mind!
28. Blue water lily
Bright, water lily
So beautiful and blue
I can’t help, but
Gaze and gaze at you!
You are so perfect
So lovely to behold
With your fine textured petals
And heart of gold!
Ornament of beauty
I’m drawn to you-
So fresh and fragrant
And wet with dew!
For in you I see
My beloved’s face!
Krishna come to earth
With my Baba’s face!
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