Poem-- The Meadow

The following poem describes very appropriately the condition of the devotee who has walked a certain distance on the path that leads to self-realization. The individual who has finally risen above the gross and mundane realms of the physical world and has now started to appreciate the nuances of the much finer and subtle astral world. The individual for whom one of the three veils as been lifted and thus he is able to perceive the light and truth clearer than ever. This poem also stresses that the devotee even though having undertaken a remarkable journey is still not at his destination... And the reason being that in the end there is no destination. What finally awaits him is limitless eternity.

The Meadow
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The Pastures, the hedge, and beyond the hedge
Beyond the hedge is the sledge,
Leading up to the divine cage.

The map of life is nothing but a meadow,
and we are the ones walking in it,
We take the pastures to be our abode,
ever putting on a handsome skit.

The pastures delight us endlessly,
still we look ever for something else,
Carelessly though we stroll through them,
the pastures lead on to some place else.

One day as I stroll'd beyond beck and call,
I caught a glimpse of an endless hedge,
The pastures were no endless world after all,
miles still lay beyond the ledge.

There came one day, the pastures felt dull,
I yearned to see the world beyond,
For me the hedge was a stepping stone,
to begin the journey that lay beyond.

I stood beyond, and gazed at the pastures,
empty and lifeless, now they were to me.
The beauty of the world till now unseen
was apparent, as I saw the cosmic dream.

I journeyed further, though I felt not weary,
The divine will now guiding my soul,
I left behind the things, I held so dearly,
the ultimate desire, filled my whole.

The golden sledge lead me through,
as I neared to exit the maze,
the bodily walls, I had outgrew
as steadily I approached the divine cage.

The journey was still not at an end
divine though this cage was,
in divinity forever I had to blend,
t'was the reason I had left the boughs.

I smiled and now rested a while,
silently viewing the cosmic dream
I have still to travel many a mile,
before I flow as one with the divine stream.


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Ajinkya Mate