THE DEITY OF MY HEART
My heart is the temple of purity,
In it is the throne of Infinite
Power.
On this throne stands the Divine
Child of Love —
In the innocence of His
smiles,
His eyes beam with the
light of His grace.
Sweet music hovers on His
lips and joy thrills His limbs.
They move —
Hands aloft, he dances in
rhythms of ecstasy.
He circles round and
round.
Mingling joy, beauty,
light and love
Into one mass of Divine
perfection.
His eyes wink — a
splendour goes out —
And worlds come into
being.
He winks again — a
splendour is drawn in,
And worlds go into
non-being.
— Swami Ramdas
How I understand it:
In this poem, Beloved Papa explains how the
Undifferentiated Purushottama — who is at once the static (Pursha), the dynamic
(Prakriti) and the Transcendent Truth — manifests as Prakriti with names and
forms on the static Substratum or the Purusha, and then, in due course, withdraws
the manifestation to the Undifferentiated state; and also how the names and
forms of Prakriti co-exists with Purusha or static aspect. This can better be
understood in the words of Beloved Papa Swami Ramdas: “Purusha and Prakriti are
one and the same. The combined being of the Godhead is called Purushottama in
the Bhagavad Gita, who is at once static and dynamic, the nameless and formless
Reality and also all beings with names and forms… Every object is a combination
of Purusha and Prakriti. Prakriti of names and forms is seen with naked eyes
whereas Purusha, the substratum is Pure Consciousness. Prakriti of names and
forms is floating in the all-pervading Purusha. Prakriti is only Purusha with a
form and therefore they are same.”
Beloved Papa starts the poem with: “My
heart is the temple of purity”. There are two possibilities about the reference
made to “my heart”: one could be that Papa here is referring the Purushottama
aspect of the Divine; and the second option is that he is referring to his
heart or that of a devotee’s. In the heart of the Purushottama is the throne of
Infinite Power — the Purusha. On this throne (Purusha) stands the Divine Child
of Love (Prakriti) in all innocence and magnificence.
“His eyes beam with the light of His grace.
Sweet music hovers on His lips and joy thrills His limbs”, show the charm,
beauty, joy and magnificence of Prakriti.
When Prakriti swirls and dances
rhythmically in ecstasy mingling joy, beauty, light and love into one mass of
Divine perfection — representing the grandeur of the manifestation — a
splendour goes out and the manifestation comes forth.
For the Divine, the acts of creation,
preservation and destruction are as simple as a “wink” of an eye: “He winks and
worlds come into being. He winks again — a splendour is drawn in, and worlds go
into non-being.” Creation, preservation and destruction are like waves rising in
the ocean, remaining for some time and then becoming one with the ocean again.
Beloved Papa said: “On the infinite, calm and unruffled bosom of Shiva (Purusha), Shakti (Prakriti) enacts Her play assuming the forms of countless worlds — producing in them the three-fold movements of creation, preservation and destruction. It is evident that the first step for the soul is to dive deep into the depthless ocean of the still and tranquil spirit of Shiva (Purusha) and get absorbed in Him. Because, it is not possible for him (the aspirant) to know the unity and oneness of all things, which are apparently diverse and conflicting, unless he realises the basic oneness of the unchanging and unaffected Shiva (Purusha). The mystery of the supreme God lies in the neutralisation and reconciliation of these two ostensibly opposite, clashing eternal principles — Shiva and Shakti. This Divine riddle is beyond the scope or range of the most elevated intellectual consciousness to perceive or understand. To solve the riddle is to become the riddle itself.”
Prem Sudha:
The Marathi translation of this poem, as
enshrined in the collection called Prem Sudha, is given below:
मम ह्रदय-देवता
मम ह्रदय असें तें मंदिर पावित्र्याचे
बल अनंत तेथें सिंहासनतें साचें ।।धृ ।।
मधु स्मितमयी गोड निरागस
बालकरूपी प्रेमचि मूर्त
सिंहसनी त्या होय विराजत
बहुकान्ति कृपेची नेत्रीं झळकत आहे
संगीत अधरि तें , प्रमोद अंगीं वाहे. ।।१।।
कमलहस्त उभवी,नर्तन मंडल घेई
तो अत्यानंदे नाचत नाचत राही.
नर्तनिं त्याही मिसळत होती
प्रेम, सौंदर्य, प्रमोद, कांती
करुनी दिव्यत्वाची पूर्ती
लोचन-तेजानें विश्वे उदया येई
सकलही लोपुनी पुनर्निमिलनें जाई.
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