Non-learning (310-319)
310: The Unlearned are they Who hold not to Truth
Even the unlearned, if blessed with the vision of Truth Supreme,
Them the Lord approves with His benign Eye of Grace;
But if the learned seeming fail to hold the truth,
Unlearned are they indeed, blind to True Love’s divine rays.
311: Unlearned Realize not God’s Pervasiveness
The truly learned live pursuing the one and only path,
But others say, “Many the paths of knowledge are,”
The God Supreme is in all places present;
They the unlearned are, of God’s pervasiveness unaware.
312: God Abides not in the Hearts of Unlearned
Things transitory you fix in heart as abiding joys,
This mnortal body frail you deem as enduring stuff;
Though the Lord God all life pervades,
Absent is He and His Light from the hearts of the unlearned.
313: Unlearned Descend to Hell
Of all power bereft, I fell into Karma’s griefs,
Learning not Hara’s ways, into dark abysmal depths I fell;
I learnt not to stamp the Great Benefactor in my heart,
I learnt only to dance down the primrose path to hell.
314: Unlearned Sport in Carnal Pleasures
Knowing full well that life is a fleeting, vaporous mist,
The truly learned seek the path of Dharma and penance strict,
But the not-learned, in truth, this world’s sordid knaves,
Sport in carnal joys, with Karmic misery mixt.
315: Lord is the Fruit of Heavenly Love
The Lord gave us the Heaven-born gift of the Fruit of Love
His Light mingled with the eyes where it remained;
But inside the earth men sought it in folly vain;
And brooding and writing, they grew thin and pined.
316: Unlearned Do Not See Him
Without knowing the 36 tattvas and their scope
It is not possible to have a vision of the supreme,
Only by knowing the tattvas wisdom can dawn,
Only those are educated who go to the limits of the tattvas and have a vision of
reality.
317: Avoid The Unlearned
The fools, of learning devoid, unfit for us even to see
The fools, of learning devoid, their words unfit to hear
The fools, of learning devoid, in fools find their friends,
The fools, of learned devoid, to wisdom come no near.
318: The Truly Learned Have Vision Of Sivajnana
Though learned, fools are they if with Sivajnana they’re not acquainted,
If kith and kin they give not up nor strike at root of ignorance
As their eyes turn not to quarters
They alone truly reckon who, wise in love, win the truth.
319: True Learning Brings Light Divine
The being first, even to the immortals the light divine,
The light that devotees seek, the great god supreme
Some proudly claim that learning well, they know him truly well
Yet they catch not of his light the faintest gleam.
Middle Path (320-323)
320: Middle Path Is Wisdom
Unless you in middle path stand, wisdom you have not,
To those who in middle path stand, hell opens not its gate,
Those that in middle path stand, heavenly beings are they;
In the noble fellowship of the just, I too walked in their way.
321: Gods And Saints Stand In Middle Path
The blue-dark cloud-hued being Vishnu in middle path stood,
The Brahma who chants the Vedas four in the middle path stood,
The wise saintly souls also in middle path stood,
He, our lord supreme – He, in middle path stood.
322: Walk With The Just
Some saintly became, because they in middle path stood,
Some to heavenly beings turned, because they in justice stood,
Some to Siva-state attained, because they in justice stood,
And so in the good company of the just, I, too, unfaltering stood.
323: The Just Adore His Feet
What he creates, none but he destroys;
On their devout heads, the just bore aloft his holy feet;
Who chant the pure name with ardour
And cling thereof, in the society of the just, they meet.
Abstaining From Drink (324-336)
324: Drunkards Lose Sense Of Right And Wrong
The cow fed on broth of rice wanders not from tank to tank
The cow denied its drink of broth grows weak and lank
Who swill the toddy neat, from righteousness go astray
Truest drink is Sivananda, the bliss supreme, far and away.
325: Sivananda Wine Brings Eternal Self-Forgetfulness
In sweet rapture lost, soul-hynotic for the Siva-samadhi state,
The ever-sweet nectar of Sivananda – in the bliss overflow;
On such nectar fed, you lose not the self-bliss pure;
For ever thus you sit and lie the holy feet below.
326: The Wicked Drink In Vama Tantra
Lust and drink, fit for the wicked are they;
In ritual unholy they drink and lose the senses
But the wise drink the nectar streaming from his feet,
Which destroys egoism and bigotry.
327: Drinking In Vama Tantra Worship Leads To Perdition
They drink and perish, who to the vama sect belong.
The lustful ones in sensual delights are wholly lost;
But the pure souls find the light of sacrifices in their inner flame;
They, who his true name chant, approach him fast.
328: Truth Eludes Drunkards
They see not the inner truth, know not the pasu-pasa,
They dwell not in the bounteous lord’s divine grace;
In the clear light of wisdom, Sivayoga they seek not,
They, who soak in liquors, truth never can appraise.
329: Followers Of False Religion Neither Seek Nor See Him
The fools who swear by the faith that our senses numbs,
Who yield to the heady joys of drink – they neither seek nor see
Mamaya’s home, for the maya’s fetters are they bound;
But recovered from maya’s hold, they merge in the lord and are free.
330: Wine Stupefies Senses And Destroys Truth
The fumes of wine stupor bring and destroy the truth,
And make us seek the false, delusive joys of lust;
Such advance not to wisdom true, of sweet reason compact,
Will such e’er attain the eternal bliss truest?
331: Joys Of Sivananda Nectar
In meditation lost, rid of the cycle of night and day,
Dead to outward things, they drink not the bliss-nectar
The bliss of the lord’s feet that neither night nor day knoweth,
I, caught in maya causing night and day, struggle to reach.
332: True Sakti Worship Seeks Divine Nectar
Sakti seeking, some religious sects ritual drinks consume,
But Sakti dies when the o’er- powered senses swoon;
True Sakti, indeed, in Sivajnanan finds its birth,
To merge in truth-wisdom-bliss – and to other things immune.
333: Sakthi And Siva Are One
If Sakthan his grace imparts, Sakti’s grace we have,
If Sakti her grace imparts, Sakthan’s grace we gain,
Sakti and Siva, if both in heart we hold,
Then in us, truly, the siddhis eight do shine.
334: Divine Nectar Leads to Siddhis
All Tattvas and egoity past, Truth of self realised,
In truest joy immersed, of false penances void,
Rid of worldly lure, drunk full of Heavenly Bliss,
This indeed is Siddhi true and Sivananda unalloyed.
335: Yogis Seek Ambrosia of the Cranial Moon
The yogis who, breath in control held, yearn for
The nectared delights of Contemplation’s Moon,
The eight Siddhis they seek; but witless fools are they
Who to toddy yield and in its heady joys let their senses swoon.
336: Drink Divine Nectar in Samadhi
Open and drink deep the nectar that gushes from the spring;
Unfold the petals of the Holy Master’s Lotus Feet;
Lead the Yoga-breath through the spiring channel up
And thus in Samadhi ascending,
Reach the Divine Good in holy meet.