‘Your Breath in My Body’

Seeker as Sought

He laughs when you laugh, sneezes in your sleep,
yawns for you, coughs for you.
He bathes every day in the river of your thoughts.
He’s naked, all year round, and walks where you walk.
Just go up and introduce yourself.

(Lal Ded: Ranjit Hoskote)

Like treasure hiding in the earth
Like taste hiding in the fruit
Like gold hiding in the stone
Like oil hiding in sesame
Like fire hiding in the tree
No one can see Channamallikarjuna—
The Brahman hiding in yearning.

(Akka Mahadevi: H. S. Shivaprakash)

I’m no worshipper;
I’m no giver;
I’m not even a beggar,

O lord
without your grace.

Do it all yourself, my lord of the meeting rivers,
as a mistress would
when the maids are sick.

(Basavanna: A. K. Ramanujan)

I’m the one who has the body,
you’re the one who holds the breath.

You know the secret of my body,
I know the secret of your breath.

That’s why your body
is in mine.

You know
and I know, Ramanatha,

the miracle

of your breath
in my body.

(Devara Dasimayya: A. K. Ramanujan)

The essence of beauty
Springs from the eternal play
Of man as Krishna
And woman as Radha.
Devoted lovers
In the act of loving,
Seek to reach
The goal.
Who is devoted
To whom and how
Is of no interest.
Dedicate your soul
To the service of loving.
Love was born
To Radha
As one by one,
Her eight friends helped.
If your senses
And the mind
Can grasp the essence,
Krishna is reached.

Says Chandidas:
Listen, O brother man,
Man is the greatest Truth
Of all,
(Chandidas: Deben Bhattacharya)

Nothing beyond.

This is the big fight, King Ram.
Let anyone settle it who can.
Is Brahma bigger or where he came from?
Is the Veda bigger or where it was born from?
Is the mind bigger or what it believes in?
Is Ram bigger or the knower of Ram?
Kabir turns round, it’s hard to see —
Is the holy place bigger, or the devotee?

(Kabir: Linda Hess and Shukdev Singh)

Now I have understood well
That One must become like Him
Whom One seeks:

You are beyond desire, O Narayana!
And I am just like You.

It is like a thief
Against the Master Thief:
Who will rob whom?
We are testing our skills.

Says Tuka, I fight with myself:
I fear no loss of life.

(Tukaram: Dilip Chitre)