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Dynamic Shakti parts from Consciousness (As seen on the plane relative where we move, But Consciousness and Shakti are not apart!) And each in love from basic oneness spring, Towards the other moves in ecstasy, And obstacles are met: this is the love play Of all creation; this our joy and woe.

This known, the secret of true love is known; Of knowledge and of action, too, is known; Life's purpose and fulfillment do not mystify; To consciousness all Shakti's units wend their way; When Shakti seeks in humility its source Then consciousness does spread out to embrace And then is manifest the Power Supreme.

The foolish Devas knew not the import Of Brahma's words: A bit like "Monster's apes" That prate of Brahma's incest (!) their minds flew To thoughts of union in blood and flesh, And Manmatha, the fool, decided to tempt, As asked by Brahma, with intention to teach: Let that wait: let the world prepare for Skanda's birth.

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Ye Indian Forests, noble, glorious, Ye wombs of mystic symbols beautiful, If ever ye were barbarous and crude, Ye changed at the touch of our sages great To homes of culture and civilization Where founts of piety and learning throve And life matured in beauty, love and truth.

O Mother Earth, prepare a bower of reeds, Cool, soothing, fragrant, filled with the breath of saints; And in it shall be, chaste as the world's pristine heart, A pond of lotuses that swoon in ecstasy;

Let the heart of the worlds tick tunefully For He will be born who will make us free, The joy of the worlds, the delight of Gauri.

Ye Indian Forests, guard this bower well, As ye have kept the treasures of our culture; On Ganga's waves afloat, the rays of the Redeemer Will take their earthly shape in the pond you hide; And vestal maidens will come here to nurse, And Gauri will come to embrace her child Whose splendour will shine like the red hue of blood

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Of Sootha, the supreme Sage, to whom the past Was clear like the lines on the palm of his hand, The saints assembled to hear him narrate The leelas of Lord Skanda, thus did ask - "O Great Sage, Mahamune, may we hear, How into their sad plight the Devas fell And how arose the foes that crushed without remorse".

All thoughts and deeds, good, bad, indifferent, Must find their due fulfillment in time's course, And perchance be the source of further deeds That keep life's drama playing endlessly: No thought, no word, no deed but must react In time's long vista as bloodshed or bloom, In the world's troubled life as light or gloom.

As laws of nature, broken or ignored Will mar the happy course of human life, As poisons injure and vitamins nourish, As the Sun must shine, the stream must flow down-hill, The law of karma, pivotal, supreme, Directs life's currents all in subtle mode And governs life in its worst complexity.

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O Sages, hear: Daksha, the son of Brahma, Was blessed by Lord Shiva with many a boon, For he did penance intense, rigorous And pleased the Lord in whom abide the triads Of Powers, and the ONE that transcends all; Thus blest by Shiva, Daksha rose to be The Ruler of the Devas and worlds three.

The Lord Supreme, in His immense delight, Conferred on Daksha yet another boon And blessed that he would be the father on earth Of Parvathi, put through a course of human birth, For she had dared to breathe words in dispute And had to win the fulness of peace and Truth In knowledge of the ONE that indwells all.

In Daksha's kingdom, in a lotus pond Afloat, Sri Parvati lay as a child, And King Daksha that chanced to pass that way Saw that rare Beauty that drew all his heart; And filled with love he cared not to know why; He took the child and named her Dakshayani, And in the fullness of his love she grew.

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In age, in beauty and in loveliness, In love, in duty and in piety, Dakshayani grew, but her love for parents Was but the sparkling spray of a cascade That spread at the feet of Siva, the Lord, To whom she vowed her heart and hand and life In love that would survive the chain of births and deaths.

With each beat of Her heart, each tick of Her pulse With all her modes of mind and moves of life-breath, With each glance of Her flashing radiant eyes, And each note of sound that She charged with love For Siva, ere it took articulate shape, Dakshayani sought Siva's holy feet, For Siva was the ONE whom She would wed.

Daksha, the king, watched this love with delight And fostered the hope that Siva would seek The hand of Parvati as a supplicant: But Siva met Dakshayani alone Where a pellucid stream curved over the roots Of a divine tree in a lovely glade And plighted his troth He would come and wed.

...to continue...