The Union of Shiva and Shakti

The Union of Shiva and Shakti (from Amritanubhav - The Nectar of Self-Awareness)

(excerpts)









I offer obeisance to the God and the Goddess,
The limitless primal parents of the universe.

The lover, out of boundless love,
Has become the beloved.
Both are made of the same substance
And share the same food.

Out of love for each other, they merge.
And again they separate for the pleasure of being two.

They are not entirely the same,
Nor are they not the same.
We cannot say exactly what they are.

They sit together on the same ground,
Wearing the same garment of light.
From time past remembrance they have lived thus -
United in Bliss.

Because of God, the Goddess exists,
And without Her, He is not.
They exist only because of each other.

How sweet is their union!
The whole world is too small to contain them,
Yet they live happily in the smallest particle.

These two are the only ones
Who dwell in this home called the universe.
When the Master of the house sleeps,
The Mistress stays awake,
And performs the functions of both.

When He awakes, the whole house disappears,
And nothing at all is left.

They became two for the purpose of diversity;
And both are seeking each other
For the purpose of becoming One.

Two lutes: one note.
Two flowers: one fragrance.
Two lamps: one light.

Two lips: one word.
Two eyes: one sight.
These two: one universe.

If we have the flames,
We have also the fire.
If we catch hold of Shakti,
We have Shiva as well.

To have a reflection, one must have an object.
If we see a reflection, we infer that an object exists.
Likewise, the supreme Reality which is One
Appears to be two.

Through Her, the absolute Void became the primal Person;
And She derived Her existence from Her Lord.

Shiva formed his beloved Himself;
And without Her presence,
No Person exists.

Because of Her form,
God is seen in the world.
Yet it was He
Who created Her form of Himself.

Embarassed by Her formless Husband,
And Her own graceful form,
She adorned Him with a universe
Of myriad names and forms.

In unity there is little to behold;
So She, the mother of abundance,
Brought forth the world as play.

He takes the role of Witness
Out of love of watching Her.
But if He cannot see Her,
He abandons Himself as well.

Through Her,
He assumes the form of the universe;
Without Her,
He is left naked.

When He conceals Himself,
He cannot be discovered without Her grace.
They are as mirrors, each to the other.

Shiva and Shakti are the same,
Like air and its motion,
Or gold and its lustre.
Or musk and its fragrance.

Embracing each other, they merge into one,
As darkness and light, at the breaking of the dawn.

The air along with its motion merges
Into the universal air.
Likewise, while attempting to see Shiva and Shakti,
Both the seer and his vision disappear.

They are like a stream of knowledge
From which a knower cannot drink
Unless he gives up himself.

So long as Unity is undisturbed,
And a graceful pleasure is thereby derived,
Why should not the water find delight
In the floral fragrance of its own rippled surface?

It is in this manner I bow
To the inseparable Shiva and Shakti.

A man returns to himself
When he awakens from sleep;
Likewise, I have perceived the God and Goddess
By waking from my ego.

When salt dissolves,
It becomes one with the ocean;
When my ego dissolved,
I became one with Shiva and Shakti.



With Eternal love and thanks to Vilasini, and Meg Christian.

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