{"id":1496,"date":"2013-07-13T01:35:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:35:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:35:13","slug":"72-the-rishi-vol-05-collected-poems-volume-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/05-collected-poems-volume-05\/72-the-rishi-vol-05-collected-poems-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-72_The Rishi.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n


\n\tThe <\/font>
\n\tRishi<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n
 <\/td>\n\n
\n

\n(King
\nManu in the former ages of the world, when the Arctic continent still\u00a0 <\/span>subsisted, seeks knowledge from the Rishi<\/span> of the Pole who after long baffling him with
\nconflicting side-lights of the knowledge, reveals to him what it chiefly
\nconcerns man to know.)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tMANU<\/font><\/span>
<\/span><\/font>
\n\t
Rishi<\/span> who trance-held on the mountains old
        Art slumbering, void
Of sense or motion, for in the spirit’s hold
       Of unalloyed
Immortal bliss thou
\n\tdreamst<\/span> protected! Deep
       Let my voice glide
Into thy dumb retreat and break that sleep
      Abysmal. Hear!
The frozen snows that heap thy giant bed
       Ice-cold and clear,
The chill and desert heavens above thee spread
       Vast, austere,
Are not so sharp but that thy warm limbs brook
       Their bitter breath,
Are not so wide as thy immense outlook
       On life and death:
Their vacancy thy silent mind and bright
\n\t       Outmeasureth<\/span>.
But ours are blindly active and thy light
       We have forgone.<\/p>\n

R<\/font><\/span>ISHI
<\/span><\/font>
\n\t
Who art thou, warrior armed gloriously
        Like the sun? .
Thy gait is as an empire and thine eye
        Dominion.<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/p>\n

King Manu, of the Aryan peoples lord,
        Greets thee, Sage.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 297 <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nR<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

I know thee, King, earth to whose sleepless sword
\n         
\nWas heritage.
\nThe high Sun’s distant glories gave thee forth
\n         
\nOn being’s edge:
\nWhere the slow skies of the auroral<\/span> North
\n         
\nLead in the morn
\nAnd flaming dawns for ever on heaven’s verge
\n        
\nWheel and turn,
\nThundering remote the clamorous Arctic surge
\n         
\nSaw thee born.
\nThere ’twas thy lot these later Fates to build,
\n         
\nThis race of man
\nNew-fashion. 0 Watcher with the mountains wild,
\n        
\nThe icy plain,
\nThee I too, asleep, have watched, both when the Pole
\n        
\nWas brightening wan
\nAnd when like a wild beast the darkness stole
\n         
\nProwling and slow
\nAlarming with its silent march the soul.
\n         
\n0 King, I know
\nThy purpose; for the vacant ages roll
\n         
\nSince man below
\nConversed with God in friendship. Thou, reborn
\n          
\nFor men perplexed,
\nSeekest<\/span> in this dim aeon<\/span>
\nand forlorn
\n         
\nWith evils vexed
\nThe vanished light. For like this Artic land
\n          
\nDeath has annexed
\nTo sleep, our being’s summits cold and grand
\n         
\nWhere God abides,
\nRepel the tread of thought. I too, 0 King,
\n          
\nIn winds and tides
\nHave sought Him, and in armies thundering,
\n          
\nAnd where Death strides
\nOver whole nations. Action, thought and peace
\n          
\nWere questioned, sleep,
\nAnd waking, but I had no joy of these,
\n           
\nNor ponderings deep,                                             <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 298<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nAnd pity was not sweet enough, nor good
\n           
\nMy will could keep.
\nOften I found Him for a moment, stood
\n          
\nAstonished, then
\nIt fell from me. I could not hold the bliss,
\n          
\nThe force for men,
\nMy brothers. Beauty ceased my heart to please,
\n          
\nBrightness in vain
\nRecalled the vision of the light that glows
\n          
\nSuns behind:
\nI hated the rich fragrance of the rose;
\n          
\nWeary and blind,
\nI tried of the suns and stars; then came
\n          
\nWith broken mind
\nTo heal me of the rash devouring flame,
\n          
\nThe dull disease,
\nAnd sojourned with this mountain’s summits bleak,
\n          
\nThese frozen seas.
\nKing, the blind dazzling snows have made me meek,
\n         
\nCooled my unease.
\nPride could not follow, nor the restless will
\n         
\nCome and go;
\nMy mind within grew holy, calm and still
\n         
\nLike the snow.<\/p>\n

M<\/font><\/span>ANU
\n<\/span><\/font>
\n
\n
\nO thou who wast<\/span> with chariots formidable
\n         
\nAnd with the bow!
\nVoiceless and white the cold unchanging hill,
\n         
\nHas it then
\nA mightier presence, deeper mysteries
\n        
\nThan human men?
\nThe warm low hum of crowds, towns, villages,
\n        
\nThe sun and rain,
\nThe village maidens to, the water bound,
\n        
\nThe happy herds,
\nThe fluting of the shepherd lads, the sound
\n        
\nMyriad of birds,
\nSpeak these not clearer to the heart, convey
\n        
\nMore subtle words?<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 299<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nHere
\nis but great dumb night, an awful day
\n         
\nInert and dead.<\/p>\n

R<\/font><\/span>ISHI
\n<\/span><\/font>
\n
\n
\nThe many’s<\/span> voices fill the listening ear,
\n         
\nDistract the head:
\nThe One is silence; on the snows we hear
\n          
\nSilence tread.<\/p>\n

M<\/font><\/span>ANU
\n<\/span><\/font>
\n
\n
\nWhat hast thou garnered from the crags that lour,
\n          
\nThe icy field?<\/p>\n

<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/p>\n

0 King, I spurned this body’s death; a Power
\n          
\nThere was, concealed,
\nThat raised me. Rescued from the pleasant bars
\n          
\nOur longings build,
\nMy winged soul went up above the stars
\n          
\nQuesting for God.<\/p>\n

<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/p>\n

Oh, didst thou meet Him then? in what bright field
\n          
\nUpon thy road?<\/p>\n

R<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

I asked the heavenly wanderers as they wheeled
\n           
\nFor His abode.<\/p>\n

M<\/font><\/span>ANU<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nCould glorious Saturn and his rings of hue
\n           
\nDirect thy flight?<\/p>\n

\tR<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nSun could not tell, nor any planet knew
\n           
\nIts source of light,
\nNor could I glean that knowledge though I paced
\n          
\nThe worlds beyond
\nAnd into outer nothingness have gazed.
\n           
\nTime’s narrow sound<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 300<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\n\tI crossed, the
\ntermless<\/span> flood where on the Snake
\n           
\nOne slumbers throned<\/span>,
\nAttempted. But the ages from Him break
\n          
\nBlindly and Space
\nForgets its origin. Then I returned
\n          
\nWhere luminous blaze
\nDeathless and ageless in their ease unearned
\n           
\nThe ethereal race.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nDid the gods tell thee? Has Varuna<\/span> seen
\n           
\nThe high God’s face?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nHow shall they tell of Him who marvel at sin
\n            
\nAnd smile at grief?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nDid He not send His blissful Angels down
\n            
\nFor thy relief?<\/p>\n

\tR<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nThe Angels know Him not, who fear His frown,
\n            
\nHave fixed belief.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nIs there no heaven of eternal light
\n           
\nWhere He is found?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nThe heavens of the Three have beings bright
\n            
\nTheir portals round,
\nAnd I have journeyed to those regions blest,
\n            
\nThose hills renowned.
\nIn Vishnu’s house where wide Love builds his nest,
\n             
\nMy feet have stood.<\/p>\n

\tM<\/font><\/span>ANU<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Is he not That, the blue-winged Dove of peace,
\n              
\nFather of Good?<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 301<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

 <\/font>R<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nNor Brahma, though the suns and hills and seas
\n             
\nAre called his brood.<\/p>\n

\tM<\/font><\/span>ANU<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nIs God a dream then? are the heavenly coasts
\n             
\nVisions vain?<\/p>\n

\tR<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nI came to Shiva’s roof; the flitting ghosts
\n             
\nCompelled me in.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nIs He then God whom the forsaken seek,
\n             
\nThings of sin? .<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nHe sat on being’s summit grand, a peak
\n              
\nImmense of fire.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nKnows He the secret of release from tears
\n              
\nAnd from desire?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nHis voice is the last murmur silence hears,
\n              
\nTranquil and dire.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nThe silence calls us then and shall enclose?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\n               
\nOur true abode
\nIs here and in the pleasant house He chose
\n               
\nTo harbour God.<\/p>\n

\tM<\/font><\/span>ANU<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nIn vain thou hast travelled the unwonted stars
\n               
\nAnd the void hast trod!<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 302<\/font><\/span> <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n


\nR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nKing, not in vain. I knew the tedious bars
\n             
\nThat I had fled,
\nTo be His arms whom I have sought; I saw
\n             
\nHow earth was made
\nOut if his being; I perceived the Law,
\n             
\nThe Truth, the Vast,
\nFrom which we came and which we are; I heard
\n             
\nThe ages past
\nWhisper their history, and I knew the Word
\n             
\nThat forth was cast
\nInto the unformed potency of things
\n              
\nTo build the suns.
\nThrough endless Space and on Time’s iron wings
\n              
\nA rhythm runs
\nOur lives pursue, and till the strain’s complete
\n              
\nThat now so moans
\nAnd falters, we upon this greenness meet,
\n              
\nThat measure tread.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nIs earth His seat? this body His poor bold
\n                 
\nInfirmly made?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nI flung off matter like a robe grown old;
\n                
\nMatter was dead.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nSages have told of vital force behind:
\n                
\nIt is God then?<\/p>\n

\tR<\/font><\/span>ISHI<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nThe vital spirits, move but as a wind
\n                
\nWithin men.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nMind then is lord that like a sovereign sways
\n                
\nDelight and pain?<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 303<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n


\nR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nMind is His wax to write and, written, rase<\/span>
\n                
\nForm and name.<\/p>\n

\tM<\/font><\/span>ANU<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nIs thought not He who has immortal eyes
\n                
\nTime cannot dim?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nHigher, 0 King, the still voice bade me rise
\n               
\nThan thought’s clear dream.
\nDeep in the luminous secrecy, the mute
\n                
\nProfound of things,
\nWhere murmurs never sound of harp or lute
\n               
\nAnd no voice sings,
\nLight is not, nor our darkness, nor these bright
\n                Thunderings<\/span>,
\nIn the deep steady voiceless core of white
\n               
\nAnd burning bliss,
\nThe sweet vast centre and the cave divine
\n                
\nCalled Paradise,
\nHe dwells within us all who dwells not in
\n                 
\nAught that is.<\/p>\n

\tM<\/font><\/span>ANU<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nRishi<\/span>, thy thoughts are like the blazing sun
\n                
\nEye cannot face.
\nHow shall our souls on that bright awful One
\n                
\nHope even to gaze
\nWho lights the world from His eternity
\n               
\nWith a few rays?<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tR<\/span><\/font>ISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nDare on thyself to look, thyself art He,
\n               
\nO Aryan, then.
\nThere is no thou nor I, beasts of the field,
\n              
\nNor birds, nor men,
\nBut flickerings<\/span> on a many-sided shield
\n              
\nPass and remain,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 304<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\nAnd this
\nwinged and that with poisonous tongue
\n              
\nHissing coils.
\nWe love ourselves and hate ourselves, are wrung
\n              
\nWith woes and toils
\nTo slay ourselves or from ourselves to win
\n               
\nShadowy spoils.
\nAnd through it all, the rumour<\/span> and the din,
\n               
\nVoices roam,
\nVoices of harps, voices of rolling seas,
\n               
\nThat rarely come
\nAnd to our inborn old affinities
\n              
\nCallus home.
\nShadows upon the many-sided Mind
\n              
\nArrive and go,
\nShadows that shadows see; the vain pomps<\/span> wind
\n               
\nAbove, below,
\nWhile in their hearts the single mighty God
\n               
\nWhom none can know,
\nGuiding the mimic squadrons with His nod
\n               
\nWatches it all-
\nLike transient shapes that sweep with half-guessed truth
\n               
\nA luminous wall.<\/p>\n

<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\nM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t<\/span><\/font>Alas! is life then vain? Our gorgeous youth
\n               
\nLithe and tall,
\nOur sweet fair women with their tender eyes
\n              
\nOutshining stars,
\nThe mighty meditations of the wise,
\n              
\nThe grandiose wars,
\nThe blood, the fiery strife, the clenched dead hands,
\n              
\nThe circle sparse,
\nThe various labour in a hundred lands,
\n              
\nAre all these shows
\nTo please some audience cold? as in a vase
\n              
\nLily and rose,
\nMixed snow and crimson, for a moment blaze
\n              
\nTill someone throws
\nThe withered petals in some outer dust,
\n               
\nHeeding not, –<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n– 305<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe
\nvirtuous man made one with the unjust,Is<\/span> this our
\nlot?<\/p>\n

\tRISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\n0 King, sight is not vain, nor any sound.
\n              
\nWeeds that float
\nUpon a puddle and the majestic round
\n               
\nOf the suns
\nAre thoughts eternal, – what man loves to laud
\n               
\nAnd what he shuns;
\nThrough glorious things and base the wheel of God
\n               
\nFor ever runs.
\n0 King, no thought is vain; our very dreams
\n              
\nSubstantial are;
\nThe light we see in fancy, yonder gleams
\n               
\nIn the star.<\/p>\n

\tMANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nRishi<\/span>, are we both dreams and real? the near
\n               
\nEven as the far?<\/p>\n

\tRISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nDreams are we not, 0 King, but see dreams, fear
\n              
\nTherefore and strive.
\nLike poets in a wondrous world of thought
\n              
\nAlways we live,
\nWhose shapes from out ourselves to being brought
\n              
\nAbide and thrive.
\nThe poet from his vast and labouring<\/span> mind
\n              
\nBrings brilliant out
\nA living world; forth into space they wind,
\n               
\nThe shining rout,
\nAnd hate and love, and laugh and weep, enjoy,
\n                
\nFight and shout,
\nKing, lord and beggar, tender girl and boy,
\n                
\nFoemen, friends;
\nSo to His creatures God’s poetic mind
\n                
\nA substance lends.
\nThe Poet with dazzling inspiration blind,
\n               
\nUntil it ends,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tPage \u2013 306<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nForgets
\nHimself and lives in what He forms;
\n               
\nFor ever His soul
\nThrough chaos like a wind creating storms,
\n               
\nTill the stars roll
\nThrough ordered space and the green lands arise,
\n               
\nThe snowy Pole,
\nOcean and this great heaven full of eyes,
\n               
\nAnd sweet sounds heard,
\nMan with his wondrous soul of hate and love,
\n               
\nAnd beast and bird, –
\nYes, He creates the worlds and heaven above
\n               
\nWith a single word;
\nAnd these things being Himself are real, yet
\n               
\nAre they like dreams, .
\nFor He awakes to self He could forget
\n               
\nIn what He seems.
\nYet, King, deem nothing vain: through many veils
\n               
\nThis Spirit gleams.
\nThe dreams of God are truths and He prevails.
\n               
\nThen all His time
\nCherish thyself, 0 King, and cherish men,
\n               
\nAnchored in Him.<\/p>\n

MANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nUpon the silence of the sapphire main
\n            
\nWaves that sublime
\nRise at His word and when that fiat’s stilled
\n             
\nAre hushed again,
\nSo is it, Rishi<\/span>, with the Spirit concealed,
\n             
\nThings and men?<\/p>\n

\tRISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nHear then the Truth. Behind this visible world
\n             
\nThe eyes see plain,
\nAnother stands, and in its folds are curled
\n             
\nOur waking dreams.
\nDream is more real, which, while here we wake,
\n             
\nUnreal seems.
\nFrom that our mortal life and thoughts we take.
\n              
\nIts fugitive gleams<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 307<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nAre
\nhere made firm and solid; there they float
\n              
\nIn a magic haze,
\nMelody swelling note on absolute note,
\n              
\nA lyric maze,
\nBeauty on beauty heaped pell-mell to chain
\n              
\nThe enchanted gaze,
\nThought upon mighty thought with grandiose strain
\n             
\nWeaving the stars.
\nThis is that world of dream from which our race
\n             
\nCame; by these bars
\nOf body now enchained, with laggard pace,
\n              
\nBorne down with cares,
\nA little of that rapture to express
\n             
\nWe labour hard,
\nA little of that beauty, music, thought
\n             
\nWith toil prepared;
\nAnd if a single strain is clearly caught,
\n              
\nThen our reward
\nIs great on earth, and in the world that floats
\n               
\nLingering awhile
\nWe hear the fullness and the jarring notes
\n              
\nReconcile, –
\nThen travel forwards. So we slowly rise,
\n              
\nAnd every mile
\nOf our long journey mark with eager eyes;
\n               
\nSo we progress
\nWith gurge<\/span> of revolution and recoil,
\n              
\nSlaughter and stress
\nOf anguish because without fruit we toil,
\n              
\nWithout success;
\nEven as a ship upon the stormy flood
\nWith fluttering sails
\nLabours towards the shore; the angry mood
\n              
\nOf Ocean swells,
\nCalms come and favouring<\/span> winds, but yet afar
\n               
\nThe harbour pales
\nIn evening mists and Ocean threatens war:
\n                
\nSuch is our life.
\nOf this be sure, the mighty game goes on,
\n               
\nThe glorious strife,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 308<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nUntil
\nthe goal predestined has been won.
\n               
\nNot on the cliff
\nTo be shattered has our ship set forth of old,
\n              
\nNor in the surge
\nTo founder. Therefore, King, be royal, bold,
\n              
\nAnd through the urge
\nOf winds, the reboant<\/span> thunders and the close
\n               
\nTempestuous gurge<\/span>
\nPress on for ever laughing at the blows
\n              
\nOf wind and wave.
\nThe haven must be reached; we rise from pyre,
\n               
\nWe rise from grave,
\nWe mould our future by our past desire,
\n               
\nWe break, we save,
\nWe find the music that we could not find,
\n               
\nThe thought think out
\nWe could not then perfect, and from the mind
\n               
\nThat brilliant rout
\nOf wonders marshal into living forms.
\n                
\nEnd then thy doubt;
\nGrieve not for wounds, nor fear the violent storms,
\n                 
\nFor grief and pain
\nAre errors of the clouded soul; behind
\n                
\nThey do not stain
\nThe living spirit who to these is blind.
\n                 
\nTorture, disdain,
\nDefeat and sorrow give him strength and joy:
\n                 
\n‘Twas<\/span> for delight
\nHe sought existence, and if pains alloy,
\n                 
\n‘Tis<\/span> here in night
\nWhich we call day. The Yogin knows, 0 King,
\n                  
\nWho in his might
\nTravels beyond the mind’s imagining,
\n                  
\nThe worlds of dream.
\nFor even they are shadows, even they
\n                  
\nAre not, – they seem.
\nBehind them is a mighty blissful day
\n                   
\nFrom which they stream.
\nThe heavens of a million creeds are these:
\n                    
\nPeopled they teem<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 309<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nBy
\ncreatures full of joy and radiant ease.
\n                
\nThere is the mint
\nFrom which we are the final issue, types
\n                
\nWhich here we print
\nIn dual letters. There no torture grips,
\n                 
\nJoy cannot stint
\nHer streams, – beneath a more than mortal sun
\n                
\nThrough golden air
\nThe spirit of the deathless regions run.
\n                 
\nBut we must dare
\nTo still the mind into a perfect sleep
\n                 
\nAnd leave this lair
\nOf gross material flesh which we would keep
\n                 
\nAlways, before
\nThe guardians of felicity will ope<\/span>
\n                 
\nThe golden door.
\nThat is our home and that the secret hope
\n                
\nOur hearts explore.
\nTo bring those heavens down upon the earth
\n                 
\nWe all descend,
\nAnd fragments of it in the human birth
\n                 
\nWe can command.
\nPerfect millenniums are sometimes, until
\n                
\nIn the sweet end
\nAll secret heaven upon earth we spill,
\n                
\nThen rise above
\nTaking mankind with us to the abode
\n                 
\nOf rapturous Love,
\nThe bright epiphany whom we name God,
\n                 
\nTowards whom we drove
\nIn spite of weakness, evil, grief and pain.
\n                 
\nHe stands behind
\nThe worlds of Sleep; He is and shall remain
\n                
\nWhen they grow blind
\nTo individual joys; for even these
\n                 
\nAre shadows, King,
\nAnd gloriously into that lustre<\/span> cease
\n                 
\nFrom which they spring.
\nWe are but sparks of that most perfect fire,
\n                 
\nWaves of that sea:<\/font><\/span>  <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 310<\/font><\/span> <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\n\tFrom
\nHim we come, to Him we go, desire
\n               
\nEternally,
\nAnd so long as He wills, our separate birth
\n                
\nIs and shall be.
\nShrink not from life, 0 Aryan, but with mirth
\n               
\nAnd joy receive
\nHis good and evil, sin and virtue, till
\n                
\nHe bids thee leave.
\nBut while thou livest<\/span>, perfectly fulfil
\n                
\nThy part, conceive
\nEarth as thy stage, thyself the actor strong,
\n                 
\nThe drama His.
\nWork, but the fruits to God alone belong,
\n                  
\nWho only is.
\nWork, love and know, – so shall thy spirit win
\n                   
\nImmortal bliss.
\nLove men, love God. Fear not to love, 0 King,
\n                   
\nFear not to enjoy;
\nFor Death’s a passage, grief a fancied thing
\n                  
\nFools to annoy.
\nFrom self escape and find in love alone
\n                  
\nA higher joy.<\/p>\n

\t<\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\tM<\/span><\/font>ANU<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nO Rishi<\/span>, I have wide dominion,
\n               
\nThe earth obeys
\nAnd heaven opens far beyond the sun
\n               
\nHer golden gaze.
\nBut Him I seek, the still and perfect One, –
\n              
\nThe Sun, not rays.<\/p>\n

\tRISHI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\nSeek Him upon the earth. For thee He set
\n               
\nIn the huge press
\nOf many worlds to build a mighty state
\n                
\nFor man’s success,
\nWho seeks his goal. Perfect thy human might,
\n                
\nPerfect the race.
\nFor thou art He, 0 King. Only the night
\n                
\nIs on thy soul<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 311<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\nBy
\nthy own will. Remove it and recover
\n              
\nThe serene whole
\nThou art indeed, then raise up man the lover
\n              
\nTo God the goal.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 312<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rishi     (King Manu in the former ages of the world, when the Arctic continent still\u00a0 subsisted, seeks knowledge from the Rishi of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-05-collected-poems-volume-05","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}