By you this universe is borne, by you this world is created.  By you it is protected, O Devi, and you always consume it at the end.  O you who are of the form of the whole world, at the time of creation you are of the form of the creative force, at the time of sustentation you are of the form of the protective power, at the time of the dissolution of the world, you are of the form of the destructive power.  You are the supreme knowledge as well as the great nescience, the great intellect and contemplation, as also the great delusion, the great devi as also the great evil.

You are the primordial cause of everything, bringing into force the three qualities.  You are the dark night of periodic dissolution.  You are the great night of final dissolution, and the terrible night of delusion.  You are the goddess of good fortune, the ruler, modesty, intelligence characterized by knowledge, bashfulness, nourishment, contentment, tranquility and forbearance.  Armed with sword, spear, club, discus, conch, bow, arrows, slings and iron mace, you are terrible and at the same time you are pleasing, yea more pleasing than all the pleasing things and exceedingly beautiful. 

The beauteous earth, the glorious sun,

The calm sweet moon, the spangled sky,

Causation’s laws do make them run;

They live in bonds, in bonds they die.

And mind its mantle dreamy net

Cast o’er them all and holds them fast.

In warp and woof of thought are set,

Earth, hells, and heavens, or worst or best.

Know these are but the outer crust ^_

All space and time, all effect, cause,

I am beyond all sense, all thoughts,

The witness of the universe.

Not two or many, ‘tis but one,

And thus in me, all me’s I have

I cannot hate, I cannot shun

Myself from me, I can but love.

From dreams awake, from bonds be free,

Be not afraid.  This mystery,

My shadow, cannot frighten me,

Know once for all that I am He.

Those who seek for name and fame are under delusion.  They forget that everything is ordained by the Great Disposer of all things, that all is due to the Lord and to nobody else.  The wise man says always, “It is Thou, O Lord, it is Thou,” but the ignorant and the deluded say, “It is I,” “It is I.”

When shall I be free? When that ‘I’ has vanished.  ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is ignorance.  ‘Thou’ and ‘Thine’ is knowledge.  The saint would say, “Thou, O Lord, are the doer.”

When the soul (jiva) says instinctively, “Not I, O Lord, but Thou!  Thou art the Master, I am Thy servant,” it has reached the end of sorrow.  This is Mukti, freedom itself. 

One thing is the good and quite different indeed is the pleasant; having been of different requisitions they both bind the soul (Purusha).  Good befalls him who follows the good, but loses he the goal, who chooses the pleasant.

Both the good and the pleasant approach man; the wise one discerns between the two, having examined them well.  Yea, the wise man prefers the good to the pleasant, but the fool chooses the pleasant, through avarice and attachment.

The four Vedas, sciences, language, philosophy, and all other learnings are only ornamental.  The real learning, the true knowledge, is that which enables us to reach Him who is unchangeable in His love.

How real, how tangible, how visible is He through whom the skin touches, the eyes see, and the world gets its reality.

Hearing Him, nothing remains to be heard,

Seeing Him, nothing remains to be seen,

Attaining Him, nothing remains to be attained.

He is the eye of our eyes, the ear of our ears, the Soul of our souls.

The Vedas

 The God of love exists in the heart of all.  He is our very Self, and therefore, very dear to us.  He is Truth.  He is Infinity.  He is the omnipotent Lord.  Hence should a man, free from all selfish desires, his mind fixed on God, worship him alone.

Do thou meditate on Him within the shrine of your own heart, and lose thyself in the consciousness of the Divine Being.

Thou Tempest of the freedom of the soul!

Wind of the spiritual mountains,

Insatiable longing for self-sacrifice,

Realization of our self as all,

Love for the sake of love,

Work for the work’s own sake,

Renunciation without an object,

To Thee our salutation.

Thee we salute.  Thee we salute.

Love all transcendent,

Tenderness unspeakable,

Purity most awful,

Freedom absolute,

Light that lightest every man,

Sweetest of the sweet, and

Most Terrible of the terrible,

To Thee our salutation.

Thee we salute.  Thee we salute.

O Infinite Love, reveal to us Thy face!

O Infinite Love, awake and abide in us!

O Infinite Love, burn us till we be consumed!

We desire not to possess Thee.

We desire not to behold Thee.

We desire to become one with Thee.

Chant the name of the Lord and his glory unceasingly

That the mirror of the heart may be wiped clean

And quenched that mighty forest fire,

Worldly lust, raging furiously within.

Oh Name, stream down in moonlight on the lotus-heart,

Opening its cup to knowledge of thyself.

Oh self, drown deep in the waves of his bliss,

Chanting thy name continually,

Tasting his nectar at every step,

Various are thy names, Oh Lord,

In each and every name thy power resides.

No times are set, no rites are needful, for chanting of thy name,

So vast is thy mercy.

How huge, then, is my wretchedness

Who find, in this empty life and heart,

No devotion to thy name!

Sri Chaitanya