The Upanishads echo in my genes and I dance to their tune
I know some of what this means and'll know the rest soon
In these there's a magical world, a place quite apart
That'll still the turmoil in your mind & glow in your heart
Just close your eyes & walk awhile, in their wisdom, timeless, true
In ancient words, without guile, you will find the real you
Isha Upanishad (Yajurveda)
I take a strainer every night & pour my emotions in
The pure I place in my heart, the dross in the bin
Kena Upanishad (Samveda)
As I greet the rising sun, to my gurus I humbly pray
I thank them for all that’s done & am ready for the day
Katha Upanishad (Yajurveda)
Like Nachiketa, I visit death, and find in it life anew
I invoke it in every breath, and seek the really true
Prashna Upanishad (Atharvaveda)
When questions arise in my mind, Guru Pippalada whispers there
Dwell in Atman & you’ll find, the answers to your prayer
Mundaka Upanishad (Atharvaveda)
When I think of higher things, I reach an upper sphere
Down below I never sing, but am a golden bird up here
Mandukya Upanishad (Atharvaveda)
“Who am I”, I ask again & again, awake, asleep and in my dreams
Why's reality so far from plain? Why isn't all as it seems?
Taittriya Upanishad (Yajurveda)
When I learn & I teach, I take and give back what I can
All dark corners my light must reach, & that's what I plan
Aitereya Upanishad (Rigveda)
I know all knowledge is divine and I must learn from every one
Only then will this world be mine, and I’ll be ALL under the sun
Chandogya Upanishad (Samveda)
Uddalika’s words echo in my mind - All comes from naught & ends there
In this 'nothingness' I will find, what I seek everywhere
Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad (Yajurveda)
Rishi Yagnavalkya speaks in my heart
And I look at my Self anew
I can't tell you and me apart
I know the transient & the true
And,
Complete in myself, fully free, I am all that I can be
I am That all the time - I am its prose, I am its rhyme
Not for me pilgrimages galore or visits to seers door
Wherever I look, there I am - my holy land is where I am
*******
I sleep well and come the dawn,
I smile at another day,
To face again the devil’s spawn
And all else, come what may
Kishore Asthana
kishore.asthana@gmail.com