God Makes the Rivers to Flow: An Anthology of the World's Sacred Poetry and Prose (Essential Easwaran Library Book 4)

by Eknath Easwaran

THE SHVETASHVATARA UPANISHAD The One Appearing as Many May the Lord of Love, who projects himself Into the universe of myriad forms Through maya, from whom all beings come, To whom all beings finally return, May he grant us the grace of wisdom. He is the fire and the sun, and the moon And the stars. He is the air and the sea, And the creator Prajapati. He is this boy, he is that girl; he is This man, he is that woman, and he is This old man, too, tottering on his staff. His face is seen everywhere. He is the blue bird, he is the green bird With red eyes; he is the thundercloud, and He is the seasons and the seas; he has No beginning, he has no end. He is The source from whom all the worlds evolve. From his divine power of maya comes Forth this magical show of name and form, Of you and me, which casts the spell of pain And pleasure. When we pierce through the magic, We see the One who appears as many. Two birds of beautiful plumage, comrades Inseparable, live on the same tree. One bird eats the fruit of pleasure and pain; The other looks on without eating.