Dear Reader,

We reproduce below two poems, one by late Mr. Kasturi and another by Ann Balabrege, both on Lingodbhavam. These appeared many years ago in the Sanathana Sarathi. Old timers might recall with pleasure reading these poems when they first appeared. We are reproducing them below for devotees who were called to the Divine presence later.

AN INVITATION

A silent sign, a twitch, a glow, a shiver,
An urge, a fancy, a wish to play, a spurt of sport
Disturbed the Peace of the vast Divine
It won’t reside in inmost In.
It will emerge in Forms multitudinous.
Yes! It must.
And soon!

It strove, the Formless, Aimless, Nameless, Timeless, It;
It felt the Form in its inmost In!
It took on aim and name
The flaming Linga rose.
Time with its lullaby, “Done doing yet to do,”
Space with its lullaby, “Where, there, here!”
Fondled the I, Ego Divine!
The seed of all the stars, of all the sea of light!
He Will in the shell He willed!
The womb of life, the tomb of death
The sovereign sign and symbol of the Dawn!
No eye did see that emerging Will
No tongue did sing of the Linga then;
There was a thrill in time and space
And that was all.
Siva knew He was One and so, the Many had to come!
The Linga was the First faint stroke
Of the grand Design, He planned.
Siva has come among us now!
See!
The sky is fondling all the stars
The Sun is dancing with its rays;
The Sea is sporting with the waves
The Fire is playing hide and seek
With Its own sparks ,O, rarest chance!
Year by year, He re-enacts for us, to thrill,
His pre time primal play
“I cannot be alone” “I shall manifest I must”

Come, and watch the Inmost In
Responding to the nascent urge
The Ego of the Universe emerge in the Linga Form,
Emerging at the call, from Him
Who is puppet, string and stage
And you and they and I.
Come, dear friend, do come!

KASTURI