With gates guarded by elephantine hordes
Dark as cumulus clouds,
With turrets and towers
Reaching to the moon's heights,
Atop the couch worked with moonstone
And set with gems,
What availeth,
If with music, song and dance,
They sport with damsels of pearly teeth
In clusters several
Plunged in passion intoxicating?
Or, what availeth
If they stand in the path of yoga
Controlling the breath
In the inaccessible caves
At the mountain tops in wilderness dense,
Infested by lions, bears and tigers
With daggerlike claws wide stretched?
Only those who have attained
The silentness of mauna,
As sure as the amla fruit on palm
Will redeemed be -
This the conclusion of
Sanaka and the rest of Rishis holy.
Oh! Thou Sivam
That is Truth-Knowledge-Bliss!
The Cosmic Principle
That is Total-Fullness-Perfect!