LIFE'S CONSUMING

126. Myself I cannot understand, nor what is day nor night;
He who both word and thought transcends has reft my senses quite,
He who for bull has Vishnu, and in Perundurai dwells,
O Light supreme, in Brahman guise has cast on me strange spells.

127. I ask not fame, wealth, earth or heav'n. No birth, no death for me.
None will I touch who love not Siva. Now 'tis mine to see
Abiding Perundurai, wear the King's foot as my crown;
Never will I leave this His shrine, nor let Him leave His own.

128. Art Thou like honey on the branch too high for me to climb?
Or art Thou nectar ocean-churned? O Hara, King sublime,
In Perundurai, circled with moist fields, I can set Thee
With form ash-smeared, the spotless. Can I bear my ecstasy?

129. Many in this great earth who live do penance; I alone
Bearing this frame of flesh, a barren jungle-tree have grown.
Dweller in Perundurai old where blooms the kondai tree,
May I the sinner cry "Wilt Thou not grant Thyself to me"?