Dancing with Śiva

Just as the luminous day is born from light, so may the radiant singers shine far and wide! Truly, the poet’s wisdom enhances the glory of the Ordinance decreed by God, the Powerful, the Ancient.§

Atharva Veda 4.1.5-6. VE, 105§

The Word also makes known Heaven, Earth, wind, space, the waters, fire, the Gods, men, animals, birds, grass and trees, all animals down to worms, insects and ants. It also makes known what is right and wrong, truth and untruth, good and evil, what is pleasing and what is unpleasing. Verily, if there were no Word, there would be knowledge neither of right and wrong, nor of truth and untruth, nor of the pleasing and unpleasing. The Word makes all this known. Meditate on the Word. §

Sāma Veda, Çhandogya Upanishad 7.2.1. VE, 111§

The man who rejects the words of the scriptures and follows the impulse of desire attains neither his perfection, nor joy, nor the Path Supreme. Let the scriptures be, therefore, thy authority as to what is right and what is not right. §

Bhagavad Gītā 16.23-24. BGM, 111§

Just as gold is freed from its dross only by fire, and acquires its shining appearance from heat, so the mind of a living being, cleansed from the filth of his actions and his desires through his love for Me, is transformed into My transcendent likeness. The mind is purified through the hearing and uttering of sacred hymns in My praise.§

Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.14.25. HP, 378§

If daily to his home the friends who love him come, and coming, bring delight to eyes that kindle bright, a man has found the whole of life within his soul.§

Pañchatantra. PN, 218§

He who worships the Liṅga, knowing it to be the first cause, the source of consciousness, the substance of the universe, is nearer to Me than any other being. §

Śiva Purāna 1.18.159. HP, 227§

With the help of the gardeners called Mind and Love, plucking the flower called Steady Contemplation, offering the water of the flood of the Self’s own bliss, worship the Lord with the sacred formula of silence! §

Lalla. IT, 360§

Who will finish this suffering of mine? Who will take my burden on himself? Thy name will carry me over the sea of this world. Thou dost run to help the distressed. Now run to me, Nārāyaṇa, to me, poor and wretched as I am. Consider neither my merit nor my faults. Tukaram implores thy mercy. §

Tukaram. TU, 114-115§

The pot is a God. The winnowing fan is a God. The stone in the street is a God. The comb is a God. The bowstring is also a God. The bushel is a God and the spouted cup is a God. Gods, Gods, there are so many, there’s no place left for a foot. There is only one God. He is our Lord of the meeting rivers. §

Vachana, Basavanna 563. SO, 84§

They will find enduring joy who praise the auspicious God who knows the four Vedas and the six sacred sciences, who is Himself the sacred Word recited by scholars of the scripture. §

Tirumurai 2.147.1. PS, 110§

The eighteen Purāṇas are the rich ornaments, and the theories propounded in them are the gems for which the rhythmic style provides the settings. §

Jñāneśvarī 1.5. JN, 25§

He has become earth, water, fire, air and ether. He has become the sun and moon. He has become the constellations of the stars. Mantra and tantra has He become. He has become the medicine and those who swallow it. He has become the Gods—Indra and all the rest. He has Himself become the universe entire. This soul and body, too, has He become. He has become the four Vedas. It is He who creates bondage and liberation, and it is He who destroys bondage and liberation. In the mornings and in the evenings, do this worship and know Siva!§

Natchintanai, “Do This Worship and Know Śiva.” NT, 144§