Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muslim / Sufi Yoga / Hindu 15th Century	About Kabir Timeline (15th Century)
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English version by Andrew Harvey Original Language Hindi	The Drop and the Sea
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Water           Recommended Books The Bijak of Kabir, Translated by Linda Hess / Translated by Shukdeo Singh The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell Kabir: The Weaver's Songs, by Kabir / Translated by Vinay Dharwadker Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky One Hundred Poems of Kabir: Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, by Kabir / Translated by Rabindranath Tagore More >>	I went looking for Him And lost myself; The drop merged with the Sea -- Who can find it now? Looking and looking for Him I lost myself; The Sea merged with the drop -- Who can find it now?     -- from Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from the Sufi Wisdom, by Andrew Harvey / Eryk Hanut Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

In this poem the Sea is, of course, a metaphor for God, the vast reality which includes each of us as individual drops.

Kabir says, "I went looking for Him..." The drop went looking for the Sea. There is an absurdity in that. How can a drop go looking for the Sea? The drop is already IN the Sea, part of it. In discovering the Sea, the drop recognizes that the Sea is water, just as the drop itself is water. Water within water. Finally recognizing this, how can the drop maintain the illusion of separation? There is no dividing line between water and water -- no skin, no barrier, no separation. The drop loses its false sense of being a drop. It loses itself, it loses its 'dropness,' and merges with the immense continuity of the Sea.

At that point there is no separate self, no one to go seeking. "Who can find it now?" There is only the Sea and no one to go looking for it.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.