There is no water; no boat, no boatman, is there; there is not so much as a rope to tow the boat, nor a man to draw it. No earth, no sky, no time, no thing, is there: no shore, no ford!
Next: This is the end of a path, but not the end of the garden. Return to the beginning: would you like to follow the FLUTE, or answer the call of the VEENA?
[Source: RT 20 (partial); 2.22. man tu pâr utar kânh jaiho]
Here is the full poem:
XX
II. 22. man tu pâr utar kânh jaiho
To what shore would you cross, O my heart? there is no traveller
before you, there is no road:
Where is the movement, where is the rest, on that shore?
There is no water; no boat, no boatman, is there;
There is not so much as a rope to tow the boat, nor a man to draw
it.
No earth, no sky, no time, no thing, is there: no shore, no ford!
There, there is neither body nor mind: and where is the place
that shall still the thirst of the soul? You shall find naught
in that emptiness.
Be strong, and enter into your own body: for there your foothold
is firm. Consider it well, O my heart! go not elsewhere,
Kabîr says: "Put all imaginations away, and stand fast in that
which you are."
