The Supreme Benediction

We waited, hushed and expectant,
Our eyes rivetted on the portico beyond the gates.
The trees spread shade
On a thousand yearning hearts.
We knew our Lord was here,
Within those walls, so near
And yet so far.

Suddenly Baba is before us
Time stands still; He comes nearer.
Infinite compassion rains from His eyes
Infinite love pours from His smile…
We drown blissfully in this flood of Grace.
Breathless we gaze, adore
And quench our thirst
For the Supreme Benediction
Of Baba’s darshan.

Fellow-pilgrim! Even as you gaze at Him
And His timeless face, under the mop of hair
With its awesome majesty of a thundercloud……
Realize that you are face-to-face
With the Formless One, the Eternal One,
The One without Attributes, who has now taken
A Form and a Name, to re-establish dharma
And dissolve the giant agony of man.

Realize again when you touch His Feet
That your fingers hold for a fleeting second
The Ultimate Sanctuary sought by sages and saints
The Abode of all atmas [soul], the Seat of mukti
And the manifest Portals of moksha [liberation].
Recognize, therefore, in your yearning for His Feet
Your soul’s homesickness.

Darshan is over; we begin to disperse.
The trees spread shade now
On a thousand brimming hearts.
A hum of talk rises with the dust.
Hush! Let us ponder over this Vision of Glory……
Do we deserve so much?
O Bhagavan! O Sri Parthi Nilaya! O Sai Guru!
Help us become worthy of your Grace.

~D. Narender
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Sept. 1965