Category: The Jewelled Garden

This poem celebrates the liberating power of sound and vibration. For more about the 16th c. mystic and poet Dadu Dayal, particularly honoured amongst the Sikhs, see this earlier post. Continue Reading →

The Marathi mystic and poet Janabai – who calls herself Jani in this poem – worked all her life as a domestic servant or ‘dasi’, in a home in which Continue Reading →

Basava, born in what is now Karnataka, was a 12th c. statesman, philosopher-poet and devotee of Shiva. While serving as the prime minister, he greatly energised the Shiva bhakti movement, Continue Reading →

Bhagat Pipa was a 15th c. king in the Rajput region, who left his throne and became a wandering ascetic under the guidance of the Bhakti guru Ramananda. Very little Continue Reading →

Sant Dariya sahib was a saint in Bihar during the 17th-18th c. For more about him, see this earlier post. ‘Nam’ means the divine name; ‘satguru’ is the true guide. Continue Reading →

The 15th c. CE mystic and poet Ravidas was a younger contemporary of Kabir, and lived in Varanasi. For more about him, see this earlier post. The word ‘Prabhu’ means Continue Reading →

For more about the Persian Sufi Baba Afzal Kashani, see this earlier post. The Divine Book’s imprintis nothing but you. The mirror of the King’s Beautyis nothing but you. Not Continue Reading →

For more about the 10th c. CE Sufi Abu Saeed Abil-Kheir, who called himself ‘Nobody, son of nobody,’ see this post. Beg for Love.Consider this burning, and those whoburn, as Continue Reading →

The following verse by the Tamil poet-saint Antal (or Andal) is taken from her poem ‘Koelbird, Call Him to Me’. The koel is the Indian cuckoo, with a clear and Continue Reading →

Abhinavagupta (ca. 950 – 1016 CE) was a philosopher and mystic born into a Brahmin family in Kashmir. He was familiar with all the philosophical and practical aspects of what Continue Reading →