The Poem of the Universe - Śrî Ānanda Āchārya

In my soul is the Light and the Life and the Word.

I am the pilgrim and the path and the goal.

I Wander alone among the desert sands,

         ever pursued by the shade of Death.

Day and night I wrestle with the illusion of starvation

         and disease and danger.

I am wise, for I know that I am great enough

         to be my own saviour.

I am strong, for I have conquered my ego,

         the parent of my cosmos.

I am beautiful, for I have renounced Matter.

I am saved, for I have given my all to all.

I am no more the ‘me’ of my body’s childhood,

         youth and age,

         I shall no more be what once I thought I should

         be after my body’s death;

I have crossed darkness and twilight.

I am the metre of the poem of the universe.

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Śrî Ānanda Āchārya (Surenda Nath Baral) (1881 - 1945) India, lived in Norway from 1917

Source: Cakra-Sakha - The Companion of God, Śrî Ānanda Āchārya, The Brahmakul, Guarisankatmath, 1921 [included in "Some Poems" on Shantibu]