XIX
Numberless Thy names, and numberless Thy places.
Completely beyond reach are Thy numberless worlds.
Numberless they who repeat Thy name with all the strength of their intellects. [1]
By letters [2] we repeat Thy name, by letters we praise Thee ;
By letters we acquire divine knowledge, and sing Thy praises and Thine attributes ;
By letters we write and utter the word [3] of God ;
By the letters recorded on man's head his destiny is declared.
He who inscribeth them on others, beareth them not on His own head.
As He ordaineth, so shall man obtain.
As great Thy creation, O God, so great is Thy fame
There is no place without Thy name.
What power have I to describe Thee ?
So lowly am I, that I cannot even once be a sacrifice unto Thee
Whatever pleaseth Thee is good.
Formless One, Thou art ever secure.
XX
When the hands, feet, and other members of the body are covered with filth,
It is removed by washing with water.
When thy clothes are polluted,
Apply soap, and the impurity shall be washed away.
So when the mind is defiled by sin,
It is cleansed by the love [4] of the Name.
Men do not become saints or sinners by merely calling themselves so.
- ↑ Also translated -
(a) With their bodies reversed, that is, standing on their heads, a form of religious austerity practised in India.
(b) They who try to describe Thee shall have to carry loads of sin on their heads. - ↑ Letters here appear to mean sacred literature.
- ↑ Bān generally means custom. Here it is understood to be used for bāni, a word.
- ↑ Water in which the dye of the Name has been dissolved.
