WHO IS SHE who dwells in my heart, the woman forlorn for ever? I wooed her and I failed to win her. I decked her with wreaths and sang in her praise. A smile shone in her face for a moment, then it faded. 'I have no joy in thee,' she cried, the woman in sorrow. I bought her jewelled anklets and fanned her with a fan gem-studded; I made her a bed on a bedstead of gold. There flickered a gleam of gladness in her eyes, then it died. 'I have no joy in these,' she cried, the woman in sorrow. I seated her upon a car of triumph and drove her from end to end of the earth. Conquered hearts bowed down at her feet, and shouts of applause rang in the sky. Pride shone in her eyes for a moment, then it was dimmed in tears. 'I have no joy in conquest,' she cried, the woman in sorrow. I asked her, 'Tell me whom do you seek?' She only said, 'I wait for him of the unknown name.' Days pass by and she cries, 'When will my beloved come whom I know not, and be known to me for ever?'
II. 87. Kabir kab se bhaye vairagi GORAKHNATH ASKS Kabir: 'Tell me, O Kabir, when did your vocation begin? Where did your love have its rise?' Kabir answers: 'When He whose forms are manifold had not begun His play: when there was no Guru, and no disciple: when the world was not spread out: when the Supreme One was alone Then I became an ascetic; then, O Gorakh, my love was drawn to Brahma. Brahma did not hold the crown on his head; the god Vishnu was not anointed as king; the power of Shiva was still unborn; when I was instructed in Yoga. 'I became suddenly revealed in Benares, and Ramananda illumined me; I brought with me the thirst for the Infinite, and I have come for the meeting with Him. In simplicity will I unite with the Simple One; my love will surge up. O Gorakh, march thou with His music!'
