Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Yoga / Hindu : Shaivite (Shiva) 12th Century	About Akka Mahadevi Timeline (12th Century)
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English version by A. K. Ramanujan Original Language Kannada	You can confiscate
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Dawn   Light         Recommended Books Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Voices Through the Ages, Edited by Mary Ford-Grabowsky The Shambhala Anthology of Women's Spiritual Poetry, Edited by Aliki Barnstone Speaking of Siva, by A K Ramanujan Women Writing in India: 600 BC to the Present: Volume 1, Edited by Susie Tharu / Edited by K. Lalita	You can confiscate money in hand; can you confiscate the body's glory? Or peel away every strip you wear, but can you peel the Nothing, the Nakedness that covers and veils? To the shameless girl wearing the White Jasmine Lord's light of morning, you fool, where's the need for cover and jewel?     -- from Speaking of Siva, by A K Ramanujan Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Although increasingly rare, naked sadhus are still found in India. But naked sadvis, female ascetics, like Akka Mahadevi, were shocking even then. She teases prudish listeners by calling herself "the shameless girl," equating herself with a woman who has taken an illicit lover. But her secret lover is "the White Jasmine Lord" -- Shiva.

And she does in fact wear clothing, a gift from her Beloved, his "light of morning." She wears the dawn, the light of enlightenment. What can cover as well as the light that touches everything? What jewel can compare to its dazzle? For Mahadevi the sadvi, there is nothing else worth wearing.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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