{"id":5833,"date":"2017-07-14T08:41:50","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=5833"},"modified":"2017-07-14T08:41:50","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:41:50","slug":"dariya-sahib-of-bihar-the-musk-is-within-the-deer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/14\/dariya-sahib-of-bihar-the-musk-is-within-the-deer\/","title":{"rendered":"Dariya Sahib of Bihar – The musk is within the deer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The musk is within the deer
\nby Dariya Sahib of Bihar<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by K. N. Upadhyaya<\/font><\/p>\n

The musk is within the deer,
\nBut he searches for it outside in the grass
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 instead of searching within himself.
\nHe runs back and forth,
\nWondering where the fragrance comes from.
\nThe fragrance is nearby,
\nBut he knows it not.<\/p>\n

Caught by delusion, he roams about.
\nSo do all people wander in pilgrimages
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and outer observances.
\nIf you wish to obtain your own true Home,
\nThen find it by looking within yourself
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and dwell therein.<\/p>\n

The true Lord resides within this body,
\nRecognize Him through the manifestation of true love.
\nBy churning this body,
\nAnd by entering within yourself,
\nSee the manifestation of true wisdom.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Dariya Sahib: Saint of Bihar<\/a>, Translated by K. N. Upadhyaya<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Alice Popkorn<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

The musk is within the deer<\/i><\/p>\n

Sant Dariya Sahib is giving us a delightful spiritual metaphor that unfolds in several layers of meaning.<\/p>\n

Musk is the aromatic oil produced by certain species of deer. It was traditionally said to be an aphrodisiac and was once used in perfumes.<\/p>\n

We have a deer, and he smells this enticing, otherworldly scent, and so he searches everywhere in the grass around himself, but he cannot find its source.<\/p>\n

The fragrance is nearby,
\nBut he knows it not.<\/i><\/p>\n

Because, of course, the musk is within himself. He just has not recognized this fundamental truth about his own nature.<\/p>\n

The deer is obviously all of us, spiritual seekers endlessly looking outside of ourselves for God, the Eternal, the True Self.<\/p>\n

There is a sort of turnabout in Dariya\u2019s use of the deer to represent the spiritual aspirant. Very often in spiritual writings, the deer, being an elusive creature of profound silence and gentleness and beauty, is used as a metaphor for the Divine Beloved. Representing the spiritual seeker as a deer who does not know his own divinity adds further irony to the metaphor.<\/p>\n

But why speak of musk or perfume at all?<\/p>\n

In addition to a nectar-like sweetness, many mystics experience a scent that can be rapturously overwhelming or tantalizingly subtle. This blissful scent can also be understood as the perfume worn by the Beloved that awakens sacred ardor upon the spiritual journey.<\/p>\n

And, of course, perfume is scented oil, oil being the substance used to anoint and initiate.<\/p>\n

If you wish to obtain your own true Home,
\nThen find it by looking within yourself
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and dwell therein.<\/i><\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not get too far away from the poet\u2019s point: If we want to find our \u201ctrue Home,\u201d then we need to cease our constant outward focus and and simply, deeply look within.<\/p>\n

I just want to point out that the one line \u2014 \u201cBy churning this body\u201d \u2014 is intriguing to me. That sounds almost like an alchemical phrase. He is saying something about \u201cchurning\u201d the body, like forming butter by agitating the milk. He seems to be suggesting some practice of working with the body, overturning it, cycling the awareness through the body and its energetic pathways perhaps, as a way to draw out the concentrated spiritual essence. An interesting detail to contemplate.<\/p>\n

And by entering within yourself,
\nSee the manifestation of true wisdom.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Dariya Sahib of Bihar<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dariya Sahib: Saint of Bihar<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Dariya<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nDariya Sahib of Bihar<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

India (1634 \u2013 1780) Timeline<\/a>
\nSikh<\/a><\/a>
\nYoga \/ Hindu<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar was born in India at a time when the power of the Muslim Mughals was declining and the British had not yet fully asserted their power over the region. It was an era of many petty rulers and warlords, along with general social turmoil and religious strife.<\/p>\n

Sant Dariya emerged as a poet-saint who encouraged harmony between Hindus and Muslims. Today he is revered by Sikhs, as well as Hindus and Muslims.<\/p>\n

He received enlightenment at the age of 20, and began to teach a path of non-violence and love for all. <\/p>\n

As a poet, Sant Dariya composed more than 15,000 verses.<\/p>\n

There is disagreement about the dates he lived, but some biographies assert that he lived nearly 150 years.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Dariya Sahib of Bihar<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The musk is within the deer by Dariya Sahib of Bihar English version by K. N. Upadhyaya The musk is within the deer, But he searches for it outside in the grass \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 instead of searching within himself. He runs back and forth, Wondering where the fragrance comes from. The fragrance is nearby, But he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[361,2096,2095,2097,2099,14,2098,1697,27],"class_list":["post-5833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-dariya","tag-dariya-sahib","tag-dariya-sahib-of-bihar","tag-deer","tag-god-is-within","tag-hindu-poetry","tag-musk","tag-perfume","tag-sikh-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5834,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5833\/revisions\/5834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}