Classic Poem

1

Our Father at creation's birth
Made the sky and vasty earth,
When commingled earth and sky
In a watery form did lie;
He made fast and firm the land,
Stretched the sky-vault by His hand!

2

All-Creator! His Creation
Is each being in his station;
All-disposer! High in grace,
Higher than the stars his place;
All-sustainer! Worship done
By the sages reach the One!

3

He the Father, — made us all,
He the Ruler, — hears our call,
He the Feeder, — feeds each nation,
Every creature in its station;
Names of many Gods He bears,
He is One, — we seek by prayers!

4

Him they offered rites of old,
Rishis holy, prophets bold;
Him they praised in sacred song,
Worshippers a pious throng;
Him they call from diverse places
Who hath shaped all things and races!

5

Ere was born the heaven or earth,
Gods or Titans sprang to birth,
What was it, — primeval, lone, —
Germ that in the waters shone?
Who at dim creation's morn
Placed the Germ whence Gods were born?

6

Unborn gods commingled lived
In the Germ the floods received,
In the navel of the One
Lived the Germ, primeval, lone;
From the Uncreate have sprung
Creatures that to Him belong!

7

Him ye do not comprehend, —
Nature's Cause, Creation's End;
Him ye see but wrapped in gloom, —
Who is Life and final Doom;
Priests and chanters of the lay
Listless wander from the way!