The Razor’s Edge

The practice is delicate, honest, unhurried, detached ~ even with excitement. Each step a prayer, each boundary a kindness, each breath a sacrament.

A Bhakti’s Ode
This playful review, penned years ago by a staunch Kṛṣṇa devotee and Vedic scholar, beautifully illustrates the bridge between Tantra and Vedānta. Like the gopīs flirting with Kṛṣṇa—all devotion, all longing, yet remaining pure and surrendered—he and I hardly touched. The connection lived entirely in the realm of sacred play.

“Ode to the good lady Hari Deva…
I pursue thee at your beck and call.
Do thou now teaseth me like the usual beast?
(Causing my sky to go black like a midnight curse)
Harken fair maiden
I pay with Hari Katha
Be that not enough for thee?
And so shall I also entice the Goddess Vino to join us as we both concure
What-for where-else thou could ask of me I shall provide thee…
…Oh carrier of the lotus lamp.
My heart weepeth and pounds with anticipation
Torture me no longer oh curseth moon
Tis too many days before the lady doth attend this village.”
— M. (nuclear tech & Vedic scholar)