Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Bibhu PadhiMay 04, 2018

In the One unmoving that is faster than the mind,
that even the deities cannot reach, that, being still,
passes beyond others as they run, the Master
of Life establishes the waters.

                                     Isa Upanishad, Verse 4

You seem to know everything—
all that is yours, all that you do not
possess but long for, all the deeds
you’ve done, each apparently
through your own effort.
What you do not know is,
even before you put yourself
to a deed, it had already been done
by someone who prefers
to remain invisible to all of us.
You might not know, but even
the gods and goddesses are
a product of a humble hand’s
miraculous touch—
a hand that knows its business
to perfection, that moves
and yet is beyond any moving-force.
You, all of us, ignoramuses as we are,
we invent our tricks to run ahead
of that fine hand’s touch.
I know how we are established
by a simple wave of that hand;
I know how our deeds progress
under its soft touch, just as
the sea’s green-grey-blue
is magically made out of
its one gentle sweep.
I know that kind, invisible hand;
I know that touch.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Bishops from the conferences of Africa, Asia, and Latin America produced a joint document calling for climate justice ahead of the U.N. climate conference in November.
“One of the things I find most appealing about the award-winning writer and poet Mary Karr is her forthright, almost brutal, honesty.”
James Martin, S.J.July 01, 2025
Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
JesuiticalJune 30, 2025