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| SHIV, who poured the harvest and made the winds to blow, | |
| Sitting at the doorways of a day of long ago, | |
| Gave to each his portion, food and toil and fate, | |
| From the King upon the guddee 1 to the Beggar at the gate. | |
| All things made he—Shiva the Preserver. | 5 |
| Mahadeo! Mahadeo! He made all,— | |
| Thorn for the camel, fodder for the kine, | |
| And Mother’s heart for sleepy head, O little Son of mine! | |
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| Wheat he gave to rich folk, millet to the poor, | |
| Broken scraps for holy men that beg from door to door; | 10 |
| Cattle to the tiger, carrion to the kite, | |
| And rags and bones to wicked wolves without the wall at night. | |
| Naught he found too lofty, none he saw too low— | |
| Parbati beside him watched them come and go; | |
| Thought to cheat her husband, turning Shiv to jest— | 15 |
| Stole the little grasshopper and hid it in her breast. | |
| So she tricked him, Shiva the Preserver. | |
| Mahadeo! Mahadeo, turn and see! | |
| Tall are the camels, heavy are the kine, | |
| But this was Least of Little Things, O little Son of mine! | 20 |
| |
| When the dole was ended, laughingly she said, | |
| “Master, of a million mouths is not one unfed?” | |
| Laughing, Shiv made answer, “All have had their part, | |
| Even he, the little one, hidden ’neath thy heart.” | |
| From her breast she plucked it, Parbati the thief, | 25 |
| Saw the Least of Little Things gnawed a new-grown leaf! | |
| Saw and feared and wondered, making prayer to Shiv, | |
| Who hath surely given meat to all that live! | |
| All things made he—Shiva the Preserver. | |
| Mahadeo! Mahadeo! He made all,— | 30 |
| Thorn for the camel, fodder for the kine, | |
| And Mother’s heart for sleepy head, O little Son of mine! | |
