Sajda

Sajda, prostration to God, is the perfect title for Dr. Pallavi Kwatra’s exquisite set of 108 verses and photographs dedicated to the Enlightened Master. One might well consider the verses to be so many beads on a mala: readers can use them to advance their own spiritual practice. Each succinct verse of the book is matched with a natural image appropriate to its content. The reader encounters skies, lakes, mountains, temples, birds, squirrels, and flowers whose symbolism pairs elegantly with the meaning of the verse preceding it. The author succeeds in capturing that most elusive of incenses: the fine perfume of devotion to the Master. She thanks him for providing clarity and for removing obstacles to the goal. She acknowledges his power to raise her up above the distracting noise of daily life. But most of all she offers her heart to Him, for that gift of inestimable value: Light in the darkness of the world.