Commentary on the Odes of Solomon – by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
The Song of the Holy Spirit
As the wind moves over the harp, and the strings speak, so speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I speak by His love.
For it destroys whatever is foreign, and everything that is bitter.
For thus it was from the beginning, and will be to the end.
That nothing should be contrary, and nothing should rise up against Him.
The Lord has multiplied the knowledge of Himself, and is zealous that these things should be known which by His grace have been given to us.
And the Praise of His Name He gave us, our spirits praise His Holy Spirit.
And there went forth a stream and became a river great and broad, for it flooded and broke up everything and it shattered and brought it to the Temple.
And the restraints of men were not able to restrain it, nor the arts of those whose business it is to restrain waters.
For it spread over the face of the whole earth, and filled everything.
Then all the thirsty upon the earth drank, and thirst was relieved and quenched.
For from the Most High the drink was given.
Blessed then are the ministers of that drink, who are entrusted with that water of His.
They have refreshed the parched lips, and have aroused the paralyzed will.
And souls that were near departing, they have held back from death.
And the limbs which had fallen, they straightened and set up.
They gave strength for their coming, and light to their eyes.
For everyone knew them in the Lord, and by the waters they lived an eternal life. Alleluia.
(Sixth Ode of Solomon)
Many of the Odes of Solomon are expressions of the illumined soul, as is this sixth ode. It is also an exposition of how the deifying power of God, the Holy Spirit embodied in–and as–the Divine Word, accomplishes its work in the individual.
The Word
“As the wind moves over the harp, and the strings speak, so speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I speak by His love.”
Just as “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” in the beginning of creation, so the Holy Spirit, the Holy Breath or Word of God, moves upon the inner constitution of the progressing individual and “speaks” within him. This speaking first takes the form of the Word of Life, the Pranava, Om, and from that proceeds inner development (evolution) as well as intuitive illumination of his intellect to guide him in the ways of continual unfoldment of his spiritual potential. Eventually he becomes a living embodiment of the Word, and in his turn “speaks” by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Love of God. (“And I speak by His love.)
This has the implication that what has been automatic in the individual–because it is the action of the Holy Spirit alone–becomes in time the “doing” of the individual himself. The flame is passed from the Holy Spirit to the aspirant, so that what was heretofore subliminal becomes a matter of full consciousness and intention so that he is competent to evolve himself and “work the wonderful works of God.”
“So speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord” also implies that the body evolves along with the consciousness of the individual. This is why touching the body of a saint can awaken the inner consciousness and heal the outer body as well as the heart and mind. The bones of Elisha raised the dead, the touch of Jesus’ clothing healed the sick, as did the shadow of Saint Peter and cloths touched to the body of Saint Paul.
For it destroys whatever is foreign, and everything that is bitter
The Holy Spirit as the Word is healing and purifying, “for it destroys whatever is foreign, and everything that is bitter.” Anything that is alien to our eternal nature, such as ignorance, sin and suffering (both of which are but the “fruits” of ignorance) are annihilated by the Spirit consciousness. “For thus it was from the beginning, and will be to the end.” That is, all that is not eternal is dispelled by the action of the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Life within us. It does this so “that nothing should be contrary, and nothing should rise up against Him”–God–and against us, for we are inseparable from God.
All that opposes our ascent to Divine Consciousness is melted away in the “fire” of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of Truth
“The Lord has multiplied the knowledge of Himself….”
Jesus habitually referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Truth.” This is because the Holy Spirit reveals that which is true and makes all that She touches “true”–that is, real. She, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation,” reveals God, and makes gods of those who receive that revelation.
The Divine Guide
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit “…is zealous that these things should be known which by His grace have been given to us.” That is, the Holy Spirit both shows us what things are channels of deifying power, of divine grace, and teaches us the ways of inner life and development by which we may increase our treasure of spiritual evolution. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
The Name
“And the Praise of His Name He gave us, our spirits praise His Holy Spirit.” We cannot praise that which we do not know, nor can we praise something that is–or does–nothing praiseworthy. But the Divine Name is not unknown to the established seeker for It works the Divine Work within us. This sentence also indicates that the Name of God and the Holy Spirit are the same. As Jesus knew (and taught) from his life in India, Om is the dynamic creative power (shakti) of God, the Holy Spirit. Our spirits praise the Divine Word because it is freeing us, as the next verse describes.
Stream, River, Flood
“And there went forth a stream and became a river great and broad, for it flooded and broke up everything and it shattered and brought it to the Temple.” What a magnificent symbology of the workings of the Holy Spirit-Word.
At first the movings of the Holy Spirit and Om are a stream, but if it is allowed to continue unimpeded and even helped along by our application of spiritual discipline–including, yes, asceticism–it soon becomes a river both strong and wide in its effects. Finally, it floods and permeates all of us, loosens its bonds, and sweeps us into the Temple of Divine Consciousness, into the depths of Divinity Itself.
“And the restraints of men were not able to restrain it, nor the arts of those whose business it is to restrain waters. For it spread over the face of the whole earth, and filled everything.” In the beginning stages of our spiritual life it is not sure just how things will go, for within us indeed are “those whose business it is to restrain [the] waters” of the Holy Spirit’s working, particularly the workings of the Shabda Brahman, the Divine Sound. But once that Force advances and grows, then the outcome is inevitable: we shall be brought into the Temple.
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God” which he justly praises, for It has “filled everything” “that God may be all in all.”
“Then all the thirsty upon the earth drank, and thirst was relieved and quenched.” Total fulfillment. And no surprise: “For from the Most High the drink was given” and WAS God Himself.
Ministers of the Word
In India some people have a most beautiful and meaningful family name: Namacharya–Teacher of the Name. This ode glorifies those who know and teach the meaning and power of the Divine Name, saying: “Blessed then are the ministers of that drink, who are entrusted with that water of His.” For through that Holy Name:
“They have refreshed the parched lips, and have aroused the paralyzed will.
“And souls that were near departing, they have held back from death.
“And the limbs which had fallen, they straightened and set up.
“They gave strength for their coming, and light to their eyes.
“For everyone knew them in the Lord, and by the waters they lived an eternal life.”
Such is the glory and the power of the Divine Word. “So speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I speak by His love.”
Alleluia.
More on the Odes of Solomon:
Odes of Solomon – text
Commentary on the Odes of Solomon:
1. The Crown of Life
2. Clothed in Love
3. The Changeless God and Ever-changing Man
4. Love, Hope, and Joy
5. Avoiding Evil
6. The Song of the Holy Spirit
7. Rejoice in the Lord!
8. The Meeting of the Two
1) Genesis 1:2
[Go back]
2) John 6:28, Acts 2:11 [Go back]
3) “And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.” (II Kings 13:21) [Go back]
4) “And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.” (Matthew 14:35,36) “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” (Matthew 9: 20-22. See Mark 5:25-34) [Go back]
5) “They brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.” (Acts 5:15) [Go back]
6) “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” (Acts 19:11,12) [Go back]
7) John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 [Go back]
8) Ephesians 1:17 [Go back]
9) Romans 8:14 [Go back]
10) II Corinthians 3:18 [Go back]
11) “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High” (Psalms 46:4). “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1) [Go back]
12) Revelation 3:12 [Go back]
13) I Corinthians 15:28 [Go back]
14) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) [Go back]
