The great Guru Paramahansa Yogananda’s “Some Treasure of My Own” from Songs of the Soul, his masterful and inspiring book of spiritual poetry, features a speaker who addresses the Divine Beloved with the purpose of assuring himself and the Beloved that he understands what he must do in order to return the love that has been divinely given him.
First Stanza: “Whatever I sought to give You”
The speaker reveals that he is unable to give the Divine Beloved anything. He avers that the usual offerings of flowers and burning candles are not sufficient, because these things already belong to the Lord. He intuits that giving the Giver those things which He has given is a futile act.
Thus, he removes the flower offerings and the burning candles and determines that he will find something that is uniquely his own to offer to the Beloved, “[f]or I would offer You some treasure of my own.”
Second Stanza: “Searching on the tract of my heart, lo!”
The speaker searches his heart and discovers “rare perennial plants,” and these metaphorical plants demonstrate their “craving for [the Divine Beloved].” The speaker realizes that as plants turn to the sunlight, his desire, his “craving,” causes him to turn to the Lord, and that act of desire for the Lord is the only possible gift that he can bestow upon the Giver of all gifts. With elation, he cries, “You are mine — what joy! / And ‘tis my free choice to love You as mine.”
Third Stanza: “Though love came from You”
The speaker then explains the nuance of difference that arises from a seeming contradiction: Doesn’t love also come from the Lord? So how is returning His love to him really a personally unique treasure from the devotee?
Once God gives the devotee that gift of love, it no longer belongs to Him. The speaker avers that now that he has that love that has become his own, he “want[s] to love” God. So ultimately, it is the desire and the willingness to love and turn to God that is the gift that the devotee can bestow upon the Lord.
Fourth Stanza: “Your gift of love, I know”
The speaker continues to elucidate the difference between loving God by command and loving God through the willingness of heart. He thus avers that the love from the Divine Beloved is not accompanied by the “command to love [Him] only.” The speaker knows that he could have continued his life just loving God’s gifts, or he could even worship those gifts only, or he was also free to “become saturated with the desires / Of a material life.”
Along with the love, God has given each devotee free will to choose—to love Him or ignore Him. God does not choose for his children whether they will love him or not. He simply gives the love and the ability to love; then He waits to see if it will be returned.
Fifth Stanza: “But I will only pick flowers of love”
The speaker thus concludes that he will give God only those “flowers of love / From those undying plants of [his] soul-craving.” His cravings for God have been “[b]looming amidst the garden of incarnations”; for many incarnations, the speaker has sought God, and now he finally understands how to reach the Divine Beloved. He, henceforth, will lay the flowers of his devotion “in the temple of Your heart; / For these alone are mine.”
Sixth Stanza: “Of my own accord I love You”
Thus, most importantly, speaker has determined to love God “[o]f my own accord.” He chooses willingly to love God; he is not forced to love God, for nothing and no one, not even God, can exert such force. He chooses to “prefer You to Your gifts.” By employing his own ability to exert free will, the speaker can thus give God what is uniquely his. And he knows that God must accept this gift, “the love I freely give, / Sole treasure of my own.”
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