[Male vocal] [Instrumental intro: night wind, low drone, tabla starting fast] [Verse 1] The battle ended with the light And Lakshmana lay still that night His brother knelt beside him there With nothing left but breath and prayer The healer bent and said one thing: "There's a mountain far where the herbs grow green Bring them here before the sun Or nothing healing can be done" [Chorus] [Low male chorus joins, driving] Sun-JEE-vuh-neem AA-nuh-yuh Bring the herb before the dawn Over rivers, over snow Till the night is nearly gone Sun-JEE-vuh-neem AA-nuh-yuh One brother's breath, one flight Faster than the morning comes Through the middle of the night [Verse 2] He flew north across the plains Over forests, over rains Over rivers silver-bright Up to peaks of endless white And he found the mountain glowing Every leaf alive with light Every herb looked like the other Every one was shining bright [Verse 3] [Music tightens, strings rise] He could stay and learn their names He could search them one by one But the stars were growing thinner And the east was turning sun So he took the mountain whole Root and stone and glowing ground Lifted it into the sky And he turned and flew back down [Pre-Chorus] A peak across his shoulders And the dark was almost through [Verse 4] [Tempo slows, dawn strings] He came down before the sunrise Set the mountain on the field And the healer found the leaves And the wound began to heal Lakshmana opened his eyes As the first light touched the land And the one who'd brought the mountain Carried it back home again [The Prophecy] [Spoken, elder, slow, drone only] He carried the whole mountain. That was his gift, and the night needed it. Honor it. But most of us cannot carry mountains. When we try, we drop them on the road. So before you lift everything, ask what the herb looks like. And look at the last thing he did. When the healing was done, he carried the mountain back to where it belonged. [Final Chorus] [Low male chorus, slower, warm, dawn] Sun-JEE-vuh-neem AA-nuh-yuh He brought the herb before the dawn And the brother breathed again As the night was finally gone Sun-JEE-vuh-neem AA-nuh-yuh Whatever you must take Take it whole if you must But carry back what you take [Kokopelli Whisper] [Whispered, morning birds] Ask what the herb looks like.
