BT Song 101
Song 101
When I was reading Thiruvasagam by Manikkavasagar, at Mahari (Rewa, M.P. at Shashikant’s house), stopping it I began to write these stanzas in the form of ‘andadi’ on 18, 19, 20 of March 1990. Then when I had time and inspiration came, I continued to add more stanzas of four lines. My aim is to write One hundred such stanzas (like several other andadis like Abirami Andadi by Abirami Bhattar). Andadi form is that the last word of the last line will be the first word of the next stanza. Andam (last) +Adi (first). This will give not only beauty and show the talent of the poet but help one to easily memorize and later remember them. Still I can chant several such poems which I learnt in Andadi form. But giving meaning or comment to each stanza will take too many words as some were written as the words came naturally and some with careful thinking about the theology properly. As it is a big project I will skip it here. But I tried my best to give a rough translation of each stanza. However translating an Andadi in which words will spin with each other is not easy, particularly for a person like me who does not know English properly. In this I give the translation next to the Tamil text.
Giving a proper theology to Andadi seems a bit artificial to me. Because most of the time the authors of Andadi think more about the poem and the words which should fit in that andadi format. Of course a strict orthodoxy won’t allow one to use any and every word which won’t agree with the basic view to the theology. But no one will write an andadi consciously keeping theology first. That is why when any commentary is written for any Andai, the writer has to do the text torturing to dig out a theology out of the poems. This I witnessed when one swamiji recently gave discourse on Abirami Andadi, in which he tried to read his own theology and interpretation which Abirami Bhattar never might have thought.
101 முக்தி அந்தாதி
நீயே என் தலைவன் நின்னையல்லால்
நாயேன் யாரை நினைப்பேன் நானிலத்தே
வீணே வாழும் வறியவனை உன்னருளால்
கோனே மீட்பதும் எந்நாளோ குணக்குன்றே! 1
You are my Lord and who else
I will remember on this earth
Oh noble one when you are going to redeem
The mean one who lives a vain life
குன்றே யனைய குணம் கொண்டாய்
குற்றமொன்றே செய்யும் என்னை நீ
வலியவந்தாட்கொண்டாய் குருசிலன்று
நன்றே கொன்றாய் பாவமதை நான் வாழ 2
You have noble quality like a hill
You voluntarily came and redeemed me
The one who knows only to do mistakes
You killed sin on the cross for me to live
வாழ வகையறியா வன்கள்வனை உய்விக்கவந்து
தாழ மனுவாய் வந்திறங்கி தன்னுயிரைத் தந்து
மீள ஆட்கொண்டாய் மீண்டுமெனை உனதாக
ஆள வரவேண்டும் அனுதின வாழ்வினிலே 3
You have to come to rule my everyday life
Again making me as your own, as I don’t know how to live
As you came down in human form
By giving your precious life for me
அனுதின வாழ்வினிலே உன்னருள் வேண்டும்
ஐயனே நீ அதை நிறைவாய் தர வேண்டும்
மெய்வழி தனிலே நான் செல்ல வேண்டும்
உன் மறைகூறும் சொல்லின்படி ஒழுக வேண்டும் 4
I need grace in everyday life
Oh my Lord you should bestow it abundantly
I should walk in the path of truth
And should follow you as per your Veda
ஒழுகேன் நான் உன்னருளன்றி உலகினிலே
உய்யேன் நான் உவந்தென்னை மீட்காவிட்டால்
செய்யேன் என் பணிகளைச் செவ்வையாக
செய்யும் வகை எனக்கு நீ கூறாவிட்டால் 5
I cannot live further without your grace
I cannot be redeemed unless you do it with love
I cannot do my seva properly
Unless you come and guide me clearly
கூறாவிட்டால் அறிவேனோ குணமறியா மனதினிலே
கூறி என்னிடம் நீயே வந்து நாடாவிட்டால்
வாழ்வேனோ நானிலத்தே நாதனே நீ எனைத்
தேடாவிட்டால் கிடைப்பேனோ தெரிந்துனக்குச் சொல்வேனோ 6
Can I understand you unless you teach me?
In my heart which knows only corruption
Can I live further unless you come and seek after me?
Can I be available unless you come and seek me and do I need to tell this to you?
சொல்வேனோ உன் பெருமையன்றி என் வாயால்
சொல்லித்தான் முடியுமோ அவையாவும் என்வாழ்வில்
அள்ளித்தான் நீயளித்த நன்மைகள் ஆயிரமே
அவையனைத்தும் எண்ணித்தான் முடியுமோ யாராலும் 7
Will I say anything other than your glory through my mouth?
Can I tell all of them in my whole life?
The blessings that you bestowed are many
Can any one count all of them?
யாராலும் அறியமுடியா நாதனை, நன்மறையோர்
எவராலும் கூற முடியுமா வேந்தனை, தூதர்கோடி
போற்ற முடியுமோ முதல்வனை, பக்தர்மட்டும்
காணலாம் காணமுடியா இறைவனைப் பக்தியாலே 8
The one who cannot be understood by anyone
Can any wise man explain about this King?
Can millions and millions of angels worship the Primordial One?
But a bhakta alone can see Him through bhakti
பக்தியால் யானுனைப் பலகாலும் பற்றியே
உன் புகழ்பாடி, உத்தமா, வித்தகா, எனக்கூறி
உடல் பொருள் ஆவியால் உனைப் போற்றி
நித்தமும் வாழ்ந்திட அருள் கூறாய் 9
You bless me to live each day so that
I can follow you through my bhakti
And praising you by calling you as Pure and noble one
And to glorify you through my body and soul
கூற முற்பட்டால் என்பாவம் கோடியே
குற்றம் காண முற்பட்டால் கணக்கில் அடங்குமோ?
குருவே உன்னருளன்றி நாட முற்பட்டால் நன்னுமோ
நலம் வாழ்வில், தேடி முற்பட்டு தேடி வந்தவனே! 10
If I began to count my sins they are millions
If you find fault in me can you finally calculate all of them?
Oh my guru can I seek any blessings in life other than you grace
The one who came seeking after me
வந்தாய் நீ வறியவனாய் வான்விட்டே
தந்தாய் உன் இன்னுயிரைத் தான்விட்டே
எந்தாய் இனி யென்செய்வேன் என் மனம்விட்டே
செய்வாயிச் சேய்க்கருள் எனக் கூறுவதல்லால் 11
You came as Poor one by forsaking your heavenly abode
You gave your precious life voluntarily
O my Lord what else can I say other than this with whole heart
To show mercy upon this your child
கூறுவதல்லால் வேறொன்றறியேன் உன் நாமமன்றி?
கூறிச்சேர்வதல்லால் வேறொன்றறியேன் உன் திருவடி அன்றிச்
சேர்ந்தோதுவதல்லால் வேறொன்றறியேன் உன் புகழன்றி
ஓதி ஓய்வதல்லால் வேறொன்றறியேன் உன் அருளன்றி 12
What else is there for me to utter other than your Name?
What else is there for me other than to approach your Holy feet
What else is there for me other than praising your glory?
What else is there for me other than to proclaim about your grace
அருளொன்றை வைத்தாய் இருளுக்கு மாறாக
மருண்டுலகில் வாழும் மனிதருக்கே, மன்னவனே!
செருக்கொண்டு இதையறியாமல் பேதையவர்
மனயிருள் கொண்டு உனை வதைத்தார் ஒரு சிலுவையிலே 13
You kept grace as an antidote for darkness
For the human beings who live with much confusion, Oh my King
Not knowing this the foolish people due to their pride
Tortured you on the cross because of the darkness in their heart
சிலுவையிலே நீ செய்த தியாகமதை, சில
மணி நேரமட்டுமே தியானித்தாலும், பல
பவ* வசப்பட்டு நிற்கும் மாந்தர்தம், குல
முழுதும் உய்யும் வழி தான் விளங்கும் 14
*பாவம்
The path for the entire humanity redemption will be opened
Once if we meditate just for few seconds
About the sacrifice that you have done
For the humanity which lives in sin
விளங்கும் உன்னருள் நீ விளக்கும்போது
கலங்கும் என் மனம் அதை அறியும்போது
மயங்கும் என் வாழ்வு அதை மறுக்கும் போது
தியங்கும் எனக்கதை நீ தருவதும் எப்போது? 15
We can understand your grace when you explain it
My heart will be troubled when I understand it clearly@
My life will become a delusion when I deny it
When you are going to give it to me who stands bewildered
@ This trouble in heart is thinking about the present condition comparing with that grace
எப்போ முடியுமோ வாழ்வின் போராட்டம் என்றே
எந்நாளும் முறையிடுகின்ற மூடனே நான், இனி
தப்பேதும் செயமாட்டேன் எனக்கூறி தவறிடாமல்
நாள்தோறும் செய்கின்றேன் பல தவறினையே 16
I am a fool who complains everyday saying
‘When the struggle in life is going to end’
I do many mistakes each day though I proclaim that
I won’t do it any more
தவறே செய்கின்ற போதும் தள்ளிடாமல்
தாய்போல் தருகின்றாய் உனதன்பை தவறாமல்
அறவேநான் திருந்துவதும் என்நாளோ?
ஐயா நான் உன்னருளை என்றும் மறவாமல்? 17
Not forsaking me though I often do mistakes
You show your love like a mother
When I am going to repent completely
Oh my Lord not forgetting your grace completely
மறவாமல் நானுன்னை துதிக்க வேண்டும்
மன்னவா எனக்கது உவக்க வேண்டும்
பிறழாது நான் இங்கு வாழ வேண்டும்
பேதைக்கு இறங்கி நீ அருளவேண்டும் 18
I should praise you not forgetting
Oh my king you should help me for that
I should live on this earth with a pure life
For that you should bestow your grace to this fool
அருளுண்டு நிறைவாய் உலகினிலே ஐயன்
திருப்பாதம் அண்டி வருவோருக்கு, தினம்
தொழுதுண்டு நிற்போர்க்கு குறையுண்டோ, இனித்
துன்பமே போயிற்று இவ்வுலகில் என்றும் 19
The grace is available abundantly for those
Who seeks the Holy feet of the Lord?
Will be there any shortcomings in life for the one who worships him
All the sufferings are gone in this world
என்று காண்பேன் இணையில்லாத் திருவடியை
எல்லோரும் தொழுதேத்தும் ஐயன் மலரடியை
பாதகர்க்காய் தழும்பேற்ற பொன்னடியை
பாரின் பாவமெல்லாம் போக்கிய அருளடியை 20
When I am going to have the darshan of the holy feet
The feet which everyone worships
The feet which was wounded for the devotees
And the feet which removed the sin of the whole world
அடி தொழுதிட வந்தேன் ஐயா நான் உன்
அடியான் என்னும் தகுதியினால் இனிக்
கதியென ஒன்றெனக்கு வேறுண்டோ உன்
கருணையே அன்றி மற்று வழியுண்டோ 21
Of my Lord I came to worship at your feet
Only with the qualification that I am your bhakta
Is there any other refuge for me other than this?
Is there any other path other than your compassion?
BT Song 102
This a Tamil version of the Hindi bhajan ‘Namuliyore Namuliyore’. But not verbatim copied but mostly following the tune
102. துதியுங்கள்
போற்றித் துதியுங்கள் புகழ்ந்து பாடுங்கள்
புனிதனவன் நாமத்தையே உயர்த்திக் கூறுங்கள்
பாவம் போக்கினான் சாபம் நீக்கினான்
பாரினிலே அவன் போல் தெய்வம் வேறு யாருளார்
அமைதியளித்தான் அன்பையளித்தான்
அவனியிலே அவன் போல் தெய்வம் வேறு யாருள்ளார்
தன்னையளித்தே ஒரு தியாகமே செய்தான்
தரணியிலே அவன் போல் தெய்வம் வேறு யார் உளர்
ஞானமளிப்பான் நலமும் அளிப்பான்
நாதனைப் போல் தெய்வம் இங்கு வேறு யாருள்ளார்
பக்தியளித்தான் முத்தியளித்தான்
பரமன் அவன் புகழினையே போற்றிப் பாடுங்கள்
என்னையும் மீட்டே ஓர் ஏற்றம் அளித்தான்
முக்தி ஈசனைப் போல் மேதினியில் வேறுயாருளார்
மீண்டும் வருவான் உடன் கூட்டிச்செல்லவே
அந்த மீட்பனவன் நாமத்தையே மீண்டும் கூறுங்கள்
02-04-1999. தில்லி.
102. Hail Him
Hail Him glorifying and sing Him with praising
Uphold highly His Holy Name
He removed my curse and sin
Who else is a God like Him other than Him
He gave peace and love
Who else is a God like Him other than Him
By giving Himself He has done a sacrifice
Is there any other God like Him in this world?
He will give wisdom and also blessings
Like this Lord who is there any other deity
He gave bhakti and Mukti
Sing the glory of this High God
By redeeming me He uplifted me
Who else is there like Muktesan
He will come again to take me with Him
Tell again the Name of that redeemer.
02-04-1999. Delhi
Not only having single minded devotion, but rejecting other deities as not equal to one’s own personal God is part of Hindu bhakti tradition. Almost in every major main line bhakti poems such thoughts are widespread. I need not quote from them to prove my point. But the refrain ‘who else is like Him’ is not intended to compare the Lord with other deities, but following a general trend of such songs I too have included such words. However my intention is not to compare the Lord with other deities to condescend them.
For me the gospel is unique and the Lord is unique. And we need not prove His uniqueness by comparing with other deities. I often say that there is no point in putting gods in competition to win their place among humans. When my guru became my God then He is unique in every sense. By comparing Him with other deities that too prove His greatness and uniqueness I am not uplifting the standard of my Lord or condescending other Gods, but lowering the concept of bhakti itself.
For every bhakta her personal God (Ishtadevata) is her own. To say in other way, by using Vaishnavite terminology, God is the only male and every other atman is the female principle longing to have personal and individual union with Him.@ And in that union there is no place for comparison or competition.
30-7-2014
@….as the sect {Sri Vaishnava} also teaches, all Selves are most properly understood as female in relation to the Supreme Male, this community of devotees includes all who desire the Lord….—D. Dennis Hudson, Krishna’s Mandala: Bhagavata Religion and Beyond, New Delhi, Oxford, 2010, p. 263
BT Song 103
“தீபு ஜலே” என்ற ஹிந்தி பாடலைத் தழுவி எழுதியது:
103. தீபமேற்று
உள்ளம் என்னும் கோயிலிலே
அன்பு என்னும் தீபமேற்றி
புகழ்ந்து கூறு அவனை நினைந்துபாடு
கருணாமூர்த்தி அவன் கருணாமூர்த்தி…
காலையும் மாலையும் கனிவுடன் கூறுவாய்
முக்தேசனின் நாமம், முக்தேசனின் நாமம்
புகழ் கூறு மனமே, அவன் பெயர் கூறு மனமே!
தீபமே ஏற்றியே, நாமமே போற்றியே
வழிபடுவோம் உலகில் வாழும்போது
வாழ்வதே அவனருளால்,
நாம் வாழ்வதே அவன் அருளால்
உலகின் ஜோதியாம், உண்மை வழியுமாம்
உயர்த்திடுவோம் அவனை வாழ்த்திடுவோம்
வழிகாட்டுவான் வாழ்வதற்கே அவன்
வழிகாட்டுவான் வாழ்வதற்கே….
03-04-1999. ரோதக் (ஹரியானா)
This song is based on the Hindi bhajan ‘Deepu jale’.
103. Light the Deepam (lamp)
In the temple of heart
Lighting the lamp of love
Praising Him; sing remembering Him
Compassionate one; Compassionate
Morning and evening take the sweet Name
The Name Muktesa….
Oh my heart tell his fame, Oh my heart take his Name
By lighting the deepam (lamp) and hailing His name
Let us worship Him when we live on this earth
We live because of His grace
We live because of His grace
He is the light to the world and true way
Let us uplift Him and praise Him
He will show the way for us to live
He will show the way for us to live
03-04-1999. Rohtak, Haryana
When I wrote this bhajan in Tamil I remembered Tirumular’s beautiful song:
உள்ளம் பெருங்கோயில் ஊனுடம்பு ஆலயம்
வள்ளல் பிரானார்க்கு வாய்கோ புரவாசல்
தெள்ளத் தெளிந்தார்க்குச் சீவன் சிவலிங்கம்
கள்ளப் புலனைந்தும் காளா மணிவிளக்கே– திருமந்திரம், மூலமும் தெளிவுரையும், அ. மாணிக்கம், சென்னை, வர்தமான் பதிப்பகம், 2003, ஆறாம்பதிப்பு, 1823, ப. 1063 [Our heart is the greatest temple and this mortal body is his abode; our mouth is the tower at the entrance; and the atman is the linga for the enlightened person and the five senses are the oil lamps—my own free translation]
In India fire and water have an important role to play in every kind of ritual. By lighting the lamp, offering things in fire is the main part of many rituals. Next is the Name of God. Name is not mere a word to identify a person in India. It portrays her character. This is true when it comes to the name of any deity. In fact the Name of the deity is more important than the deity Himself. As I have shared about this in Understanding Hinduism I don’t want to repeat it here. When I read Perception of Veda by Coomarasamy, I come across some interesting exegesis by him, which I would like to share in the notes.1
Though in Muktiveda also the Name depicts the character of a person, particularly about the Lord yet we don’t believe any automatic effect that it would have on us. It will be an interesting study on this subject of ‘name’ in Muktiveda and how it is used, misused and misunderstood by many. One is sufficed here. The often misinterpreted verse in Acts 4:12 is that the Lord’s name is above all other deities’ names, so His name is the only one given for one to be saved. Though it is true that as per our conviction that mukti is possible only through our Lord, yet the context of this verse is not a comparative theology of interfaith, but about the healing of that sick person. To the question ‘by whose name that crippled man was healed’ (4:7) giving response Peter said this (4:9ff).
In healing ministry and exorcism the way the Name of the Lord is used as a magic spell is not good. Even one bhakta said that in exorcism the devils don’t recognize the name ‘Muktinath’ but only Jesus Christ (in North India, Yesu masi), as if the devil is bound by any language. As Muktiveda is worshipped like an idol by many (Christians) the Name of Muktinath is treated like a mantra having any innate power in it. I know here I am triggering some controversy, but when truth is at stake, we cannot avoid any controversy.
31-07-2014
1..The importance of name is not limited only with Gods or naming children after the name of Gods, but as ‘name’ is the ‘world of’ life, what Ananda K. Coomaraswamy says about it is worth reading:
…Cratylus@ maintains that ‘he who knows the names knows also the things expressed by them’, and this is as much as to imply that ‘He who first gave names to things did so with sure knowledge of the nature of the things’; he maintains in so many words that this first giver of names (Skr. Naamadhaah) must have been ‘a power more than human’ and that the names thus given in the beginning are necessarily their ‘true names’….(p.318)
It is likewise the Indian doctrine (BD I.27ff;, Nirukta, I.1 and 12, etc.) that ‘Names are all derived from actions’; insofar as they denote a course of action, names are verbs, and insofar as someone or something is taken to be the doer of the action, they are nouns. It must not be overlooked that Skr. Naama is not merely ‘name’, but ‘form’, ‘idea’, and ‘eternal reason’. Sound and meaning (sabdaartha) are inseparably associated, so that we find this expression employed as an image of a perfect union, such as that of Siva-sakti, essence and nature, act and potentiality in divinis. Names are the cause of existence; one may say that in any composite essence (sattva, naamaruupa), the ‘name’ (naama) is the form of the ‘phenomenon’ (ruupa) in the same sense that one says that ‘the soul is the form of the body’. In the state of nonbeing (asat) or darkness (tamas), the names of individual principles are unuttered or ‘hidden’ (naamaani guhyaa, apiicyaa, etc.; RV, passim)&; to be named is to proceed from death to life. The Eternal Avatar himself, proceeding as a child (kumaara) from the unfriendly father, demands a name, because it is ‘by name that one strikes away evil’ (paapamaanam apahanti, SB, VI.1.3.9); all beings on their way dread most of all to be robbed of their names by the powers of Death, who lies in wait to thieve (krivir naamaani pravane musayati, RV, V.44.4). ‘It is by his deathless name (amartyena naamanaa) that Indra overliveth human generations’ (Rv, VI.18.7). So long as an individual principle remains in act, it has a name; the world of ‘names’ is the world of ‘life’. “ ‘When a man dies, what does not go out of him is ‘name’, that is ‘without end’, and since what is ‘without end’ is the Several Angels, thereby he wins the ‘world without end’” (BU, III.2.12). Ananda K. Coomaraswamy ‘Nirukta=Hermeneia’ in Perception of The Vedas, edited by Vidya Nivas Misra, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the arts, New Delhi, Manohar, 2000, pp.317-323
&. ‘When names were not, nor any sign of existence endowed with name’ (Rumi, Divan, Ode XVII. Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz, ed. R.A. Nicholson, Cambridge, 1898).—notes no. 9, p. 319
BD—The Brhad Devata of Saunaka, ed. A.A. Macdonell, Cambridge, Mass, 1994 (HOS VI) [I think it should be 1894—db}
BU—(Brahadaranyaka Upanisad) In The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, ed. R.E. Hume, 2nd ed., London, 1931
Nirukta= The Nighantu and Nirukta of Yaska, ed. L. Sarup, Oxford, 1921{I think it should be Yaksa and not Yaska. In the Index on p. 449 also it is ‘yaksa’ and not ‘yaska’—db}
RV. The Hymns of the Rgveda, ed. R.T.H. Griffith, 2 vols;, 4th ed., Benares, 1963.
SB—Satapatha Brahmana, ed. J. Eggeling, 5 vols., Osford, 1882-1900 (SBE XII, XXVI, XLI, XLIII, XLIV).
@About Cratylus this is what I found in this book: ‘…Plato employ the hermeneutic method in the Cratylus—‘—p. 318
104. எது வேண்டும்
அருள் வேண்டும் அதுவன்றி உலகினிலே
அமைதியாய் வாழ ஒரு வழி வேண்டும்
தொழவேண்டும் தொண்டர் குழாமொடு
தெய்வமே நின் பாதமதில் பக்தியோடு
மதி வேண்டும் மாயையான இவ்வாழ்வினிலே
மனம்போன போக்கில் போகாமல் இருக்க
குணம் வேண்டும் குற்றம் ஒன்றும்bசெய்யாது
கூடவே நின் துணை வேண்டும், தனித்துவாழத்
துணிவிலாக்கோழை எனக்கு வேறெதுவேண்டும்?
வேண்டியபடியே நீ தர வேண்டும் என
எண்ணாமல், நின் சித்தம் ஒன்றே செயவேண்டும்
எனக்கூறி சேவடி தனைச் சேர்வதல்லால்
09-08-1999. ராணிகேத் (உத்ராஞ்சல்)
104. What I require
Apart from Grace in this world
A means is required to have a peaceful life.
I have to worship along with other bhaktas
O God at your feet with bhakti.
I need intellect not to go as my heart desires
In this life of maya.
I need character and not committing any mistakes
I need your company to live alone.
What else is required for the coward who does not have courage?
Not thinking that you should bestow as I requested
But to do your will alone
And by uttering this I should reach your feet.
09-08-1999. Ranikhet (Uttaranchal)
This song and the next one have similar context. I was staying for a few months at Ranikhet to finalize the manuscript for Understanding Hinduism. The shishya who arranged for my stay was out of station for several weeks. Though I know few people there, yet most of the time I stayed alone and spent my time at work. As it was the rainy season for several days I couldn’t go for my evening walk and remained confined in my room. And sometimes I missed the fellowship with other bhaktas, as Internet facilities were not quite popular in those days with fast connectivity. More than anything I missed my books, as I was busy with my manuscript. That time some kind of discouragement came in my mind and I wrote this song.
As I shared before, living in solitude is different from having a lonely life.
105. எல்லாம் உனக்காக
எனது என ஒன்றும் இல்லை இனி
எல்லாம் உனக்காக ஆன பின்னே!
பின் ஏன் வந்தது வீண் சிந்தையும்தான்
என் மனம் போல ஓர் வாழ்க்கை வாழ?
என் தேகம், திறமை, காலமெல்லாம்
நீயளித்த பிச்சை என உணர்ந்தும்
என்சொந்தம் அவையெல்லாம் என எண்ணியே!
என்னையே ஏமாற்றும் தன்மை தன்னை
நீக்கிட மீண்டும் உன் கிருபை தந்து
எல்லாம் உனதே என உணர்ந்து [மீண்டும்]
உனக்காக வாழ அருள் கூறுவாய்.
12-08-1999. ராணிகேத் (உத்ராஞ்சல்)
105. Every things is yours
Once everything belong to you
Nothing belongs to me.
Once everything become yours
From where came this mean thought
To live a life as per my choice?
My body, talent and time
Are the alms/gifts from you.
After knowing this but thinking that they all belong to me,
I deceived myself! By removing this thought which cheats me
give your grace not allowing it to deceive me
Again to realize that all these belong to you
Give your grace to live for you.
12-08-1999. Ranikhet, Uttaranchal.
As I was too busy with my manuscript of Understanding Hinduism, in the name of rest and relaxing my mind, I began to entertain some Army Officers whom I met during my evening walk and a few others, I invited them for dinner, lunch and tea and spent time with them. Another reason could be that as I missed the fellowship with other bhaktas, I tried to compensate with others. Nothing wrong with it. As a normal human being I too need the fellowship of others. But as I missed my books, then sometime I began to read (not deeply but browsing them) some English novels that I found there. One day I took a 900 page novel and completed within four hours just browsing it to know the story. Later that day I regretted wasting my time like that. Then I wrote this song. At the same time I am not against reading novels, watching movies or news etc. When I have a lot of work on my hands, instead of using it to complete them, in the name of relaxing my mind I thought I wasted my time. But I don’t think like this.
For a normal person having social interaction, entertainment, recreation etc., are not wrong in themselves! When they become mere substitutes for our time with the Lord and other bhaktas (or at the expense of them), then they become snare.
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