136. வேண்டும்
உன்னை மறவாது வாழ வேண்டும்
உன்னருள் அதற்கு நிதமும் வேண்டும்
என்னை கைவிடாது காக்க வேண்டும்
என்னுள்ளே அதற்குப் பக்தி வேண்டும்
கண்களில் கண்ணீரும் நிரம்ப வேண்டும்
உன்னருள் நினைந்தே உருக வேண்டும்
கலக்கங்கள் வாழ்வில் நீங்க வேண்டும்
உன்காவலால் என்னைக் காக்க வேண்டும்
வேண்டும் வேண்டும் என நான் வரவேண்டும்
உன்னடி ஒன்றையே நாட வேண்டும்
தந்தேன் தந்தேன் என்று நீ தர வேண்டும்
திருவடி நிழலில் எனை வைக்க வேண்டும்
30-1-2010. குருகுலம்.
136. I need
I should live without forgetting you
For that I need your grace more.
You should protect not abandoning me
For that I need bhakti within me
Tears should fill my eyes
I should melt thinking your grace
Confusions should leave from the life
You should protect by your protection
I should come demanding several needs
I should seek only your feet
You should bestow by giving more and more
You should keep me at your Holy feet.
30-1-2010. Gurukulam
When I was thinking about Ramaliga Swami’s song in which he put forth his requirements (see BT Song 17 for this poem by Ramaliganar), I wrote this song almost ending with the same Tamil word ‘Vendum’.
137. செய்த புண்ணியம் என்னே
என்னதான் புண்ணியம்
செய்தேனோ நானும்
இணையடி தனில் வந்து
இளைப்பாறுதல் பெற
மானிடர் பாவம்
போக்கியே மீட்டிட
மன்னுருக்கொண்டு
இந்நிலம் வந்த
உன்னடி அண்டி
இளைப்பாறுதல் பெற–என்னதான் புண்ணியம்….
பக்தி நெறியறியேன்
ஞான வழி உணரேன்
கருமமுறையிலும்
கருத்தின்றி வாழும் நான்
திருவடி வந்து
இளைப்பாறுதல் பெற–என்னதான் புண்ணியம்….
முக்தி மறை அறியேன்
மூர்க்க குணமுடையேன்
பக்தர் குழாம் நாடேன்
பணிவிடை செய்தறியேன்
திருவடி வந்து
இளைப்பாறுதல் பெற–என்னதான் புண்ணியம்….
02-01-2011. குருகுலம்
137. What Punya (merit) I have done?
What kind of punya
I have done
To come unto your feet
And find rest there!
By removing the sin of human
And to redeem them
Taking the human form
Who came to this world
Approaching to that feet
To find rest there– What kind of punya
I don’t know the path of bhakti
I don’t know the path of jnana
Even in the path of karma
I who don’t pay much attention
Approaching to the feet
To find rest there– What kind of punya
I don’t know Mukti Veda
I have a rebellious spirit
I am not seeking the company of bhaktas
I don’t know how to serve others
But approaching your feet
To find rest there—what kind of punya….
02-01-2011. Gurukulam
I think it was St. Augustine who said that ‘the soul finds no rest until it finds in the Lord’. So when I sit for prayer or meditation some kind of rest in my restless heart and spirit will automatically come. In spite of all the troubles and confusions in life, a bhakta will always find the inner peace that everything is under the control of God, there is no other protection outside the Will of God. When I thought about it, I wrote this song, but then it also led me to confess my shortcomings which also compelled me to seek that rest at the Lord’s feet.
7-8-14
138. உன்னடி சேர்ந்திட வேண்டும்
என்னுள் இருந்து
எனையாளும் தெய்வமே
உன்னுள் இருக்க
அருள வேண்டும்
தன் நிலை இழந்து
தவறினேன் நானே
உன்னருள் கொண்டு
மீண்டு வந்தேன்
செய்த பிழையெல்லாம்
மன்னித்தாயே
தெய்வமே உன்னுடன்
சேர்த்தணைத்தாயே
இந்த நிலை உணர்ந்து
வாழ்ந்திட வேண்டும்
இதற்கென்று உன்னடி
சேர்ந்திட வேண்டும்
09-03-2011. குருகுலம்
138. I should reach at your feet
Oh Lord, who rules over me?
By dwelling within me
You should give grace
For me to be in you!
I stumbled
By losing my stand (in you)
But I come back
Through your grace!
You forgave
All the sins
You accepted me
As your own!
I should live
Knowing this status
To know this
I should reach your feet.
09-03-2011, Gurukulam.
My position, status as the child of God is not something that I earned but received as an inheritance because of what the Lord has done for me. He being the first fruit, naturally I too became part of that inheritance. However, if I wish I can lose it. Once we lost it, by repentance (like the prodigal son) though we can return back to our inheritance, yet we cannot avoid temptation in life. For this I have to repeatedly come to His feet reminding myself of my inheritance in Him.
7-8-14
139. வேறென்ன வேண்டும்?
உன்னில் ஆனந்தம் கண்டிட வேண்டும்
உனதருள் கடலினிலே மூழ்க வேண்டும்
என்னை நானே மறந்திட வேண்டும்
எனதென்ற எண்ணமும் நீங்க வேண்டும்
தன்னிகரில்லாத தயவு நீ கொண்டாய்
தரணியை காத்திட பேரருள் கொண்டாய்
உன்னையே அளித்திட உவந்து வந்தாய்
உன்னுயிர் அளித்து மீட்பு தந்தாய்
இந்த உண்மை அறிந்திட்ட நானும்
உலகுக்கு இதை உணர்த்திட வேண்டும்
உன்னருள் அதற்கு நீ தந்திட வேண்டும்
வேறென்ன உலகில் எனக்கிங்கு வேண்டும்
14-03-2011 குருகுலம்
139. What else do I require?
I should find joy in you
I should drown in the sea of your grace
I should forget myself
‘my’s-ness should leave from me
Un-comparable mercy you have
To save this world you showed great grace
You joyfully came to offer yourself
By giving your life you gave redemption
As I understood this truth
I should tell this to the world
You should bestow your grace for that to me
What else other than this I require?
14-03-2011 Gurukulam.
Recently I received a question from one evangelical: ‘What is your stand on “Great commission” prescribed in the Scripture. Do you or your shishyas make efforts to disseminate the gospel to people of other faiths and direct them to Muktiveda’?
In response I share this: I cannot speak for others. To correct one point I have to say one thing that I don’t have any shishya in the true sense. As others in our moment cannot call me ‘uncle’ they call me Swamiji or Guruji. This does not mean that they are my shishyas or I am their guru to speak for them or to represent their views. In this movement (Hindu Muktinath bhaktas) each individual is a separate entity and has her own views and voice. So I cannot speak for them. And I agree with Neill that ‘Every Christian (bhakta) is either a missionary or a mistake.’–Stephen Neill. (I think this quote is from Crisis of Belief. But I am not sure).
But there is not only one means to share the gospel to others—particularly to the people of other faiths. Though we all have responsibility in preaching the gospel, we are not gifted to do it in the same manner. One time a heated debate came between the workers in the mission field who share the gospel to the people directly and those who work behind them in raising the support. But as we are the members of the same body, each one has her function. So there never comes the question which part of evangelism is important. Once we realize our privilege we will accept the responsibility and do our part faithfully.
Out of my experience I say that it is easy to bring a person to the Lord. But to help her to grow in the Lord is the most difficult part of evangelism. I know several workers who enthusiastically brought many people to the Lord but completely forgot them and never paid any attention about their growth and future in the Lord. And they do exactly what the Lord accused the Pharisees were doing. And the condition of those proselytised become worse than their former life. The famous evangelical slogan: WIN THE WINNABLE WHILE THEY ARE WINNABLE helped to increase the growth of Christian population in few selected areas. After some time there were only few swellings than real church growth due to various facts. One should read: Social History of Christianity: North-west India Since 1800, John C.B. Webster, New Delhi, Oxford, 2007, to have a proper social history of the converts. Because:
While historians in the west have often equated the history of Christianity primarily with the history of the Christian Church as an institution, or of Christian doctrine….—p. 369
And a proper study by the evangelicals about social history will help them to rethink their evangelical agendas.
Great commission is a delicate subject for us to approach with a one-sided view. The word ‘conversion’ has merely spoiled the concept of Great Commission by merely proselytizing people from one religious community to another, at least in India as the sociological aspect of such conversion becomes a complicated issue later for the church or mission to handle in India. See my article ‘The Real Great Commission’ in the blog.
Anyhow conversion from one faith to another is not an exclusive activity of Christianity or Islam. Conversion from one faith to another is as old as religion itself and we can trace it in almost every religion. But the general impression that Neo-Hinduism tries to promote is that Hinduism never encourages conversion and encourages people to retain their own original faith. Whereas conversion from one sect to another is quite common in Hinduism. Explaining about it Arun W. Jones says:
…The image of Hinduism as a tradition that not merely allows but encourages people to stay with their faith community was so successfully propagated by international luminaries such as Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi that its conversionist element especially among bhakti sects has been overlooked. {See Arvind Sharma, “Hinduism and Conversion,” in The Oxford Handbook of Conversion, ed. Lewis R. Rambo and Charles Farhadian (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 429-43}. Yet frequently bhaktas have not been content simply to worship their own deity; their devotion compels them to “convert” others to their own community. One amusing story to illustrate this point is told of a Shaiva saint who was so deeply devoted to Shiva and committed to converting people to worshiping him that when Shiva himself came to visit the saint in disguise, the saint insisted that Shiva follow his devotion and become a shaiva. When the saint’s zeal was too much for Shiva, the latter tried to tell the former who he was: all in vain, for the saint insisted that Shiva convert, so Shiva “was forced on his knees for the baptism of ash.” {Ramanujan A. K., Speaking of Siva, London: Penguin Books, 1973, 29}—Arun W. Jones, Missionary Christianity and Local Religion: American Evangelicalism in North India, 1836-1870, Texas, Baylor University Press, 2017, p.12
16-08-2018
140. போற்றுவோம்
தோன்றினான் கதிரவன் குணதிசையிலே
தொழுதிட எழுந்தன உயிரினங்கள்
மாறிடா இறைவனின் மாண்பினைப்பாடி
மன்னுயிர் எழுந்தன மனமகிழ்வுடன்!
அமைதியுடன் அவனடி பணிந்திட
அவனியோர் எழுந்தனர் உளமே மகிழ்ந்து
எங்கும் அவனது அருள் காட்சியே
அகத்திலும் புறத்திலும் அவன் ஆட்சி!
சிந்தை நேராக்க சொல்லைச் சீராக்க
எண்ணம் புதிதாக்க நோக்கம் தெளிவாக்க
ஆர்வம் பெரிதாக்க ஆக்கம் நிறைவாக்க
இறையடி பணிவோம் எல்லாம் சிறப்பாக்க
நன்மை செய்ய நாடி வருகின்ற
நாதனை நம்பியே நாம் தொழுவோம்
தேவை அறிந்து திடமுடன் இருந்து
காத்திடும் இறைவன் திருவடி போற்றுவோம்
24-09-2011. குருகுலம்
140. Let us hail Him
The sun has risen in the eastern direction
Every living being woke up to worship Him
By singing the nobleness of the unchanging God
Living beings woke up with much joy
Silently to bow at His feet
The people of this earth woke up with joy in their heart
Everywhere is His presence of Grace
His rule is both in and out
To straighten the mind and reform the words
To renew the thoughts and have a clear vision
To increase the enthusiasm and to make work complete
Let us bow at the feet of God to make everything best.
He who comes unto to us to do favour
Let us worship Him by trusting Him
Knowing the need and taking a firm step
Let us hail His holy feet God who protects us.
24-09-2011. Gurukulam.
On this day when I sat in the dining hall with a cup of tea in the early morning I saw a beautiful sun rise. I was alone at that time. Spell bound by the beauty and calmness along with the sunrise, I silently worshiped the Lord and immediately I wrote this song. The music I composed for this song brings the beauty of that atmosphere and I use that tune to sing this song when I am alone with the Lord.
My translation is not communicating the essence of this song in Tamil.
7-8-14
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