Shivpreet Singh
Shivpreet Singh
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New Composition in Raag Basant: Mai Mai Dhan Payo Har Naam -

Shivpreet Singh · Mayi Mai Dhan Payo Hari Naam - concept-04


In this shabad, Guru Tegh Bahadur expresses the ultimate fulfillment found in the wealth of the Hari's Name. The restless mind, once chasing worldly desires, now sits in stillness, having found true rest (bisram). In the composition I tried to reflect the running and resting in the music.  

Guru Sahib explains that attachment to Maya—illusion and possessiveness—has vanished, replaced by the clarity of divine wisdom. This transformation leads to an inner state where greed and attachment cannot even approach. Instead, the soul clings to the path of devotion, discovering a priceless jewel—the Naam.

The Guru presents this journey as the dissolution of doubt and desire, allowing one to merge into nij sukh—the pure bliss of one's own inner being. But such a state is not achieved through effort alone; it is the result of divine grace. The closing lines emphasize that only the Gurmukh—one who turns towards the Guru—gathers this wealth of realization.

Why is this Shabad in Raag Basant?

The choice of Basant amplifies the theme of transformation.  Raag Basant is traditionally associated with the rejuvenation of spring, the melting away of winter’s cold, and the blossoming of new life. In the context of this shabad, Basant symbolizes an inner spring—the renewal of the soul upon realizing the Naam. Just as nature sheds the barrenness of winter, the seeker in this shabad sheds attachments, cynicism, and desire, stepping into a state of spiritual awakening. The joy of divine wisdom is not just intellectual but experiential, much like the vibrant bloom of springtime.



ਬਸੰਤੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥
basa(n)t mahalaa nauvaa ||
बसंतु महला ९ ॥
Basant, Ninth Mehla:

ਮਾਈ ਮੈ ਧਨੁ ਪਾਇਓ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ॥
maiee mai dhan paio har naam ||
माई मै धनु पाइओ हरि नामु ॥
O mother, I have gathered the wealth of the Lord's Name.
ਹੇ (ਮੇਰੀ) ਮਾਂ! (ਜਦੋਂ ਦਾ ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਸਰਨ ਪੈ ਕੇ) ਮੈਂ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਨਾਮ-ਧਨ ਹਾਸਲ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ,
ਹੇ (ਮਾਈ) ਸੰਤ ਜਨੋਂ! ਮੈਂਨੇ ਹਰੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਨੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਹੈ॥

ਮਨੁ ਮੇਰੋ ਧਾਵਨ ਤੇ ਛੂਟਿਓ ਕਰਿ ਬੈਠੋ ਬਿਸਰਾਮੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
man mero dhaavan te chhooTio kar baiTho bisaraam ||1|| rahaau ||
मनु मेरो धावन ते छूटिओ करि बैठो बिसरामु ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
My mind has stopped its wanderings, and now, it has come to rest. ||1||Pause||
ਮੇਰਾ ਮਨ (ਮਾਇਆ ਦੀ ਖ਼ਾਤਰ) ਦੌੜ-ਭੱਜ ਕਰਨ ਤੋਂ ਬਚ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ, (ਹੁਣ ਮੇਰਾ ਮਨ ਨਾਮ-ਧਨ ਵਿਚ) ਟਿਕਾਣਾ ਬਣਾ ਕੇ ਬਹਿ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ ।੧।ਰਹਾਉ।
ਅਬ ਮੇਰਾ ਮਨੁ ਧਾਵਨੇ ਸੇ (ਛੂਟਿਓ) ਰਹਿਤੁ ਹੂਆ ਹੈ ਔਰ ਸ੍ਵਰੂਪ ਮੇਂ (ਬਿਸਰਾਮੁ) ਇਸਥਤੀ ਕਰ ਬੈਠਾ ਹੈ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

ਮਾਇਆ ਮਮਤਾ ਤਨ ਤੇ ਭਾਗੀ ਉਪਜਿਓ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਗਿਆਨੁ ॥
maiaa mamataa tan te bhaagee upajio niramal giaan ||
माइआ ममता तन ते भागी उपजिओ निरमल गिआनु ॥
Attachment to Maya has run away from my body, and immaculate spiritual wisdom has welled up within me.
ਹੇ ਮੇਰੀ ਮਾਂ! (ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਨਾਲ ਮੇਰੇ ਅੰਦਰ) ਸੁੱਧ-ਸਰੂਪ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਨਾਲ ਡੂੰਘੀ ਸਾਂਝ ਬਣ ਗਈ ਹੈ (ਜਿਸ ਕਰਕੇ) ਮੇਰੇ ਸਰੀਰ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਮਾਇਆ ਜੋੜਨ ਦੀ ਲਾਲਸਾ ਦੂਰ ਹੋ ਗਈ ਹੈ ।
ਮਾਯਾ ਕੀ ਮਮਤਾ (ਤਨ ਤੇ) ਮਨ ਸੇ ਭਾਗੀ ਹੈ ਔਰ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਗ੍ਯਾਨੁ ਉਤਪੰਨ ਹੂਆ ਹੈ॥

ਲੋਭ ਮੋਹ ਏਹ ਪਰਸਿ ਨ ਸਾਕੈ ਗਹੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਭਗਵਾਨ ॥੧॥
lobh moh eh paras na saakai gahee bhagat bhagavaan ||1||
लोभ मोह एह परसि न साकै गही भगति भगवान ॥१॥
Greed and attachment cannot even touch me; I have grasped hold of devotional worship of the Lord. ||1||
(ਜਦੋਂ ਤੋਂ ਮੈਂ) ਭਗਵਾਨ ਦੀ ਭਗਤੀ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਵਸਾਈ ਹੈ ਲੋਭ ਅਤੇ ਮੋਹ ਇਹ ਮੇਰੇ ਉਤੇ ਆਪਣਾ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਨਹੀਂ ਪਾ ਸਕਦੇ ।੧।
ਲੋਭ ਅਰ ਮੋਹ ਯਿਹ ਸੁਪਰਸ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰ ਸਕਤੇ ਹੈਂ, ਕ੍ਯੋਂਕਿ ਭਗਵਾਨ ਕੀ ਭਗਤੀ ਗ੍ਰਹਣ ਕਰੀ ਹੈ॥੨॥

ਜਨਮ ਜਨਮ ਕਾ ਸੰਸਾ ਚੂਕਾ ਰਤਨੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਬ ਪਾਇਆ ॥
janam janam kaa sa(n)saa chookaa ratan naam jab paiaa ||
जनम जनम का संसा चूका रतनु नामु जब पाइआ ॥
The cynicism of countless lifetimes has been eradicated, since I obtained the jewel of the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
ਹੇ ਮੇਰੀ ਮਾਂ! ਜਦੋਂ ਤੋਂ (ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਨਾਲ) ਮੈਂ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਅਮੋਲਕ ਨਾਮ ਲੱਭਾ ਹੈ, ਮੇਰਾ ਜਨਮਾਂ ਜਨਮਾਂਤਰਾਂ ਦਾ ਸਹਿਮ ਦੂਰ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ;
ਜਬ ਰਤਨ ਰੂਪ ਨਾਮੁ ਪਾਯਾ ਤਬ ਜਨਮ ਜਨਮ ਕਾ ਸੰਸਾ ਥਾ, ਸੋ ਨਿਬ੍ਰਿਤ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ॥

ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਨਾਸੀ ਮਨ ਤੇ ਨਿਜ ਸੁਖ ਮਾਹਿ ਸਮਾਇਆ ॥੨॥
tirasanaa sakal binaasee man te nij sukh maeh samaiaa ||2||
तृसना सकल बिनासी मन ते निज सुख माहि समाइआ ॥२॥
My mind was rid of all its desires, and I was absorbed in the peace of my own inner being. ||2||
ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਸਾਰੀ ਤ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਨਾ ਮੁੱਕ ਗਈ ਹੈ, ਹੁਣ ਮੈਂ ਉਸ ਆਨੰਦ ਵਿਚ ਟਿਕਿਆ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ ਜਿਹੜਾ ਸਦਾ ਮੇਰੇ ਨਾਲ ਟਿਕਿਆ ਰਹਿਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਹੈ ।੨।
ਪੁਨਹ ਮਨ ਸੇ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਸਭ ਨਸਟ ਹੋ ਗਈ ਹੈ ਔਰ (ਨਿਜ ਸੁਖ) ਸ੍ਵੈ ਸ੍ਵਰੂਪ ਕੇ ਸੁਖ ਮੇਂ ਹਮਾਰਾ ਮਨੁ ਸਮਾਇਆ ਹੈ॥੨॥

ਜਾ ਕਉ ਹੋਤ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਨਿਧਿ ਸੋ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਗੁਨ ਗਾਵੈ ॥
jaa kau hot dhiaal kirapaa nidh so gobi(n)dh gun gaavai ||
जा कउ होत दइआलु किरपा निधि सो गोबिंद गुन गावै ॥
That person, unto whom the Merciful Lord shows compassion, sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe.
ਹੇ ਮਾਂ! ਕਿਰਪਾ ਦਾ ਖ਼ਜ਼ਾਨਾ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਜਿਸ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਉੱਤੇ ਦਇਆਵਾਨ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਂਦਾ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ ।
ਜਿਸ ਕੋ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਨਿਧ ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਦਯਾਲ ਹੋਤਾ ਹੈ, ਸੋ ਪੁਰਸ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਕੇ ਗੁਨ ਗਾਵਤਾ ਹੈ॥

ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਕੀ ਸੰਪੈ ਕੋਊ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪਾਵੈ ॥੩॥੩॥
kahu naanak ieh bidh kee sa(n)pai kouoo gurmukh paavai ||3||3||
कहु नानक इह बिधि की संपै कोऊ गुरमुखि पावै ॥३॥३॥
Says Nanak, this wealth is gathered only by the Gurmukh. ||3||3||
ਹੇ ਨਾਨਕ! ਆਖ—(ਹੇ ਮਾਂ) ਕੋਈ ਵਿਰਲਾ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਇਸ ਕਿਸਮ ਦਾ ਧਨ ਗੁਰੂ ਦੇ ਸਨਮੁਖ ਰਹਿ ਕੇ ਹਾਸਲ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ ।੩।੩।


People say I am singing songs, but what I am really doing is weaving a garland of oneness. I am weaving Guru Nanak's garland.  This new composition is based on an inspiring couplet by Guru Nanak which I have not heard anyone else sing:
Kaaya komal phul gun nanak gupas maal
Eni phooli rau kare avar ki chuniye daal

I pluck delicate flowers of actions from my own body and weave this garland
These are the flowers that my love appreciates, what other branch should I pluck from?
- Guru Nanak


Poetry: Guru Nanak & Guru Angad 
Raag: Shudha Basant 
Taal: 20 beat cycle (taal Arjun) 
Saxophone: Prasant Radakrishnan 
Music: Shivpreet Singh

Lyrics:


Kāiā kūmal phul guṇ Nānak gupas māl.
Ėnī fulī rao kare avar kė cẖuṇīah dāl. ||1||
- Guru Nanak


Nānak ṯinā basanṯ hai jinĥ gẖar vasiā kanṯ.
Jin ke kanṯ ḏisāpurī se ahinis firėh jalanṯ. ||2||
- Guru Angad

Meditation on Some of the Words  

Kāiā means body and kūmal could mean either soft (or compassionate) or leaf. Phul guṇ means flowers virtue. On my soft body there are flowers of virtue. These are the flowers that my love appreciates, what other branch (other than my body) should I pluck flowers from (for offering as prayers). 

Indeed, this perspective offers a beautiful lens through which to view our inner growth. Our virtues, like temporary blossoms, grace the landscape of our character, imparting their delicate beauty and fragrance. As we cultivate these virtues, they become the building blocks of our character, shaping the essence of who we are. 

These virtues continue to shine throughout our life, through its ups and downs.  I am reminded of Robert Frost's lines about why he prefers leaves over flowers - because they continue to be compassionate at night: Leaves compared with Flowers. 

The Garland of Guru Nanak


These compositions are in continuation of the garland that Guru Nanak weaves.  To weave this garland the flowers come to me.  Fortunately, these are some of the most beautiful flowers that can be found ... the flowers from rare poetry from Guru Nanak and Guru Angad who shared these flowers with each other in Kartarpur in a love filled meditative evening after the daily toil of farming ... the flowers of raag, in this case raag basant, the flowers of musicians around the world who inspire me, in this case Carnatic Saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan who's beautiful music you can find here, ... the flowers of rhythm, in this case a rare 20-beat cycle (Arjun taal).  While I can these flowers mine, but they are as well yours ... to be enchanted with and to be inspired from.  This garland is mine but in essence it is every seekers. 

All of us seekers have Guru Nanak's opportunity of weaving a garland in our life.  Each day we breathe on this earth, we have the opportunity to weave a new flower into the ever-growing garland of oneness. Just as a flower perfumes its surroundings, our best actions imbue the world with a fragrant essence of kindness. And kindness, like Guru Nanak says, is the basis of spirituality.  These kind-bodied flowers (kaaya komal phul gun), our compassionate actions, inspire others to do good by their aroma, and in that way. However, unlike flowers that spurt in our gardens, they never die.  They constitute the lasting imprint we leave behind, our legacy that transcends time.

For those who wield the power of words, such as poets like Rabindranath Tagore or Walt Whitman, their poems about oneness become the exquisite flowers that grace this garland. With eloquence and artistry, they weave verses that evoke emotions, capturing the essence of the human experience. Similarly, singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Bhai Mardana express their innermost sentiments through melodic blooms, their songs resonating with the hearts of listeners, spreading joy, solace, or inspiration. Composers like Mozart and Ravi Shankar, too, contribute to this floral tapestry, their compositions like intricate petals that intertwine harmoniously, creating symphonies that touch the souls of those who encounter them. And let us not forget the artists, who paint, sculpt, and create with passion, their art pieces becoming vibrant flowers that capture the imagination and evoke profound emotions.

Throughout the seeker's life, he continues to weave these flowers in this garland, each one a testament to our unique gifts and passions, and equally our borrowed learnings that the seeker gives his own touches to. With each act of creation, each thoughtful deed, the seeker contributes to the ever-evolving beauty of the garland. The essence of this garland, composed of these flowers with boundless beauty, is what ultimately shapes our legacy. It is a reflection of the compassion, beauty, and creativity we infused into the world.

Dear seeker, as we embark on this journey of existence, let us carry within us the awareness that our life can be the garland of the beautiful flowers of our actions.  With every petal we add to the garland, we contribute to a more compassionate and vibrant world, ensuring that our legacy remains forever intertwined with the interconnectedness of all things. Let us embrace the opportunities that arise to spread kindness, understanding, and love and with every choice we make, may we be mindful of the impact it has on others and the world at large.

In this way, may our life become a radiant bouquet, an inspiring garland, a testament to the beauty that can unfold when we infuse our best compassionate actions. As the bouquet grows, let its fragrance linger in the hearts of those we touch, and let it inspire others to nurture their own unique flowers. May the legacy of humanity continue to flourish in the light of Guru Nanak and inspire generations yet to come about oneness.

Video



Traditional Lyrics and Translation


ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
रामानंद जी घरु १
Rāmānanḏ jī gẖar 1
Raamaanand Jee, First House:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ੴ सतिगुर प्रसादि ॥
Ikoaʼnkār saṯgur parsāḏ.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
कत जाईऐ रे घर लागो रंगु ॥
Kaṯ jāīai re gẖar lāgo rang.
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.

ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
मेरा चितु न चलै मनु भइओ पंगु ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Merā cẖiṯ na cẖalai man bẖaio pang. ||1|| rahāo.
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1||Pause||

ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
एक दिवस मन भई उमंग ॥
Ėk ḏivas man bẖaī umang.
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.

ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
घसि चंदन चोआ बहु सुगंध ॥
Gẖas cẖanḏan cẖoā baho suganḏẖ.
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.

ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
पूजन चाली ब्रहम ठाइ ॥
Pūjan cẖālī barahm ṯẖāe.
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.

ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
सो ब्रहमु बताइओ गुर मन ही माहि ॥१॥
So barahm baṯāio gur man hī māhi. ||1||
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||

ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
जहा जाईऐ तह जल पखान ॥
Jahā jāīai ṯah jal pakẖān.
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.

ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
तू पूरि रहिओ है सभ समान ॥
Ŧū pūr rahio hai sabẖ samān.
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.

ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
बेद पुरान सभ देखे जोइ ॥
Beḏ purān sabẖ ḏekẖe joe.
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.

ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
ऊहां तउ जाईऐ जउ ईहां न होइ ॥२॥
Ūhāʼn ṯao jāīai jao īhāʼn na hoe. ||2||
I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||

ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
सतिगुर मै बलिहारी तोर ॥
Saṯgur mai balihārī ṯor.
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.

ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
जिनि सकल बिकल भ्रम काटे मोर ॥
Jin sakal bikal bẖaram kāte mor.
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.

ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
रामानंद सुआमी रमत ब्रहम ॥
Rāmānanḏ suāmī ramaṯ barahm.
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.

ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
गुर का सबदु काटै कोटि करम ॥३॥१॥
Gur kā sabaḏ kātai kot karam. ||3||1||
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||

Introduction

Why should I go anywhere else
When my own house is colorful
- Bhagat Ramanand

Today is Holi
the festival of colors
But there is a sadness
in the colors of Holi today

There is
an angst
Of a barbaric
Invasion that has uprooted 
millions of lives

UNICEF says 
more than 1.5 million children 
have been forced to become refugees. 

I have talked to some of their parents. 
They have left their homes,
They have lost everything they had. 
possessions. family members, friends, limbs. lives. 

But I have also seen some
Amazingly positive things. 
I have seen courage and fearlessness. 
I have seen kindness and compassion
I have seen an entire world choose
sunflowers over tanks

But most heartening
Is this girl I have seen from Ukraine

With pride she waves their colors

The colors of sunflowers 
That sing peace 
are within her
the colors of the sky
That sing freedom
Are within her

You can remove her from her home
But you can never her hope from within

May her holy dream of 
freedom and peace
Come true soon

Shabad in Punjabi - Kat Jaiyeh Re


ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥ ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥ ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥ ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥

ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥ ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥ ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥

ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥ ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥ ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥

Meditation - Kat Jaiyeh Re


One day I had a desire. I made myself beautiful by rubbing sandalwood
Then I took off to find Brahma. Guru told me that Brahma is my mind.

Where should I go, my home is colored.
My consciousness doesn't move, my mind is handicapped

Wherever I go there is water and stone. You are full equally in all.
I researched vedas and puranas. It would make sense to go there, if He wasn't here.

Oh Satguru I love you. You have broken all the myths.
My swami travels all over. The shabad of the guru has resolved all past issues.



Translation by Sahib Singh in Punjabi


ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧     ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥ ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥ ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥ ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥ ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥ ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥ ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥ ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥ ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥ ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥ ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥ ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥ {ਪੰਨਾ 1195}

ਪਦ ਅਰਥ: ਕਤ = ਹੋਰ ਕਿੱਥੇ? ਰੇ = ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਰੰਗੁ = ਮੌਜ। ਘਰ = ਹਿਰਦੇ-ਰੂਪ ਰ ਵਿਚ ਹੀ। ਨ ਚਲੈ-ਭਟਕਦਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੈ। ਪੰਗੁ = ਪਿੰਗਲਾ, ਜੋ ਹਿੱਲ ਜੁਲ ਨਹੀਂ ਸਕਦਾ, ਥਿਰ।1। ਰਹਾਉ।

ਦਿਵਸ = ਦਿਨ। ਉਮੰਗ = ਚਾਹ, ਤਾਂਘ, ਖ਼ਾਹਸ਼। ਘਸਿ = ਘਸਾ ਕੇ। ਚੋਆ = ਅਤਰ। ਬਹੁ = ਕਈ। ਸੁਗੰਧ = ਸੁਗੰਧੀਆਂ। ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ = ਠਾਕੁਰ ਦੁਆਰੇ, ਮੰਦਰ ਵਿਚ।1।

ਜੋਇ = ਢੂੰਡ ਕੇ, ਖੋਜ ਕੇ। ਤਹ = ਉਥੇ। ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ = (ਤੀਰਥਾਂ ਤੇ) ਪਾਣੀ, (ਮੰਦਰਾਂ ਵਿਚ) ਪੱਥਰ। ਸਮਾਨ = ਇੱਕੋ ਜਿਹਾ। ਊਹਾਂ = ਤੀਰਥਾਂ ਤੇ ਮੰਦਰਾਂ ਵਲ। ਤਉ = ਤਾਂ ਹੀ। ਜਉ = ਜੇ। ਈਹਾਂ = ਇਥੇ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਿਚ।2।

ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ = ਤੈਥੋਂ ਸਦਕੇ। ਜਿਨਿ = ਜਿਸ ਨੇ। ਬਿਕਲ = ਕਠਨ। ਭ੍ਰਮ = ਵਹਿਮ, ਭੁਲੇਖੇ। ਮੋਰ = ਮੇਰੇ। ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ = ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ। ਰਮਤ = ਸਭ ਥਾਂ ਮੌਜੂਦ ਹੈ। ਕੋਟਿ = ਕ੍ਰੋੜਾਂ। ਕਰਮ = (ਕੀਤੇ ਹੋਏ ਮੰਦੇ) ਕੰਮ।3।1।

ਅਰਥ: ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਹੋਰ ਕਿਥੇ ਜਾਈਏ? (ਹੁਣ) ਹਿਰਦੇ-ਘਰ ਵਿਚ ਹੀ ਮੌਜ ਬਣ ਗਈ ਹੈ; ਮੇਰਾ ਮਨ ਹੁਣ ਡੋਲਦਾ ਨਹੀਂ, ਥਿਰ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ।1। ਰਹਾਉ।

ਇੱਕ ਦਿਨ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਵਿਚ ਭੀ ਤਾਂਘ ਪੈਦਾ ਹੋਈ ਸੀ, ਮੈਂ ਚੰਦਨ ਘਸਾ ਕੇ ਅਤਰ ਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਕਈ ਸੁਗੰਧੀਆਂ ਲੈ ਲਈਆਂ, ਤੇ ਮੈਂ ਮੰਦਰ ਵਿਚ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਤੁਰ ਪਈ। ਪਰ ਹੁਣ ਤਾਂ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਉਹ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ (ਜਿਸ ਨੂੰ ਮੈਂ ਮੰਦਰ ਵਿਚ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਸਮਝਦੀ ਸਾਂ) ਮੇਰੇ ਗੁਰੂ ਨੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਵਿਚ ਵੱਸਦਾ ਹੀ ਵਿਖਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਹੈ।1।

(ਤੀਰਥਾਂ ਉਤੇ ਜਾਈਏ ਚਾਹੇ ਮੰਦਰਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਜਾਈਏ) ਜਿਥੇ ਭੀ ਜਾਈਏ ਉਥੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਹੈ ਜਾਂ ਪੱਥਰ ਹਨ। ਹੇ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ! ਤੂੰ ਹਰ ਥਾਂ ਇੱਕੋ ਜਿਹਾ ਭਰਪੂਰ ਹੈਂ, ਵੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਆਦਿਕ ਧਰਮ-ਪੁਸਤਕਾਂ ਭੀ ਖੋਜ ਕੇ ਵੇਖ ਲਈਆਂ ਹਨ। ਸੋ ਤਰੀਥਾਂ ਤੇ ਮੰਦਰਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਤਦੋਂ ਹੀ ਜਾਣ ਦੀ ਲੋੜ ਪਏ ਜੇ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਇਥੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਵਿਚ ਨਾਹ ਵੱਸਦਾ ਹੋਵੇ।2।

ਹੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ! ਮੈਂ ਤੈਥੋਂ ਸਦਕੇ ਹਾਂ, ਜਿਸ ਨੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਔਖੇ ਭੁਲੇਖੇ ਦੂਰ ਕਰ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਹਨ। ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਦਾ ਮਾਲਕ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਹਰ ਥਾਂ ਮੌਜੂਦ ਹੈ (ਤੇ, ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਰਾਹੀਂ ਮਿਲਦਾ ਹੈ, ਕਿਉਂਕਿ) ਗੁਰੂ ਦਾ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਕ੍ਰੋੜਾਂ (ਕੀਤੇ ਮੰਦੇ) ਕਰਮਾਂ ਦਾ ਨਾਸ ਕਰ ਦੇਂਦਾ ਹੈ।3।1।

Sahib Singh's Translation's Translation in English: 


Meaning: O brother! Where else to go? (Now) merriment has become in the Hirda-ghar itself; My mind does not waver now, it has become still.1. Get rid of

One day a longing arose in my mind, I rubbed sandalwood and took perfume and many other perfumes, and I went to worship in the temple. But now that God (whom I thought lived in the temple) my Guru has shown me to dwell in my mind.1.

(Go to the shrines whether we go to the temples) Wherever we go there is water or stones. O Lord! You are equally abundant everywhere, you have searched and seen the ancient Vedic scriptures. So I had to go to the temples and shrines only if God did not dwell in my mind here.2.

O Satguru! I am a sacrifice to Thee, who has removed all my difficult delusions. The Lord, the Master of Ramananda, is present everywhere (and is found through the Guru, because) the Guru's word destroys crores (of evil deeds) done.3.1.

I was listening and meditating upon this beautiful ghazal by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, beautifully composed by Mehdi Hassan. It is one of my favorite ghazals of Mehndi Hassan which I first heard in a ghazal baithak at my uncle's home in the late 80s.  

People used to asked Mehdi Hassan, ‘Mehdi bhai, please sing the badalo bahar ghazal for us.’ He used to tell them it is "bad-e-naubahar" to which they would reply, ‘We don’t understand it but it is really good’. Here is an attempt to expand the aura of this beautiful ghazal by providing a better understanding of it through multiple translations. 

"Gulon Main Rang Bhare" is a love poem, in which the poet expresses his feelings of longing and desire for his beloved. The first couplet is arguably the most beautiful. The poet starts with a request: "Colors are filling the flowers, the spring breeze blows the atmosphere. O love, why don't you come so the business of the garden can continue?". Love is not a business, it is not an occupation. But the poet is preoccupied with his love. The color filling the flowers, and the spring breeze blowing gently is beautiful - but it seems empty without the love.  So, the poet requests the love to come so spring can be spring, and flowers can be flowers. 

Lyrics and three translations are given below. I love the one by Mustansir Dalvi the best.  It is truly compact and innovative. I wrote a poem inspired by this which I excerpt here:

A Breeze of Spring in Fall

- After Faiz Ahmed Faiz


I like to think of the garden
as a place with its own timetable,
a bureaucrat of blossoms and weeds
negotiating with the breeze of spring,
petals posing as unsigned documents
awaiting the flourish of love's approval.


Lyrics of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare


The following lyrics include all the seven couplets of the ghazal.  The 6th couplet was usually not sung by Mehndi Hassan; one of the translations does not include it.  

gulon mein rang bhare, baad-e-naubahaar chale
chale bhi aao ki gulshan kaa karobaar chale 

qaffas udaas hai yaro, sabaa se kuchh to kaho
kahin to bahr-e-Khudaa aaj zikr-e-yaar chale 

kabhi to subh tere kunj-e-lab se ho aagaaz
kabhi to shab sar-e-kaakul se mushkabaar chale 

bada hai dard ka rishtaa, ye dil garib sahi
tumhaare naam pe aayenge gam gusaar chale 

jo ham pe guzari so guzari magar shab-e-hijraa
hamaare ashk teri aaqabat sanawaar chale 

huzoor-e-yaar hui daftar-e-junoon ki talab
girah mein leke garebaan kaa taar taar chale 

maqaam ‘Faiz’ koii raah mein jachaa hii nahiin
jo kuu-e-yaar se nikale to suu-e-daar chale 


Gulon Main Rang Bhare Translated by Mustansir Dalvi


Like the new breeze of spring
that grants blossoms their hue,
come forth love, grant the garden
leave to go about its business.

This birdcage is forlorn.
Call upon the gentle wind, friends
to petition the Lord, if it will,
to speak of my beloved.

Let the dawn, for once, arrive
through the archway of your lips.
Let the dusk spread its perfume
like musk from your tresses.

This impoverished heart
is privileged to suffer
and, hearing your name,
to swell, leaving comfort behind.

What is done is done
but, sundering night,
know that your passing
is adorned with our tears.

So insatiable is my vehemence
to be in your presence, my love,
I bunch up my shirt in a knot
and rip its collar to shreds.

No destination along the way
has any appeal for Faiz,
a step away from his beloved’s street
is a giant leap to the gallows pole.

Translation of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare with Vocabulary


1. Gulon mein rang bhare baad-e-naubahaar* chale
Chale bhi aao ke gulshan** ka kaarobaar chale

गुलों मे रंग भरे, बाद-ए-नौबहार चले
चले भी आओ कि गुलशन का कारोबार चले

Let the breeze of a new spring, flow and Fill the flowers with colours
Please do come so that the garden can get on with its daily business

Gul गुल گل = flower

shammaa parvaanaa hon ke Gunchaa o gul
zindagii kis ko raas aa.ii hai #Shakeel badayuni

baad-e-naubahaar बाद-ए-नौ-बहार
بادِ نوبہار =breeze of new spring
Baad= here it means breeze , wind, air but also means afterwards , subsequent )
Gulshan , गुलशन
گلشن = garden/ rose garden

ai nau-bahaar-e-naaz terii nikhaton* kii KHair (*khushbu)
daaman jhaTak ke nikle tere gulsitaan se ham #Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

Kaarobaar ,कारोबार , کاروبار = business, affair, kaamkaaj
kaarobaar-e-jahaan sanvarte hain
hosh jab be-KHudii* se miltaa hai Jigar Moradabadi ( Being besides Oneself, Intoxication, Rapture, Senseless)

2. Qafas* udaas hai yaaron sabaa** se kuchh tau kaho
Kahin to bahr-e-Khuda*** aaj zikr-e-yaar chale

कफ़स उदास है यारों सबा से कुछ तो कहो
कहीं तो बह्र-ए-खुदा आज ज़िक्र-ए-यार चले

The prison is sad, friends ask the breeze to say something
At least somewhere for God’s sake, let there be discussion of the beloved

Qafas क़फ़स قفس = cage, prison ( emphasis on ‘f’)

qafas mein jii nahiin lagtaa kisii tarah
lagaa do aag koii aashiyaan men #Altaf Hussain Hali

Sabaa सबा صبا = a gentle breeze

KHush-buu pighalte lamhon kii saanson mein kho gaii
KHush-buu kii vaadiyon mein sabaa le gaii mujhe
#Iffat Zarrin

Bahr e Khuda बहर-ए-ख़ुदा بہر خدا = khuda ke liye, for God’s sake
zikr-e-yaar ज़िक्र-ए-यार ذکرِ یار = mehboob ki baatein , mention of the beloved

maahaul saaz-gaar karo main nashe mein huun//
zikr-e-nigaah-e-yaar karo main nashe mein huun
Ganesh Bihari ‘tarz’

3. kabhi tau subah tere kunj-e-lab* se ho aaghaz**
Kabhi to shab sar-e-kaakul se mushakbaar *** chale

कभी तो सुब्ह तेरे कुन्ज-ए-लब से हो आगाज़
कभी तो शब् सर-ए-काकुल से मुश्कबार चले

At least once let the morning start from the corner of your lips ( a gentle morning kiss/touch)
At least once let the night be filled with the musky smell of your tresses

Kunj e lab कुन्ज -ए-लब کنج لب = kunj=corner. Lab =lips here it refers to a smile or a touch/ kiss
سرِ کاکل Sar e kakul सर-ए-काकुल = tresses
आग़ाज़ AaGaaz beginning, commencement,start, genesis

Ibtidaa* ishq kii hai dekh ‘amaanat’ hushyaar
ye vo aaGaaz** hai jis kaa ko.ii anjaam nahii.n (both mean beginning, start, commencement but aaghaaz also used for genesis #Amaanat Lukhnavi

Aaghaaz karna= Commence, Start
Aaghaaz hona= start
Din ka aaghaaz = start of day
Mushk-baar मुश्क-बार مشکبار = scented like musk

kah sabaa vo khulii hai zulf kahaa.n
tujh me.n buu mushk-naab* kii sii hai ( smell of pure, unadulterated musk )
#Sher Mohd Imaan

4. Jo hum pe guzri so guzri magar shab-e-hijraan*
Hamaare ashk** teri aaqibat*** sanwaar chale

जो हम पे गुज़री सो गुज़री मगर शब्-ए-हिजरां
हमारे अश्क तेरी आक़िबत संवार चले

Whatever befell me, I endured but at least on the night of separation
My tears adorned your future

Guzri — ‘z’ not ‘j’
Shab e hijraan शब-ए- हिजरां شبِ ہجراں = the night of separation ( shab = night| hijr = separation)
Ashk अश्क اشک ( k not q ) = aansoo, tears
Aaqibat आक़िबत عاقبت = the end, conclusion , future life
And aaqabat (conclusion, future, future life, life after death, other world),
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/conclusion
future 2) other world 3) life after death 4) conclusion

5. huzuur-e-yaar huyii daftar-e-junuun* kii talab
girah men le ke girebaan kaa taar taar chale

हुज़ूर-ए-यार हुई दफ़्तर-ए-जुनूँकी तलब
गिरह मे लेके गरेबां के तार-तार चले

The beloved has summoned me to her court with my documents of infatuation
I have only my torn to tatters collar, which I take tied in a knot

Daftar e junuun دفتر جنوں = literally multitude of frenzy/ but here documentation of infatuation

Roz-e-hisaab jab mera pesh ho daftar-e-amal
Aap bhi sharmsaar ho, mujh ko bhi sharmsaar kar #Iqbal

daftar didn’t originally mean office .It was a colloquial term 4 file/folder The clerk looking after them in govt offices was called daftari, a Class IV position in govt offices.

girah गिरह گرہ = here it means a knot, but is also used for one-sixteenth of gaz(yard)
the famous song “dil ki girah khol do, chup na baitho koi geet gao”.
girebaan गरेबां گریبان = literally means the collar,the opening of breast portion of a garment
apne girebaan mein jhank kar dekho = self introspection
chaak-e-garebaan = collar torn to bits in amorous frenzy.
Girebaan-geer= adj.: accuser, one catching by neck or collar, plaintiff

aashiq hain magar ishq numaayaa’n nahiin rakhte
ham dil kii tarah chaak girebaan nahiin rakhte Bekhud dehalvi

kaanTon ko bhii ab baad-e-sabaa chheD rahii hai
phuulon ke hasiin chaak girebaan se guzar ke #Ali Jawwad Zaidi

6. Maqaam* Faiz koi raah mein jacha** hi nahin
Jo ku e yaar*** se nikle to su e daar**** chale

मक़ाम फैज़ कोई राह मे जचा ही नही
जो कू-ए-यार से निकले तो सू-ए-दार चले

No place attracted Faiz, en-route
After leaving the Beloved’s lane he headed for the gallows

Maqaam मक़ाम مقام = dwelling,occasion,place,position ( here place)
جچا जचा jacha = liked
Kuu e yaar कू-ए-यार کوئے یار = yaar ki gali , lover’s street

kitnaa hai bad-nasiib ‘zafar’ dafn ke liye
do gaz zamiin bhii na milii kuu-e-yaar me.n

yaaro kuu-e-yaar kii baate’n kare’n
phir gul o gul-zaar kii baate’n kare’n
Akhtar Shiraani

Suu e daar सू-ए-दार سُوئے دار = towards the gallows ( suu-e = towards / suu = evil, bad |
daar = gallows as here but also means house ,place )

ham na iisaa na Sarmad* o Mansur(name of a Sufi saint who was hanged for saying “I am God”)
log kyuu.n suu-e-daar le ke chale (* hanged for heresy by Aurangzeb) #Naushad Ali


Another Translation of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare


gulon mein rang bhare, baad-e-naubahaar chale
chale bhi aao ki gulshan kaa karobaar chale 

The flowers need to flush with color,
The winds need to blow in the change,
Love, would waft in like the spring?
The flowers, they need to bloom again.

qaffas udaas hai yaro, sabaa se kuchh to kaho
kahin to bahr-e-Khudaa aaj zikr-e-yaar chale 

The cage around us is still, and silent,
Please, speak of kindness into the breeze
For god’s sake, fill the quiet around us,
With beautiful descriptions of my lover.

kabhi to subh tere kunj-e-lab se ho aagaaz
kabhi to shab sar-e-kaakul se mushkabaar chale 

Someday, somewhere, my day will start
From the corner of your smiling lips,
Someday, somewhere, my day will end
With the heady perfume of your hair.

bada hai dard ka rishtaa, ye dil garib sahi
tumhaare naam pe aayenge gam gusaar chale 

The bond that pain forges is strong,
Though we, alone, have broken, weak hearts,
But we will wait, in anticipation of you,
Your call pulling us through the haze.

jo ham pe guzari so guzari magar shab-e-hijraa
hamaare ashk teri aaqabat sanawaar chale 

What we have felt, and we have borne,
Will end as this evening of separation will,
Maybe my tears will drip on your soul,
And washed it clean for your next life.

huzoor-e-yaar hui daftar-e-junoon ki talab
girah mein leke garebaan kaa taar taar chale 

We welcomed them as friends, but their
Greed was a vast, unquencing thirst,
And they tied us up, preparing our bodies
For how they carved us out into pieces.

maqaam ‘Faiz’ koii raah mein jachaa hii nahiin
jo kuu-e-yaar se nikale to suu-e-daar chale 

Unfortunately, Faiz could not find any
Solace in this exiled wanderings, home
Was nowhere to be found, nor love, and
So, I chose to find death at the gallows.


Yesterday, we lost an amazing kirtaniya, Prof. Kartar Singh ji who passed away at the age of 94 years. 

He was recently handed over the Padma Shri award by the Ludhiana DC in the hospital.

Professor Sahib leaves an amazing treasure of music for us, through which he will always live among us.  While I have enjoyed a lot of his compositions, I especially like two of his Basant compositions. Both these were sung live in Harimandir Sahib. Both are the traditional Shudha Basant which is different from the more popular purvi basant which is often sung by Hindustani classical musicians. 

Raga Basant is a Hindustani classical music raga that is associated with the season of spring and is typically performed in the evening. During the spring season it can also be sung at any time. It is also associated with the Hindu festival of Vasant Panchami, which marks the arrival of spring. The raga is often used to convey feelings of joy, happiness, new beginnings and celebration.

Nahi Chhodo Re Baba Raam Naam (Bhagat Kabir)




ਪ੍ਰਹਲਾਦ ਪਠਾਏ ਪੜਨ ਸਾਲ ॥
प्रहलाद पठाए पड़न साल ॥
Parahlāḏ paṯẖāe paṛan sāl.
Prahlaad was sent to school.

ਸੰਗਿ ਸਖਾ ਬਹੁ ਲੀਏ ਬਾਲ ॥
संगि सखा बहु लीए बाल ॥
Sang sakẖā baho līe bāl.
He took many of his friends along with him.

ਮੋ ਕਉ ਕਹਾ ਪੜ੍ਹ੍ਹਾਵਸਿ ਆਲ ਜਾਲ ॥
मो कउ कहा पड़्हावसि आल जाल ॥
Mo kao kahā paṛĥāvas āl jāl.
He asked his teacher, "Why do you teach me about worldly affairs?

ਮੇਰੀ ਪਟੀਆ ਲਿਖਿ ਦੇਹੁ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੋੁਪਾਲ ॥੧॥
मेरी पटीआ लिखि देहु स्री गोपाल ॥१॥
Merī patīā likẖ ḏeh sarī gopāl. ||1||
Write the Name of the Dear Lord on my tablet."||1||

ਨਹੀ ਛੋਡਉ ਰੇ ਬਾਬਾ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ॥
नही छोडउ रे बाबा राम नाम ॥
Nahī cẖẖodao re bābā rām nām.
O Baba, I will not forsake the Name of the Lord.

ਮੇਰੋ ਅਉਰ ਪੜ੍ਹ੍ਹਨ ਸਿਉ ਨਹੀ ਕਾਮੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
मेरो अउर पड़्हन सिउ नही कामु ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Mero aor paṛĥan sio nahī kām. ||1|| rahāo.
I will not bother with any other lessons. ||1||Pause||

ਸੰਡੈ ਮਰਕੈ ਕਹਿਓ ਜਾਇ ॥
संडै मरकै कहिओ जाइ ॥
Sandai markai kahio jāe.
Sanda and Marka went to the king to complain.

ਪ੍ਰਹਲਾਦ ਬੁਲਾਏ ਬੇਗਿ ਧਾਇ ॥
प्रहलाद बुलाए बेगि धाइ ॥
Parahlāḏ bulāe beg ḏẖāe.
He sent for Prahlaad to come at once.

ਤੂ ਰਾਮ ਕਹਨ ਕੀ ਛੋਡੁ ਬਾਨਿ ॥
तू राम कहन की छोडु बानि ॥
Ŧū rām kahan kī cẖẖod bān.
He said to him, "Stop uttering the Lord's Name.

ਤੁਝੁ ਤੁਰਤੁ ਛਡਾਊ ਮੇਰੋ ਕਹਿਓ ਮਾਨਿ ॥੨॥
तुझु तुरतु छडाऊ मेरो कहिओ मानि ॥२॥
Ŧujẖ ṯuraṯ cẖẖadāū mero kahio mān. ||2||
I shall release you at once, if you obey my words."||2||

ਮੋ ਕਉ ਕਹਾ ਸਤਾਵਹੁ ਬਾਰ ਬਾਰ ॥
मो कउ कहा सतावहु बार बार ॥
Mo kao kahā saṯāvahu bār bār.
Prahlaad answered, "Why do you annoy me, over and over again?

ਪ੍ਰਭਿ ਜਲ ਥਲ ਗਿਰਿ ਕੀਏ ਪਹਾਰ ॥
प्रभि जल थल गिरि कीए पहार ॥
Parabẖ jal thal gir kīe pahār.
God created the water, land, hills and mountains.

ਇਕੁ ਰਾਮੁ ਨ ਛੋਡਉ ਗੁਰਹਿ ਗਾਰਿ ॥
इकु रामु न छोडउ गुरहि गारि ॥
Ik rām na cẖẖodao gurėh gār.
I shall not forsake the One Lord; if I did, I would be going against my Guru.

ਮੋ ਕਉ ਘਾਲਿ ਜਾਰਿ ਭਾਵੈ ਮਾਰਿ ਡਾਰਿ ॥੩॥
मो कउ घालि जारि भावै मारि डारि ॥३॥
Mo kao gẖāl jār bẖāvai mār dār. ||3||
You might as well throw me into the fire and kill me."||3||

ਕਾਢਿ ਖੜਗੁ ਕੋਪਿਓ ਰਿਸਾਇ ॥
काढि खड़गु कोपिओ रिसाइ ॥
Kādẖ kẖaṛag kopio risāe.
The king became angry and drew his sword.

ਤੁਝ ਰਾਖਨਹਾਰੋ ਮੋਹਿ ਬਤਾਇ ॥
तुझ राखनहारो मोहि बताइ ॥
Ŧujẖ rākẖanhāro mohi baṯāe.
Show me your protector now!

ਪ੍ਰਭ ਥੰਭ ਤੇ ਨਿਕਸੇ ਕੈ ਬਿਸਥਾਰ ॥
प्रभ थ्मभ ते निकसे कै बिसथार ॥
Parabẖ thambẖ ṯe nikse kai bisthār.
So God emerged out of the pillar, and assumed a mighty form.

ਹਰਨਾਖਸੁ ਛੇਦਿਓ ਨਖ ਬਿਦਾਰ ॥੪॥
हरनाखसु छेदिओ नख बिदार ॥४॥
Harnākẖas cẖẖeḏio nakẖ biḏār. ||4||
He killed Harnaakhash, tearing him apart with his nails. ||4||

ਓਇ ਪਰਮ ਪੁਰਖ ਦੇਵਾਧਿ ਦੇਵ ॥
ओइ परम पुरख देवाधि देव ॥
Oe param purakẖ ḏevāḏẖ ḏev.
The Supreme Lord God, the Divinity of the divine,

ਭਗਤਿ ਹੇਤਿ ਨਰਸਿੰਘ ਭੇਵ ॥
भगति हेति नरसिंघ भेव ॥
Bẖagaṯ heṯ narsingẖ bẖev.
for the sake of His devotee, assumed the form of the man-lion.

ਕਹਿ ਕਬੀਰ ਕੋ ਲਖੈ ਨ ਪਾਰ ॥
कहि कबीर को लखै न पार ॥
Kahi Kabīr ko lakẖai na pār.
Says Kabeer, no one can know the Lord's limits.

ਪ੍ਰਹਲਾਦ ਉਧਾਰੇ ਅਨਿਕ ਬਾਰ ॥੫॥੪॥
प्रहलाद उधारे अनिक बार ॥५॥४॥
Parahlāḏ uḏẖāre anik bār. ||5||4||
He saves His devotees like Prahlaad over and over again. ||5||4||

Kat Jayiye Re Ghar Lago Rang - Professor Kartar Singh



ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
रामानंद जी घरु १
Rāmānanḏ jī gẖar 1
Raamaanand Jee, First House:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ੴ सतिगुर प्रसादि ॥
Ikoaʼnkār saṯgur parsāḏ.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
कत जाईऐ रे घर लागो रंगु ॥
Kaṯ jāīai re gẖar lāgo rang.
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.

ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
मेरा चितु न चलै मनु भइओ पंगु ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Merā cẖiṯ na cẖalai man bẖaio pang. ||1|| rahāo.
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1||Pause||

ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
एक दिवस मन भई उमंग ॥
Ėk ḏivas man bẖaī umang.
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.

ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
घसि चंदन चोआ बहु सुगंध ॥
Gẖas cẖanḏan cẖoā baho suganḏẖ.
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.

ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
पूजन चाली ब्रहम ठाइ ॥
Pūjan cẖālī barahm ṯẖāe.
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.

ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
सो ब्रहमु बताइओ गुर मन ही माहि ॥१॥
So barahm baṯāio gur man hī māhi. ||1||
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||

ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
जहा जाईऐ तह जल पखान ॥
Jahā jāīai ṯah jal pakẖān.
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.

ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
तू पूरि रहिओ है सभ समान ॥
Ŧū pūr rahio hai sabẖ samān.
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.

ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
बेद पुरान सभ देखे जोइ ॥
Beḏ purān sabẖ ḏekẖe joe.
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.

ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
ऊहां तउ जाईऐ जउ ईहां न होइ ॥२॥
Ūhāʼn ṯao jāīai jao īhāʼn na hoe. ||2||
I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||

ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
सतिगुर मै बलिहारी तोर ॥
Saṯgur mai balihārī ṯor.
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.

ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
जिनि सकल बिकल भ्रम काटे मोर ॥
Jin sakal bikal bẖaram kāte mor.
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.

ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
रामानंद सुआमी रमत ब्रहम ॥
Rāmānanḏ suāmī ramaṯ barahm.
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.

ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
गुर का सबदु काटै कोटि करम ॥३॥१॥
Gur kā sabaḏ kātai kot karam. ||3||1||
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||

 

It is John Lennon’s birthday today. He was a singer of peace and hope, a kindler of imaginations. He passed away prematurely at the age of 40, but he left behind a legacy of lovely melodies and a message of love.

Lennon attained fame all over the world after joining the Beatles as a founding member. The songwriting connection he formed with Paul McCartney was one of the most productive in music history. Together, they produced enduring works that resonate across generations.

I especially like the lyrics of “Imagine”. The song challenges us to picture a world free of division and conflicts. It urges us to work for peace and imagine a society devoid of material possessions and greed, and it strikes a deep chord with me. The lyrics clearly convey Lennon's faith in group effort and his desire for a peaceful society.

Personally, I think John Lennon's idealism and capacity for human connection through music to be inspirational. His creations, such as "Imagine," cross barriers and inspire us to envision a better future. We cherish his message of love and unity that continues to touch hearts all across the world as we commemorate his life and honor his memory today, the day of his birthday.

Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


#quote #johnlennon #flowers #shivpreetsingh #love #imagine #kirtanyoga #yoga


I heard this qawwali in old hindi (hindawi) today and was intrigued by the composition and lyrics.  Lyrics and notes are below.  The song is a tribute to sufi saint Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari who was Baba Sheikh Farid's nephew. The song talks about the blossoming of Saabir under the guidance of Baba Farid, and is aptly composed in Raag Pilu which is meant for the season of basant, flowers, colors and holi; the lyrics also reflect these themes. 



Lyrics - More Makhdoom Baaje Madhur Bansuri


More makhdoom baaje madhur bansuri
Tore goolar ki chhaiyaan tale
Dheere dheere pavan nacho hai mora man
Jaisa nadiyaa main naiyaa chale

Aaj sapno ki nagri main kho jaoongi
aaj saabir piya ki main ho jaaoongi
more haathan ki mehndi agan roop hai
jaise sooraj ho shaam dhale 

Tore angnaa main rangnaa chadhi jaat hai
more makhdoom saabir ki kyaa baat hai
khwajaa ganj-e-shakar ki karaamaat hai
saiyaan makhdoom phoole phale

Kou Maalik hai aur kou mohtaaj hai
Ek dukhiyaa ki saabir tohe laaj hai
Keejo kirpa najariya mahaaraaj ho, 
Tore dwaaran pe lakhon pale


Translation - A sweet flute plays in the shade of your goolar tree


O dear master, a sweet flute plays
in the shade of your goolar tree
A sweet breeze blows, my mind dances
like a boat in a river

Today I will be lost in the world of dreams
Today I will become his
The henna on my hand is fiery
like the sun setting in the evening

In your courtyard the color of love spreads
my master Saabir is great
by the magic of Baba Farid, the treasure of sweetness
my master (Saabir) is blossoming

Who is the master and who is the slave
You are the hope in my sadness
Save me my dear king
like so many at your doorstep

Vocabulary 


Makhdoom (Arabic: مخدوم‎, meaning one who is served and sometimes spelled Makhdum, Bengali: মখদুম, romanized: Mokhdum) is an Arabic word meaning "Teacher of Sunnah." It is a title for Pirs, in South and Central Asia.

Goolar - Tree under whose shade Makhdoom Saabir used to sit.


Story about Baba Sheikh Farid and Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari


Baba Fareed entrusted Alauddin the duty of Langar (distribution). Alauddin accepted this duty happily and in between engaged himself in prayers. He dispensed with his duties well and also attended the discourse of Baba Farid Ganj-e-shakar (treasure of sweetness, the song has a reference to this). He did not partake a single morsel from food, kept fasts and went to the jungle and ate wild berries and leaves. He did his duties for 12 years. He prayed continuously and his abstentions were never disrupted. Frequent and continuous fasting and eating leaves and wild food made him weak. When his mother came back again and saw him, she complained to his brother (Baba Farid) of his weakness. Baba Fareed called upon him and asked the reason. Sabir Pak replied “You ordered me to distribute the food and not to partake from it”. Baba Fareed embraced him happily and remarked “He is sabir (Patient)”. From that day forth He became famous with the name of “Sabir”.

Other Notes

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan released a track 'Mohe Ang Ang Baje Madhur Bansuri, Torey Yaadon Ki Chhaiyyaan Taley', which was adapted from this Sufi song. 'Moray Makhdoom Bajay Madhur Bansuri Teray Gullar Ki Chhaiyaan Taley'. 

Reminds me of Kabir's Dulhani, especially the lines with Mehndi, in which Kabir describes his spiritual wedding. 

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevUoDMWxGY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alauddin_Sabir_Kaliyari
Langar - Sufi
Langar - Sikh
Importance of Serving Food in Islam


Spring, flowers and gardens usually form positive metaphors for love and beauty.  Like Robert Frost aptly says, poets are "slave[s] to a springtime passion for the earth". For instance, a Buddhist song Phool ko Aakha Ma the writer says:

In the eyes of a flower, the world appears as a flower
In the eyes of a thorn, the world appears as a thorn
The shadow is cast according to the (size of the) object

But a flower can be a foe as good as he is a friend.  I was reading Tulips by Sylvia Plath this Spring season which explores the negative aspect of Spring and came across an article from Dawn (see below) with a couple of Mirza Ghalib couplets that also go in this direction.

Narcissus or Daffodil

There is an older sher that Ghalib wrote but did not include in his diwaan. But I like this better than the one he included: 

baagh tujh bin gul-e-nargis se Daraataa hai mujhe
chaahuuN gar sair-e-chaman aaNkh dikhaataa hai mujhe

Without you the garden scares me with the daffodil
If I want to take a stroll, he stares at me

This is the sher he actually included in his diwaan: 

baagh paa kar KHafaqaanii ye Daraataa hai mujhe
saaya-e-shaaKH-e-gul af.ii nazar aataa hai mujhe

Noticing my palpitations, the garden tries to scare me
The shadow of the flower's branch looks like a snake to me

I guess every love has fear
every flower has its shadow!

Baag Pa Kar Khafqani - Complete Ghazal


The complete ghazal is below.  For more on this ghazal see research by Pritchett.

baagh paa kar KHafaqaanii ye Daraataa hai mujhe
saaya-e-shaaKH-e-gul af.ii nazar aataa hai mujhe

jauhar-e-tegh ba-sar-chashma-e-diigar maaluum
huuN maiN vo sabza ki zahraab ugaataa hai mujhe

mudda.aa mahv-e-tamaashaa-e-shikast-e-dil hai
aa.ina-KHaana meN ko.ii liye jaataa hai mujhe

naala sarmaaya-e-yak-aalam o aalam kaf-e-KHaak
aasmaaN baiza-e-quamrii nazar aataa hai mujhe

zindagii meN to vo mahfil se uThaa dete the
dekhuuN ab mar ga.e par kaun uThaataa hai mujhe

baagh tujh bin gul-e-nargis se Daraataa hai mujhe
chaahuuN gar sair-e-chaman aaNkh dikhaataa hai mujhe

shor-e-timsaal hai kis rashk-e-chaman kaa yaa rab
aa.ina baiza-e-bulbul nazar aataa hai mujhe

hairat-e-aa.ina anjaam-e-junuuN huuN jyuuN sham.a
kis qadar daagh-e-jigar shola uThaataa hai mujhe

maiN huuN aur hairat-e-jaaved magar zauq-e-KHayaal
ba-fusuun-e-nigah-e-naaz sataataa hai mujhe

hairat-e-fikr-e-suKHan saaz-e-salaamat hai 'asad'
dil pas-e-zaanuu-e-aa.iina biThaataa hai mujhe



Article from Dawn: Gardens of the Heart


Garden imagery can be allegorical, metaphorical or simply romantic. In classical Persian and Urdu ghazal, the garden represents a microcosm of creation. It is the space where the beloved preens. The rose, nightingale, tulip, narcissus, cypress and grass are metaphors of the garden’s landscape, each imbued with multiple valences, imagined and reimagined by poets across centuries.

Spring is the beloved’s messenger; the rose its representation. Warm breezes revive the garden with fragrance which, like wine, intoxicates the trees and flowers that sway with joy. The tulip brings good tidings; the lily with its multiple tongues reveals secrets, the blue-robed violet bows its head in prayer. Methods of personification give everything a function and an attribute. The tulip is branded by love. The narcissus is all eyes. The lily all tongue. Water is the life-giving force.

The symbol of the world garden is the rose; emblem of all that is beautiful, transient and fading. The nightingale’s lament arises from the notion that the rose’s smile foreshadows its scattering. My focus is Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s poetry garden. Ghalib produced remarkable poetry in two languages that, despite sharing many aspects of the ghazal tradition, drew on culturally specific themes. Access to a variety of themes gave Ghalib’s poetry an unusual edginess. For example, while Ghalib’s garden mirrors Persian tropes, he complicates the familiar images with far-fetched metaphors. He had a penchant for playing with perceptions of reality. As seen from his early poetry, Ghalib projects the garden as a mysterious place, almost illusory, even frightening and forbidding without the beloved:

Baagh tujh bin gul-i-nargis se daraata hai mujhe
Chaahoon gar sair-i-chaman aankh dikhaata hai mujhe


[In your absence, the garden frightens me with the narcissus/ If I want to take a stroll, it glares at me]

I was tempted to translate the verse as: “The narcissus scares me in your absence/ It glares at me if I venture for a stroll.” But Ghalib is saying that the garden intimidates, using the narcissus’s eyes to scare. Clearly, the key point here is ‘tujh bin’ [without you]. The garden belongs to the beloved. But there is a fine puzzle here. Why does the garden want to intimidate the lover? Why are the narcissus’s beautiful eyes fear-invoking? An answer could be that the crazed lover is hallucinating. Separation makes the lover fearful and the fear is projected on the garden. However we choose to read this verse, one cannot escape the wildly fantastic image of the garden, usually a paradise, now transformed into an enchanted space where flowers stare forbiddingly.

But Ghalib wasn’t happy with this opening verse and replaced it with a less obscure, more frightening verse:

Baagh paa ker khafqaani yeh daraata hai mujhe
Saya-i-shaakh-i-gul afaee nazar aata hai mujhe

[Sensing my unreasonable fears, the garden frightens me/ A flowering branch’s shadow looks a snake to me]

So, it appears that the lover-protagonist is prone to unreasonable fears; his heart palpitates in high rhythm at the slightest provocation. The lover goes out to the garden, but is so anxious in his state of separation that a flowering branch looks like a snake. Ghalib cleverly alludes to the snake in the garden of Paradise to add another layer of meaning. The lover goes to the garden alone, therefore he is guilt-ridden; the garden, the beloved’s home, sensing this fear plays on it. The imagery is once again fantasy filled. The lover is now in the garden, but plagued with snakes and other fear-invoking thoughts.

Ghalib’s contemporary, Imam Bakhsh Nasikh, has an excellent verse — more striking and picturesque — on a similar theme:

Kya shab-i-mahtaab main be yar jaoon bagh ko
Sare patton ko bana deti hai khanjar chandni

[Going to the garden on a moonlit night without my lover?/ Moonbeams make leaves into daggers]; or, [How can I go to the garden on moonlit nights without my lover?/ All leaves become daggers in the moonlight]

Nasikh talks about two extremely romantic things for a lover — moonlit nights and gardens — and beautifully plays on visual tricks that moonlight produces. Presumably the trees are mango or Asoka, with long pointy leaves that glint like daggers in the moonlight. Love and daggers go together in the ghazal world. The pain of separation is like a dagger in the heart. In a moonlit garden, separation’s pain is intensified to the point that all leaves are like daggers. Nasikh’s imagery is silvery, not dark or disturbing, even though he talks of daggers, because we are familiar with the trope. Ghalib’s imagery is tense and disquieting. Both poets approach the garden as a meeting place for lovers, but the symbolism they use is quite different.

For an example that illustrates the multivalences of the garden in Urdu poetry:

Main chaman mein kya gaya goya daabistan khul gaya
Bulbulen sun kar mere nale ghazal khwan ho gayen

[I had barely entered the garden — when a school opened, so to speak/ Bulbuls hearing my laments began reciting ghazals]

The bulbul is known for its lilting song that tells a thousand stories of love. The bird symbolises eternal love for the rose, and its song is unparalleled. Now, Ghalib the poet has surpassed the bulbul’s song. He is the master of poetry’s garden. No sooner does the master poet enter the garden or poetic gathering, the bulbuls break into song. Their song can be interpreted in several ways. First, that they acknowledge the poet’s stature as a master and sing their own song by way of repetition, creating a classroom-like atmosphere. The verse’s second line adds another dimension. The poet’s lament-song was so effective and melodious that bulbuls, known for their soul-stirring song, became ghazal reciters. The key to this verse lies in the subtle link between birdsong and ghazal. The verse demonstrates the understated slippage between the garden as a place for lovers and the garden as space for poetry. The song is metrically perfect; so is the ghazal. The pain of love is common to both. The perfect lament is ecstasy.

The columnist is associate professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Virginia

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, April 8th, 2018
Beauty that stays versus beauty that is transient. Three poems to ponder upon -



Percy Shelley - "The flower that smiles today"

The flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay
Tempts and then flies.
What is this world’s delight?
Lightning that mocks the night,
Brief even as bright.

(see below for entire poem and analysis)

Ghalib - Hai Kis Kadar


hai kis qadar halāk-e-fareb-e-vafā-e-gul 
bulbul ke kārobār pe haiñ ḳhanda-hā-e-gul 

है किस क़दर हलाक-ए-फ़रेब-ए-वफ़ा-ए-गुल 
बुलबुल के कारोबार पे हैं ख़ंदा-हा-ए-गुल 

How fatal 
is her false loyalty! 
The nightingale thinks the rose 
is smiling, he thinks that she
is interested while she
laughs at his
deeds 

(see below for entire poem and meanings)

Guru Tegh Bahadur (Raag Basant) - Kahaa Bhuleyo Re Jhuthe Lobh Laag

ਬਸੰਤੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥
बसंतु महला ९ ॥
Basanṯ mėhlā 9.
Basant, Ninth Mehl:

ਕਹਾ ਭੂਲਿਓ ਰੇ ਝੂਠੇ ਲੋਭ ਲਾਗ ॥
कहा भूलिओ रे झूठे लोभ लाग ॥
Kahā bẖūli▫o re jẖūṯẖe lobẖ lāg.
Why do you wander lost, O mortal, attached to falsehood and greed?

ਕਛੁ ਬਿਗਰਿਓ ਨਾਹਿਨ ਅਜਹੁ ਜਾਗ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
कछु बिगरिओ नाहिन अजहु जाग ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Kacẖẖ bigri▫o nāhin ajahu jāg. ||1|| rahā▫o.
Nothing has been lost yet - there is still time to wake up! ||1||Pause||

ਸਮ ਸੁਪਨੈ ਕੈ ਇਹੁ ਜਗੁ ਜਾਨੁ ॥
सम सुपनै कै इहु जगु जानु ॥
Sam supnai kai ih jag jān.
You must realize that this world is nothing more than a dream.

ਬਿਨਸੈ ਛਿਨ ਮੈ ਸਾਚੀ ਮਾਨੁ ॥੧॥
बिनसै छिन मै साची मानु ॥१॥
Binsai cẖẖin mai sācẖī mān. ||1||
In an instant, it shall perish; know this as true. ||1||

ਸੰਗਿ ਤੇਰੈ ਹਰਿ ਬਸਤ ਨੀਤ ॥
संगि तेरै हरि बसत नीत ॥
Sang ṯerai har basaṯ nīṯ.
The Lord constantly abides with you.

ਨਿਸ ਬਾਸੁਰ ਭਜੁ ਤਾਹਿ ਮੀਤ ॥੨॥
निस बासुर भजु ताहि मीत ॥२॥
Nis bāsur bẖaj ṯāhi mīṯ. ||2||
Night and day, vibrate and meditate on Him, O my friend. ||2||

ਬਾਰ ਅੰਤ ਕੀ ਹੋਇ ਸਹਾਇ ॥
बार अंत की होइ सहाइ ॥
Bār anṯ kī ho▫e sahā▫e.
At the very last instant, He shall be your Help and Support.

ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਨ ਤਾ ਕੇ ਗਾਇ ॥੩॥੫॥
कहु नानक गुन ता के गाइ ॥३॥५॥
Kaho Nānak gun ṯā ke gā▫e. ||3||5||
Says Nanak, sing His Praises. ||3||5||


A critical reading of Percy Shelley’s poem


Percy Shelley (1792-1822) was, along with Lord Byron and John Keats, one of the second-generation Romantic poets who followed Wordsworth and Coleridge – and, to an extent, diverged from them, having slightly different ideas of Romanticism. ‘The Flower That Smiles Today’, sometimes titled ‘Mutability’ (though Shelley, confusingly, wrote another poem called ‘Mutability’) is one of Shelley’s most widely anthologised poems, so we thought we’d share it here, along with a brief analysis of its language and meaning.

The flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay
Tempts and then flies.
What is this world’s delight?
Lightning that mocks the night,
Brief even as bright.

Virtue, how frail it is!
Friendship how rare!
Love, how it sells poor bliss
For proud despair!
But we, though soon they fall,
Survive their joy, and all
Which ours we call.

Whilst skies are blue and bright,
Whilst flowers are gay,
Whilst eyes that change ere night
Make glad the day;
Whilst yet the calm hours creep,
Dream thou—and from thy sleep
Then wake to weep.


‘The Flower That Smiles Today’, in summary, is a poem about the brevity of all things – all hopes, desires, and delights the world has to offer are short-lived and doomed to die. Everything is fleeting and transitory. This argument had been made before Shelley made it: consider Robert Herrick’s famous seventeenth-century poem ‘To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time’. Indeed, Shelley’s opening lines seem to be a conscious reworking of Herrick’s: where Shelley writes ‘The flower that smiles today / Tomorrow dies’, Herrick had written that ‘this same flower that smiles today / Tomorrow will be dying.’

percy-shelley-flower-that-smiles-todayIn the second stanza, Shelley laments that virtue or decency, friendship, and love are all rare and delicate: even once you have gained them you cannot guarantee they will last. (Shelley himself held to a philosophical view of love whereby, if you didn’t feel an intensely passionate love for someone any longer, you should leave them and be with the person you’re meant to be with; this goes a long way towards explaining his messy home life.) Yet Shelley affirms that we survive the deaths of these things: friendship, love, virtue. We have to go soldiering on, but at least we’re still alive.


In the third stanza, Shelley argues that, while we have this dreamy world of joy and delight, we should seek to enjoy it, before we ‘wake to weep’ when it’s all over. The dream analogy is a nice touch: we usually aren’t aware that we are in a dream, and are passively carried along by it. It’s only when we wake that we realise we’ve been had. Shelley’s message appears to be that we cannot control these things – they are greater than us – so all we can do is to enjoy them while they last.

The first stanza of Shelley’s poem in particular repays close analysis. There are long ‘i’ sounds at the ends of five of the seven lines, but also internally too (‘smiles’, ‘Lightning’), with the ‘light’ peeping out from ‘delight’ playing off the miserable darkness of ‘night’, and that flash of light glimpsed between them, in the word ‘Lightning’, being almost electrifying in its force at the start of the line. The world’s pleasures are as brief as a flash of lightning, but how exhilarating to experience!

‘The Flower That Smiles Today’ (or ‘Mutability’, as some anthologies have it) depicts Shelley’s ideas about worldly pleasures in an effective and memorable way. It might be productive to analyse this poem alongside something like Herrick’s, which was written in a very different, though equally turbulent, period of English history. One wonders how much that turbulence fed into the poems’ message, to enjoy fleeting joys before they’ve flown.


Ghalib's Ghazal - hai kis qadar halāk


hai kis qadar halāk-e-fareb-e-vafā-e-gul 
bulbul ke kārobār pe haiñ ḳhanda-hā-e-gul 

āzādī-e-nasīm mubārak ki har taraf 
TuuTe paḌe haiñ halqa-e-dām-e-havā-e-gul 

jo thā so mauj-e-rañg ke dhoke meñ mar gayā 
ai vaa.e nāla-e-lab-e-ḳhūnīñ-navā-e-gul 

ḳhush-hāl us harīf-e-siyah-mast kā ki jo 
rakhtā ho misl-e-sāya-e-gul sar-ba-pā-e-gul 

ījād kartī hai use tere liye bahār 
merā raqīb hai nafas-e-itr-sā-e-gul 

sharminda rakhte haiñ mujhe bād-e-bahār se 
mīnā-e-be-sharāb o dil-e-be-havā-e-gul 

satvat se tere jalva-e-husn-e-ġhuyūr kī 
ḳhuuñ hai mirī nigāh meñ rañg-e-adā-e-gul 

tere hī jalve kā hai ye dhokā ki aaj tak 
be-iḳhtiyār dauḌe hai gul dar-qafā-e-gul 

'ġhālib' mujhe hai us se ham-āġhoshī aarzū 
jis kā ḳhayāl hai gul-e-jeb-e-qabā-e-gul 

Additional unpublished shers from this ghazal -

dīvānagāñ kā chāra faroġh-e-bahār hai 
hai shāḳh-e-gul meñ panja-e-ḳhūbāñ bajā.e gul 

mizhgāñ talak rasā.ī-e-laḳht-e-jigar kahāñ 
ai vaa.e gar nigāh na ho āshnā-e-gul 

How murderous is the false faith of the rose!
The nightingale's doings amuse the rose.

Celebrate the breeze's freedom: everywhere lie broken
The meshes of the net of desire of the rose.
                        [I now think it should be "desire-net" instead of "net of desire"]

Deceived, everyone fell for its wave of color.
Oh, the lament of the bloody-voiced lip of the rose!

How happy is that drunken one who, like the rose's shadow
Rests his head on the foot of the rose.

Spring creates it for you, it's my rival
The perfume-like breath of the rose.

They make me ashamed before the spring breeze
My cup without wine, my heart without desire for the rose.

Your jealous beauty appears in such glory that
It's mere blood in my eyes, the color of the charm of the rose.

Even now, deceived, thinking it to be you
The rose runs recklessly after the rose.

Ghalib, I long to embrace her
The thought of whom is the rose on the dress of the rose.

More on this ghazal: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/080/80_01.html
Happy Spring! I have composed this shabad in Raag Basant as part of the Bhagat Namdev 750 project. There is a live recording and a studio recording; I just released two versions of the live recording: YouTube and Instagram. Below the recordings you will find the lyrics, meanings, translations as well as some related shabads and poems. 



Here is Bhai Harjinder Singh's popular composition of the shabad:





Essence of the Shabad  - Teri Bhagat Na Chhodon

The shabad is a lesson in giving up.  It is about loving like the lotus: against all odds. Bhagat Namdev sings in Raag Basant, "I will not stop loving you even if people laugh at me. The one who leave their master in need, leave their honor. People love wealth and would even die for it. But the lovers of truth,  love your name and give up their own existence.  Bathing in the Ganges and Godavari is for the people of the world. For me, the service of hari is above all.  I will not stop loving you even if people laugh at me." Teri Bhagat Na Chhodon Bhave Log Hasai. 

Reminds me of "Tyaagna Tyaagan Neeka, Kaam Krodh Lobh Moh Tyaagna"

Related Hindi Abhang and Guru Amar Das Shabad

Nov 2020: Today I was reading a Hindi abhang of Sant Namdev (Yaahi Govinda Charan - see below) and I found it similar to a shabad I have composed earlier: Teri Bhagat Na Chhodon (see below for lyrics, meaning and essence).  When I compared the two, they were very similar. One was in Raag Sorath, the other in Raag Basant.  I also found today a shabad by the Guru Amar Das (also in Raag basant - see end of this note) which uses very similar language. 

Bhagat Namdev lived between 1270 and 1350 AD while Guru Amardas lived lived two hundred years later between 1479 and 1574 AD.  Guru Arjan Dev compiled the first Adi Granth in 1604 AD and Guru Gobind completed the final Guru Granth Sahib in 1708 AD.  There are other writings that I have discovered where Guru Nanak converses with Bhagat Namdev's through poetry.  Thanks to Guru Nanak bhagat Namdev's bani was saved in pristine form for generations to come.   It is amazing to find conversations happening between spiritual poets over centuries. Discovering these while encountering new poetry is one of my favorite pastimes. So many riddles to solve; so much joy to be had! 

Bhagat Namdev in Gurbani -  Teri Bhagat Na Chhodoon Bhaven Log Hasai


ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ੴ सतिगुर प्रसादि ॥
Ikoaʼnkār saṯgur parsāḏ.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਸਾਹਿਬੁ ਸੰਕਟਵੈ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਭਜੈ ॥
साहिबु संकटवै सेवकु भजै ॥
Sāhib sanktavai sevak bẖajai.
If the servant runs away when his master puts him in trouble,

ਚਿਰੰਕਾਲ ਨ ਜੀਵੈ ਦੋਊ ਕੁਲ ਲਜੈ ॥੧॥
चिरंकाल न जीवै दोऊ कुल लजै ॥१॥
Cẖirankāl na jīvai ḏoū kul lajai. ||1||
he will not have a long life, and he brings shame to all his family. ||1||

ਤੇਰੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਛੋਡਉ ਭਾਵੈ ਲੋਗੁ ਹਸੈ ॥
तेरी भगति न छोडउ भावै लोगु हसै ॥
Ŧerī bẖagaṯ na cẖẖodao bẖāvai log hasai.
I shall not abandon devotional worship of You, O Lord, even if the people laugh at me.

ਚਰਨ ਕਮਲ ਮੇਰੇ ਹੀਅਰੇ ਬਸੈਂ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
चरन कमल मेरे हीअरे बसैं ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Cẖaran kamal mere hīare basaiʼn. ||1|| rahāo.
The Lord's Lotus Feet abide within my heart. ||1||Pause||

ਜੈਸੇ ਅਪਨੇ ਧਨਹਿ ਪ੍ਰਾਨੀ ਮਰਨੁ ਮਾਂਡੈ ॥
जैसे अपने धनहि प्रानी मरनु मांडै ॥
Jaise apne dẖanėh parānī maran māʼndai.
The mortal will even die for the sake of his wealth;

ਤੈਸੇ ਸੰਤ ਜਨਾਂ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਛਾਡੈਂ ॥੨॥
तैसे संत जनां राम नामु न छाडैं ॥२॥
Ŧaise sanṯ janāʼn rām nām na cẖẖādaiʼn. ||2||
in the same way, the Saints do not forsake the Lord's Name. ||2||

ਗੰਗਾ ਗਇਆ ਗੋਦਾਵਰੀ ਸੰਸਾਰ ਕੇ ਕਾਮਾ ॥
गंगा गइआ गोदावरी संसार के कामा ॥
Gangā gaiā goḏāvrī sansār ke kāmā.
Pilgrimages to the Ganges, the Gaya and the Godawari are merely worldly affairs.

ਨਾਰਾਇਣੁ ਸੁਪ੍ਰਸੰਨ ਹੋਇ ਤ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਨਾਮਾ ॥੩॥੧॥
नाराइणु सुप्रसंन होइ त सेवकु नामा ॥३॥१॥
Nārāiṇ suparsan hoe ṯa sevak nāmā. ||3||1||
If the Lord were totally pleased, then He would let Naam Dayv be His servant. ||3||1||


Another one of my translations -

If the servant runs away when his master puts him in trouble,
He will not have a long life, and he brings shame to all his family. ||1||

I won't stop serving you even if people laugh at me.
The lotus feet abide within my heart. ||1||Pause||

Like the greedy man doesn't risk wealth for his own life
Saints do not forsake the Lord's Name for any reason. ||2||

Pilgrimages to the Ganges, the Gaya and the Godawari are merely worldly affairs.
If the Lord were totally pleased, then He would let Naam Dayv be His servant. ||3||1||


Bhagat Namdev in Hindi - Yaahi Govinda Charan Mero Jeevaro Basai Re


राग सोरठि

याही गोविंदा चरन मेरो जीवरौ बसै रे ।
भगति न छांडौं हरिकीं लोग हंसैरे ॥टेक॥

गोबिंदा कै नाइं लीयें भवजल तिरिए रे ।
झूठी माया लागि लागि काहे कूं मरीए रे ॥1॥

साइं कूं सांकडै दीये सेवग भाजै रे ।
चिरकाल न कोई जीवै दोऊ पष लाजै रे ॥2॥

आपनां धन कारणि प्राणी मरणौं मांडै रे ।
भगति भगता जन काहे कूं छांडै रे ॥3॥

गंगा गया गोदावरी संसारी जांमा रे ।
सुपरसन नाराइन सेवग नांमा रे ॥4॥


Teri Bhagat Na Chhodon - Guru Amar Das


ਬਸੰਤੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ਇਕ ਤੁਕਾ ॥
बसंतु महला ३ इक तुका ॥
Basanṯ mėhlā 3 ik ṯukā.
Basant, Third Mehl, Ik-Tukas:

ਸਾਹਿਬ ਭਾਵੈ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਸੇਵਾ ਕਰੈ ॥
साहिब भावै सेवकु सेवा करै ॥
Sāhib bẖāvai sevak sevā karai.
When it pleases our Lord and Master, His servant serves Him.

ਜੀਵਤੁ ਮਰੈ ਸਭਿ ਕੁਲ ਉਧਰੈ ॥੧॥
जीवतु मरै सभि कुल उधरै ॥१॥
Jīvaṯ marai sabẖ kul uḏẖrai. ||1||
He remains dead while yet alive, and redeems all his ancestors. ||1||

ਤੇਰੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਛੋਡਉ ਕਿਆ ਕੋ ਹਸੈ ॥
तेरी भगति न छोडउ किआ को हसै ॥
Ŧerī bẖagaṯ na cẖẖodao kiā ko hasai.
I shall not renounce Your devotional worship, O Lord; what does it matter if people laugh at me?

ਸਾਚੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਮੇਰੈ ਹਿਰਦੈ ਵਸੈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
साचु नामु मेरै हिरदै वसै ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Sācẖ nām merai hirḏai vasai. ||1|| rahā▫o.
The True Name abides within my heart. ||1||Pause||

ਜੈਸੇ ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਪ੍ਰਾਣੀ ਗਲਤੁ ਰਹੈ ॥
जैसे माइआ मोहि प्राणी गलतु रहै ॥
Jaise māiā mohi parāṇī galaṯ rahai.
Just as the mortal remains engrossed in attachment to Maya,

ਤੈਸੇ ਸੰਤ ਜਨ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਰਵਤ ਰਹੈ ॥੨॥
तैसे संत जन राम नाम रवत रहै ॥२॥
Ŧaise sanṯ jan rām nām ravaṯ rahai. ||2||
so does the Lord's humble Saint remain absorbed in the Lord's Name. ||2||

ਮੈ ਮੂਰਖ ਮੁਗਧ ਊਪਰਿ ਕਰਹੁ ਦਇਆ ॥
मै मूरख मुगध ऊपरि करहु दइआ ॥
Mai mūrakẖ mugaḏẖ ūpar karahu ḏaiā.
I am foolish and ignorant, O Lord; please be merciful to me.

ਤਉ ਸਰਣਾਗਤਿ ਰਹਉ ਪਇਆ ॥੩॥
तउ सरणागति रहउ पइआ ॥३॥
Ŧao sarṇāgaṯ rahao paiā. ||3||
May I remain in Your Sanctuary. ||3||

ਕਹਤੁ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਸੰਸਾਰ ਕੇ ਨਿਹਫਲ ਕਾਮਾ ॥
कहतु नानकु संसार के निहफल कामा ॥
Kahaṯ Nānak sansār ke nihfal kāmā.
Says Nanak, worldly affairs are fruitless.

ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ਕੋ ਪਾਵੈ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਨਾਮਾ ॥੪॥੮॥
गुर प्रसादि को पावै अम्रित नामा ॥४॥८॥
Gur parsāḏ ko pāvai amriṯ nāmā. ||4||8||
Only by Guru's Grace does one receive the Nectar of the Naam, the Name of the Lord. ||4||8||


Haj Hamari Gomti Teer - Kabir



ਆਸਾ ॥
आसा ॥
Āsā.
Aasaa:

ਹਜ ਹਮਾਰੀ ਗੋਮਤੀ ਤੀਰ ॥
हज हमारी गोमती तीर ॥
Haj hamārī gomṯī ṯīr.
My pilgrimage to Mecca is on the banks of the Gomati River;

ਜਹਾ ਬਸਹਿ ਪੀਤੰਬਰ ਪੀਰ ॥੧॥
जहा बसहि पीत्मबर पीर ॥१॥
Jahā basėh pīṯambar pīr. ||1||
the spiritual teacher in his yellow robes dwells there. ||1||

ਵਾਹੁ ਵਾਹੁ ਕਿਆ ਖੂਬੁ ਗਾਵਤਾ ਹੈ ॥
वाहु वाहु किआ खूबु गावता है ॥
vāhu vāhu kiā kẖūb gāvṯā hai.
Waaho! Waaho! Hail! Hail! How wondrously he sings.


Additional Links


Namdev 750 - Project celebrating 750th birth centenary of Bhagat Sant Namdev
Bhagat Sant Namdev - All posts related to Bhagat Sant Namdev in this blog
Sunflower Poems

I visited my uncle's house last weekend for a family gathering. The first one during this pandemic. His backyard opens into the hills and noticed that there were so many stalks of dead sunflowers.  Tall, dark and dead.  I thought of a sunflower poem by William Blake I had just recently read and bumped into Allen Ginsberg's Sunflower Sutra. I was obviously reminded of the Buddhist Lotus Sutra. 


Ah! Sun-flower

William Blake

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun:
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the travellers journey is done. 

Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow: 
Arise from their graves and aspire, 
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.


Sunflower Sutra

by Allen Ginsberg

I walked on the banks of the tincan banana dock and sat down under the huge shade of a Southern Pacific locomotive to look for the sunset over the box house hills and cry.

Jack Kerouac sat beside me on a busted rusty iron pole, companion, we thought the same thoughts of the soul, bleak and blue and sad-eyed, surrounded by the gnarled steel roots of trees of machinery.

The only water on the river mirrored the red sky, sun sank on top of final Frisco peaks, no fish in that stream, no hermit in those mounts, just ourselves rheumy-eyed and hung-over like old bums on the riverbank, tired and wily.

Look at the Sunflower, he said, there was a dead gray shadow against the sky, big as a man, sitting dry on top of a pile of ancient sawdust–

–I rushed up enchanted–it was my first sunflower, memories of Blake–my visions–Harlem

and Hells of the Eastern rivers, bridges clanking Joes greasy Sandwiches, dead baby carriages, black treadless tires forgotten and unretreaded, the poem of the riverbank, condoms & pots, steel knives, nothing stainless, only the dank muck and the razor-sharp artifacts passing into the past–

and the gray Sunflower poised against the sunset, crackly bleak and dusty with the smut and smog and smoke of olden locomotives in its eye–

corolla of bleary spikes pushed down and broken like a battered crown, seeds fallen out of its face, soon-to-be-toothless mouth of sunny air, sunrays obliterated on its hairy head like a dried wire spiderweb,

leaves stuck out like arms out of the stem, gestures from the sawdust root, broke pieces of plaster fallen out of the black twigs, a dead fly in its ear,

Unholy battered old thing you were, my sunflower O my soul, I loved you then!

The grime was no man’s grime but death and human locomotives,

all that dress of dust, that veil of darkened railroad skin, that smog of cheek, that eyelid of black mis'ry, that sooty hand or phallus or protuberance of artificial worse-than-dirt–industrial– modern–all that civilization spotting your crazy golden crown–

and those blear thoughts of death and dusty loveless eyes and ends and withered roots below, in the home-pile of sand and sawdust, rubber dollar bills, skin of machinery, the guts and innards of the weeping coughing car, the empty lonely tincans with their rusty tongues alack, what more could I name, the smoked ashes of some cock cigar, the cunts of wheelbarrows and the milky breasts of cars, wornout asses out of chairs & sphincters of dynamos–all these

entangled in your mummied roots–and you standing before me in the sunset, all your glory in your form!

A perfect beauty of a sunflower! a perfect excellent lovely sunflower existence! a sweet natural eye to the new hip moon, woke up alive and excited grasping in the sunset shadow sunrise golden monthly breeze!

How many flies buzzed round you innocent of your grime, while you cursed the heavens of your railroad and your flower soul?

Poor dead flower? when did you forget you were a flower? when did you look at your skin and decide you were an impotent dirty old locomotive? the ghost of a locomotive? the specter and shade of a once powerful mad American locomotive?

You were never no locomotive, Sunflower, you were a sunflower!

And you Locomotive, you are a locomotive, forget me not!

So I grabbed up the skeleton thick sunflower and stuck it at my side like a scepter,

and deliver my sermon to my soul, and Jack’s soul too, and anyone who’ll listen,

–We’re not our skin of grime, we’re not our dread bleak dusty imageless locomotive, we’re all golden sunflowers inside, blessed by our own seed & hairy naked accomplishment-bodies growing into mad black formal sunflowers in the sunset, spied on by our eyes under the shadow of the mad locomotive riverbank sunset Frisco hilly tincan evening sitdown vision.


More: https://www.gradesaver.com/allen-ginsbergs-poetry/study-guide/summary-sunflower-sutra

Lotus Sutra


What is the Lotus Sutra from https://www.nichiren.or.jp/english/teachings/sutra/

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most important sutras in Mahayana Buddhism and was likely written down between 100 B.C. and 200 A.D. Already well known in India, the sutra became more famous and influential when it was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in the year 406. After Chih-i founded the T’ien-T’ai School in China, based on the teaching expounded by this sutra in the sixth century, it was considered one of the canonical sutras of Chinese Buddhism. After the T’ien-T’ai School of China was introduced to Japan by Saicho and became the Tendai Sect, the Lotus Sutra became loved as literature among the people.

The sutra is named the Lotus Sutra because the lotus symbolized the oneness of cause and effect, specifically the cause of aspiring to enlightenment (Buddhahood) and the effect of attaining it, since the lotus is a flower that blooms and seeds at the same time. It also symbolizes the purity of Buddhahood, blooming in the midst of our ordinary lives just as the lotus blossoms in muddy pond water.


The Sunflowers

Mary Oliver

Come with me
into the field of sunflowers.
Their faces are burnished disks,
their dry spines

creak like ship masts,
their green leaves,
so heavy and many,
fill all day with the sticky

sugars of the sun.
Come with me
to visit the sunflowers,
they are shy

but want to be friends;
they have wonderful stories
of when they were young –
the important weather,

the wandering crows.
Don’t be afraid
to ask them questions!
Their bright faces,

which follow the sun,
will listen, and all
those rows of seeds –
each one a new life!

hope for a deeper acquaintance;
each of them, though it stands
in a crowd of many,
like a separate universe,

is lonely, the long work
of turning their lives
into a celebration
is not easy. Come

and let us talk with those modest faces,
the simple garments of leaves,
the coarse roots in the earth
so uprightly burning.
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SHIVPREET SINGH

Singing oneness!
- Shivpreet Singh

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