They saw Him as a King of the World, Because those were the days of queens and kings; Upon temples and mosques His flag was unfurled, Since He was considered Owner of all things. Because of society’s fixation on male superiority, His gender was decided by the majority.
Creator of Universe, Omnipotent and Omnipresent, Were qualities that they easily assigned to Him, Each one of the preachers had his own lament, Depending upon his own fancy and whim. Were they wrong, did they commit crime? No, they were right in their own time.
There must be a Force that created the Universe, Someone must be seen as the Guiding Light, Without the idea of God things would have been much worse, For our actions and thoughts, there won’t have been oversight. Chaos would have continued everywhere, Without God keeping a watch up there somewhere.
Instead of rejecting the idea of God, We need to keep giving ‘it’ a modern look, Instead of, by our Religion, being overawed, Let’s try to go beyond our religious book. Since, while the idea of God helped us, Religion has started harming with undue fuss.
Not just the noise without, One should also control the noise within; Our thoughts create that shout, That leads to excessive din. Quiet mind is healthy mind, Silence helps it to unwind.
Shopping Malls keep the noise levels high, They want you, on impulse, to shop; Your mind they don’t want you to apply, It helps them if you buy non stop. But God never asks you to pay, That’s why you must silently pray.
He could hear before loudspeakers were invented, He doesn’t require you to scream. With your silent prayers He is contented, You can even communicate in your dream. Let Him listen to your quiet mind, It helps Him and you to your true self find.
Let’ shun loudspeakers from life, And embrace godly quietude, It would certainly lead to less strife, And help preserve joyous mood. When I find my God through my mind, I always find Him so very kind.
Between Noise and Quiet, I always choose Quiet, Since Quiet is peace and Noise is riot. Noise, it always portrays destruction. Quiet is the portrayal of Creation or Construction. Silence is Love, Noise is Hatred, The latter is chaos, Quiet is sacred. Quiet is the way of greatness, Noise would probably be chosen by the shameless. Quiet would the Heaven spell, Noise would remind you of Hell. Silence would make you feel light, Noise would evoke in you a fight. Quiet makes you calm, Noise makes you rowdy, Quiet is clear sky, Noise is thunder and cloudy. I can’t imagine choosing Noise in the name of Religion, It’s like choosing crow when you should be choosing pigeon. You can’t reach God through a loudspeaker. Silence is the language of His true seeker.
I have been giving you these poems since the First of June 2018.
From 4th Jan 19, I started doing something different. In addition to my own inspirational poems everyday, I started giving you, on every Friday, a song or poem that has inspired me. Today is the fifth and it is a hymn in Gujarati that was made very popular by Mahatma Gandhi since he took it as his favourite hymn: ‘Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye…. ‘.
Lately, the Indian Navy’s Symphonic Orchestra has been delighting us with the rendition of this hymn and I get goose pimples listening to it. It has been my favourite too for a long time.
This bhajan was penned in the 15th century by Narsinh Mehta or Narsi Bhagat in Gujarati. The bhajan brings out how a Vaishnav Jan (Vishnu’s follower) must tailor his/her life. It was sung by Amirbai Karnataki, popularly known as Kannada Kokila.
Before I give you the hymn, here is my small introduction:
If never have we felt anyone else’s pain, Our life has been completely in vain. The Maker of everyone is the same God, Whose Creation all of us applaud, How can to our own aloof we can remain?
And here is the hymn and its translation:
ષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહિયે જે પીડ પરાયી જાણે રે પર દુ:ખે ઉપકાર કરે તો યે મન અભિમાન ન આણે રે. ॥ધૃ॥
वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये जे पीड परायी जाणे रे । पर दुःखे उपकार करे तो ये मन अभिमान न आणे रे ॥
vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re, para duḥkhe upakāra kare to ye mana abhimāna na āṇe re
Call those people Vaishnavas who Feel the pain of others, Help those who are in misery, But never let self-conceit enter their mind.
સકળ લોકમાં સહુને વંદે, નિંદા ન કરે કેની રે વાચ કાછ મન નિશ્છળ રાખે ધન ધન જનની તેની રે. ॥૧॥
सकळ लोकमां सहुने वंदे, निंदा न करे केनी रे । वाच काछ मन निश्चळ राखे, धन धन जननी तेनी रे ॥
sakaḷa loka māṁ sahune vande, nindā na kare kenī re, vāca kācha mana niścala rākhe, dhana dhana jananī tenī re
They respect the entire world, Do not disparage anyone, Keep their words, actions and thoughts pure, The mother of such a soul is blessed.
સમદૃષ્ટિ ને તૃષ્ણા ત્યાગી પરસ્ત્રી જેને માત રે જિહ્વા થકી અસત્ય ન બોલે પરધન નવ ઝાલે હાથ રે. ॥૨॥
समदृष्टि ने तृष्णा त्यागी, परस्त्री जेने मात रे । जिह्वा थकी असत्य न बोले, परधन नव झाले हाथ रे ॥
sama-dṛṣṭi ne tṛṣṇā tyāgī, para-strī jene māta re, jihvā thakī asatya na bole, para-dhana nava jhāle hātha re
They see all equally, renounce craving, Respect other women as their own mother, Their tongue never utters false words, Their hands never touch the wealth of others.
મોહ માયા વ્યાપે નહિ જેને, દૃઢ વૈરાગ્ય જેના મનમાં રે રામ નામ શુ તાળી રે લાગી સકળ તીરથ તેના તનમાં રે. ॥૩॥
मोह माया व्यापे नहि जेने, दृढ़ वैराग्य जेना मनमां रे । रामनाम शुं ताळी रे लागी, सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमां रे ॥
moha māyā vyāpe nahi jene, dṛḍha-vairāgya jenā manamāṁ re, rāma-nāma śuṁ tāḷī re lāgī, sakaḷa tīratha tenā tanamāṁ re
They do not succumb to worldly attachments, They are firmly detached from the mundane, They are enticed by the name of God (Rama), All places of pilgrimage are embodied in them.
વણ લોભી ને કપટ રહિત છે, કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યાં રે ભણે નરસૈયો તેનું દર્શન કરતાં કુળ એકોતેર તાર્યાં રે. ॥૪॥
वणलोभी ने कपटरहित छे, काम क्रोध निवार्या रे । भणे नरसैयॊ तेनुं दरसन करतां, कुळ एकोतेर तार्या रे ॥
vaṇa-lobhī ne kapaṭa-rahita che, kāma krodha nivāryā re, bhaṇe narasaiyo tenuṁ darasana karatāṁ, kuḷa ekotera tāryā re
They have forsaken greed and deceit, They stay afar from lust and anger, Narsi says: I’d be grateful to meet such a soul, Whose virtue liberates their entire lineage.
Every morning I want to use my wings, To fly to a world I have seen in my dreams. But then I think of a motley of things, That stand in the way of my plans and schemes. If only I could set me free, From a burden called ‘Reality’.
Does the world of my dreams even exist, Has anyone seen it or actually been there? I know it is there just behind the curtain of mist, The mist of my doubts, sorrows and despair. Can I ever go beyond the mist? Is there anything that can assist?
A feeble voice tells me about Faith, But then darkness returns and there is night. And the whole thing looks like wraith, Out of mind, totally out of sight. I only have to make it strong, To find Right in the mist of Wrong.
A voice asks, “Are you ready for the leap?” I want to say ‘Yes’ but doubts hold me down; It is a long night, it is a long sleep, In the sea of worldly ‘Reality’ I drown. Many like me never escape, Doubts? Yes, but we also like the landscape.
Do you remember the days before the Internet, Only from a close circle of people advice you’d get? Your privacy, by others, was always respected, Your habits, wants and beliefs were never dissected.
Nowadays everyone offers you unsolicited advice, Where to go, what to eat and buy, at what price? Any time you feel you are unobserved and alone, Some suggestions or messages pop up from unknown.
As it is Whats App has made most people puppets, Now they give you advice with blowing of trumpets, Buy this, buy that, see this, see that, do this, do that, You don’t do, you’re doomed; you do and you’re copy cat.
The result: Individuality vanishes, people behave like clones, People are controlled by their own smartphones. Studying and analysing things have become rare, Instant advice like fast food is here and everywhere.
Any suggestions or advice as to how to get over this crisis?
Are we all just carriers or messengers, Of spreading the stuff already on the net shared, Social life is not a train, we aren’t mere passengers, Would no one be worried about how we ourselves fared? Are we satisfied about pushing some ‘forward‘? Don’t we find it just a wee bit awkward?
If yes, can you think of when we last wrote our own, Not a comment but our own original stuff; Is our job only to praise or bemoan? Don’t we think of recirculating ‘forwards‘ we’ve had enough? Is there no shame in copy and paste? Don’t we feel sorry that our faculties are lying waste?
Finding a good one on the net is like fishing in a pond, And then all that we have to do is to press ‘share‘, Now wait for the others to read and respond, No effort is required, it is all already there. Those who want a peep in our mind, Have to do so at the strength of
I would rather read what you yourself write, Than the ‘wisdom‘ of an unknown writer, Even if to start with it doesn’t sound too bright, At least it proves to me you are a fighter, Go ahead use your dormant imagination, Of post Whats App society let’s lay the foundation.
Those who send me a simple ‘Good Morning’ message of their own, for example, always get a response from me as opposed to those who send me colourful memes that they pushed.
P.S. It is a scary scenario, really; these ‘forwards‘ (anything that we don’t ourselves write) are making us go backwards to the Stone Age.
All Religion is an attempt to live in the past, Because, unless you are an iconoclast, You assume that some sage before, Really knew and understood more, Than all those in the present era, by contrast.
I don’t think Religion is to be blindly followed, Like a miracle drug to be dutifully swallowed; Like all knowledge from one era to next, It should be true in both time and text, However much it was to be held as hallowed.
The guardians of Religion want people to be blind, And to the thinking of another to be totally aligned, There is no room for any doubt, As they increase their own clout, And to just one isolated approach one is confined.
What if you are one to one with your Maker and God, Without any past theory and practice to be overawed; You make your own ethics and rules, You take assistance from your own tools, Would you say such a concept is completely flawed?*
I would say Humanity is a religion by itself.
*Let me hear some views about it in the comments. Lets not make these daily messages totally one sided.
If God were to give you a choice, What would you like to be at birth? Would being very strong make you rejoice? Or being very intelligent fill you with mirth?
Or would you like to be born as a Lion, The recognised king of the forest? Or would you rather be born as a scion, To a family that is seen as the richest?
A great singer, painter or actor, What would give you the greatest joy? Would it be to be seen as a benefactor, Or to change over to being a girl if born as a boy?
There are hundreds and thousands of choices, It is hard to think of as what you want to be born. There are in your head many competing voices, Between various options you are torn.
You are a very happy person indeed, If you’d like to be born as who you are. “God, I have neither any remorse nor greed, You have already made me a bright star. “
“I am lucky you made me who I am, I don’t want to change a thing. To becoming someone I don’t give a damn, Even if it were to be a queen or a king. “
You are happy if you’d like to be born as yourself.
A sharp mind and good sense may not be the same thing, Because of the different results that they may bring; Sometimes when you are too discerning, You may inadvertently be overturning, The gains that good sense would have brought by waiting.
Indeed, one thing that we learn from God’s Creation, Is that there is merit in doing things in moderation. If we perceive something as perfect, It would do us good to weight its effect, Before using it in every possible situation.
Good sense may not always agree with sharp mind, But, it may direct you not to be right but kind; You may take a better decision, Than what your mind may envision, And still not be labelled as illogical and blind.
From 4th Jan 19, I started doing something different. In addition to my own inspirational poems everyday, I started giving you, on every Friday, a song or poem that has inspired me. Today is the fourth one and it is a hymn in Hindi called ‘Aye malik tere bande ham‘.
This bhajan or hymn made lasting impact on me. I saw the 1957 V Shantaram movie ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (A pair of eyes and twelve hands) when I was barely six years old. It was screened in our colony in the Himachal town of Mandi on a portable screen and projector. This movie is a classic in human psychology about good begetting good even in hardcore prisoners. Indeed, as far as I know, the movie depicted the jail-warden Adinath’s resolve to have an open prison based on trust and thereby reforming even hardened prisoners.
This bhajam penned by Bharat Vyas, composed by Vasant Desai and sung by Lata Mangeshkar is not just the most popular bhajan in Hindi movies but depicts the advantages of having God on your side, the righteous side.
It takes great courage to stand against cruelty, evil and chicanery. Many a times we find ourselves alone and feeble to stand against these. We wish we would get miraculous powers and strength to take on everything we are pitted against.
The fact is that such miraculous powers are within our reach. India’s most celebrated mounyaineer, the Indian Navy Captain MS Kohli wrote a book called ‘The Miracles Of Ardaas (Prayer)’ and has shared actual incidents wherein when everything was lost for him, God actually provided him with the miraculous power to come out of it unscathed.
Captain Kohli, a living legend, is the recipient of Padma Bhushan and Arjuna Award besides a host of other awards and honours.
Here is my own introductory poem before we take on the hymn that has provided me with enormous solace and abundant courage all these years. My dad was killed in a jeep accident when I was thirty years old. I had to fight endemic corruption, administrative and judicial inefficiency, and poverty to make secure life for my widowed mother and my family. I had and have Ardaas and Waheguru:
The sensible way to fight evil is with goodness, And not to pay back evil in the same coin. You can’t pit rudeness against rudeness, And then in humility your hands to join.
God and you is the strongest combine, To take on the fiercest oppressors. God’s Power can make you outshine, All the cruelties unleashed by your aggressors.
Have trust in Him to lead you out, From the pit of darkness you appear to be in; Don’t let yourself be assailed by doubt, God on your side shall always make you win.
And now the hymn:
ऐ मालिक तेरे बंदे हम ऐसे हो हमारे करम नेकी पर चलें और बदी से टलें ताकि हंसते हुये निकले दम
जब ज़ुल्मों का हो सामना तब तू ही हमें थामना वो बुराई करें हम भलाई भरें नहीं बदले की हो कामना बढ़ उठे प्यार का हर कदम और मिटे बैर का ये भरम नेकी पर चलें …
ये अंधेरा घना छा रहा तेरा इनसान घबरा रहा हो रहा बेखबर कुछ न आता नज़र सुख का सूरज छिपा जा रहा है तेरी रोशनी में वो दम जो अमावस को कर दे पूनम नेकी पर चलें …
बड़ा कमज़ोर है आदमी अभी लाखों हैं इसमें कमीं पर तू जो खड़ा है दयालू बड़ा तेरी कृपा से धरती थमी दिया तूने जो हमको जनम तू ही झेलेगा हम सबके ग़म नेकी पर चलें …
And my translation….
O Owner, we are your children, Our deeds should be such, We walk on goodness’s path, And shun the evil, So that we depart from the world happy.
When we have to face cruelties, You should be there to hold us, They indulge in evil, We should continue with kindness, And we should not be filled with vengeful feelings. Every step we take should be in love, There shouldn’t be a whisper of animosity.
Deep darkness descends, Your people are afraid, They appear lost, They can’t see anything, The sun of happiness appears to be setting. Your light has such power, As to convert moonless night into full moon light.
Man is very frail, Still he has lots of deficiencies, But You stand there, Like huge (pillar of) Kindness, The Earth rests on your blessings. Since you created us, You would bear all our sorrows.
….take’ hanste huye nikle dam…*
*(So that we leave the world happily). I used to have my doubt about this: to lead the whole life righteously so that one can die smilingly; what a waste, I thought. But then, on the 9th Aug 2017 when my mother was dying in my arms and she had that divine smile on her face, I understood the full meaning of it that had eluded me all these years.
It took centuries for languages to be evolved, And come to their present elegant levels; All of us are in one way or the other involved, Some of us are angels and other devils. Nevertheless, language defines who we are, A polished person or a lout at the local bar.
You may pretend to be an envied socialite, But if you have a crude and abusive tongue, Something about you doesn’t appear to be right, You give the impression of being highly strung. Language defines who we really are, A polished person or a lout at the bar.
You can frequently hide your evil thought, But when you speak you give out the truth, Your expression can easily show your secret spot, Of being a charlatan or simply uncouth. Language defines who you really are, A polished person or a lout at the bar.
So why not pay attention to what we speak and write, And leave the gutter language in the gutter? Our language should always be a delight, And not something that the rogues would utter. Language defines who we really are, A polished person or a lout at the bar.
The world’s knowledge increases as the world ages, That means when mankind evolved we had least wordly knowledge. So, let’s get back, in history book, to the first few pages, And get to the nursery from now being in college. So when to God the first time man prayed, Little or no knowledge such a man displayed.
No languages would have evolved at that time, Nor would people have known rituals and hymns. No practices could have been called sublime, People won’t have yet learnt to use fancies and whims. And yet His children would have been to Him as dear, As those now who to strict religious practices adhere.
Can we then easily and safely conclude, That knowledge and rituals are not compulsory to get God; With today’s standards those people praying must have looked crude, Something that we would now hold as flawed. I think there would have been only one demand of God above, That you turn towards Him with heart full of love.
I think after eons it is still the same, God doesn’t require for us to pray in complex ways, All that we need to know is to call Him by His name, And He’d respond to our loving devotion always. God is not a reward for passing some skill test, Those who love Him are to Him the nearest.
I don’t suppose any since nil are required for a child to get to his/her mother.
What the world is thinking of us, Often makes us miss the bus; Our futile concern, Often gives us heartburn, If only we knew there is no fuss.
Very few people actually care, Even a thought for us to spare; No one gives a damn, It is merely a sham, The world was, is and will be unfair.
Image courtesy: https://thegill.co.uk/opinion/60
The reason is because of the nature of the Man, It has been like this since Mankind began; Even for his survival, He had to plan against the rival, And thus increase his lifespan.
Even when we are dead and gone, Life and world will still go on; The sooner we realise, And make ourselves wise, The faster from these notions we can be withdrawn.
This bhajan was penned in the 15th century by 
