BHAKTI poems

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2-5-00

 

James Bean /community/santmatfellowship

/community/spiritualawakening

e mail: spiritualawakening

 

 

The following Bhakti (love & devotion) poems are from one of India's

greatest Saints. Her name is Mira Bai. Her poems are in the tradition of

" the lover and the Beloved, " " the bride/bridegroom " -- the " soul/Oversoul "

relationship of divine union. As the Gospel of Thomas (from another eastern

tradition) says, " When you make the two into one, you will enter into the

Kingdom. "

 

In the first poem Mira yearns to meet her Beloved. The second poem

expresses Mira's joy and bliss upon reaching divine union. Mira:

 

Come, Beloved Lord,

Grant me Thy darshan (vision);

Away from Thee

I cannot stay alive.

 

Like the lotus without water,

Like the night without moon,

Is Thy dear one

Without Thee, O Lord.

 

In anguish I wander day and night,

And pangs of separation

Keep gnawing at my heart;

Days drag without hunger,

Nights without sleep,

And lips fail to narrate the tale of my grief.

 

What can I say? I have no words

To convey my longing;

Pray come, and quench

This fire that's searing my heart.

 

Lord, You know all;

Then why do you torment me thus?

Pray, have mercy,

Come and meet Mira

Who, for ever your slave,

In love surrenders at Your feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one I longed for has come home,

The raging fire of separation is quenched;

Now I rejoice with Him, I sing in bliss.

 

The peacocks at the cloud's roar

Dance with unbound joy;

I rejoice in ecstasy

At the sight of my Beloved.

 

I am absorbed in His love;

My misery of wandering

In the world has ended.

The lily bursts into bloom

At the sight of the full moon;

Seeing Him my heart blossoms in joy.

Peace permeates this body of mine,

His arrival has filled my home with bliss.

 

That very Lord has become my own,

Who is ever the redeemer of His devotees.

Mira's heart, scorched by the blaze

Of separation,

Has become cool and refreshed;

The pain of duality has vanished.

 

( " MIRA THE DIVINE LOVER, " V.K. Sethi, Radhasoami Books)

 

 

 

This poem is by Kabir, in the tradition of Bhakti Sant Mat (the

" Teachings of the Saints). Kabir says:

 

 

The light of the sun, the moon, and

the stars shines bright:

The melody of love swells forth, and

the rhythm of love's detachment

beats the time.

Day and night, the chorus of music fills

the heavens; and Kabir says

'My Beloved One gleams like the

lightning flash in the sky.'

 

 

 

( " Songs of Kabir, " Tagore, Samuel Weiser Books, York Beach, Maine)

 

 

GOD AS MOTHER

 

Sant Tukarama:

 

" Thou art our merciful Mother, O Vitthala, a shadow to thy suppliant;

the milk of love ever flows in thy breast, thy sight is pure and sweet as

nectar. Thou canst discern the inward parts and sufferest not hunger or

thirst, pain or weariness to vex us. Thou dost chase far away the thirst of

desire and illusion; thou givest us a place to play in. Tuka says, 'Set me

with the Sants, where the hand of time cannot reach me.' "

 

Tuka is one of my of my favorite Indian poet-Saints, though it's

sometimes hard to realy choose as there are so many poet-mystics like Tuka

-- hundreds of them! The poem/hymn above is from a chapter titled " God's

Protective Love, " found in " The Poems of Tukarama, " by J. Nelson Fraser.

Originally, these would have been sung as hymns of worship accompanied with

Indian instruments like sitar, tablas, etc. I have some of this devotional

or bhakti music in my collection.

 

 

 

In Peace and Bhakti,

 

 

James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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