Divine Bhajan

July 3, 2008

Prema Muditha Manase Kaho

Rama Rama Ram Rama Rama Ram Rama Rama Ram Shri Rama Rama Ram Papa Khate Duhkha Mite Leke Rama Nam Bhava Samudra Sukhada Nava Ek Rama Nam Parama Shanti Sukha Nidhana Divya Rama Nam Niradhara Ko Adhara Ek Rama Nam Mata Pita Bandhu Sakha Saba hi Rama Nam Bhaktajanara Jivanadhana Ek Rama Nam Rama Rama Ram, Rama Rama Ram, Rama Rama Rama Ram To pray is to express a heart-felt need and request for its fulfilment by the grace of God. As more and more of our prayers are answered, our gratitude mellows into love; and, as our love grows, it is reciprocated by the increasing manifestation of God's love for us: a virtuous circle. A Sai Bhajan often is the repetition of the name or names of our beloved Lord Sai and the dwelling on His wonderful qualities. One of the Bhajans most frequently sung by Bhagawan Baba Himself at the conclusion of His discourses begins:

Prema Mudhitha Man Se Kaho Rama Rama Ram. To enjoy its sweetness fully, let us understand the meanings of Hindi and Sanskrit words in it. The word Rama in Sanskrit means 'one who gives happiness (in all circumstances)'. God is always happy, unconditionally. His Ananda (ever-blissful state) is one of His prime attributes. In Rama Avatar, for example, He is happy when he is with his parents as well as when He is taken away from them by the sage Viswamitra on a mission. He is happy when asked by His father to shoulder the responsibility of governing his kingdom and He is happy on the next day too just when, before His coronation, He is exiled to the forest for fourteen years. He is happy with the citizens of his country as well as with a boatman who helps Him to cross the river in the forest; with the sages, as well as with monkey-hordes in the forest. He is also happy with Vibheeshana, a brother of the demon-king Ravana, who abducted His

wife. He happily partakes of dinners in His palace as well as the partly bitten fruit given by his tribal devotee Sabari (who first tastes the fruit to ensure that only the sweetest are offered to Rama.). He is Joy personified. Joy spreads around Him in ever-widening circles. How should His name be uttered and repeated? Not so much with honour and awe but with love and affection; not so much with fear but with cheer, because, as Baba has pointed out, what is needed is 'Daiva Preethi and Papa Bheethi' (Love of God and fear of sin). Thus, 'take the name of the Rama with a mind filled with love' is the meaning of the first line of the bhajan. God is a great and most merciful judge and an impartial dispenser of justice of Divine laws, but definitely not a tyrannical despot. In the next stanza it is asserted that the Divine name of Rama (if repeated with genuine devotion and faith), will remove our sins and sorrows, and carry us

comfortably across the ocean of material life. This is very well corroborated by the lives of saints like Valmiki of yore (who in the beginning made a living by robbing travellers in the forest); Kabir of the 15th century (who was a humble weaver); Tulasidas of the 16th century (whose desire for the company of his wife was so overwhelming that once he swam across a river dangerously in spate and then walked getting bruised amidst thorny bushes in the dark night, on his way to her parents' house where she had gone for a short stay.); Bhadrachala Ramadas of the 17th century (who spent the taxes he collected on behalf of his king for building a temple), Tyagaraja of the 18th century (whose musical outpourings of his love for Rama are still being sung in concerts in South India); Swami Ramadas and Punith Maharaj of the 20th century (in whose lives numerous miracles took place due to the constant remembrance and repetition of Rama's Name), and

so on. The third stanza of this bhajan says that the devoted remembrance of the name of Rama will bestow on us supreme inner peace and happiness and provide unfailing support even when our kith and kin desert us. This is validated in the life of Mahatma Gandhi who remained without rancour against the British, in spite of their brutalities against the non-violent Indian freedom fighters of whom he was the leader. He was ever in peace, patient enough to talk to a child or attend on a goat even in the midst of serious political discussions. How wonderfully successful was that single man army for peace. That was due to the power of the Name of Rama. In the fourth stanza, it is claimed that the name of God, if remembered with deep devotion and used as a guide for all our actions, will protect us like true parents do. It would also help us like good relatives and friends, providing us with the wherewithal for life. This is also

proved in the lives of many saints, notably Swami Ramadas and mother Krishna Bai of Anandashram in Western India. (For a full account of their lives, the two volumes of In the vision of God by Swami Ramadas are heartily recommended). Also proclaimed in this stanza is the fact that the Name of Rama is the wealth of true devotees. A number of other devotees of God have also gained what they needed by this kind of devotion but their names are not recorded. The bhajan concludes with the faster and faster repetition of the Name of Rama the name that is "equal in value to the thousand names of Vishnu" according to Lord Shiva. He recommended its devoted repetition as a potent source of Divine help for all mankind.

Om Sai Ram

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