Vaishnava Jana To

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" Vaishnava Jana To "

" Vaishnava Jana To " is a bhajan which describes the ideal Vaishnava. It

essentially shows how the character of a Vaishnavite should be. A Vaishnava is

one who follows the Hindu school of Vaishnavism. Vaishnavism is one of the

principal divisions of Hinduism. Its adherents worship Vishnu as the supreme God

or one of his avatars. The Vaishnava devotional creed of bhakti represents love

and devotion to God.

Althouh Narsinh Mehta speaks about a Vaishnava, this bhajan has wider

applicability. In spite of its religious connotations, it is a song that

describes a kind of life that a person must seek. The song is not limited by

religion, faith or caste and people all over the world can look to it as a

guiding light. The ideals and virtues that Narsinh Mehta writes about are so

universal that every person can adopt them as his own.

 

In Gujarat, this kind of bhajan is known as a `prabhatiyu', roughly translated

as `Prayer at Dawn.' The practise of singing devotional prayers at dawn is very

popular in rural India.

 

Vaishnava Jana has become very popular in India, especially because of

Gandhiji's patronage. It has been rendered into almost all Indian languages and

some foreign languages.

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" Vaishnav jana to " TextIn Latin Script

 

Vaishnav jana to tene re kahiye,

Je peed parai jane re;Par dukhe upakar kare toye,

Mana abhimana na aane re.

Vaishnav jana to…

 

Sakal loka man sahu ne vande,

Ninda na kare keni re;Vach kacha mana nishchal rakhe,

Dhana dhana janani teni re.

Vaishnav jana to…

 

Sama drushti ne trushna tyagi,

Para stree jene maat re;Jihva thaki asatya na bole,

Para dhana nava jhale haath re.

Vaishnav jana to…

 

Moha maya vyape nahin jene,

Drudhha vairagya jena mana man re;Raam naam shun tali re lagi,

Sakal tirath tena tanaman re.

Vaishnav jana to…

 

Vana lobhi ne kapat rahit chhe,

Kama krodha nivarya re;Bhane Narsaiyo tenu darshaan karatan,

Kool ekoter taryan re.

Vaishnav jana to…

 

---------- Vaishnava Jan To

 

Translation by noted Indian author and columnist Mr. Khushwant Singh. In a

column written for The Hindustan Times, Mr. Singh published his English

rendering of Bapu Gandhi's favorite hymn:

 

A godlike man is one,

Who feels another's pain

Who shares another's sorrow,

And pride does disdain.

 

Who regards himself as the lowliest of the low,

Speaks not a word of evil against any one

One who keeps himself steadfast in words, body and mind,

Blessed is the mother who gives birth to such a son.

 

Who looks upon everyone as his equal and has renounced lust,

And who honours women like he honours his mother

Whose tongue knows not the taste of falsehood till his last breath,

Nor covets another's worldly goods.

 

He does not desire worldly things,

For he treads the path of renunciation

Ever on his lips is Rama's holy name,

All places of pilgrimage are within him.

 

One who is not greedy and deceitful,

And has conquered lust and anger

Through such a man Saint Narsaiyon has a godly vision,

Generations to come, of such a man, will attain salvation.

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Gandhiji's translation

(http://www.dgvaishnavcollege.com/col1.htm)

 

" A true Vaishnav is he who knows,

Another brother's weals and woes.

To his suffering brother, he gives his aid,

Sans pride, sans tough of being repaid.

He loves and respects one and all,

From his lips harsh words on none do fall.

For women and wealth, he cares never,

To his Kin, he remains a jewel forever.

The same to all, with no carvings of the mind,

In every woman, another does he find.

Master of his tongue, he never tells a lie,

On another's wealth he casts not his eye.

By passion and attachments, he is never bound,

The sprit of renunciation in his heart can be found.

For the Lord he pines, whose glory his heartstrings strum,

His body a pilgrim's grab has truly become.

He is neither avaricious nor vile,

Wrath and desire, him do not defile.

Says Narsih, such a man as this,

Will attain the heaven of purest bliss "

6:09 PM 10/1/2009