DADU the Compassionate Poet-Mystic

[Guest guest]

DADU DAYAL (Compassionate)

 

--

 

Dadu Dayal was a saint from Rajasthan in northern India. "Dadu" means

brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one". He lived in the second

half of the sixteenth century (1544-1603). His songs are in a Hindi dialect

known as Braj Bhasa, being a mixture of Hindi and Rajasthani.

 

Like the earlier saint Kabir, Dadu came from one of the many low artisan

castes that had converted to Islam. He lived in the Jaipur region of

Rajasthan, most probably as a pinjari, a cotton carder. He married and had a

family of two sons and two daughters.

 

He gathered around himself a group of followers, which became known as the

Dadu-panth. This organization has continued in Rajasthan to the present-day,

and has been a major source of early manuscripts containing songs by the

North Indian saints.

 

Dadu himself did not write down any of his compositions. These were recorded

by his disciple Rajjab. Another disciple, Janagopal, wrote the earliest

biography.

 

Dadu clearly experienced the bliss of meditation, and alludes to it in his

songs, some of which are presented in translation.

 

Surviving songs do not record the name of Dadu's guru, but it is possible

that he was given realisation by one of Kabir's sons. Certainly much of the

imagery used in his songs is similar to that used by Kabir, and similar also

to that used by the earlier Sahajiya Buddhists and Nath yogis.

 

**********************************************************************

 

SAYINGS OF DADU THE COMPASSIONATE MYSTIC

 

Love is Allah's nature,

Love is His body,

Love alone is His existence,

And His colour, too, is love.

***

Enshrine the Lord's Name in your heart with faith.

Says Dadu, the all powerful Lord fulfills the hopes of

everybody.

***

Without the Beloved, each moment seems to be an

age. How can one pass the hard days of misery? Without Naam [the Name and

Power of the Godhead, Light & Sound Current Energy], Dadu is unhappy. Kal

[lord of time & death] is devouring all forms and figures.

 

So long as my Surat [soul] does not withdraw and my mind does not become

steady I cannot meet the Beloved. This is my wretched predicament.

 

I am a beggar for the sake of Thy Darshan [Vision], O Lord. Thou art a great

benefactor and remover of all pain and misery. Vouchsafest unto me Thy

protection. (quotes from "Sants, Sadhs, Mahatmas, and Devotees of the

Past," Soami Bagh Books, Agra, India)

***

GO WITHIN -- THE SECRET IS FOUND WITHIN

 

By rendering service within the heart,

See thou the One who is indestructible

and boundless,

Having no limit either on this end

or on that end, sayeth Dadu.

 

After entering within, let one, O Dadu,

bolt the doors of the house.

Let one, O Dadu, serve the Lord at the

Door of Eternity.

 

God is within the self, His worship alone

is to be done.

The service, salutation and showing

of lighted lamps

Are to be done to Him alone by all

holy ones.

 

The ceremony of showing lighted lamps

Is to be performed within.

Within is the worship to be done;

Within is the service to the Master.

Rarely someone understands.

 

One finds the Lord within the body

By playing the unstruck inner Music.

By going through the region of the void,

The Lord is seen with ease.

 

Search thou for the Beloved close to the

place

Wherefrom the Sound emerges, and thou

shalt find Him, sayeth Dadu.

There is solitude there, and there is luster

of Light.

 

The body is the pond and God is

the water;

The essential discipline is practiced

within.

Then the impurities and blemishes

of the mind

Are easily washed away, O Dadu.

 

God is within the self; He is close

to the worshipper.

But leaving Him aside, humanity serves

external constructions, lamenteth

Dadu.

 

This is the mosque, this is the temple,

So hath the Master shown.

The service and salutation are performed

within.

Why shouldst thou go outside?

asketh Dadu. ("Dadu the Compassionate Mystic," Radha Soami Books)

***

When realisation came to me, I was filled with joy and all fear departed

from me.

I found pure deliverance in the realm of the unapproachable, the

unthinkable.

The Unapproachable has come near, the message of the Unthinkable abides with

me always, the Unutterable find utterance.

>From separation I have come to Union.

The bonds of self are loosened, all error has fled, and the light of the God

shines upon my soul.

***

Dadu says: I am neither Hindu nor Muslim

I am not attached to any of the six philosophical schools.

I love the merciful God. (from the web)

**********************************************************************

 

The books I quoted are published in India. Most of Dadu's hymns have never

been published in the English language. The last two hymns of Dadu, as well

as the introduction to the life of Dadu, I found, while surfing the web, on

a Dadu website at: http://www.webspawner.com/users/dadu/

 

Namaste,'

 

James

spiritualawakeningatonelist

 

 

 

 

 

 

____

Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com