वृंदावनी वेणू वाजे

vrndaavani veNu vaje
वृंदावनी वेणू वाजे
veNu = flute
Someone is playing flute at Vrundavan.

veNu kawaNaa samayi vaaje...

वेणू कवणा समयी वाजे...
When is he playing flute?

veNu naad gowardhanu gaaje...
वेणू नादे गोवर्धनु गाजे ...
The melody of his flute has enveloped the whole mountain Gowardhan.

puccha pasaruna mayura viraje
पुच्छ पसरुनी मयूर विराजे
Peacock has spread his train of feathers

maja paahaata bhaasati yaadava raaje...

मज पाहता भासती यादवराजे...
I am so mesmerized by the flute that even in those brilliantine feathers I see only Shri Krishna.

truNa chaaraa chaaru visaralee

तृण चाराचरू विसरली
It's not only me who is lost. Listening to music, cow has given up grazing.

gaayi vyaaghra eka Thaayi jhaale...

गाई व्याघ्र एकठायी झाली...
Not only that she is now standing with a tiger who too has forgotten his original nature and is intently listening to the melody.

pakShee kuLe niwanta raahilee
पक्षीकुळे निवांत राहिली
Birds are not cawing nor chirping nor screeching.

vaira bhaava samuLa visaralee...
वैरभाव समूळ विसरली...
They all have left animosity, hatred past them. Such is the effect!

dhwani manjuLa manjuLa umaTatee
ध्वनी मंजुळ मंजुळ उमटती
Sound in air is so sweet to ears.

waakee ruNuzuNu ruNuzuNu waazatee...
वाकी रुणूझुणू रुणूझुणू वाजती...
वाकी are making delicate sound.
वाकी is an ornament worn on arm. It makes sound when arm is moved.

deva vimanee baisonee stuti gaatee

देव विमानी बैसुनी स्तुती गाती
From sky, God(s) watching the scene at Vrindavan is (are) singing Shri Krishna's praise. Only he has been able to do this all I am witnessing!

bhaanudaasaa Thaawalee prem bhakti...
भानुदासा ठावली प्रेमभक्ती...
Now that I have seen all this improbable, I, Bhanudas, have learnt what the loving devotion is.

Also watch this video. It too gives meaning with the original song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz4E0GyHDk0

'pandhariche bhoot mothe' by Sant Tukaram

A friend sent me a video link of an abhang recently. It was sung by noted vocalist duo Ranjani and Gayatri. The abhang was composed by much revered poet-saint Sant Tukaram Maharaj (1608-50). Maharaj spent most of time of his life in Dehu at around 25 km from city of Pune in Maharashtra. He along with other contemporary poet-saints like Samarth Ramdas was instrumental in keeping alive the cultural and religious identities of the religion in and around Mahrashtra through the Bhakti Sampradaay's philosophy. It is also known as Warakari Sampradaay and Bhakti Movement. The efforts were praiseworthy in the atmosphere prevailing then in the region. The region was was in great turmoil due to the never ending assaults and oppressions upon the natives thrusted by the Moghul army from the North and sultanates of Nagar, Vijapur (Bijapur) and Bhaganagar (today's Hyderabad). He also attacked the hypocritical behavior of a certain section of priestly class in the Hindu society. He spread the message of equality and devotion to Shri Hari Vitthal through his compositions.

At a later stage of life, Maharaj traveled to South and preached his philosophy, spread his thoughts through numerous compositions, written mostly in Marathi. He also restored a number of temples of Shri Vitthal, built many new temples with the help of local community. In Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he is still remembered and his compositions are sung by people. I attended a few such programs, kirtan, in Chennai, Kalpakkam and Thenangur wherein the groups performed compositions of Tukaram Maharaj devotedly. Native Tamil singers with no knowledge of Marathi singing those abhangs is the icing on cake. These groups and the artistes like Ranjani and Gayatri are the reasons for Tukaram Maharaj's compositions in South India to survive test of the time.

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पंढरीचे भूत मोठे
आल्या गेल्या झडपी वाटे

बहु खेचरीचं रान
बघ हे वेडे होय मन

जाऊ नका कोणी, तिथे जाऊ नका कोणी
जे गेले, नाही आले परतोनी

तुका पंढरीसी गेला
पुन्हा जन्मा नाही आला

The abhang 'Pandhariche bhoot moThe' is in the praise of Shri Kshetra Pandharpur , also called as Pandhari, and which is the chosen abode of Shri Vitthal and Devi Rukmini. Some of the characteristics of the place are described by Maharaj in this composition. He has adopted an unusual way while narrating the characteristics. He terms the place as the notorious one and goes on giving his own experience as an example to prove his hypothesis. It may be mentioned here that it is nothing but natural to understand that what he really means is not what his words literally suggest. Maharaj has used a soft humor in instilling a deep belief into the minds of people that the place is special. It is divine. It is the final destination the soul is searching to rest in peace. The abhang also tells us that one can have humor over Gods. The well intentioned one will please Gods and also can become wonderful vehicle for Him to reach the common man. This narration can be likened to descriptions of Mathura or Gokul known for the numerous tales of the naughtiness and deeds of a divine baby named krushna. The arguments put forward by Maharaj go as follows.

पंढरीचे भूत मोठे

आल्या गेल्या झडपी वाटे

Beware people! Pandhari (Pandharpur) is haunted by a dreadful ghost. Be careful when you are passing by this place or visiting it. This ghost nabs every one going near the place. If you are afraid of being possessed by the ghost, change your path or just cancel your plan in the interest of your (so called) well being.

That was literal meaning. In the hindsight, Maharaj wants to suggest exactly the opposite. He hints, if you stay away from the place, you will never have the divine experience which is possible only in the company of Vitthal-Rakhumaai. (Rukmini is referred to as Rakhumaai in Pandharpur and elsewhere by devotees.) And this is possible only if you go to Pandhari. The place will possess you when you will reach this place. You will loose your own self, ego, desires and the earthly beliefs. Thus, in no time, you will experience a closeness to the God.

बहु खेचरीचं रान 

बघ हे वेडे होय मन

The land around Pandhari is so fertile, and it is full with green. It is nothing but natural that the animals from all over would rush there for grazing. Hence the land is full with animals of all sorts. The sight will make your mind go crazy if you go even near to Pandhari. (खेचर is a hybrid between horse and donkey.)

The purpose of using this metaphor is not very clear and the metaphor may have different interpretations. I am picking the most logical according to me. It could possibly go like this. Like the land full with grass attracts the cattle, Pandhari being the food - source of energy - attracts mobs of people from all over the world. And when somebody goes there, the ghost does not leave him or her in its original form. This can be applied to the gender, race, caste, religion and species too. Thus forms hybrid minds which is possessed by the divinity.

जाऊ नका कोणी, तिथे जाऊ नका कोणी
जे गेले, नाही आले परतोनी

Maharaj cautions everybody that such a place which you are tempted to visit, a place which hosts a dreadful ghost whose only business is to nab and possess each passerby, should be left at a distance. Every sane person, every one who does not like such possession and the one who wants to escape if possessed, should not go to the place. Because, Maharaj says, no one has returned from this place. What a dangerous place! Even thought of going there should be forbidden.

तुका पंढरीसी गेला
पुन्हा जन्मा नाही आला

Maharaj gives his own example to support his arguments. He says, finally Tuka (Tukaram Maharaj himself) himself went to Pandhari intending to find the truth. Not only that he never returned, but also that he was never ever born again!

While concluding the abhang, Maharaj describes the great centripetal force the sacred place possesses that acts on each visitor and eventually does not let him go away. He goes on to tell us his own experience that underlines the holiness of Pandhari. He suggests that the life cycle of one's soul can completed with the pilgrimage of Pandhari. You attain moksha at sacred place. Actually, Sant Tukaram subtly tells us that he attained moksha after visiting Pandhari by saying that he was never reborn. In reality, numerous folklores exist about his सदेह वैकुंठगमन, the travel to Vaikuntha without shedding his physical form.

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Celebration of Life - 'nahi punyachi mojani'

There are many ways in which the existence of the human being, or of any other creature for that matter, can be described. Each one of these ways has some uniqueness in its description. Well known Marathi poet B. B. Borkar described this existence as a sublime physical entity where upon a duty to undergo the cycle of life is entrusted by The Creator, Brahma as per the Hindu philosophy and beliefs. As per this philosophy, each of the creatures has a certain brahma-tatva inside him. The brahma-tatva can be best defined as the elemental extract of The Creator himself. This idea is not much different than the amber eyes inherited by the son from his father or the blonde hair inherited by the daughter from her mother. This brahma-tatva leads us to follow a certain destiny as per the philosophy. Poet Borkar has presented this philosophy in a metaphorical manner in the Marathi poem, ‘náhi puNnyáchi mojaNie’. The metaphors he has presented are simple but the message that his poem conveys is in sound conformation with the Hindu philosophy. In this article, I have made an effort to interpret the poem to the best of my ability and to present the same poem in English even though it is next to impossible for me to match the precision and economy of Poet Borkar. If the English version conveys the message even partly, I will consider it as a great achievement for my limited literary ability.


Celebration of Life

We don’t count any good deed
To no guilt we need to pay heed
Like the sacred waters of Ganga
Caressing the bed of rocks with a great speed.

We don’t involve us, nor do we indulge
No fear of disappointment, nor any grudge
Like the pollens traveling from flower to flower
Riding on the wind created by His power.

We’ve no form, no name, but the trance
Like the sky and its vast expanse
Incense stick to the blue fragrance
Filling His space with its pleasing advance.

We see us as the flowers offered to Him
Flowers celebrating their life at His feet
With a leap into the sacred water
Then in the womb of the Mother Earth, they enter
Till His next call, they will get sooner or later.

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Original Marathi Poem

नाही पुण्याची मोजणी
नाही पापाची बोचणी
जिणे गंगौघाचे पाणी

कशाचा न लागभाग
कशाचा न पाठलाग
आम्ही हो फुलांचे पराग

आम्हा नाही नाम-रूप
आम्ही आकाश स्वरूप
जसा निळा निळा धूप

पुजेतल्या पानाफुला
मृत्यू सर्वांग सोहळा
धन्य निर्माल्याची कळा

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गीत : बा. भ. बोरकर
संगीत : पं. जितेंद्र अभिषेकी

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Musical rendering of the poem by Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki