Lotus of gold

(376)  Sonara kamal alojhalamal

A resplendent golden lotus
Has blossomed on Earth today.
Enchanting my mind, the fragrant diffusion
Sets in motion many implications.

Come, please come, please come everyone;
With the buoyant breeze goes a sweet scent.
Behold, behold, behold all of you–
The bumblebees plundered all the pollen.
A heart that is restless for Him
Heeds neither taboo nor rule.

Look, please look, please look and see—
To give love, how very steadfast is He.
In shyness, why are eyes downcast–
Lift up your heart, and seize that lily.
With just this thought, all my life's honey
Overflowed in result.

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Freedom

(375)  Rauniin meghe hatchani dey

With colored clouds beckoning,
How long can one stay inside?
Mind's peacock, tail outspread,
Wants to dance in azure sky.

Now I sing of breaking fetters;
I don't abide delimitation.
From finite to infinite,
No matter how far, mind races.

It is He Who calls me constantly
From above the colored clouds.
I can't go on ignoring Him;
My need was beyond all bounds.

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Journey's end

(374)  Tomar kache caina kichu

In Your presence, I want nothing;
Simply, I'm in love with Thee...
I'm in love, oh, I'm in love.

You remain close-by to me
And put on a sweet smile only...
A sweet smile, a sweet smile.

In spring, the southern wind,
When it will bear the scent of flowers,
Then, sitting by Your side,
My heart with Your heart will entwine.
If offered more, I'll take nothing—
My life will be complete, entering Your being...
Entering Your being, entering Your being.

On a honey-coated moonlit night,
Taking Your hand in mine,
I will walk with Thee
In endless consciousness.
I want nothing; I'll take nothing
You remain with me, dispelling staticity...
Dispelling staticity, Lord, dispelling staticity.

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A lightning flash, a million gems

(373)  Jiivanke dola diye ke go tumi aj ele

Giving life a stir, Who are You Who came today?
A lightning flash, a million gems—
You smiled in the heart with cosmic splendor.

You filled the earth with fragrance of flowers;
With sweetest music, You enthralled.
Pouring nectar of affection, You washed away all pain.

You made life dance like a water fountain;
You enchanted mind with ineffable elegance.
Unseen and unheard, yet You loved.

With almighty power, You dispelled the dark night.

Giving the world a stir, Who are You Who came today?

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Steadfast

(372)  Toma lagi kata mor mane vyatha

Due to You, so much pain is in my heart;
But You don't like to acknowledge that.
I feel You are a sea gem, a sky star;
You don't wish to let Yourself be caught.

Diving again and again into the sea of forms,
Eventually I'll find the transcendental jewel.
Drifting and drifting in the sky of mind,
Eventually I'll touch the far-distant star.
I know You'll let Yourself be held by me;
My spiritual endeavor will succeed.

The sea of forms allows embrace,
And You fill the sky of mind.^[1]
So, unawares, You've given me a hold;
You won't elude me any more.

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What remains

(371)  Ashrute makha manamajhe rakha

Stored deep within my psyche, stained with tears
And carefully concealed, lo, there is a fervent plea.
Heart breaking, mouth unspeaking,
Oh, how much I've wept for Thee.

The ruby of my mind, You went missing
On a dark night long ago.
From anguish of heart and private pain,
My tears shower incessantly.
Let me forget, don't keep in my memory
Your departure, Lord– that You went away.

I cannot forget; again and again I remember—
Beguiled by false hope, I do not purge the memory.
With the complete agony of being bereft,
Have I attained all that You encompass?

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No bias, no quarter

(370)  Pathik eseche aji

Today a traveler has arrived
From the land of light
To deliver a fresh notice
In the realms of darkness.

Come everyone, let's go forth
And make him feel our welcome.
When will black gloom be removed?
From his mouth we'll hear that news.

Come everyone, give him our plight
That none of us will lag behind.
Furthermore, we all will confront
The force of corruption in anyone.

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Lord Visnu

(369)  Elo je ankhite van o pasan

What a flood of tears came, oh heartless one,
My Lord, for Thee.
Mentally, I was thinking I won't take Your name;
I pray only for Your mercy.

Then I understood life and the universe occur,
Due to the fact that You endure.
In this divine game all happens in Your mind,
Because in Your mind all is maintained.
So I thought I'll always take Your name
For salvation's sake.

Now in splendor You have come, bestowed wisdom,
Continuous awareness.
You have taught me, made me realize,
That You are my very own.
So I know I'll always take Your name;
I pray only for Thee.

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Give and get

(368)  Dala ujar kare phelo phelo

Dispense all in your wicker basket^[1]
On this sweet, auspicious day.
Clear out everything in your tray
For everyone's collective prospect.

Songs of weeping sing no more;
Set aside all your heavy trials.
A doe is startled by what she sees,
But no longer will you be alarmed.
Replace all that's in your heart
With the thrilling thought of Mohan.^[2]

Go on singing a new, new melody;
With a new tune, uplift your whole life.
All of the ambrosia brought He,
The stealer of mind,^[3] this silent night.

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Dropping by

(367)  Sharata sanjhete tumi ele

On an evening in fall You came;
The autumn moon, the shiuli^[1] smile,
And rafts of white clouds You gave on leaving.

Arousing a dance in the kash^[2] grove,
Inciting a stir in the innermost heart,
Dropping pearls with elegant gestures,
All my devotion You captured.

Peerless are Your two rosy feet;
Bathed in dew are Your heartwarming dicta.
With stream of nectar in floral fragrance,
You made heard the voice of heaven.

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These flowers

(366)  Stabdha manavata jagalo go jagalo

Dormant humanity awakened;
So speech blossomed on mute lips.
A beacon of light restored life;
The dark night of inertia passed.

All now move as one along the path of light;
For looking back, we simply have no time.

In the eastern sky, a new crimson sun arose;
Its effulgence made these flowers bloom.
Descent of consciousness on mind had impact;
Lethargy and deep delusion disappeared.

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Where's the profit?

(365)  Arupa devata rupera deule

Formless Lord, in a temple of forms,
For whose sake do You count the days?
Why, with respect to ones who won't remain,
Do You weave a cobweb of sensation?

By Your divine power, the forms in this universe
Go on meeting and merging in a state beyond form.
Why then, by creating form, by this cosmic play,
Do You indulge the ephemeral for no net gain at all?

I know that the formation of Creation is not in vain
And that Your mental projections aren't perpetual.
I know that they are all a passing show;
Still, why fascinate mind with fleeting attractions?

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Asked and answered

(364)  Aji pakhiira kii gan gaiya jay

What song do the birds keep singing now?
In flower groves, the bees, confidentially–
What would they confide today?
Oh, what do they want to say?

With falling rain on a rainy day,
Why does the shofar^[1] of thunder astound?
At Whose thrilling, in flash after flash,
Do lightning particles dash about?

With flute ever playing new, new tunes,
Who sets my nature to dance and let loose?^[2]

The Numen of all forms, the Love in all hearts,
Coated with every sweetness, He awaits.

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The winds of time

(363)  Kalera haoyay phul jhare jay

With the winds of time a flower falls,
And heart breaks in sorrow.
Tell me, Lord, why arrange things so–
On what whim did You create this universe?

What did You conceive for mind? With grief's fire,
Burning and burning, does anyone dance?
What do You conceive for life? With scorched heart,
Throbbing and throbbing, does anyone survive.

Depending upon Thee,
Why do billions of people weep?
To remove misery and fill with glee...
For such a task, pray tell me, what is the difficulty?

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Selfless

(362)  Nutana prabhate aruna alote

In the crimson glow of a new dawn,
My heart yearns for Him frequently;
With sweet love and soul songs,
It goes on singing His melody.

The red-flushed eastern heavens,
The pleasant, gently flowing breeze–
All sweetness comes filled with nectar;
This morn, I remember the One beyond form.

I have nothing left to lose;
My heart constantly flows forth;
With His impulse, with His music,
In His infinitude, it is absorbed.

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Sweet dreams

(361)  Rater belay sabai ghumay

Infant
At nighttime everyone slumbers;
Why do the shiuli^[1] stay awake?
Please explain, oh mother of mine–
Please tell me ere I sleep.

Other flowers are awake by day;
They slumber in the night.
During the day, they emanate fragrance;
Sweetly they sing.
I make their acquaintance
Through our mutual love of light.

Asleep are the puppies and the parakeets;
Asleep are the honeybees.
The shiuli shrub smiles and says:
"I am awake."
Mother, please answer, shiuli stay awake
Out of love for whom?

Mother
Darling child, here's why shiuli stay awake
In the dark of night.
By daylight they feel shy;
To the ground they fall.
At end of night, shiuli drop
Shortly after dawn.
At that time, my golden child,
The sleep that's yours will leave.

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Monumental departure

(360)  Varasar rate niirave nibhrte

On a silent and lonesome monsoon night,
My beloved left, abandoning me.
He cast me aside, oh, He cast me aside.
Then, in storm clouds the flashing lightning,
What did it say in many indirect ways?
With so much guile, oh, with so much guile!

Gone is my necklace of pearls.
He, who was my darling–
Wringing my heart, He departed.
Oh, how it stirred me to the core!
Now thunderbolts fall on my eyelids,
Promptly downcast by that which was told.
What was disclosed, oh, what was disclosed!

My heart was broken by His leaving;
Oh, will He ever come back again?
Day and night, continually,
I think only of Him at every moment.
All of the time, oh, all of the time!

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A humble submission

(359)  Jaha kichu cao taha kare jao

Whatever You want, You make it happen;
Regarding Your dominion, I don't say a word.
Whom You make cry, whom You make laugh–
Lips sealed, I notice but do not speak.

The purpose of Creation– what it once was,
And what it now is, I fail to see.
Why You ride a chariot of destruction,
That also I just cannot fathom.
Darkness descending after light–
I grasp nothing of a liila You make like that.

Why furnish language to mouths that were mute?
Those instructed in logic, You made garrulous.
Withdrawing from sight, for what reason
Have You instilled overzeal for science?
The colorful lights of a black life–
By making them glitter, don't mislead me.

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A southern wind

(358)  Dakhina vatase malaya suvase

On a southern wind, a fragrant vernal breeze,
You came smiling, smiling tenderly.
I cannot forget, nor do I want to;
I sustain my honey-coated memory of You.

Ruler of my heart, worshiped in the mind,
Across the earth Your nectar I will spread.
Live on in my heart, and my mind delight
With Your sweet-scenting stratagems.

Ineffable Lord, beyond my conception,
Never let my mind slip from Your grip.
At Your feet and in Your recollection,
I remain heedless of shame and fear.

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Lip service to love

(357)  Bhalobaso shudhui mukhe

You offer only lip service to love.
Desperately I call for You, but You do not come.
Don't You comprehend my affliction?

With Your science, with Your power of sight,
I go searching in the caverns of my mind.
But having made mind vacillating,
Right in its muddy stream, gleefully You hide.

You keep festooning a passing show of color and form;
You go on devising multifarious diverting games.
Behind the screen of liila, softly You laugh;
Without divine grace, who can possibly behold You?

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