To catch a fairy

(400)  Sei svapnera deshe se niilsayare

In the blue sea of that dreamland,
A gold lotus has blossomed again.
With dulcet, spellbinding laughter,
It sends ripples across the blue waters.

In the late moonlight, with only its fragrance,
To parts unknown a breeze drifts off.
It pierces minds with that sweet scent
To pass the news on to hearts that are lost.
A fairy goes flying and circles around,
With covetous plot the lotus to abduct.

A prince was seated on a winged horse
When the fairy came flying to take the flower.
The fairy flies away, and the prince follows;
Flying and flying, the fairy was worn out.

On getting caught, the fairy trembled in fear;
Wings furiously flapping, she sought pardon.
"For this sin there is no leniency,"
Replied the prince with firmness and resolution.

"Theft won't be condoned for worship of a deity;
Move on the path of righteousness with noble deeds."

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With a little help from friends

(399)  Sadhuta saralata tejasvita gune

By virtue of honesty, simplicity, and spiritedness,
Even an ordinary person becomes extraordinary.
In the king's youngest son were these graces,
And so he too sets forth to apprehend the fairy.

At the Blue Sea,
In the lotus grove at the Blue Sea,
Sleepless, he sat watching.
Vigilant every hour throughout the night,
With eyes fixed on the flower was he,
At the Blue Sea.
At night's end, fearfully she came.
Taking the flower and flying away, the fairy, she flees.

To pursue a fairy, a winged horse is required;
The prince scoured the three worlds far and wide.
At last, in the kingdom of one demon,
There he found the horse was present.
Loved by all for his benevolence,
The prince acquires the horse, using good sense.

The evil demon admitted that humanity,
In power to do battle, is not always weak.

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Into the wasteland

(398)  Nidra tandra krodh alasya

Sleep, stupor, anger, sloth,
Delay, and fear– with these six flaws
Even great persons are undone,
Not to speak of lesser ones.

After being defeated by the fairy,
The princes went into the back country.
A winged horse they sought to procure;
Without it, hard indeed would be a fairy's capture.

With royal heritage they were besotted,
To views of commoners they gave no respect.
So no one's love they did win;
In arrogant pride, lost is acumen.

Defeated in battle and bereft of intellect,
By an evil demon they were confined;
In a dark prison cell they now spend time.

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Before the fall

(397)  Darpaharii prabhu darpa na sahe kabhu

The Lord humbles pride; He never suffers conceit.
Where vanity abides, there must be defeat.
Two crown princes, the robber of the golden lily
They set out to seize, resolving to succeed.

With pinnace and canoe and many a sampan,
With yachts and ferries and ships all around,
They planned to capture the flower thief—
The fairy's trickery would surely cease.

Their hearts and minds were full of pride,
And negligent that God gently smiled.
The fairy carried an arrow of illusion;
With lily she slipped away, fearing no one.

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A flower offering

(396)  Rauniin parii aj caleche kothay

Now where has the colorful fairy gone?
Gold lotus at her breast, she has flown away.
In the blue sky she travels to a far-distant place.

The layers of atmosphere get lighter,
And steadily the clouds grow thinner.
But the fairy goes on flying...
Faster and faster, she hies.

She crosses the fairyland border;
And the stars, they sparkle much more.
The moon beams extra brightly...
The fairy will offer this flower to her deity.

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Gold lotus in a blue sea

(395)  Niilsayare sonar kamal

A gold lotus in a blue sea—
It has blossomed, but no one pays heed...
No one pays heed, no one pays heed.
Its petals, the color of scarlet,
No one does touch, no one does touch.

Smeared with vitality is the gold pollen,
Glistening life, enfolding nectar.
But that nectar, it is remote;
And so the bumblebees never approach.

From the land of clouds, a colorful fairy
Was mesmerized by its sublime beauty.
Clasping to her bosom the lotus of gold,
She flew off; and no one knows.

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Only His glory

(394)  Dakhina vatase kusumasuvase

With the floral fragrance in the southern breeze,
Oh, Who is He Who smiles in the mind?
With the love and devotion in a flower's pollen,
Only His luster does derive from every enterprise.

Don't obscure the path, oh most Beloved;
Let me keep You always on the canvas of my rumination.
In my flower bud, should any nectar remain,
With that nectar, it is You Whom I will magnify.

Don't make me forget Your song, oh most Beloved,
Through stormy winds and hurtful lightning bolts.
With my flower's seed vessel, should it endure,
Fragrant and new pollen will embellish You.

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Deference

(393)  Kamala kusuma sama komala tumi go

Like the lotus flower, so tender You are,
Yet more severe than a thunderbolt; that I've known.
With sandal on a vernal breeze, fragrant You are,
More enchanting than paradise; that I've realized.

In a dusk-darkened pond, golden light sparkles
On getting You in the mind.
In a sorrowful heart, a river of nectar capers
On getting You in meditation.

In Your rhythm of dance, the three worlds rock and roll,
Absorbed in Your melody; that I've understood.

Whatever I can conceive, it is not the equal of You,
Greater than all in beauty and virtue; that I've confirmed.

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In a cloud beside the moon

(392)  Manera mayur meleche je pakha

The peacock of my mind has fanned its tail,
Having seen Krsna in a cloud beside the moon.
My heartstrings plucked, they reverberate
In the rapture of an intoxicating tune.

Back again is my heart gone missing;
Lost melodies have been revived.
A mind-uplifting, heart-enchanting
Vibration arrived in the blue sky.

In forgotten ways my subtle mind was made to leap;
With an ideation gone missing, it brimmed over.
My life's basket of wares has been emptied;
A sweet breeze wafts with the fragrance of flowers.

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Blind but now I see

(391)  Cokhera jale bhijiya giyache

Tears have moistened
The garland that was woven.
My sun has set and evening fallen;
In the mind get lost my words unspoken.

Saying He would return, my Love went away;
Many ages passed, but He's not come back.
Sleep has arrived, my night descended;
Could it be He did not sense my pain?

Those who come, they come to leave;
Those who leave go saying they'll return.
Hidden is my Love everywhere and forever;
Every single word His ears do hear.

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Lord, from Thee

(390)  Prabhu tomar krpar kana halei habe

Lord, from Thee, if only there will be a speck of grace,
Then, Ruler of Mind, the psychic grime will be wiped away.

Rays of sublime beauty fall in a blaze
Upon this earth by Your divine grace.
Upstream flows the river current
With an exhilarating clamor.
Ruler of Mind, the mental filth will terminate.

A flood of nectar falls in cascade
Upon this earth by Your divine grace.
Spellbound, the stream of creation
Embraces an unfamiliar yearning.
Ruler of Mind, impurity shall not remain.

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Bumblebees

(389)  Phulera vanete bhramara eseche

In the flower grove, a bumblebee has entered;
Humming, what does she mean to say?
She simply wants all the floral nectar,
Every bit that has been retained.^[1]

It was hard to get, concealed by the blossom
So very carefully, so very stealthily.
With one mind, she carried the nectar off;
And with the taking, that fact she revealed.

Sweet fragrance there was and smeared with pollen;
With the removal of nectar also went the scent.
All the flower pollen covered her as she went;
Thus coated from the theft, she reported the event.

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River of life

(388)  Alokeri van naviye

Descending in a downpour of effulgence,
A river first appeared.
Playing the game of making and unmaking,
Forward, it wends its way eternally.

Flowing onward, ever onward only,
A babbling tune is its story.
Halting its advance for no impediment,
For day or night it makes no concession.

Its movement is to the rhythm of dance;
Its speech is in the guise of song.
Through a magnanimous series of waves,
It converges with its fount, the great sea.

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Will-o'-the-wisps

(387)  Prabhu dhara ki kabhu debe na

Lord, won't You ever let me touch You?
How many ages will pass imagining Thee,
And is there no end to the reverie?

Worn down by blows from illusion and delusion,
I have lost my stored-up fragrance and pollen.
Like a fallen flower I lie at my nadir;
And now I know not what the future brings.

To no avail the transitory was pursued,
I'm bone-weary from chasing ignis fatuus.
Clasp my hand, and take me back;
Don't let me succumb to ignorance.

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To fulfill

(386)  Etadin pare bandhuya eseche

After so long, the Beloved has come,
Casting light in this house of darkness.
With affectionate music and rapturous dance,
He captured the heart of everyone.

Oh, His forms inundate;
In a sea of form, the formless friend,
Oh, He overflows.
With only His name, I cannot comprehend
So much nectar he poured out upon this earth.

Oh, His spirit inundates;
The wellspring of universal life, the Beloved,
Oh, He overflows.
The Lord of songs, in the melody of life,
Its cadence and tempo, came to fulfill.

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Novel and amazing

(385)  Tomari surete tava karunate

In Your melody and Your mercy...
In Your divine light, everything is swathed.
With the sound of Your heartsong
And Your rainbow colors, everything is glazed.

Krsna, from the far side of a dark fog,
Your light sparkles, Your nectar pours forth.
How novel and amazing is Your divine sport
To paint pictures in chiaroscuro.

On the shore of silent serenity,
A clarion tune resounds repetitively.
World obliviating, mind intoxicating,
On that melody traverse Your chariot wheels.

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The high road

(384)  Paoya na paoyay sukhe duhkhe hay

Alas, in getting or not getting pain or ease,
Days pass by with useless deeds.
All around flowers, with what hope do bees
Come and hum so bashfully?

Most beloved of all, duping everybody,
You remain hidden in the core of our being.
We look not internally but rather externally,
In the same manner as the musk deer.^[1]

Amid that which won't endure, here and there,
Expecting what, why do people roam uselessly?
Shatter my illusion, and draw me near;
Keep me in Your holy proximity.

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Game of fate

(383)  Ajke tomar saunge sabar

Today, with You, everyone
Got acquainted anew.
The game of fate, the cosmic sport,
Without You there is naught.

You are Visnu, most glorious,
The rhythm-filling omkara.
You are the apple of love's eye,
Everyone's friend, all of the time.

In each and everything You lie veiled,
But You remain ready to be embraced.
In a secluded corner of everyone's mind,
Secretly full of sweetness You abide.

By radiance of light and wizardry of form,
Please swap Your heart in exchange for ours.

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My mental lotus

(382)  Eso kache eso kache

Come close, please come close;
My distant Friend, come close.
For You alone my mental lotus
Is full of pollen.

In a muddy pond,
I've kept abloom a clean lily,
On which Your rosy feet may cross.
Come close, please come close;
For You alone my mental lotus
Is full of fragrance.

Amid wintry winds,
I've kept abloom a white lily,
Adorned by the sun.
Come close, please come close;
For You alone my mental lotus
Is full of sweetness.

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Contradictions

(381)  Tumi esecho na bale

Unheralded, You've arrived;
Now come closer, and stay nearby.
Play, play, play
On Your flute in cadence and dance.

Ear to the ground for Your advent
So many ages, day and night, was I.
In spring, smiling tenderly, You came,
And made me forget all my pain.

Today the air carries sweet resonance,
And mind vibrates with thrilling thought.
When the Lord of the universe appeared,
He gave fresh impact to the world.

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My golden lotus

(380)  Tumi amar sonari kamal

You are my golden lotus.^[1]
Flourish; and then in my heart reside,
Making each and every thing bright.

Don't stay, don't stay very far away;
You dwell in my heart with rhythm and melody.
Be radiant and fragrant, my sweet Lord,
Filling with allure Your one hundred petals.^[2]

Having recognized You, I still don't know You;
Remaining close, You play peekaboo.
Having held You, I cannot hang on to You,
You Who are ever sporting yet pristine.^[3]

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What hurts

(379)  Prathama jiivane tumi aso niko

In my early life, You did not appear;
I feel no anguish over that.
I did not seek... with this remorse,
My distressed mind weeps constantly.

You were so close, and yet I did not call;
My days and nights have passed in vain.
At this late stage, that same history–
The more I recollect, the more I feel the pain.

All who have come stay for a fixed duration
To do some work upon this earth.
But time passes idly, the chance gets wasted;
And blaming God is ineffectual.

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Expectations

(378)  Asha asha kare

In expectations,
So many lives transpired.
Yet, of those expectations,
None are fulfilled.

They did not happen–
Those that were in my mind.
Those that I never wanted–
They came in abundance.
Whenever love occurred,
It was honey-coated comings and goings,
Always departing,
Gratifying only for a span of time.

Touring the flower garden,
Thorns arose at each step.
In the gentle southern breeze,
I met with a cyclone.
I've now realized that my expectations
Are like a mirage;
The disappointments at the end of hope
Are Your two rosy feet.

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Beyond cosmology

(377)  Marma mathiya hiya niunariya

Stirring my soul and wringing my heart,
You came today, Lord, the essence of mind.
With Your substance, everyone received form;
With Your effulgence, they became bright.

Without thought, there was a transcendental realm;
In the stream of creation, the three worlds^[1] arose.
With universal cognition, You brought splendor;
Exuding sweetness, You became the essence of nectar.

Without existence, there was no extinction;
Without the tiny, there was no great.
Without the night, there was no day;
There was only You, my Limitless One.

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