New Vrindavan

(694)  Aji prabhate hathat ki go

Can it be that suddenly this morn,
The thought of me occurred to Thee...
After many an age and incarnation,
Your myriad games are now complete?

Today I hear the sound of ankle bells,
More pleasing than all else.
Lord, please tarry for me to greet...
I bow, I bow and salute Thee.
Those days of Vraj^[1] so long back
Have slipped away into the past;
And yet within a niche of psyche,
At a new Vrindavan You did appear,
Granting embrace inside the mind of everybody.

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Peerless

(692)  Aloker ei purnotsave

At this total gala of light,
Why do You stand all alone?
With joyful heart in dulcet notes,
The koel sings meanwhile.

Upon the lotus altar of this earth,
You've come to steal our three afflictions.^[1]
You made flowers bloom from withered buds;
Onto both banks Your river floods.

You have come, shelter to provide
For the helpless with tortured mind...
To furnish strength in the weak psyche,
Wheels of Your chariot smashing the haughty.

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Without merit

(691)  Tumi esecho tumi esecho, maru hiyar majhe

You have come, You have come
Into my arid heart.
Any sweetness in my bosom
I'll dedicate unto Your work.

Not a single flower blooms
To adorn those rosy feet.
Not even one fruit grows
To qualify my offering.

In my arbor ringed by verdant beauty,
Nothing is alluring here.
With rhythmic song and melodic stream,
Or with dancing, never has it been replete.
But still You came near to me.

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Going straight

(690)  Aloker ogo pathikrt

You who are the vanguard of light,
Your chariot wheels roll ever onward.
You don't let anyone fall behind;
You are the boon companion of everyone.

Your path, it is well-understood;
There's nothing that impedes your movement.
You go forward bearing everybody,
Awakening spirituality.

On the path of virtue, your demand is:
There won't be any crookedness.
Even when pummeled and wounded by sin,
You don't neglect anyone's benefit.

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Real and unreal

(689)  Tomarei bhalobesechi

You alone have I loved,
Time after time...
In many births, in many forms,
With many names, so many times.

With the colored splendor of morning's sun,
In my lifeblood I've realized Thee.
I've seen You in heart's privacy,
Sweeping away the sorrow and affliction.

When I was drunk on blind attachment's wine,
Though getting You nearby, I did not see.
Forgetting You, I pursued unreal things,
But You have shattered those illusions mine.

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Trifles

(688)  Tumi balo kii ba cao

Tell me what more is Your will.
Having seen my dumbstruck face,
Why do You keep on playing games?

To holy sites I've gone in search of Thee;
Also I've studied scripture aplenty.
I've practiced pranayam and nyas rites;^[1]
So why do You not look at me?

Paying homage with the lamplight of my life,
Decked with blooms from the garden of my mind,
Smeared with the sandalpaste of devotion^[2]
Myself I am offering; please take me.

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Proactive surrender

(687)  Nayana kone hesecho

At the edge of sight, You have smiled;
A glimpse You did oblige,
Filling my eyes thereby.
In my eyes both day and night,
Please remain in great delight,
Whelming me by Your sensation.

For Your sake age after age,
Attentive, I've been sitting in wait;
At long last You came, Heart-Captivator.

You know games by the hundreds;
Of them I don't fathom much,
Just that You bind with strands of love.

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No escape

(686)  Ami tomay cini tomay daki

You I do recognize and invite;
You alone are my life.
For all my sorrows succumbed,
You are the incoming tide,
You are the love song.

Rather than go near to Thee
I get ashamed for no reason.
How to speak before the One
Who knows so many things,
Who knows how much I'm worth.

On a moonlit night, lamp-lighting
Is nothing but obtuse folly.
To view in a mirror the bangle on one's wrist
Is intellect's disgrace.

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Passion

(685)  Kon alor rajya hate esecho

From what kingdom of light have You arrived,
To fill all minds with sweetness,
To pour the nectar of affection,
Taking on the burdens of life!

Today, on my dry riverbed a flood has arisen,
A flood of never-ending flower pollen.
In melodic notes comes a soulful ode
To carry one and all, making them our own.

Today, my long-tailed cuckoo's call intones a perfect fifth,^[1]
Bursting all barriers with exuberant emotion.
A stream of melody goes on flowing,
Bearing ambrosia of exquisite beauty.

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Discovery

(684)  Jinaner jagate khunjechi tomare

I sought You in the realm of knowledge
But got You in the light of thought;
I've found You there time and again.
I sought You not inside mind's depths
But searched within the outer world;
Missing there, You'd gone afar.

Besprinkled with tender affection,
You've filled the mind of everyone.
Through gripping prelude and lively song,
I've gotten acquainted with You;
I've come to know You through tempo and tune.

In a drowsy stupor, a dreamy stream,
I lost my way, addled by attachment.
Sleepless Lord, clasping my hand,
You showed the direction for me to stride,
How to proceed with head held high.

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He takes our sorrow

(682)  Amara madhurii charaye diyecho

You have strewn heaven's sweetness
Everywhere, Lord, everywhere...
In every floral and mental garden,
Everywhere, Lord, everywhere.

The play of cloud-based electricity
Has been steadily calling me;
Yet shooting stars and thunderstorms
Ever beseech Your benison.
My desperate heart, craving Thee,
Dances today but listlessly.

You've assumed the load of sorrow,
A smile upon our faces to unfold.
In dulcet tones You've gone on stating:
"I'm in love with you only."
You rise laughing gently; fondly You declare:
"No anguish will exist in any place."

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And then it happened

(681)  Tandra jarima takhano kateni

Till then, sloth and apathy were not excised;
The sun had not yet risen upon eastern sky.
Till then, flower petals did not smile
Neath the gentle breeze of springtime.

Thrilling was the coming of heaven's pollen,
Supreme Soul penetrating the earth's bosom.
Now a tender smile's in the sky and on the wind,
And how they dance in jubilation!

Bound to the music scale, my mental lute
Sang diverse songs in Your tunes.
Unmindful of any inert thought,
My heart had yearned for that divine touch.

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Lamplighter

(680)  Tumi mor jiivaner andharer dhruvatara

When life is gloomy, You're my polestar;
Oh, the bright light of my life You are.
My days go by, watching for Your coming;
Contemplating You, how good it feels.

Amid arid desert, You're the tasty cascade;
You're the sweet memory of my bygone days,
The golden hue when pitch-black is the dark,
The joyful song inside my broken heart,
You love, and You know only how to love;
The honey of ambrosia, constantly You pour.

You make the lame scale an indomitable peak;
The mouths of the mute You fill with speech.
Though my many sins You know, You lift me on Your lap;
Hope is attained by my heart pain-wracked.
Keeping You before me, I drift on melodies Thine;
The lamp of my life You ignite, You ignite.

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Loving You

(679)  Tomare bhalobasiya

Loving You,
Gazing at Your path,
How many ages have now passed?
I know but that it's been lifetimes.

In love with the moon is the lily;
For the moon she laughs and cries.
The moon, does it not realize,
Does it not understand the lily's mind?

The earth, full of love and affection,
Without You, its charm is all absent.
Like a cobra who has lost her gem,^[1]
I keep crying, plunged in distress.

Maintaining hope, I have survived;
With hope my heart I've pacified.
Tell me please, this hope of mine...
Will it never be fulfilled?

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God and Guide

(677)  Darpa curna kariya thako

Our pride You go on pulverizing;
So You're the vanquisher of conceit.
Everyone is known to You, oh Unknown Self,
Grazing in both the outer and inner realms.

You're the dispeller of all danger
And every mind's pleasure, oh Master.
Delight of the heart, adored by the world,
You never forsake us, never go far.
With only Your light, the earth is illumined,
Intimate Lord, cosmic-mind-walker.

In despondent minds, You keep giving strength;
Ancient torments, You make us forget.
With fresh zeal and new stream of movement,
You're our trailblazer, pioneer of progress.

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Sweet temptation

(676)  Sei badal rate sei andhar pathe

On that gloomy path that rainy night,
You arrived, my Darling, You arrived.
With air after air on sweet lyre strings,
To what distant place did You entice me?

In that pitch darkness, fearful and afraid,
It was lightning rays that showed me the way.
Sleepless in that rain, with all hopes crushed,
My despairing heart obtained expression.
With a thunderclap and a voice boisterous,
To the unconscious, You gave consciousness.

Companion in each trial on my dark night,
Condoler in every silent sacrifice,
Why You stay so close but from far away...
You I can't fathom with bestowed ability,
The intellect that You have given to me.

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Divine life

(675)  Patha bhule jabe esei parecho

When forgot was the way, just then you came;
In my home You now stay, both night and day.
Personally, You remove my chains;
For auspicious date You do not wait.

Pitter patter, pitter patter...
Outdoors the rain is falling,
But in my heart there's a silent stillness;
Unflickering is the candle that's lit.
Come closer still, be seated in my mind;
You rouse in me understanding of life.

Countless wonderlands and clusters of moonlight,
Manifesting the infinite and teeming with life,
Laying waste to dark nights of every heart,
They cascade upon the minds that are charmed.

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Escape

(674)  Ami genthe rekhechi e phuler mala

I've kept threading this flower garland
For Your sake, for Your sake only.
All my feelings, my pangs of separation,
In it they're brimming, they are brimming.

In summer's scorching heat and torrid wind,
When the zest for life weeps every second,
With importunate affection, my heart's lute
Floats a broken raft of song on Your tunes.

Teeming with fragrance of autumn jasmine,^[1]
At that time drunken the world remains.
By Your love that dense prison is broken;
Away I slip to a far-off, unknown place.

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One-pointed

(673)  Eso go eso go eso go

Come, Lord, please come, please come;
My heart's gate I have opened.
You've taken, taken, yes, taken
Any honey stored in my flower blossom.

Years upon years, they have elapsed;
Long lost are lots of recollections.
Many sweet songs passed into oblivion;
Still my eyes are fixed on Your path.

In tempos sometimes fast and sometimes slow,
I've marched onward, ever singing.
To Your tune and beat, with rhythmic zeal,
I've been thinking of You alone.

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Sanctified

(672)  Shuddhasattva pavaker shuci

Pristine Lord, the righteous ones
Have brought with them Your fire.
Enlightened rays of profound wisdom
Floated on Your wisdom's light.

Under matter's sway, mind insensate,
To life it came in the introversive phase.^[1]
When filled with love, on earth's expanse
Final oblation she has given.

Heaven's splendor has descended;
With Your grace the world's bedecked.
Earth and heaven have rose up reeling;
They've awakened to life's meaning.

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Solace

(671)  Tumi hariye jaoyar dakhin haoya

You're the southern wind that's vanished
And the light that reappears.
You're sweet comfort on my nights of anguish,
And that's why I hold You dear.

On my nights of utter darkness,
With a golden lamp in hand,
You stay beside me always,
Removing all my gloom.

In sadness, sorrow, and affliction
My tears are wiped by Your own hand.
To clear away the filthy grime,
You set alight hope's lamp.

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In His garden

(670)  Phuler vane bhomara elo

A bee came into a flower grove;
Why all asudden, no one knows...
Who knows, oh, who knows?
Surrounded by multicolored leaves
And flower petals hued brilliantly,
The bee heeds no restriction.

So now within that garden I gaze,
Mystified and amazed...
With songs of love a sweet breeze
Has lifted up and imbued me.
Flowers want the bee to appear,
Abuzz with stories to speak...
Taking heart's nectar to fly away,
In every place, yes, every place.

There's nothing that can impede progress
When noble minds hold common purpose...
When speech is sung in a practiced strain,
In every place, yes, every place.
In every garden there's but one image;
In every mind, it lies hidden...
It's in the notes of an unstrummed harp
In every heart, yes, every heart.

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Beyond sublime

(669)  Prabhu he mama tomari sama

Oh my Lord, like unto You,
None I see nor do I conceive.
Loving me and for my sake only,
So much pain You have removed.

When nights are stormy, You've made me fearless;
When hard rains fall, You've given me shelter.
Volcanoes may spit out their burning red fire;
Lush sweetness of rich greenery You provide.

I have forgotten You time and again,
And yet You've brought me back to the path.
On this enchanted, crimson-hued morning,
You gave me new life and granted fresh zeal.

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QED

(668)  Tomar katha bheve bheve, anya kichu bhavte nari

Of Thee I am always thinking;
Something else I cannot think.
The more I think I won't ponder Thee,
I but fall the more into Your musing.

Only You and I are there;
The whole world, it is lost to me.
With Your beauty and melody,
You alone do I behold in everything.

Yonder stars of heaven distant
And this earth with glamor verdant—
In Your thought, all are spellbound,
Dancing in orbit Thee around.

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With a smile

(667)  Hasite phul photale ali jotale

With a smile, You made flowers bloom and bees converge;
And You brightened my mind.
By rivers in spate, brimful of delight,
The ocean was stirred.

Flower buds had hidden, drawn behind a veil,
Overwhelmed with shame.
Encouraged by just Your light rays,
Restless they became.
Timeless One, if purposely You came,
Then kindle light ever and always.

The bumblebees are saying something;
Abruptly now they've gone somewhere.
In my heart waves rose and set it dancing
With light from Your melody.
I know You've loved me, and so I deem
You to be worthy, to the highest degree.

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To go or not to go

(666)  Ke tumi ele go aji

Who are You who came today,
Appearing on a golden lotus,
With a soothing stream serene,
Your eyes full of assurance?
A pleasing, unfeigned smile
Glides upon my psychic sky,
As if it is enticing me,
Wanting me to go somewhere.

You never stay far away,
And You never hate;
Perceiving all my shortcomings,
Onto Your lap You lift me tenderly.

On Creation's first morning,
I was there with Thee;
Still with You now, I will remain
Under only Your loving shade.

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The way home

(664)  Hariye gechi ajke ami

Lost was I today;
You let me find the way.
Forgotten was my own abode;
With love, You bear that load.

Flowers blossomed in a grove;
Why that's so, who really knows?
In my mind, in secrecy,
A song in Deepak Raag,^[1] You sing.

Having lost my way, I've come to You,
Attracted to Your woodland blooms.
Unaccompanied and in jeopardy,
Signs of my true path You reveal.

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Beyond light and delight

(663)  Dhyanera dhupe pranera pradiipe

With incense of meditation and the lamp of life,
I've set ablaze a festive row of lights.
If You don't arrive, it goes in vain,
This twilight that I have just made.

With hue and form You've filled Your earth,
And in the mind You've infused deep attachment.
When the tale of all delusion was complete,
You bestowed the dust from Your holy feet.

You've imbued each heart with Your dance and song,
And in the mind You've infused deep elation.
When the tale of all our pleasure is complete,
Bringing love, You Who were removed come near.

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Your will be done

(662)  Mandrita manamohana mama

My heart's object of deep adoration,
You are love made manifest.
Take pity on one who's distressed;
For asylum I have come.

Transcendent, You're the Lord of Maya,
Dispelling every danger.
Sin-killer and mind-teaser,
You tinge my innermost desire.

Meditation's real goal and life's only heartthrob,
You are hearing's blessing sung aloud.
In Your beggar's bowl, the fiend of being proud,
Master, he keeps getting pounded down.

For my well-being You regulate;
You integrate my mental sphere.
Make me hum, make me happy;
Thrill me, Forgiver of shortcomings.

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Hey Stupid

(661)  Abodha kanu kon kuhake

Foolish Kanu,^[1] there must have been some sorcery;
Imprudently, to Mathura You went.
At Gokul in Vrindavan, Your every
Playmate was thus left unchecked.

The milkmaids, they stopped churning curd;
They merely weep without an end,
As they don't want their butter
When the butter-thief has left.
Imprudently, to Mathura You went.
Kanu, You have gone away, deserting us;
Neglecting our condition.

The Jamuna^[2] no longer flows upstream;
No one plays flute to that melody.
The cows at pasture, toward the heaven
Their faces gaze, grass uneaten.
Imprudently, to Mathura You went.
Kanu, to become a king, You departed,
Neglecting our condition.

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Sentient pride

(660)  Jeo na shona katha bojha vyatha

Leave me not, hear my story, feel my pain;
Don't be indifferent.
Flowers bloom in my mind only for Your array,
Please do not trample them.

There is one who's always been with You night and day,
Have You forgotten it?
Keeping his eyes on You, seeing You in his mind,
Once You had love for him.
One who marched to the beat of Your songs and Your deeds,
With You consistently,
Oh, please don't neglect him.

You are the light of day, also the dark of night;
This fact I can't mistake.
I have always loved You; You decant wine for me
Day and night.
Even if You go on spurning me endlessly,
Please don't kick me away.

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