Who loves last loves best

(1145)  Tomar parashe praner pradiip

On Your touch the flame of life,
Shining brightly, had climbed.
The dry-wood lampstand of mine,
Full of consciousness, had died.

No precious gems or jewels had I,
No diamond necklace dazzling to the eyes;
With me was but love, huge and vast...
That had brought You in my grasp.

No knowledge of doctrine did I have
Nor worth of piety by pilgrimage;
In poverty, I've begged for Your grace...
Your unearned grace had taken place;
My painful heart, it did sate.

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Bride-to-be

(1144)  Tumi amar ashar alo, tomar tarei mala gantha

You are my ray of hope;
Just for You garlands are wove.
You know how to love me;
Constantly of You I speak.

On silent nights and lonesome mornings,
I want You with mind and body.
In my heart, hoping for Thee,
Eagerness is overflowing;
All my agony is bittersweet.

Day of light or day of shadow,
I have played a game of joy and sorrow.
All my sport, it is with Thee,
Intent engagement with You only;
That is my romantic history.

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The look of love

(1143)  Desh kalatiita priitite nihita

Beyond space and time, imposed with love,
Your abode is in a devout heart.
In both animate and inanimate, each and every moment,
Your majesty sways to and fro, like a pendulum.

You're not bound by thoughts or sense-organs,
Yet I would bind You through my love.
You let me snare You with love's fetters,
Gifting me Your grace unearned.

Human genius is produced by You;
With that genius, vision gets mature.
By Your grace, Your compassion,
They are set afloat on love's flood.

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Never fear

(1142)  Andhakare hime kuyashay nahi theme

Never making halt for darkness, frost, or fog
You had come, Effulgent One.
With dance, beat, and tune, into the gloom of then,
You had brought a rhythmic song.

Touched by morning's sun, the Earth got colored crimson;
Vital current came into its still doldrums.
All intense yearning gained form, taste, and tongue;
A thousand thanks to You, oh Conscious One!

Countless ages passed; Creation's flow has persevered;
Vast beyond limits has endured the stream of mercy.
With Your tender blessing, blending love and sweetness,
You said smiling: "I am here; there will be no final dissolution.
Know that there won't be a cosmic cataclysm."

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Traveling northeast

(1141)  Van paharer aral diye

By forest and hills concealed,
The sun, it is setting.
Light is fading, darkness thickens;
Daytime, where does it go missing?

When the sun had been risen,
Colors had formed on the darkness.
Along with the setting sun,
They pass into oblivion.

Upon a seven-shaded chariot,
Sun arrives in white heavens.
Crimson-colored mind, intoxicated,
Takes a look skyward.

Come sun once more, please do appear;
On earth's bosom, cast a smile sweet.
Living beings, your warmth chasing,
They gaze to the east.

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Can we not all get along?

(1140)  Tumi dhruva dharanar sarathi

You're the fixed concentration's chauffeur;
You're the lifelong visitor.
Unknown Traveler, You're the token of vigor;
But does anybody really know Your nature?

Your affection cannot be forgotten;
Your compassion, it is filling to the brim.
You exist, and so there is Creation;
Love for the macrocosm, it is in Your vision.

Within You has endured the fount of effulgence;
But within You runs amuck the "I", full of virtues and vices.
Your radiance, Your friendly sentiments,
May they bring on Earth heavenly hymns.

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Our day will come again

(1139)  Tomar sathe kon atiite

With You in what ancient past
Had occurred acquaintance?
I've forgot the day and date,
The sweet anniversary;
But will that memory ever get erased?

A hundred trumpets play at Your victory procession;
From afar I hear the grave and sonorous assemblage.
I want to go near, but I just cannot set out;
Insignificance is a block hard to surmount.

I am aware that You are great; I know that I am small.
But sporting with the paltry, indeed it's Your liila...
Trading hearts with the meager!

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Must I die first?

(1138)  Shata badha utkrami tumi eso

I've crossed a hundred obstacles; You please appear...
Upon a southern breeze, please do appear.
Arise with beauty in mind's mansion;
Kindly smile with a soothing touch.

Those who come then go, wanting nothing,
They don't cast a return glance to the rear...
With form and flavor their sweetness is full.
Kindly favor the living with Your affection.

There is no invocation or immersion,
Formalistic sacrifice, or circumambulation...
You had been, You are now, and staying You will be.
Without waiting for my immolation, kindly do appear.

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Not exactly complaining...

(1137)  Ami bhalobese tomay pabo

Through love will I attain You;
I'll be engaged in Your work only.
Your smile, Your enchanting flute...
With them will I engross my psyche.

So many births have elapsed;
So many autumns, they have passed.
In constant hope, my time's been pared away;
How many more days will I count, do say?

Come stay with me age after age;
I keep awake just for Your sake.
Open Your eyes and look at me;
How much longer must I journey?

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Inscrutable

(1136)  Gane eso prane

Oh You, please come into my life with song,
Omni-Transcendent One in a world of form.
There's nothing You cannot materialize
In the seven spheres^[1] constructed in Your mind.

What cannot be done, You accomplish;
Only one, You take shapes innumerous.
You commence even after there's a finish,
Having filled the world with magic.

You are even better than beneficent;
Fit for both welcoming and worship.
Though closeby, You are unknowable,
Like a war-trumpet in realm of music.

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Through incense and candles

(1135)  Tomare dekhechi shata rupe

I have seen You in myriad forms,
In countless shapes to meet mind's expectations.
I have watched You through incense and candles
To mingle in one all sweetness.

You have come in many different garments,
With concerns and actions various,
Each moment with a southern breeze,
Day and night with lost memories.

To rhythm and beat You have danced,
And You have loved in good times and bad.
In mind's depths and in a lonesome forest,
I have found You, smiling with effulgence.

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Euphoria

(1134)  Ami tomar katha bhavi divarati

I think about You constantly;
Psyche wants to muse on Thee.
Glad memory of Your sweet smile alone,
In downcast heart, it rouses hope.

Oh Driver of the Splendid Chariot,
I know You don't hold any day auspicious.
As it's so, please enter my home every day;
Let golden light make nectar emanate.

By my ideation on the Other, oh my, what has happened!
What's that ambrosia in the mind... it woke intoxication.
Forsaking all, to the One my mind did race;
What anyone may say, toward that it does not gaze.

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Like the moon

(1133)  Snigdha samiire ese

Arriving on a breeze refreshing,
To which flower did You give a shaking?
At the end of pride and vanity,
Whose sweetness did You take without asking?

You arrived and left without warning;
Oh the Moon, better that feels!
By dint of You having appeared,
Disquietude, it simply does increase.
But You came not for that indeed;
With form and color You delighted psyche.

Such a liila, so extraordinary,
Every minute new, continually!
In Your love, all hope exceeding,
You gave everything and asked for nothing.

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Is music the answer?

(1132)  Ele alor vane

You came on a spate of light;
Giving a sway, where did You hide?
On a wind pleasing and mild,
Fragrance infusing, You excited mind.

Still more of You everyone wants to receive;
They don't wish to let go for even a few hours.
Within mind, the sweetness that is there,
To fulfill desire, it would be poured out.

In a mode so sweet, oh come You;
Surpassing One, rectify every dearth.
With meter, lyrics, tempo, and new tunes,
Having made hearts swell, appear in fresh musical measures.

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Raison d'être

(1131)  Tumi acho tai mora achi

Lord, as You exist, so we exist.
With life You've filled the green grass, young and tender;
Now all of us, we but pray for Your compassion.

The azure beyond measure of the firmament,
The wrathful grandeur of the wilderness,
The woodland plants, the well-proportioned leaves...
Along with all of them, we go on living.

So that we don't keep forgetting Thee,
Under the spell of egoism's fetters and enemies,^[1]
With the strength of just Your name, filling our bosom,
We will obliterate the power of sin.

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When God is the bride...

(1130)  Jar asmita shes haye geche

One whose vanity has ceased
He gains You wholeheartedly.
With everything of his You've seized,
He makes it all Your offering.

In a prison gloomy, it's You he perceives;
On evening's stars, Your love he smears.
With golden light at crimson morning,
In Your form and color he is bathing.

By his side nothing is frightening;
Loving kindness is the one song there.
Lively and broad prosperity is abiding
With ambrosia's essence, honey-sweet.^[1]

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Racing joyously toward Him

(1129)  Vasante anu anute

In the Spring, for atoms each and every,
On what stream did You keep giving them a swing?
At core of tune after tune,
What sorcery did You imbue?

A drunken atmosphere, it speaks of what craving?
In the music what is missing, and what is received?
Silently and secretly,
On sweet night Your touch You kept applying.

What I've lost, that I have left behind;
What I've found, it lifts and fills the mind.
My avid heart's outpouring
Won't be held shrouded by any means.

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So that's what it's about

(1128)  Alote chayate duhkha sukhete

In light and shade, pleasure and pain,
So many lifetimes have gone by.
What I've attained, that I've mislaid;
But I've endured, hope entwined.

Storms have come, tearing to pieces,
Setting adrift my existence.
Graciously once more I've got the same...
To fill my psyche I have craved;
And, path ignored, I've gone astray...
But I don't comprehend much of it.

I've divined You now, I've found the path;
I've learned to move in radiance celestial.
That very grace provide; please give more light,
Having effaced all blemishes of mine.

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Here shines like the sun

(1127)  Aloke aloke aloke tumi esecho

With divine light You've arrived;
Like a kind sun, You've smiled.

You've made fall the old and withered leaves;
With tender green leaves You've brought beauty.
The burden of dogmatism, You've left it colorless.

Inertia's yellowed curtain You have torn;
On rosy cheeks red luster You have brought.
Speed You have filled with dynamism.

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Hope beyond hope

(1126)  Balechile more gan shonabe

You'd said You'll sing a song to me;
The days I count, expectantly.
With smile sweet, You had assured:
"At once I shall return."

Many times has Earth gone round its path;
So many Falls and Springs have passed!
You did not come, You did not sing;
Anxious for Thee, fake webs I weave.

The saplings, they've grown into trees;
Mountains eroded have become ant-heaps!
Time's reckoning has reached its limit;
Still I do believe footfall approaches.

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Merciful Lord

(1124)  Tumi amay bhule gecho

You have forgotten me...
You've forgot, You've forgot, my Dear.
In light and shade, with me You had been;
Are You ever thinking of that history?

So many golden dawns have gone;
The flower-string I've wove got torn.
You had been, You are now, remaining You will be;
But You've expunged me from Your memory.

Close to me, come, please come... no more of Your liila!
No more games... having come near, kindly do be seated.
By Your mercy, by Your favor and affection,
I exist, and also You are present.

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Swimming upstream

(1123)  Aloke tomar liila

With effulgence lies Your game divine...
On seeing darkness why do You give fright?
In the heart are many states of mind...
When mood's forgot, why make sense of want arise?

Those who, Yourself in alluring dress
Have witnessed in the midst of fondness...
About them have You got some other view
Such that You have kept far removed?

Those who cherish You,
Hoping just to give You pleasure...
Toward them a look You don't take,
As if, forgetting, You have gone away.

I am an atom; You are Cosmic Being,
Without any limit, any boundary...
But for an atom to get rid,
That You cannot; well You know it!

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On the eve of destruction

(1122)  Varasar rate ketakiisuvase mate

On a monsoon night, redolent with scent screwpine,
On feet rose-color dyed,
Inside my home You had arrived.
Stricken by the three afflictions,^[1] Earth's bosom
You suffused with peacefulness.

At the time, around that night had streamed
A heady southern wind, exhilarating.
It had sung with a music jingling,
Megh Malhar resonating.
Seized with love was I in that very atmosphere;
I had bowed and paid respect deliberately.

That day I don't forget, I don't forget the moment;
In my heart its memory resounds at each instant.
That same sweetness, it surrounds my consciousness;
On melody it sets me adrift.

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Unattainable?

(1121)  Jyotisamudre ek anu tava

Inside of light's ocean, I am Your one particle;
Everything that I keep getting, it is without equal...
It is beyond anything that I can comprehend.

You are in me and around me to an infinite extent,
From before time began until after time does end...
And so You are without limit, One With No Precedent.

On Creation's game of deceit, You move dancing, all-pervading;
But mid sounds raised by birds warbling and the peacocks calling...
Listening for Thee, I hear nothing, One So Very Hard To Reach.

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What remains

(1120)  Sharada nishiithe shephalii sudhate

Late on an autumn night, with the jasmine^[1] nectar,
You had arrived, oh Thou Immaculate!
With a pleasing fragrance, casting a sweet laugh,
Effulgence You did emanate, my Dearest Beloved.

Like the waving kash, my heart You swayed;
In clean white frost, my path You bathed.
Love You'd bestowed, mind You had vanquished;
Innermost, You were my Intimate.

You went away, but Your sweet scent remains;
Many hundreds are the new sensations.
You lavished love, my mind You took;
You left behind matchless recollections.

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Taking the baton

(1119)  Ei bhalabasa bhara madhu sandhyay

On this sweet, love-filled evening,
To some far-off place, mind drifts away.

Many a rose has bloomed in forests aplenty;
A rose has also bloomed at Your rosy feet.
Upon such beauty my heart and soul grow faint;
My eyes, they don't want to disengage.

Many stars have risen in the distant heavens;
To Your song of love a voice they give.
Those stars keep falling, such a burden!
So much love, oh will it get forgotten?

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Mind-exchange

(1118)  Bhramar elo gharer majhe

A bumblebee entered the house
On whose account, oh yes, on whose account?
Flowers of forest he did leave behind
In favor of a blossom of the mind.

Either the forest's nectar does not please,
Or it is not the equal of mind's honey.
One who has given you his psyche,
His honey it exudes constantly.

With love is the honey groomed;
Listen well, you who pursue the moon.
In corner of habitation seated in meditation,
Honey emanates in torrents.

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All my trials, Lord

(1117)  Alo andhare hay din kete jay

Alas, with light and dark, day goes by;
Until now, still You did not arrive.
Though I see dense black concealed by light,
The dark curtain, it draws not aside.

The flower's tender smile becomes frowsy,
Silently, within the night's obscurity.
Full-moon's light is consumed by time's hunger...
Moon, a morsel when the demon Rahu swaggers.
Viewing all, in the mind such pain I get;
Even a bit of it I can't express.

Inwardly, I ask of You in the utmost privacy:
What purpose serves this light-and-shade fancy?
Won't You please tell, won't You tell me
Why this world came into being?

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In His absence

(1116)  Akashe aj tarar mala

Today on sky is the garland of a star;
Within its mind is darkness.
Night and day in absence of its Maker,
The sea of woe is immense beyond measure.

In flower garden there is no sweet fragrance;
Without moon, the heavens are indifferent.
In frost there is no soothing coolness;
Flavorless, the honey lacks its substance.

Without his tail, the peacock is glum;
Crying, he spurns life's exuberance.
A pair of feet once restless to dance,
Now they've become cadence-oblivious.

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Who knows?

(1115)  Akasher tara bale ekmatra

In yonder cascade of effulgence,
Oh Who came, You Unknown One?
With that sublime, golden luster,
You kept giving me inspiration.

My entire past You perceive,
And future's mesh You do weave.
You fathom all the stories of my psyche,
Whereas of them I grasp nothing.

On Your account I execute what work I do,
And by Your grace I remember only You.
Master, the day when You'll let me catch hold...
You have knowledge, whereas I don't know.

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My eternal visitor

(1114)  Akasher tara bale ekmatra

A star of sky says: "One only...
Only He is my companion."
Dancing, speaks Earth's speck of dust,
It says: "I yearn for Him constantly."

South wind speaks with mild air-current:
"Without Him there is no one else."
Uneven ocean's wave does say:
"Toward Him alone always I gaze."
Tiny dots, light-orbs in distant heavens,
With their glow they swing a lamp to greet Him.^[1]

Tears of love are His dewdrops;
Rain showers, His love and affection.
With the pollen floral fragrance spreads its wings;
Its message drifts into infinity.
Each atom of the human psyche goes on singing:
"Life after life, He is the guest unforeseen."^[2]

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Immeasurable greatness

(1113)  Vishver cakranabhi tumi

The cosmic hub, that You be;
I acknowledge Thee as my each and everything.
At my start You were there; till my finish You'll survive...
Your end I don't recognize.

In a flower's fragrance and in a heart's ardent emotion,
In the vista of a hymn and in a honeyed wind,
Hidden from everyone and casting a gentle grin,
You go on weaving the mesh of Your will.

On some day at a distance, at some time not yet arrived,
Your majesty on land, on sea, and in the sky,
In times both good and not-so-fine, it is going to abide...
It will be without measure; and the days count I.

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