Flowers

(110)  Griismavakashe se jadi ase

Should He arrive in summer's recess,
Both hands full, I'll offer flowers,
I'll give flowers, only flowers,
Neath the crimson sky, beside champak of morning,
Rhythmic, rosy feet, having seized.

Till now the cuckoo has some words to speak;
At dusk and dawn there blows a southern breeze...
But on the bough of palash tree, a nightingale is calling:
"The riverside is dry mostly."

Ashoka blossoms tumble rapidly,
Silk-cotton trees are nigh full of seeds,
Grape clusters flourish in tier after tier...
While swarming in the hiptage bower,
Bumblebees are buzzing, having obtained flowers.

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Global warming

(109)  Bandhu tomar gopan katha

Abiding Friend, Your secret—
Whisper it into my ears,
Into my ears.
Everyone's summertime anguish–
Please explain to me in song lyrics,
In song lyrics.

The flower that blossomed, it gets seared;
The flower never opened is dropping.
Halfway, the river's stream
Starts flying up in steam.
Surely my misery is just pain of the living...
Your affliction could not be everywhere!

Grass fidgety would rise from sleep;
It does not wake from fear of burning.
Icebergs, due to the heat,
Dissipate in tears.
Surely my misery is just pain of the living...
Your affliction could not be everywhere!

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Total surrender

(1400)  Nijer chanda hariye phelechi

I have lost my own tendencies;
I long to dance in Your rhythmic beat.
With me is no familiarity, language, or melody;
Notwithstanding, I sing praise of Your qualities.

Unexpressed was my sense of God's proximity,
His felt-or-unfelt touch in each cell of my being.^[1]
One and all lie on the outskirts of Your feet;
Therefore, to those feet I offer my submission meek.

I came, bringing not a thing attached to me;
Having added naught to my coffer, I will leave.
In spite of any vice that is mine, from me let it be
I place around Your neck virtue's wreath.

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Krsna replies

(1399)  Nandanamadhu manthana kari

Churning the honey from paradise,
I have brought ambrosia of delight.
With poetic meters on a mild breeze,
I have sketched the sweetness of psyche.

This vessel, it is flush with nectar;
It will fully satisfy hunger and thirst.
Whatever great appetite of this world,
I have filled my pot for its removal.

Mountain and river, jungle and garden,
Crossing them, I have come with teeming heart.
For the sake of everybody, gazing at everyone,
I have poured out nectar on the world.

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Mind on fire

(1398)  Phaguner agun lagano

Exposed to the fires of spring,
Come, Shyam,^[1] into my grove of palash trees.
My effusive heart has been yearning
To see You, possessor of all qualities!

On kadam tree, the cuckoo is singing;
The bay-leaf tree's dark shadow is dancing.
In the ashok arbor, in heaps aplenty,
With hope of honey arrive colonies of bumblebees.

The color that has taken hold in the midst of psyche,
That color has been strewn from celestial sphere.
In heaven and on earth, now in complete harmony,
Your sweet name all are remembering.
Ghanashyam,^[2] please do come with many a musical beat.

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Look here!

(1397)  Amar katha shono na tumi

You don't listen to my story,
Oh, why don't You hear?
Could it be You deem me trifling?
Such a mental agony!

I'm in love, I know not why...
I know You alone are my enterprise.
One Whom I worship, the goal of my life,
Why don't You arrive?

I've composed a song, its tune rehearsed have I;
To make You hear it, I am awake at night.
My object of meditation, ultimate bliss of mine,
You don't open up Your eyes.

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Love awakens

(1396)  Tomay ami bhalobasi prabhu

Lord, I am in love with Thee;
This fact I had been ignoring–
Knowingly, I had been ignoring.
My coming and my going
Are beneath the dust of Your feet.

By morning's light, along with Thee,
I have sung my song, privately.
I've kept playing but a game of colors,
Sheltered under Your protection.

Neath the bloodred hue of evening sun,
I've heard a song with devotion.
I've been painted with its color,
By the cascade's motley water.

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My container and infrastructure

(1395)  Tumi je amar pranera adhar

You are the foundation of my life,
My rhythm of movement, the azure of blue sky–
Atomic and cosmic, Yours and my
Love-ocean's incandescent lines.

On the fully moonlit night, You are rays of nectar;
Of crimson sun at morn, You are the sculptor...
I have known You at my core, Your coating I have worn;
In light and darkness, You are my companion.

My polestar on the sable night,
With hot thunderclap, the flow of ice...
You are sun, I am glow of firefly;
I am but a grain of dust in Your stream of kindness.

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His timeless bliss

(1394)  Acin parii madhuvane

At paradise the fairy unfamiliar
Entered a floral pavilion.
Diffusing honey from own bosom,
He amplified flowers' nectar.

Oh what notes from his laughing pipe,
And such flood of tears from all eyes...
Without taking nectar that sweet fairy
Went away after only pouring honey.

After darkness, flash of light,
It felt good in everybody's eyes...
Likewise the good from gloom's removing,
It made time accept defeat.

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Take comfort

(1393)  Sabar asha bhalabasa

The hope and love of everybody,
I will keep on fulfilling.
I abide very near...
Affection's nectar I will smear.

As with the flower is its honey–
Just one heart, just one psyche–
Likewise, with everybody
I will stay eternally.

Compared to amount of moonbeams,
Many more do I hold dear;
And likewise, the moon's grin
Through each mouth will I make seep.

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Was it all for naught?

(1392)  Asbe bale, gele je cale ele na

Having said You will return,
You left; and, having gone, You never came.
The jasmine garland has withered;
You accepted not the sandalpaste.

The song composed was just for Thee;
Its tune was practiced round the clock.
The One for Whom that song and melody,
He did not hear it... He came not.

All the flowers have dropped away;
Only a piece of string has endured.
At end of day, like a bloom disgraced,^[1]
Is the song that was not heard.

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As one thinks, so it becomes

(1391)  Tomar katha bheve din kete jay

Thinking of You my day goes by;
Your image rises in the mind...
Your sweet love, a charming reminiscence
The mind likes to consider.

I've forgot the days when, on my own, I've got lost;
Oft thinking of You, full of You have I become.
Moving round Thee, imitating Thee...
In my psyche that shines brightly.

Your lute am I, and You are the player;
Your drop am I, and You are the ocean.
I am diffused in You, oh Lord absorbed in wisdom,
In every breath of mine You remain present.

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Mission of love

(1390)  Tomar pathe cali ami

Upon Your path I proceed,
From no obstacle will I retreat.
You are my Darling Dear;^[1]
My sadhana is You only.

Having lit the wick of puny lantern,
I march on by Your name's power.
The strength dwelling in that appellation,
To it there is no comparison.

How many are the days gone by–
The counting also slips from mind.
You exist, and I exist...
I know nothing else but this.

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Out and back

(1389)  Aloker van bahaye diyecho

You've let loose a flood of effulgence,
And in dark wilderness life has awakened.
Victory be Yours only, victory be Yours only;
Oh Master, always be Your victory.
Salvation at the core of unexpressed,
You made a batch of flowers blossom.

The spring that had died in the desert,
The bud that had mingled with the dust...
Even they got back their life once more
Through Your undeserved compassion.

The intellect that by obstruction had been rent,
The practiced tune that had become suppressed...
By Your hand's tender touch,
With the octave they arrived on Earth.

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Freedom for free

(1388)  Prabhu tumi amay kata kii je dile

Lord, to me so much You gave;
You claimed nothing in exchange.

In summer season's severe heat,
Space You gave neath shade of tree.
In desert thirst, with the mirage
Soothing water You discharged.

Disrespected and disdained,
My time has passed in sorrow's flame.
You lifted me onto love's lap;
Of songs You strung a garland.

With ignorance and static notions,
Truth was hidden by a mist.
That same fog You cast aside;
You brought me to the path of light.

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One-pointed

(1387)  Eso tumi priyatama

Come You, oh Beloved,
Having brightened the whole universe
And excised gloom's intoxication,
Far removing static worldliness.

I'm aware of You only,
Only You do I heed.
For Your sake unstintingly,
Myself I would yield.

I note not sense of honor or dishonor;
You're my goal, You're my endeavor.
With You I do survive,
Happiness and sorrow on the other side.

In life comes the spring;
Then summer's heat appears.
In my life, in heart and mind,
You're my crimson dream satisfied.

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Have mercy on me

(1386)  Vishveshvara jyotiriishvara

Lord of the Universe, Lord of Effulgence...
In my heart please let me hold You.
Wasteland You make lush and green,
Darkness and gloom, light-exuding.

Your desired work I did not do;
Along Your path I could not move.
I have journeyed, begging unearned mercy,
Oh my Gracious One, honey-replete.

In the pitch-dark heart that is of me,
On rosy feet will You be felt severe.
But with Your touch, in an instant, in a wink,
That will turn tender, nectar-dripping.

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Out, out, brief candle?

(1385)  Aruner alo gavaksapathe

Through bay window light of morning's sun,
It has penetrated the dark room.
Now gloom's goblin, it has gone, far removed,
With the impact of crystal effulgence.

Over course of ages had accrued every filth,
Ebony that in darkness only had amassed,
Impervious in that very pit so black;
And nowhere to be seen was conscience.

In darkness, creatures had been penned to nest,
And their mental progress was suppressed.
Heaven's splendor, life's momentum,
Is a grievous thunderbolt to that obstacle.

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Never take a detour

(1384)  Tumi pather dhuloy nevechile

Onto street-dust You'd alit
Just to lift me up.
For me You had done so much;
To forget You I have wished.

Though path was hindered, light was lavished;
Crevice of pride was on both sides.
Leaving the way, I fell into pit;
And cloth was bound around both eyes.

You'd told me to fix gaze on the target...
With whole heart to love it.
Forgetting the goal, I've drowned in delusion,
I've run amuck after transitory happiness.

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Father of all

(1383)  Sabar bhalabasa peyecho

The love of everyone You have gained,
And You have viewed everyone the same...
You have thought for everybody's welfare.

In the place afflicted with a searing summer's heat;
You have poured out monsoon's torrential stream.
On the wretched heart ravaged by three torments,^[1]
You have dabbed the honey of affection.
On the dark day bathed by rain,
You have brought about the firefly's rays.

Love You know how to estimate;
The true rank of a living being, only You appreciate.
Watching Your arrival path, creatures have persisted;
Neath Your shelter You have taken all those in peril.

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My spacecraft and moon lander

(1382)  Tomay ami bhalobasi, tomar name tomar dhyane

I am in love with You.
By Your appellation, by Your meditation,
Mind's darkness gets removed.

With Your pleasant songs of praise,
Mind darts afar like an airplane.
All worldliness, all pettiness...
Every chain, it drifts away.

Your effulgence daybreak-hued,
On the eyes did it feel good.
Only impromptu kindness You dispense,
Arriving with a beauty always new.

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Endless purity and bliss

(1381)  Vipadabhainjana duhkhamocana

Removing danger and soothing affliction,
The star in everybody's eye, very well-bedecked,
At the start You had been, and till now You've endured;
At the end You will be, Existence Eternal.

Everyone's beloved, everyone's aim in their meditation,
With the strength of intellect surpassing measure,
You know how to dance, and You make the mind-realm caper;
Having stayed inscrutable, on eyes You paint collyrium.

Filled with Your endless liila is the whole Creation;
In profound wisdom absorbed, You have been immortal...
You are without slumber, You are vigilant;
Amid those who are stained, only You remain immaculate.

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