Ashtavakra Gita: Part 5

Chapter 11 and 12, of Ashtavarka gita. Chapter 11 are Ashtavakra's words. Chapter 12 is Janaka. Once again selected slokas.

11.3  Statisfied, swasthya actually means health, I think Ashtavakra means enegized senses, or senses having vitality ( तृप्तः स्वस्थेन्द्रियो ). Once again this is connected to Bhuta Shuddhi
11.4  Dukha or suffering arises from thinking :) (चिन्तया जायते दुःखं)
11.7  I alone exist every-where, this is interesting, I need to expound on this sometime. In short this is end of duality of one's experinces but really it is much more in terms of perception.
11.8  World doesnt exist, now correlate this with 11.7 if I alone exist, is there any room for the world to exist ? naah :P not for ashtvakra atleast :P
12.2  Is poorly translated, though its sort of ok.  Janka here is telling about how he has gone beyond words(thinking is language). 
12.6 This one is beauty
12.7 Is also beauty :)
12.9 I just put that for sake of completion of this chapter

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आपदः संपदः काले दैवादेवेति निश्चयी।
तृप्तः स्वस्थेन्द्रियो नित्यं न वान्छति न शोचति॥११- ३॥
Realising that misfortune and fortune come in their own time from fortune, one is contented, one's senses under control, and does not like or dislike. 11.3

चिन्तया जायते दुःखं नान्यथेहेति निश्चयी।
तया हीनः सुखी शान्तः सर्वत्र गलितस्पृहः॥११- ५॥
Realising that suffering arises from nothing other than thought, dropping all desires one rids oneself of it, and is happy and at peace everywhere. 11.5

आब्रह्मस्तंबपर्यन्तं अहमेवेति निश्चयी।
निर्विकल्पः शुचिः शान्तः प्राप्ताप्राप्तविनिर्वृतः॥११- ७॥
Realising, "I alone exist, from Brahma down to the last clump of grass," one becomes free from uncertainty, pure, at peace, and unconcerned about what has been attained or not. 11.7

नाश्चर्यमिदं विश्वं न किंचिदिति निश्चयी।
निर्वासनः स्फूर्तिमात्रो न किंचिदिव शाम्यति॥११- ८॥
Realising that all this varied and wonderful world is nothing, one becomes pure receptivity, free from inclinations, and as if nothing existed, one finds peace. 11.8

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 प्रीत्यभावेन शब्दादेरदृश्यत्वेन चात्मनः।
विक्षेपैकाग्रहृदय एवमेवाहमास्थितः॥१२- २॥
In the absence of delight in sound and the other senses, and by the fact that I am myself not an object of the senses, my mind is focused and free from distraction -- which is why I am now established. 12.2

कर्मानुष्ठानमज्ञानाद् यथैवोपरमस्तथा।
बुध्वा सम्यगिदं तत्त्वं एवमेवाहमास्थितः॥१२- ६॥
Just as the performance of actions is due to ignorance, so their abandonment is too. By fully recognising this truth, I am now established. 12.6

अचिंत्यं चिंत्यमानोऽपि चिन्तारूपं भजत्यसौ।
त्यक्त्वा तद्भावनं तस्माद् एवमेवाहमास्थितः॥१२- ७॥
Trying to think the unthinkable, is doing something unnatural to thought. Abandoning such a practice therefore, I am now established. 12.7

एवमेव कृतं येन स कृतार्थो भवेदसौ।
एवमेव स्वभावो यः स कृतार्थो भवेदसौ॥१२- ८॥
He who has achieved this has achieved the goal of life. He who is of such a nature has done what has to be done. 12.8

Milk

Despite my self imposed solitary confinement and also an emphatic NO, to whatever petit invites I receive, life still keeps engaging me, in strange ways. Every now and then I keep runnning into people, and somehow even though I dont interact much verbally, some sort of bonhomie develops. Recently I met someone, who introduced himself as a Bombay boy. He had just set his foot on this land. As the converstation welled up, I was the asked the usual desi-to-desi question, 'where are you from'. I convinientaly dodged it, giving him in return some rhetoric and some innuendos. Later, as courtsey demands, I offerred some biscuits and enquired if he would like some chai or coffee. Chai, came the answer, after the usual no-thanks, prelude.

I realized, that actually I dont have what it takes to make a chai. For several years now, I am more accustomed to English-tea, and I dont stock the "poor-dark-cousin" of it.  :-)
I expressed my, inability and enquired if he would rather manage with coffee, since english-tea taste might not be, well, his cup of tea. He responded, he would like to try something new and something else which i dont recall now.

So as the earl-grey, started leaving its hue in the cup, he told me, that he is actually from konkan. He retold a story of his forefathers migrating from the costal areas coz the conversion drive of invaders, was so strong, that they had to either convert or flee. His forefathers naturally chose dharma and relocated to Bombay. As I was listening to his story, I could see his face displaying various emotions. Perhaps he was waiting for me to respond. I was straight faced. I noticed that his cup was far from empty, while I had finished mine long ago. I told him, its not neccesary to drink it, and I can make coffee and he need not finish it for the sake of polite-social-bheaviour. Till now actually, I was hearing his story, attentively but non jugementally, with little or no, sentiments for the family suffering etc.

He replied that he is actually enjoying tea. Before I could remark thats he is being too formal again, he told me, this is what people drink in Konkan. He told me about how peasents in konkan are so poor that they cant afford a cow or purchase milk. He told me how this is the "the breakfast tea" of konkan.

Perhaps it was the way he told it. Or perhaps it was the way the vapour from his cup was condensing on his glasses. I suddenly missed milk in my tea. The mlik that turns darkness into light(brown).

Veena Sahasrabuddhe; Raag Chhayanat

Even though of late I listen to more carnatic music, if I have to pick up 1 singer, only 1 singer in Hindustani classical, among the ones who are performing today, I would undoubtedly pick Veena Madame! While youtube stocks zillion records of zillion others, it remains mystery to me why there arent many of Veena madame's records there. She is perhaps the only one today, who has perfected the art of combining skill with the emotive expression. When people tell me, they dont listen to her, they just cry and cry, I can understand why it is so.

So, today morning when ,someone whom I dont know, sent me this youtube link, I was very pleasently surprised. I have this mp3 and have heard this many times, but finding it on youtube is something else. When the music is on the cloud, naturally you are on Cloud no 9. :-)

Here is raag chhayant, a very pleasent raag, my guess is its a derivate of yaman(or atleast the same Thaat). Correct me if I am wrong by commenting on this post.

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Thanks TC, my mystery friend, for this.

Dhoka

तुमको खोजा
और शायद,
तुम को पाया

अब,
जब तुम आये
तो क्यूँ लगता है कि
धोका खाया ?

Three Poems

भर रहे हो तुम,
मेरे भीतर ,
खालीपन बनकर.

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 तुम्हारे और मेरे बीच
अब बस मैं का फासला है

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मर रहा हूँ मैं
पल पल
जीवन कि तरह

बस एक फर्क है
के जीवन ज़िंदा है

Yege Yega vitthal bai

Today morning, with bhayyia, I was looking at a stuti i.e. Pandurangashtakam. A euology for Panduranga Vitthala. We were planning to translate it for Stutimandal. While I found the stuti beautiful, I suddenly spotted a phrase, "lasat kundalam". Immediately, I quipped, "plagiarism". The phrase also exists in some other stuti. Pat came the reply, "Sometimes repetition has a purpose, How else will you describe shining ear-ring(kundala) in Bhujanga-Prayat(a meter)?". I took a bow, and gave up :-).

Anyway, while the stuti on Panduranga will be up there soon, we can start singing Vitthal right away! Here is a beautiful Abhang from Sant Janbai. I have also put the lyrics and their translation. This reminds me, that, I have to also translate, the tuka abhang.."tuka aksha che badha" too, some other time, perhaps.

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येग येग विठाबाई, माझे पंढरीचे आई ॥१॥
come come Vitthalbai (vitthal described as a women), my mother from pandharipur(the place where vitthal's vigraha is located)
भीमा आणि चंद्रभागा, तुझ्या चरणीच्या गंगा ॥२॥
Bhima and Chandrabhaga(local-rivers), are the Ganga which flow from your feet

इतुक्यासहित त्वां बा यावें, माझे रंगणी नाचावें ॥३॥
Come with these rivers, and make me dance in your glory(actually the word used is रंग, color)
माझा रंग तुझे गुणीं, म्हणे नामयाची जनी ॥४॥
My ecstascy/mood(the word used again is, रंग, color) is due to you, my name is Jani(janbai).

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PS: I dont know marathi, I acknowledge the help of my friend Amit for this translation. You rock Amit!. I also thank Parag and Sampada, who have helped me, whenever I needed their help for Marathi. Thanks so much you two!

Raag Shyam Kalyan: Amzad Ali Khan

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Thanks: Gary
  

Ashtavakra Gita : Part 4

This is from chapter 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Ashtavakra Gita. Once again, only selected slokas :). Therefore, chapter 7 has been completely omitted. Loved chapter 8, so included whole of it. Chapter 8, talks about the characteristics of bondage and liberation. Slokas are very clear, simple and beautifully, expressed.

Chapter 9 is also beautiful. Especially 9.6 and 9.8. In 9.6 he talks about who is a guru. Its interesting because, its ashtavakra's opinion on the concept of Guru, and as always he is blunt and direct. 9.7 talks about bhoota.  and could lead to an interesting discussion on bhoota shuddhi but some other time. 9.8 is true beauty :). He uses the word vaasana twice. I might talk about this concept of Vaasana, later in some post. The translator though chooses to interpret 'vaasna' as desire.

10.1 read the last phrase as respect everything( सर्वत्रादरं कुरु), Though the translator is also right in his own way.  Btw, as I have said earlier, a translation of the source has its limits, more so when you talk about something which is, "so to speak", beyond human understanding. But in case if you want me translate or bring out some sloka more explicitly, just drop a comment and I will do the needful. I am using the wikisource for sanskrit text and the translation is the by same person, i.e. Jhon Richards.

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तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं किन्चिद् वांछति शोचति।
किंचिन् मुंचति गृण्हाति किंचिद् दृष्यति कुप्यति॥८- १॥
Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something. 8.1

तदा मुक्तिर्यदा चित्तं न वांछति न शोचति।
न मुंचति न गृण्हाति न हृष्यति न कुप्यति॥८- २॥
Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything, or hold on to anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything. 8.2

तदा बन्धो यदा चित्तं सक्तं काश्वपि दृष्टिषु।
तदा मोक्षो यदा चित्तमसक्तं सर्वदृष्टिषु॥८- ३॥
Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses. 8.3

यदा नाहं तदा मोक्षो यदाहं बन्धनं तदा।
मत्वेति हेलया किंचिन्मा गृहाण विमुंच मा॥८- ४॥
When there is no "me," that is liberation, and when there is "me" there is bondage. Consider this carefully, and neither hold on to anything nor reject anything. 8.

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कस्यापि तात धन्यस्य लोकचेष्टावलोकनात्।
जीवितेच्छा बुभुक्षा च बुभुत्सोपशमः गताः॥९- २॥
Rare indeed, my son, is the lucky man whose observation of the world's behaviour has led to the extinction of his thirst for living, thirst for pleasure, and thirst for knowledge. 9.2

कृत्वा मूर्तिपरिज्ञानं चैतन्यस्य न किं गुरुः।
निर्वेदसमतायुक्त्या यस्तारयति संसृतेः॥९- ६॥
Is he not a guru who, endowed with dispassion and equanimity, achieves full knowledge of the nature of consciousness, and leads others out of samsara? 9.6

पश्य भूतविकारांस्त्वं भूतमात्रान् यथार्थतः।
तत्क्षणाद् बन्धनिर्मुक्तः स्वरूपस्थो भविष्यसि॥९- ७॥
If you would just see the transformations of the elements as nothing more than the elements, then you would immediately be freed from all bonds and established in your own nature. 9.7

वासना एव संसार इति सर्वा विमुंच ताः।
तत्त्यागो वासनात्यागात्स्थितिरद्य यथा तथा॥९- ८॥
One's desires are samsara. Knowing this, abandon them. The renunciation of them is the renunciation of it. Now you can remain as you are. 9.8

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विहाय वैरिणं काममर्थं चानर्थसंकुलं।
धर्ममप्येतयोर्हेतुं सर्वत्रादरं कुरु॥१०- १॥
Abandon desire, the enemy, along with gain, itself so full of loss, and the good deeds which are the cause of the other two -- practice indifference to everything. 10.1

त्वमेकश्चेतनः शुद्धो जडं विश्वमसत्तथा।
अविद्यापि न किंचित्सा का बुभुत्सा तथापि ते॥१०- ५॥
You are one, conscious and pure, while all this is inert non-being. Ignorance itself is nothing, so what is the point of wanting to understand? 10.5

Man

मन की बड़ बड़
ही तो है बस, गड़बड़

Mithya ha Sansar

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(text has been copied from the youtube channel)
मिथ्या हा संसार । अवघा मायेचा बाजार ॥१॥
mithyaa haa sansaara | avaghaa Maayecha baazaar ||1||

स्त्रिया पुत्र धन । हे तो सर्व मायिक जाण ॥२॥
striyaa putra dhan | he to sarva Maayika jaana ||2||

यांत गुंतू नको नरा । न करी आयुष्य मातेरा ॥३॥
yaat guntoo nako naraa | na kari aayushya maateraa ||3||

वाचे वदे हरिहर । करी ध्यान निरंतर ॥४॥
vaache vade Harihara | kari dhyaan nirantara ||4||

एका जनार्दनी नरा । नित्य भज हरिहरा ॥५॥
Ekaa Janaardani naraa | nitya bhaja Hariharaa ||5||

Rat

Everyday,
I feel your callous touch
under your palm

Everday,
I am motioned, pressed
and dragged
with trenchent coldness

Everyday,
at your command.
I just point,
pointlessly

For you,
I am just a rat
running your
rat-race.

Ashtavakra Gita : Part 3

This is from chapter 3,4, 5 and 6. All these are words of Ashtavakra. The translation sometimes is a little rusty, especially, chapter 6. Where 'laya' is interpreted as 'peace' by translator . But its clear enough to bring out the intended meaning.

I loved chapter 6. It looked more like proclamation and I read the slokas many times. As always I am just putting the ones I liked most, I am sure you some of you will see the whole text.

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आत्माज्ञानादहो प्रीतिर्विषयभ्रमगोचरे।
शुक्तेरज्ञानतो लोभो यथा रजतविभ्रमे॥३- २॥
Truly, when one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure in the objects of mistaken perception, just as greed arises for the mistaken silver in one who does not know mother of pearl for what it is. 3.2

सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि।
मुनेर्जानत आश्चर्यं ममत्वमनुवर्तते॥३- ५॥
When the sage has realised that he himself is in all beings, and all beings are in him, it is astonishing that the sense of individuality should be able to continue. 3.5

मायामात्रमिदं विश्वं पश्यन् विगतकौतुकः।
अपि सन्निहिते मृत्यौ कथं त्रस्यति धीरधीः॥३- ११॥
Seeing this world as pure illusion, and devoid of any interest in it, how should the strong-minded person, feel fear, even at the approach of death? 3.11

स्वभावाद् एव जानानो दृश्यमेतन्न किंचन।
इदं ग्राह्यमिदं त्याज्यं स किं पश्यति धीरधीः॥३- १३॥
How should a strong-minded person who knows that what he sees is by its very nature nothing, consider one thing to be grasped and another to be rejected? 3.13

अंतस्त्यक्तकषायस्य निर्द्वन्द्वस्य निराशिषः।
यदृच्छयागतो भोगो न दुःखाय न तुष्टये॥३- १४॥
An object of enjoyment that comes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable for someone who has eliminated attachment, and who is free from dualism and from desire. 3.14

आत्मानमद्वयं कश्चिज्जानाति जगदीश्वरं।
यद् वेत्ति तत्स कुरुते न भयं तस्य कुत्रचित्॥४- ६॥
Rare is the man who knows himself as the nondual Lord of the world, and he who knows this is not afraid of anything. 4.6


न ते संगोऽस्ति केनापि किं शुद्धस्त्यक्तुमिच्छसि।
संघातविलयं कुर्वन्नेवमेव लयं व्रज॥५- १॥
You are not bound by anything. What does a pure person like you need to renounce? Putting the complsex organism to rest, you can find peace. 5.1

आकाशवदनन्तोऽहं घटवत् प्राकृतं जगत्।
इति ज्ञानं तथैतस्य न त्यागो न ग्रहो लयः॥६- १॥
I am infinite like space, and the natural world is like a jar. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance, or cessation of it. 6.1

Ashtavakra Gita : Part 2

This is from chapter 1 and 2. I have copied only some slokas. The ones I liked.
The recurrent theme of dialogue is self-awareness and of-course the outright denial of what is perceived by mind and senses.

In the conversation, I actually, liked expression of Janaka more than Ashtavakra :). I have emboldened and underlined some slokas. Sanskrit is from wikisource and translation is from here.. I will post more snippets from the following chapters in the next post.

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जनक उवाच॥
कथं ज्ञानमवाप्नोति कथं मुक्तिर्भविष्यति।
वैराग्यं च कथं प्राप्तं एतद् ब्रूहि मम प्रभो॥१- १॥
How is one to acquire knowledge? How is one to attain liberation? And how is one to reach dispassion? Tell me this, sir. 1.1

अष्टावक्र उवाच॥
यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि।
अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि॥१- ४॥
If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds. 1.4

एको द्रष्टासि सर्वस्य मुक्तप्रायोऽसि सर्वदा।
अयमेव हि ते बन्धो द्रष्टारं पश्यसीतरम्॥१- ७॥
You are the one witness of everything and are always completely free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other than this. 1.7

मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि।
किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत्॥१- ११॥
If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true, "Thinking makes it so." 1.11

देहाभिमानपाशेन चिरं बद्धोऽसि पुत्रक।
बोधोऽहं ज्ञानखंगेन तःनिकृत्य सुखी भव॥१- १४॥
You have long been trapped in the snare of identification with the body. Sever it with the knife of knowledge that "I am awareness," and be happy, my son. 1.14

निःसंगो निष्क्रियोऽसि त्वं स्वप्रकाशो निरंजनः।
अयमेव हि ते बन्धः समाधिमनुतिष्ठति॥१- १५॥
You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind. 1.15

साकारमनृतं विद्धि निराकारं तु निश्चलं।
एतत्तत्त्वोपदेशेन न पुनर्भवसंभवः॥१- १८॥
Recognise that the apparent is unreal, while the unmanifeast is abiding. Through this initiation into truth you will escape falling into unreality again. 1.18

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जनक उवाच॥
यथा प्रकाशयाम्येको देहमेनं तथा जगत्।
अतो मम जगत्सर्वमथवा न च किंचन॥२- २॥
As I alone give light to this body, so I do to the world. As a result the whole world is mine, or alternatively nothing is. 2.2

आत्मज्ञानाज्जगद् भाति आत्मज्ञानान्न भासते।
रज्ज्वज्ञानादहिर्भाति तज्ज्ञानाद् भासते न हि॥२- ७॥
From ignorance of oneself, the world appears, and by knowledge of oneself it appears no longer. From ignorance of the rope it appears to be a snake, and by knowledge of it it does so no longer. 2.7

ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं तथा ज्ञाता त्रितयं नास्ति वास्तवं।
अज्ञानाद् भाति यत्रेदं सोऽहमस्मि निरंजनः॥२- १५॥
Knowledge, what is to be known, and the knower -- these three do not exist in reality. I am the spotless reality in which they appear because of ignorance. 2.15

द्वैतमूलमहो दुःखं नान्यत्तस्याऽस्ति भेषजं।
दृश्यमेतन् मृषा सर्वं एकोऽहं चिद्रसोमलः॥२- १६॥
Truly dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realisation that all this that we see is unreal, and that I am the one stainless reality, consisting of consciousness. 2.16

शरीरं स्वर्गनरकौ बन्धमोक्षौ भयं तथा।
कल्पनामात्रमेवैतत् किं मे कार्यं चिदात्मनः॥२- २०॥
The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and fear too, all this is pure imagination. What is there left to do for me whose very nature is consciousness? 2.20

अहो जनसमूहेऽपि न द्वैतं पश्यतो मम।
अरण्यमिव संवृत्तं क्व रतिं करवाण्यहम्॥२- २१॥
I do not even see dualism in a crowd of people, so what do I gain if it is replaced by a desert? 2.21

नाहं देहो न मे देहो जीवो नाहमहं हि चित्।
अयमेव हि मे बन्ध आसीद्या जीविते स्पृहा॥२- २२॥
I am not the body, nor is the body mine. I am not a living being. I am consciousness. It was my thirst for living that was my bondage. 2.22

मय्यनंतमहांभोधौ चित्तवाते प्रशाम्यति।
अभाग्याज्जीववणिजो जगत्पोतो विनश्वरः॥२- २४॥
In the infinite ocean of myself, the wind of thought subsides, and the world boat of the living-being traders is wrecked by lack of goods. 2.24

baloon

गुब्बारे की तरह
भर देते हो तुम
खालीपन भीतर

और मै भी
फूल उठता हूँ
बेवजह

फूलता क्यूँ हूँ ?
फूटता क्यूँ नहीं ?

Ashtavakra Gita : Part 1 -- The Story of Ashtavakra

This is the version of the story, I had read, in a Hindi book named "Ashtavakra Gita". Book was published by "Randhir book sales, Haridwar".The translator/author of the book is/was "Nandlal dashora". It might not tally with other uploads on web.

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Legend has it that Ashtavakra argued from his mother's womb with his father. His father was teaching Veda to his pregnant wife, and the yet to be born child reportedly exclaimed, that Vedas dont contain any truth. Well even in our times we find precocious children, but this is uber-precocious...isnt it? May be child had heard Pink Floyd, who knows :-)

So the father, enraged, curses his son, to be born deformed.(father son rivalry is historic you see, fathers cant take it when it comes from sons!)

That's what the name means, Ashta(eight)+vakra(deformed/bent/curved/etc.) So the boy now, has all his eight body parts, deformed. Actually 8 here means whole body(more on that some other time).

All this happened during the reign of King Janaka. Now, Janaka calls for a conclave of all seers/brahmins/bla bla bla, to discuss, what in those times was the holy grail of human intellectual adventure. By this, I mean, asking the question, "What is Brahman". It so happened, that Ashtavakra's father also attended the gathering and defeated all but one scholar. Learning this, Ashtavakra, still a child, takes it upon himself to come to his father's rescue.(when will fathers learn, and accept that their sons are smarter than they are ;-) )

When the gathering saw the deformed child, it seems they laughed and mocked at him. Ashtavakra called all of them "Chamar". Gentlemen, the word 'chamar' was an abuse in those days too! Anyway, the young boy promptly defended, his pejorative remark by arguing that the assembly failed to notice the transcendental formless, caught as it was, in the "apparent-to-the-eye" form, which by all Adhyatmic means is Unreal :). Now isnt that justification enough for being called Chamar ? It is, or it was, in those days :).

Janaka, impressed, made him sit on his throne and took Brahmopadesha from him.

Later as many of you know, Janaka, gave upadesha to Vyasa's son Shukadeva, which is another legendary story, but some other time.

So Ashtavakra gita is that discourse, between the young-enlightened-boy Ashtavakra, and the thirsty-for-enlightenment Emperor, Janaka. Needles to say, as per the book, Janaka gets his realization, very soon i.e. in the first few slokas. Rest of the book, hence, is then about two enlightened souls pontificating on the 'Reality'.

It would sound trite, but my good friend had once pointed out that Patanjali in his YS, mentions about, "Samadhi by Aushadhi". This then means, Patanjali was the first, exponent of what we today know call LSD. :)

I will post some slokas, which i enjoyed, in the next post.

Sorry!

First of all sorry for the goof up. The quote in the last post, was not from Ashtavakra Gita. I got misled. I read the whole Ashtavakra gita to confirm it. Wikipidea is not right always! I should be more careful.

I will post something on both Ashtavakra and his gita shortly.

Flower

Finally,
the flower wilted.
Fatigue, time
showed up
on its face,
on its form.

But the flower is still a flower
in some ways,
not in some ways.

Dhrupad

Two dhrupad compositions. The reason I post less dhrupad here, is, that less dhrupad is available.:). Gundecha brothers have done, a great service by breathing life into this art form which was dying. I had posted posted some dhrupad before here.

Here are two Dhrupad compositions by Gundecha brothers.

1. Ran jeeti ram raoo aye: Having won the battle, Rama comes.
2. Namo Anjani Nandanam Vayu Putram: I bow to son of Anjani and Vayu i.e. Hanuman.

Both are beautiful. First one is resplendent, energetic. Second one has more pathos.

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Poem: Fountain Pen

Every day,
I scrape and scratch,
emptiness,
and I bleed,
like a fountain pen.

And like a fountain pen,
I get filled and refilled.
Unfulfilled.

QnA-7

Q: How to live with pain?
A: Die!

Tilak Kamod - Neer bharan kaise jaaon?

This is a famous composition in Raag 'Tilak Kamod'. This has been adapted with some instrumental arrangement(western mostly) in a recent Pakistani movie, 'Khuda ke liye'(for the sake of god). I am embedding the same. Its a nice night and beautiful song. It could have been even better had they not used some of the instruments which commence in the later part of the song. Though if you see it in the context of the movie, the instrumental arrangement is not oddly placed. Its in sync with situation and script.

The song describes, Krishna lila. A gopi is expressing her inability in going out for water, since Krishna the 'stalker' wont let her do that.:)

नीर भरन कैसे जाऊं , सखी री मोरी डगर चलत

Incidentally, I had first heard this composition in Shuba Mudgal's voice. Then one friend recommended me to watch this movie, 'kuda ke liye', seeking my opinions on the same. And then when I saw this song, a big Aha happened. I still have that mp3(Shuba Mudgal's), in case anyone of you want that, just comment on this post and I will be happy to send that to you.

Anyway song has been sung well, and the deep male voice adds a very soothing feeling to it. And tilak kamod is a good raga :)

jeevan

जीवन,
घट रहा है
घटा रहा है
कट रहा है
काट रहा है
बह रहा है
बहा रहा है

जा रहा है,
ले जा रहा है
पल पल
दूर दूर दूर
सुदूर

Abhang Tukaram- Anuraniya Thokara

Heard this early morning. Made my day. Killed me. Will translate, Insha Allah.

Bhimpalasi

This composition, 'ja ja re apne mandirwa'(जा जा रे अपने मंदिरवा) is a famed one in bhimpalasi. Almost everyone has sung it. A rendition by Ashwini Bhide used to yell from my laptop some time ago. To my utter surprise one day our geek-friend Atishay, was humming it, with all gamaks and aakaars complete :D. Apparently the song sort of caught-on with him, even though he had no particular liking for classical music. Sort of surprised me. Anyway.

Here is bhimpalai by Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Rajan Sajan and Ashwini bhide . Jasraj one, comes to you easily but Pt. Rajan Sajan will grow on you. I am embedding only Rajan-Sajan one. For Jasraj click here and for Ashwini bhide here. Ashwini has also sung it well, though my guess is most people will like the Jasraj version most.

I think its a nice and light composition.

satya

सत्य की तरह झूठलाये जा रहा हूँ मैं,
अपने अस्तित्व को |

Vichar

क्या है विचार की अंतिम गति?
दुर्गति!

Dying Man

We will call him 'dying-man'. If you ask him he is never gonna tell you that, but the truth is, that he is dying. He is not sick or old, he is fairly-fit and young but he is dying. Everyone is dying too, you can say that, but everyone is living too. For him, he has lost that connection with life. There is nothing left in the gamut of human experiences, which can evoke his interest. He is just waiting now for the, 'THE-END'.

Dying-man picked up a packet of biscuit, a packet of cheese with holes and some tea. There was a long queue at the cash counter. It was a weekend after all. This civilization had created this unique travesty of relief, weekends. May be there is some deeper human fixation with ends. May Be. Dying-man was also waiting for his end, 'The End'. But his kind of 'end' was not a means towards some end. He just wanted himself to end. Period.

He decided not to stand in the queue, he was in no hurry. Causally he studied the merchandise stocked in racks. A super market is a sensual feast. 1000 kind of things, and then 1000 types of those 1000 kind of things. Aisle after aisle he moved on. Looking at everything, yet not quite noticing it. Suddenly, he heard a giggle, shrieky enough to pull him out of his reverie. Two bright eyes were looking at him. Shining ones, rare ones. He gave those eyes a glance back, but the eyes had disappeared. He thought, he did some thing uncharacteristic
to attract this. Could be. He was other-worldly, always. Cash counter still had a long queue.

He moved on. To another aisle, to another set of products. Products products and more products, super fertility of industrial economies. Increase production, increase consumption, deck up everything up in shiny packaging, to arrest your eyes and ears. He was a dying man. Unfazed, he moved on, no commodity could create arousal in his system. His shopping basket already had, all what he needed.

He heard the giggle again, the same shining eyes were now smiling. He made an eye contact, he noticed those eyes had mischief, playfulness, innocence. The dying man smiled. Rarely did the dying-man smile, this was one such occasion. Shining eyes clapped in glee.The little one had little hands, little legs, chubby cheeks, and the frivolity which can make a dying-man smile. Dying-man gazed continuously, enchanted. The little one laughed, ran and hid himself behind his mother's legs.

The Dying-man had just felt the stroke of aliveness in his skin. The little one, peeped again, standing behind his mother's legs and then hid himself up again. For the first time now, the dying-man REALLY looked at the merchandise. He grabbed a big bar of Mars, a big bar of Bounty and Twix.

He had just met Life. Our dying-man.

26th Jan

Sound Seeing Samkhya

I dont know much about dance. I dont know much about music either but at least with music I have some familiarity. My education and interests however have often made me ponder about music and its connection with time. How do we bring our modern understanding of vibration/sound(longitudinal wave) /fourier series/vocal apparatus/human anatomy to realm of Indian classical music(ICM)?

Indian classical music(both Hindustani/Carnatic) has this unique feature of using this concept of 'taal'(rhythmic cycle?) to convey time and also timelessness. Using a circular concept, passage of time is conveyed via aavartans (आवर्तन). Using a cyclical approach, time is divided into repetitive recurring pieces. The most defining event in this repetitive-cycle is the starting point(called Sam सम) and ending point (also termed Sam and it begins another cycle). I call this the Big-bang or the Big gong when t=0.

This blog also, has wasted several CPU cycles (आवर्तन ;-)) on Time and its mythification. And of course the sense of passage of time and tense bla bla bla.

Then one day I heard Pt Birju maharaj saying, u can hear tala via tabla, mridang and pakhawaj but to see tala u need a dancer :). This made me tinker further with the idea of, "seeing the time". Music and dance have this unique capability, one can 'see' and 'hear' the "time". Of-course I am using the wider definition of time here.(I think you can fathom what I am hinting at)

Now think on these lines. All of you know very well, from the Indian perspective, sound is categorized as para-pashyanti-madhyama-vaikhiri.Para being the most subtle and vaikhiri being gross. Pashyanti is made from the root (pashya/too see), means seeing the sound. So, just before the unmanifested sound(para) the first perception of sound is pashyanti(seeing).
Now sound. The only way sound can be defined, is an auditory sensation. So the argument now becomes, that the perception of sound(hearing) first happens as pashyanti i.e. vision.

Now think of those Vedic seers, the so called mantra drastha crowd. The 'seers' of the 'sound' chaps. And ofcourse now we bring in time here. Shruti is Eternal ..Right ? Eternal means all the time. Now connect all of this to concept of taala.

In someway this all somewhat becomes absurd, since as per the thesis put forth by the tradition, hearing (sound) is a more fundamental property than seeing(light). In my own personal understanding, also I feel the same. To me, hearing does indeed happen at a zone where image making mechanism of mind is inactive. Hearing is a more subtle sense than seeing is my firm belief/experience.But the tradition it seems, calls the subtlest form of hearing, seeing(pashyanti) :) at one place but at some other place says hearing is subtlest(akasa) and seeing is grosser(agni).

Ok maybe I have not made myself clear enough. But I am sure few of you can catch the trash which I just threw. I can develop this further, connecting time to pinda(body) and brahmanda(cosmos) but some other day.

Piya milan ko jaana

Pankaj Mullick. If I write anything about this song I will only sully it.

Just listen

जग की लाज, मन की मौज, दोनों को निभाना
पिया मिलन को जाना, हां पिया मिलन को जाना

Ragini: Tu raja ki raj dulari

Now that I have been gently reprimanded by my Guruji for being too cerebral (see comments of previous post), I seek redemption in this post :)

Here is ragini, a folk-music form, from Hariyana. Most raginis are centered around events/stories and are musical descriptions of the same. This is a very fundamental, a very earthy music. Lyrics are important here, but not in the way they are in Ghazal(its HR!). This ragini describes Shiva warning Parvati of unpleasant consequences, if Parvati's imagined marital endeavors fructify. Don't forget this is 'Shiva-the-jat' of haryana, he aint gonna talk Vigyan Bhairav tantra in this land :).

Do watch the video with its beautiful visuals, and of course even more beautiful lyrics! This is not for you if you are faint hearted or under 18 (in that case you would need adult supervision).

I have also put up the lyrics which have been copied from here, the English uttar-mimansic translation is of yours truly.

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तू राजा की राज-दुलारी, मैं सिर्फ लंगोटे वाला सूं (हूँ का हरियाणवी बोल)
भांग रगड़ के पिया करूं मैं, उंडी (कटोरा) - सोटे (दंड) वाला सूं
You sport Tag Heuer and wear Estée Lauder, I a street hoodlum, who just got a mug shot
I partake controlled substances, with possessions far and few

तू राजा की छोरी सै, मेरे एक भी दासी दोस्त नहीं
शाल दुशाले ओढ़न वाली, म्हारे कम्बल तक भी पास नहीं...
You a wine glass socialite, I a lonesome antisocial
You wear cashmere, I naturist by compulsion

तू बागां की कोयल सै (है) अढे (यहाँ) बर्फ पड़े, हरी घास नहीं
किस तरयाँ (तरह) दिल लागेगा तेरा, सतरा चौ प्रकाश नहीं
In your centrally heated room u do karaoke, I a destitute
There is no glitter of Manhattan here dear, power cuts abound

किसी साहूकार के (यहाँ 'से' के अर्थ में प्रयुक्त) ब्याह करवाले, मैं खाली सोटे वाला सूं.
Marry an i-Banker lady, raise kids in east coast, I am eternally broke

मैं धूनी तपा करूँ, तू आग देख के डर जायगी,
रंग घोल के पिया करूं, मेरा राग देख के डर जायगी
My Life is not so Rosy, my Rosy, fears it has plenty
My cannabis induced ecstasy, is the stuff which horror movies are made of

सौ सौ साल पड़े रहे जल में, तू नाग देख के डर जाएगी.
तांडव नाच करे बन में, रंग राग देख के डर जायगी
O'Beauty, I am a beast, fear and trepidation my companions
My free-style vacillation is no Flamenco

तने (तुझे) जुल्फां (ज़ुल्फ़) वाला छोरा चाहिए (यानी मोडर्न),
मैं लाम्बे (लम्बे) चोटे (जटा) वाला सूं.
Prince charming, well-groomed, with chic hair-do is what u need
A ruffian with head lice is not what girly dreams are made of!

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PS1: reminds moi of a sanskrit subhashit, स्वयं पञ्चमुखः पुत्रौ गजाननषडाननौ दिगम्बरः कथं जीवेत् अन्नपूर्णा न चेद्गृहे (5 mouthed himself, sons having 6 mouths/elphant mouths, how would digambar(shiva) live, if annupurna(parvati) wasnt in his home? ;)

PS2: Ok,So what if Shiva dint expound VBT here, every HR-SRTC bus has many live Bhiarvas which can offer u shaktipat anytime ;)

PS3: Who cares about Shiva, when Krishna chose Haryana to sing Gita :) :) :)

Café-Upanishad

"Cafe Latte" he said nonchalantly. His order was fixed. Since many many years.
"Tall? Grand? Venti?" , he was demanded.
"Venti", he said. Only capitalistic abundance can make the smallest, tallest, He thought.

He searched for a corner seat. Corner is where 2 walls meet. Three also, actually. But he chose the two one. Sitting on that bean bag, he was a picture of tranquility, if only anyone noticed. Everyone was too busy. Good for him, he despised human attention.

'Stupendo, fantastico', A young couple was conversing in Italian. His favorite tongue, Italian. He could hear all languages there, you name it. The powerful arbabic, the delicate french, the chirpy spanish, the throaty danish, norwegian, everything. This place mixed, flavors, smells and languages and created a unique one of its own. You don't need to be a 'parivrajaka' anymore, this place has brought into being that possibility. This place could be called, a laboratory to investigate human thought. To see how different cultures think, to see how they think no-different. Wont you call such a place, an institution? A sacred one?

But he dint come here for that. He knew where thinking could lead,No-where. He had crossed the hurdle of thinking long back. No, No, he was also not not-thinking. Though he knew not-thinking also through and through. He knew all the turns mind can take, he knew all identifications of mind. Insanity/sanity he knew it all. Nirvikalpa/shoonyata/id/ego/super-ego/cognitive-psychology/epistemology, what have you. The whole philosophy of mind.

"Sir, your Cafe latte", he heard.
Without sugar, is what he used to prefer. He felt the warm-dark-bitter-milky fluid in his mouth. Every sip bitter than the other sip. Every sip making way for another sip. Brahman is bitter, he knew it.

Meeting

हम मिल रहे हैं
पल पल
पर
मिल नहीं पा रहे हैं

thakaan

नींद भी इसे,
मिटा पाती नही|
ये थकान,
जाती नहीं ||

Bend in the Sarayu - A soota chronicle

A bird just flew from the sacred southern shores of IN and landed in my vicinity, bringing with him two books which I had sought. I spent a good weekend, in that bird's generous hospitality, all tucked up in the bed catching up with my fast disappearing reading habit(while bird cooked and fed me and ran odd jobs for me!). It seems,I gave some trouble, to various stakeholders involved in my wish fulfillment mission(of book acquisition), but my gratitude I hope will make up for it :).

So, I read a nice travelogue book, 'Bend in the Sarayu - A Soota Chronicle'. Its an interesting tale of Authors journey, beginning in Delhi across the dusty lands of eastern UP. Author, an engineer by profession, goes on a pilgrimage of some sort to Ayodhya and Naimish. In the process are uncovered, customs of hinterland, fables from purana and (my fav.), lessons of life learnt from perceptions of those body-mind systems which are oblivious of an urbanized life full of fret-rush and push-push. Its a good peek into history/culture/mythology(very generous dose of it), of the land where Rama, a 'high impact factor character' in the Indian 'diviniscape' was born. Some chapters were set in villages and described rural life, they were so enchanting and the characters so emotive that I was totally moved. Some premchand's traits there in story-telling, perhaps!

Even as I knew most puranic stories told there, some of my impressions about North indian 'mytho-scape' were challenged, esp. when I discovered, much to my chagrin that Varaha avatar is worshiped in Eastern UP. I was under the impression that, the erstwhile puranic gods had more or less left the popular imagination of Indo Gangetic plain, as north indians today mostly worship Rama Krishna,Shiva and Durga and hanuman. Some descriptions of Bairagi(vairagi) brought to my mind descriptions of Sant Mat and Udasi Sampradayas etc.

In the puranic lore, Soota is the traditional story teller. Author pictures himself as Soota in the book. But I would say, Soota of the book willy-nilly creates a sutra, yes a sutra which he then adorns, by plucking flowers from all traditions of India(from kamban to tulasi), and creates a floral garland. That sutra is devotion. Cant help thinking of akshar-manamalai, considering, that author ends the book with Upadesa Saram. Good Read!

Since, we are at Rama, here is chaupai from RCM, that my mother used to sing to me often, its from Beauty-Kand.

प्रबिसि नगर कीजे सब काजा। हृदयँ राखि कौसलपुर राजा।
गरल सुधा रिपु करहिं मिताई। गोपद सिंधु अनल सितलाई।।
गरुड़ सुमेरु रेनू सम ताही। राम कृपा करि चितवा जाही।
अति लघु रूप धरेउ हनुमाना। पैठा नगर सुमिरि भगवाना।।

Here are some more details about the book.

Highway Lessons

It was one of those days, those kind of days, which days are normally supposed to be. Uneventful, silent, usual, though not exactly boring, boredom had left his system long long ago. He was diseased, the cause unknown but the suffering, so real. It was a dark night and through his windscreen, he could see the dark highway tar divided by the white line.

The same road can lead you to two different ends, it just depends on what side of line you are on, he said to himself. Someone draws the line and one chooses one's side. Line had taught him a lesson.

Keep to your left, he said to himself, as he was speeding away. A speeding car, on a dark night, on a high way, is such a reflective setting! He searched for a CD but stopped, he wasnt sure he needed music. One symptom of this disease was not being sure, in any case, nothing really entertained him these days(that's another symptom), so why bother.

A deep breath later, he saw the white line again. It wasn't really a white line. It was a dotted line. Or you can say a broken line. Or lots of small lines with gaps in between. He was looking mindlessly at the line. May be the motion had made him still. It happens, stillness sometimes emerges from motion. We can call it restful motion. Oxymoron..right ? He understood one thing ,may be we can use personification here, 'the line made him understand'. The line made him understand, that lots of lines can become one line, that 'lines' is 'line' when aligned. That singular is also plural sometimes.That that sometimes gaps can create continuity and vice versa, continuity can have gaps.

Suddenly the car shook, the speed breaker told him, his presence had absence(that's another symptom). He inhaled deeply, the familiar bright street light shone through his windscreen, he was home!

Irony

घट रहे हो तुम,
मेरे भीतर,
पल पल|
और घट रहा हूँ,
मैं भी शायद ||

Pencil

पेन्सिल की तरह,
तुम्हारे हाथों में|
छिल रहा हूँ,
घिस रहा हूँ,
और लिखता जा रहा हूँ ,
तुम्हारी आत्मकथा ||
यही तो है बस,
मेरे जीवन की व्यथा |

Kenu sang khelun holi

Meera bhajan,very very well sung, by Lata and extraordinary music by Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Lata-Hridaynath is such a beautiful combination. Its a pity that Hindi cinema did not have the caliber to exploit Hridaynathji properly. Reminds me of a great album Lekin, where Lata and Hridaynath have given soulful songs.

Anyway. Enjoy, solitude, melancholy, pain.

Kenu sang khelun holi, piya taj gaye hain akeli
With whom should I play holi?, beloved(the only companion!) has forsaken me.

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Jo nar dukh mein dukh nahi maane

Nice, Shabad.

Jo nar dukh mein dukh nahi maane. Sukh saneh aru bhaya nahi jaake.
A being who doesnt accept grief as grief. Pleasure, attachement, fear who has neither.

Web says its by guru teg bahadur, but the 'takhallus' says its guru nanak. Shrikant Bakreji sings it well.

Here are the lyrics.

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जो नर दुख में दुख नहिं मानै।
सुख सनेह अरु भय नहिं जाके, कंचन माटी जानै।।
नहिं निंदा नहिं अस्तुति जाके, लोभ-मोह अभिमाना।
हरष शोक तें रहै नियारो, नाहिं मान-अपमाना।।
आसा मनसा सकल त्यागि के, जग तें रहै निरासा।
काम, क्रोध जेहि परसे नाहीं, तेहि घट ब्रह्म निवासा।।
गुरु किरपा जेहि नर पै कीन्हीं, तिन्ह यह जुगुति पिछानी।
नानक लीन भयो गोबिंद सों, ज्यों पानी सों पानी।।

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Mountain

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Like many others, he too had read, he too had heard and he too had contemplated. Mountain beckoned and he arrived.He saw the mountain. Mountain was serene and the peak was inviting. His face beamed. But the inner voice said to him, "this is just another peak, after all what is there in peaks! What do you want to add to yourself by reaching summits, scaling heights ?".

The problem with inner voice is, it rarely shuts up, moreover the more you try to shut it up, the more it roars back.

This time however, he saw some sanity in inner voice. He saw a deeper meaning in it, to surrender expectations related to forthcoming moments.
After all, the sky which was above him right now,the same sky is above the peak too. Will he get any closer to it by reaching the top ?

The inner voice said, "you dont climb to see the sky, you climb to see the earth, the same earth is not the same, when seen from the top"."When you go up it changes the way you look at what is down".

A tear dropped and trickle followed.

Rudrashtak: Shivraj Shitole

I have been looking for some sweet rendition of this famous Shiva hymn by Tulasidas. The sanskrit text and trans. is already there on Stutimandal. Today I found a nice rendition of the same. Artist is Shivraj Shitole. He has sweet voice and apparently some connection with yogic tradition. Anyway, enjoy the music also sample the other number, Karpur Arti. Get back or comment on this blog if you know something more about him.

To listen click here.

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Update
here is Rudrashtak sung by Pt. Channulaal Mishra ji

थकी हुई नदी - tired river

थकी हुई नदी:

कितना नदी और बहे?
कि वो सागर से मिले?

नदी भी सोचती है कभी कभी
कि क्यों निकल पड़ी
खाने ठोकर पत्थरों की
जंगलों की

क्यों निकल पड़ी आखिर
मार्गहीन पथ पर?
थक गयी है अब नदी.

क्यों धर्म नदी का नदी को?
सागर ओर ले जाता है
सागर नहीं क्यों खुद ही बढ़कर?
निकट नदी के आता है ?

OS Arun Bhajan Shyam Shyam MM 2009

The way OS Arunji, says "shyam shyam shyam" the aakar etc. is ditto Pt. Jasraj. The anu-nasiks(nasals) also reminded me of Jasraj. Ofcourse he maintains his own creative distinctness. Interesting also is the way the audience responded, moving and shaking and clapping, he seemed to have cast a hypnotic spell on his audience. They dint seem like classic-Mylapore-wale-rasikas. This goes a long way to show how effective Arunji is.

More power to you Arunji. We love your music. Some songs that he sang are very popular in north india and my mind kept going back to Pt. Bhimsen and Lata and their renditions of the same. But Arunji has energy, and boy he is totally immersed in his music.He deserves at least Padma Bhushan.

Do watch the other parts of this performance which he gave at Margazhi'09. They have been uploaded as a playlist by the same channel.

Btw btw, I read on the web that Arunji has launched his album of Tamil-gazhal. You read it right Tam-gaz ;)
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New Year

But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

It's been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long time that I'm blown
been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

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Unmani उन्मनी Kabir

Here is a bhajan of Kabir sung by Shubha Mudgal, putting the full text for those interested. I was searching for its lyrics and parallely transcribing it ... then I realized this has been also incorporated in Gurbaani. Cool!.

I wont translate this, in the best interest of keeping somethings as they should be. There are some typos in the text ...I corrected some hastily, doesnt matter much though.

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Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

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If the embedded widget doesnt work, click here to listen.

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and here is the text

English

avadhu mera man matavaara .
unmani chadha gagan ras piivai, tribhuvan bhaya ujiyara

gudakar gyan dhyan kar mahuva, bhav bhathi kari bhara,
sushaman nadi sahaj samani, pivai pivanahara ... avadhoo

doi pur jori chinagari bhathi, chuva maharas bhari,
kam krodh doee kiya banita, chhuti gaee sansari ... avadhoo

suni mandal main mandala bajai, tahan mera man nachai,
guruprasadi amritafal paya, sahaj sushamana kachhai ... avadhoo

poora mila tabai sukh upajyo, tan kee tapan bujhani,
kahe Kabir bhavabandhan chhoote, jyoti hi jyoti samani ... avadhoo

Hindi

अवधू मेरा मन मतवारा ।
उन्मनी चढा गगन रस पीवै, त्रिभुवन भया उजियारा ... अवधू

गुडकर ज्ञान ध्यान कर महुवा, भव भाठी करी भारा,
सुषमन नाडी सहज समानी, पीवै पीवनहारा ... अवधू

दोइ पुर जोरि चिनगारी भाठी, चुवा महारस भारी,
काम क्रोध दोई किया बनीता, छुटी गई संसारी ... अवधू

सुनि मंडल मैं मंदला बाजै, तहाँ मेरा मन नाचै,
गुरुप्रसादी अमृतफल पाया, सहज सुषमना काछै ... अवधू

पूरा मिला तबै सुख उपज्यो, तन की तपन बुझानी,
कहे कबीर भवबंधन छूटे, ज्योति ही ज्योति समानी ... अवधू

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I have copied the etxt from here.

The door

He took a deep breath before knocking the door. He was aware how important this was. This could be the last moment of his usual life. Nothing perhaps will remain the same after the knock, he thought.A master stroke of destiny. A vanishing point! A conclusion. The search had led him to this and now he must. So he paused and he knocked.


Knock Knock Knock.
No response.
Knock Knock Knock.
No response.

He wondered, why? Is this not the right door? Has the search-the path-the journey led him to the wrong door? How could this be! So? what course to take? Go back ? Knock more ?

He was clear that he cant go back, he has come too far, and really, there is NO path that goes back. Then ? Then what, he thought?

His inner voice told, 'search a new path, try again'. And his inner voice spoke again, 'I am too fatigued to try again'. If the search-the path-the journey, had taught him anything it was, "there is nothing to be learnt from inner voice--- Inner voice is rubbish". But he knew, not through his inner voice (which he knew is useless), but somehow he knew, He knew that this was it. Call it intuition, call it instinct, call it revelation, he knew this was it, THE DOOR. But why then No answer ? Should he knock differently? He pondered and pondered and pondered. Should he wait more and then knock ? May be!

Total confusion, infinite fatigue and wringing anxiety took over him. He saw how diminutive in significance is human will, human understanding, human judgment. He needed help. Something. Something to pull him out of this rut. He began questioning all the life decisions which led him to this. Pale-jaded-torn, he held on to the knob of the door and he collapsed.

To be continued...

sarvana bhava: ranjani gayatri

Very very well sung. Invigorating, fast and enthralling. Infact between 2.00 to 3.00 the gamaks/control etc. are remarkable. It reminded me of MSS rendering Raghuvamsha Sudha. Even the audience, acknowledged approvingly.. CLAPS CLAPS!

Also a very good Abhang by R-G. Naryanan Sakha Mazha, kari china nivarana (Naryan my friend, resolved my worries)

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Shiv Sutra

I am not an expert of vyakaran but when I hear things like this, I get inspired to learn panini's ashtadhayayi or at least revisit laghu siddhanta kaumudi.

Legend has it that these sounds came out of Shiva's damaru which then led to formation of sanskrit varnamala(alphabet)as we know it today.The way these letters are organized, is in itself a phenomenal way of indexing. Most modern linguist acknowledge panini's genius in creating this phenomenal meta structure. Here are complete shiva sutras, that I have copied from the wiki page on SS.
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१. अ इ उ ण् |
२. ऋ ऌ क् |
३. ए ओ ङ् |
४. ऐ औ च् |
५. ह य व र ट् |
६. ल ण् |
७. ञ म ङ ण न म् |
८. झ भ ञ् |
९. घ ढ ध ष् |
१०. ज ब ग ड द श् |
११. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व् |
१२. क प य् |
१३. श ष स र् |
१४. ह ल् |
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You can read more about Shiv Sutras on the web. Here Pt. Channulal mishra is reciting them, see from 0.30 to 0.60 in the video.

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Kaun Samjhega ?

क्या हुआ है मुझे ?
कौन समझेगा इसे?
किससे कहूँ ?
पर चुप भी कैसे रहूँ ?

Gurbani: Shabad

Kaun jaane gun tere ?
Simple soothing comforting gurbaani.

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Hath Yoga Pradeepika

I had read this text as a child, that too in Hindi. I clearly remember the greenish cover of the book and my experiments with it, as soon as it had arrived by VPP. Anyway, my fascination those days was more with the first and second chapter of this book as it offered to me things which were both illogical and promising(you know what kind of promises these books offer!). I discussed them with my father, who had seemingly difficulty in trying to rationalize the irrational, esp when you are talking to your own child, who is enthusiastic about self-mutilation. :)

Anyway, here are some verses from the book. Book is by Svatamarama and find the full text here.

I have changed the translation at some places. Translation is actually very poor, though it manages to convey the essence. Sanskrit used however, is simple enough to comprehend if you can follow sanskrit. I might talk about Samkhya and connection of senses with reality some other day.

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हेतु-दवयं तु छित्तस्य वासना छ समीरणः |
तयोर्विनष्ह्ट एकस्मिन्तौ दवावपि विनश्यतः || २२ ||
There are two causes of the activities of the mind: (1) Vâsanâ (desires) and (2) the respiration (the Prâṇa). Of these, the destruction of the one is the destruction of both. 22.

मनो यत्र विलीयेत पवनस्तत्र लीयते |
पवनो लीयते यत्र मनस्तत्र विलीयते || २३ ||
where mind ceases, breath creases, where breath ceases, mind does.

लयो लय इति पराहुः कीदॄशं लय-लक्ष्हणम |
अपुनर-वासनोत्थानाल्लयो विष्हय-विस्मॄतिः || ३४ ||
Laya laya, it is said, what are the signs of laya?
Laya is forgetting of the objects of senses when the Vâsanâs (desires) do not rise into existence again.

वेद-शास्त्र-पुराणानि सामान्य-गणिका इव |
एकैव शाम्भवी मुद्रा गुप्ता कुल-वधूरिव || ३५ ||
Vedas and the Śâstras are like ordinary prostitute. Śâmhhavî Mudrâ, alone, is hidden, daughter of house.


बाह्य-छिन्ता न कर्तव्या तथैवान्तर-छिन्तनम |
सर्व-छिन्तां परित्यज्य न किंछिदपि छिन्तयेत || ५७ ||
He should be neither of his inside nor of outside world; and, leaving all thoughts, he should think of nothing.

सङ्कल्प-मात्र-कलनैव जगत्समग्रं
सङ्कल्प-मात्र-कलनैव मनो-विलासः |
सङ्कल्प-मात्र-मतिमुत्सॄज निर्विकल्पम
आश्रित्य निश्छयमवाप्नुहि राम शान्तिम || ५८ ||
The whole of this world and all the schemes of the mind are but the creations of thought. Discarding these thoughts and taking leave of all conjectures, O Râma! obtain peace. 57.

कर्पूरमनले यद्वत्सैन्धवं सलिले यथा |
तथा सन्धीयमानं छ मनस्तत्त्वे विलीयते || ५९ ||
As camphor disappears in fire, and rock salt in water, so the mind united with the âtmâ loses its identity.

Thillana: Prince Rama Varma

The energy in this thillana is amazing. Prince rama varma is , genius.(BMK composed it)
Watch it till the end.

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Nada Vindu Kaladi

Very well sung, simple light and 'easy on the ears' classical. :. Need to write something abt Arunagirinathar swami, Its a pity that I dont follow tamil!

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And here is MS Amman singing the same. I dont need to use adjectives here, do I ?

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Malladi Brothers: Bhaja Bhagavantham

Very sweet! The "maun vyakhya samudit darpam" line in this rendition reminded me of Dakshinamurti strotam. Especially a verse from Dakshinamurti strotam, where Dakshinamurti Shiva is expounding Vedanta to Rishis.


"Chitram vata tarur moole
Vridhha shishya gurur yuvaa
Grusutu maunam vyakhyaanam
Shishyastu chinna samshaya"

The scene: under the vata treee, a young guru and aged disciples are sitting.
Guru is elucidating through silence, dispelling doubts of disciples.

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Song / NFAK

Kaivalya Navaneeta: The Cream of Emancipation

Written by Tandavaraya Swami, this is a famous work in Tamil. Thanks Nari for transcribing it :).

Here are some snippets. Some lines have been emboldened by me.

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--> The perfect enjoyer is he who partakes of anything that comes his way without discriminating, whether it be tasty or not, clean or unclean, healthy or unhealthy like a blazing fire consuming all that lies in its way.

--> Brahman is not an object of the senses nor of inference, and there is no second to it. It is beyond direct perception, inference or analogy. Also know that being free from attributes it cannot be expressed by words.

--> Q: When I dissociate myself from the five senses and look beyond there remains only a blank. I see nothing more than that.Am I to take this blank as the supreme experience of the self?

A: In the anecdote of the tenth man of deluded intellect, after counting only nine men and not recognizing himself as the tenth, was stupefied. Can such stupor be the tenth man! Good son! you are the seer of all.. The blank and the five sheaths!

--> Q: There cannot be any kind of experience in the absence of mind. if the mind persists how can they said to be liberated ?

A: The annihilation of mind is of two types namely of the mind patterns and of the mind itself..the former applies to liberated sages while the life the later to disemobdied sages. elimination of rajas and tamas leaving satva alone is the dissolution of the patterns of the mind. when the satva vanishes with the subtle body the mind itself is also said to have vanished too... In such a state the sage will partake of what comes unsolicited.... not thinking past or future, getting over their doership witnessing the mental modes and the three states, they can remain liberated.

If you always remain aware that 'I' am perfect Consciousness, what does it matter how much you think, or what you do? All this is unreal like dream visions after waking. I am all-Bliss!

janaki vallabh shastri - poem

Read this poem by janaki vallabh shastri titled Mauj.

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मौज

सब अपनी-अपनी कहते हैं!

     कोई न किसी की सुनता है,
     नाहक कोई सिर धुनता है,
     दिल बहलाने को चल फिर कर,

फिर सब अपने में रहते हैं!

     सबके सिर पर है भार प्रचुर
     सब का हारा बेचारा उर,
     सब ऊपर ही ऊपर हँसते,

भीतर दुर्भर दुख सहते हैं!

     ध्रुव लक्ष्य किसी को है न मिला,
     सबके पथ में है शिला, शिला,
     ले जाती जिधर बहा धारा,

सब उसी ओर चुप बहते हैं।
सब अपनी-अपनी कहते हैं!

Janani Janani Jagam Nee Jagam Nee

Was searching youtube for some grave/serious kind of music, somewhat Shree Raga like and found this. Almost shocked me too, to see that he opens with Saundarya Lahiri's verses. Bhayyia had asked me to translate the same for stutimandal, few days ago... but everyone knows I live in perpetual postponement.

Cant think of anything now except ..reading and commenting on Saundarya Lahiri!
My deep thanks to all those people who are involved in creating such things and also to youtube up-loaders.

Anyway Saundaryalhiri reading is warranted now !

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Brilliant

Kahe Maan Karo: Jasraj
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Aaj sakhi anand ni heli

This is a beautiful gujrati bhajan. I dont know the composer etc. Will translate it perhaps.Undermentioned are the lyrics and youtube link. Lyrics have been copied from here.

---LYRICS---
Aaj Sakhi Anand-Ni Helli, Hari Mukh Joine Hu Thaai Chhu Gheli……
Maare Munina Dhyaan-Ma Naave, Tere Shaamarriyoji Mujne Bolaave…..1
Je Sukhne Bhav Brahma Re Irchhe, Te Re Shaamarriyoji Mujne Re Prichhe…..2
Na Gai Ganga Godaavari Kaashi, Gher Bethhaa Malyaa Akshaarvasi…..3
Tap Re Tirth-Ma Hun Kayi Navjanuh, Saheje Saheje Huto Sukhddaa Re Maanu…..4
Jeraam Kahe Swami Saheje Re Maalya, Vaat-Ni Vaate-Vaalo Adharrak Dhariyaa…..5
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if the embedded link doesnt work try here

LS or VS

Strange surprises in life happen.

Today after a lot of time I decided to have some Indian food. The love of sambhar and related stuff suddenly made me take a metro ride. Now in the metro, for no particular reason, I started humming Vishnu Sahasranaam, nothing devotional about it ,just usual humming. I have always had this tussle with bhayyia, on Vishnu and Lalita sahasranaams, bhayyia always maintaining LS is beautiful and me always rooting for VS. I suddenly thought of bhayyia & LS , but kept on with VS.

And lo and behold, the moment I entered the restaurant, they started playing LS! Now which restaurant in this part of world, would want playing LS! Quite a strange thing to start your meal with, "shri mata shri maha..." and end it with, "mooladharaik nilaya brahmagranthi vibhedini".

Ha Ha.

Should translate LS with my comments. Someday perhaps :-)

QnA-6

Q: How does this happen ? Suddenly or gradually ?
A: It does not happen.

Q: Now Now dont disappoint me!
A: Truth is Truth. There is no room here for disappointment or encouragement.

Q: Tell me Tell me
A: See. The idea that it is a journey where you incrementally add experiences which take you to a destination is false. The idea that there is a destination is also false.

Q: This is another word play. What about my *belief*
A: You can believe anything you want.

Q: No! No! No! No! This is an experience, continuous, its not just another belief, please !
A: Ok. YOU CAN BELIEVE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Q: Hmm.. So ?
A: So, what do u want ?

Q: I am not so clear now. What should I want, you tell me ? I dont want anything now.
A: Live then just live, it will be clear.

Avadhuta Gita

Some snippets from this great text.

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9. The mind indeed is of the from of space. The mind indeed is omnifaced. The mind is the past. The mind is all. But in reality there is no mind.

23. If it is of the nature of the not-Self, how can there be samadhi (superconscious realization)? If it is of the nature of the Self, how can there be samadhi? If it is both "is" and "is not", how can there be samadhi? If all is one and of the nature of freedom, how can there be samadhi?

26. As the self is filled by the Self, so is all filled continously by you. There is no meditator or meditation. Why does your mind meditate shamelessly?

27. I do not know the Supreme; how shall I speak of Him? I do not know the Supreme; how shall I worship Him? If I am the supreme One, who is the highest Truth, who is homogeneous Being and like unto space, how then shall I speak of Him and worship Him?

58. There is no need of knowledge, reasoning, time, space, instruction from a teacher, or attainment of samadhi. I am naturally the perfect Consciousness, the Real, like the sky, spontaneous and steady.
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Sita Kalyana Vaibhogame

Prince Rama varma, of whom I am a big fan, sang an excerpt of this while explaining Shankarabharanam raga. This got me hooked on to this Thyagaraja kritti. Sometimes when you hear these compositions, you feel, that there is no other composer worth listening to(other than thyagayya). I saw all the uploaded versions of this on youtube and liked all :).

Somehow it sounds best when sung in chorus. I am putting two versions here... two chorus versions.

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TN bala's version
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Prince Rama and his students
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there are also good renditions by BMK and Maharajpuram Santhanam on youtube.

Two bhajans

I have a deep relationship with these two bhajans. Few years ago in college these would play, over and over again and give me the kind of inner-ecstasy for which finding words is impossible. The technical part of the composition aside, I think they have been sung from some deep inner space for which 'sacred' is the only term that comes to my mind.

These are not meant for casual listening. You can enjoy them when u listen to them in a relaxed state. Singers are Ashwini Bhide and Kishori Amonkar both renowned artists.

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Kabir yet again

kabir again

मन मस्त हुआ तब क्यों बोलै।
हीरा पायो गाँठ गँठियायो, बार-बार वाको क्यों खोलै।
हलकी थी तब चढी तराजू, पूरी भई तब क्यों तोलै।
सुरत कलाली भई मतवाली, मधवा पी गई बिन तोले।
हंसा पायो मानसरोवर, ताल तलैया क्यों डोलै।
तेरा साहब है घर माँहीं बाहर नैना क्यों खोलै।
कहै 'कबीर सुनो भई साधो, साहब मिल गए तिल ओलै॥

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कबिरा प्याला प्रेम का, अंतर लिया लगाय।
रोम रोम में रमि रहा, और अमल क्या खाय॥

गगन गरजि बरसे अमी, बादल गहिर गँभीर।
चहुँ दिसि दमकै दामिनी, भीजै दास कबीर॥

सिर राखे सिर जात है, सिर काटे सिर होय।
जैसे बाती दीप की, कटि उजियारा होय॥

Ustad Tari Khan

Apparently, Ustad tari khan is a tabla player from Pakistan. Might be singing 'shaukia', much like Rais khan, Sultan Khan etc.(I have to put that gazal by Rais Khan someday on this blog). I dont know many artists across the border anyway. I was searching for 'famed' hansadhwani rendition by Ustad Amir khan and landed on this thanks to utube recommendation engine.

The opening is just heavenly, the first 40 seconds are very very sweet but suddenly, it becomes a usual song though still bearable. But the opening is magical!

Baro Krishaiyya

Priya sisters have sung this well, but I am somehow looking for more soul stirring rendition.

Kapi raagam: Saketharaman

Very famous composition by Pappan Sivam. I would say very delicately sung. I think Kapi is one of my fav ragas these days :). Saketharaman is v.good.

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If the mebdded link doesnt work try here

Dushyant Kumar Poem

One of my fav. poets in Hindi is Dushyant kumar. I recall those days 6-7 years ago, when hindi sites were far and few and more so Hindi poetry sites. I used to ransack the web for poems by Dushyant Kumar. Now of course, there is plenty of stuff all over the web in most Indian languages.

Here is a beautiful short poem by Dushyant Kumar.

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धर्म - दुष्यंत कुमार

तेज़ी से एक दर्द
मन में जागा
मैंने पी लिया,

छोटी सी एक ख़ुशी
अधरों में आई
मैंने उसको फैला दिया,

मुझको सन्तोष हुआ
और लगा –
हर छोटे को
बड़ा करना धर्म है ।

Muktika Upanishad

In a little hurry now. Will post on this upanishad in detail some other day. To summarize in a few words, it would suffice to say, that this upanishad tells you, how "Rama teaches". We have seen Rama the student in Yoga Vashishta. To know how Rama the teacher is, read Muktika upanishad.

The discourse is given to Haumana, upon his enquiry, soon after Rama has woken up from his Samadhi. I am only copying some bits and pieces.

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Hanuman: O Rama, you are the supreme being, of the nature of Sat, Chid and Ananda. I desire to know your nature truly for liberation. Please tell me how I can be released from bondage without strain ?

Rama: Well asked. I shall tell you. I am well established in Vedanta.

.... .....

Hanuman asked Ramachandra: What is this Jivanmukti, Videha-mukti ? What is the authority, means of success and purpose ?

Rama said: For a person there is bondage from doer-ship, enjoyer-ship, pleasure, pain etc., -- their prevention is liberation in the body. Videha-mukti (liberation without the body) is from the destruction of Prarabdha (operative) karma, like the space in a pot released from the conditioning (enclosing) pot.

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The destruction of impressions, cultivation of knowledge and destruction of the mind, when practised together for long will yield fruit. If not practised together, there will be no success even after hundreds of years, like mantras which are scattered. When these three are practised long, the knots of the heart surely are broken , like lotus fibre and the stalk
.....

The wise know that the mind is bound by the impressions, it is liberated when released well from them. So, O Hanuman, practice the destruction of mental impression, quickly. When impressions die out, the mind becomes put out like a lamp. Whoever gives up impressions and concentrates on Me without strain, he becomes Bliss.
.....

The restful state is like the roasted seed, giving up the (sprout of) rebirth. Can the inner light be sought with chewing the cud of many Shastras, uselessly ? One who remains alone giving up perception as well as non-perception is himself the Brahman – A person cannot know Brahman by merely learning the four Vedas and Shastras, as the ladle cannot taste the food.
.....

Bondage is by impressions, Moksha is their destruction – you give them up as well as the desire for Moksha.

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I have copied this from here.

Sriram Parasuram

An engineer/manager took to music and managed to create fine music with his wife. Kanha re nanda nandan is very well sung, its a famous bandish in Kedar. I think Sriram is more talented and should sing independently.

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this another good one I cant seem to figure out raga though.

Pt. Ramesh Narayan

It is not often that, when you hail you hail from Kerela, grow up in a family of carnatic musicians, you end up singing haweli style mewati gharana. Whats even more rare is the mastery Pt. Ramesh Naryanji has. The moment he opened with that sloka, I could see touches of Jasraj(I would say Jasraj being bettered).

I think Pt. Jasraj will be known in future as much as by his singing as by the great disciples he has given us, Sanjeev Abhayankar and Pt. Ramesh Narayan. I will upload more of his stuff as and when I like it.

To enjoy this you require attention and video has 3 parts, I am uploading just the first one, find the rest :)

ghunghat ke pat khol - Kabir

घूँघट के पट खोल रे तोहे पिया मिलेंगे
घट-घट में तोरे साईं बसत ह
कठू बचन मत बोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे
घूँघट के पट खोल रे

धन-जोबन का गर्ब न कीजे, झूठा इनका मोल रे
तोहे पिया मिलेंगे

जा के जतन से रंग-महल मे, पिया पायो अनमोल रे
घूँघट के पट खोल रे

सूने मन्दिर दिया जला के
आसन से मत डोल रे
तोहे पिया मिलेंगे

vasudhaiv kutumbakam

I wasnt aware thats its a complete subhashit. Very beautiful.


I have copied this from this Blog

A conversation on life

I was interacting with my friend Parth, a man of many talents. The conversation after the nicities drifted to modern civilization and its ills. How unsustainable this human civilization is and how we are mindlessly ruining this planet. My nihilist tendencies got the better of me. I told him, all this is the fear of death, and is in turn the fear of life itself. Life exists and survives on threat. The whole pysco response is threat based. All this talk of planet being under threat, is nothing but the personal fear of individual extinction projected on the world. After all if there is LIFE beyond the personal life, it will continue to take newer forms. May be there will be no humans, but cockroaches will create the next heaven here. So the very fear of extinction i.e. the fear of crumbling of human structure is the very life force itself. In reality life grows and survives on death. The more you live the more you die. I said.

To which Parth quipped, "cancer is nothing but a failure to die". Some great thought there.

So! Life is self destructive, cancer(growth) is self destructive. After all form has to dissolve in emptiness some day.Did all zen stories not say that? Reminds me of Richard Bach and his punch line in the famous novel Illusions: The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly