Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye….
Good Morning Friends,
I have been giving you these poems since the First of June 2018.
From 4th Jan 19, I started doing something different. In addition to my own inspirational poems everyday, I started giving you, on every Friday, a song or poem that has inspired me. Today is the fifth and it is a hymn in Gujarati that was made very popular by Mahatma Gandhi since he took it as his favourite hymn: ‘Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye…. ‘.
Lately, the Indian Navy’s Symphonic Orchestra has been delighting us with the rendition of this hymn and I get goose pimples listening to it. It has been my favourite too for a long time.
To know more about the hymn, please access ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions – Song #21’.
This bhajan was penned in the 15th century by Narsinh Mehta or Narsi Bhagat in Gujarati. The bhajan brings out how a Vaishnav Jan (Vishnu’s follower) must tailor his/her life. It was sung by Amirbai Karnataki, popularly known as Kannada Kokila.
Before I give you the hymn, here is my small introduction:
If never have we felt anyone else’s pain,
Our life has been completely in vain.
The Maker of everyone is the same God,
Whose Creation all of us applaud,
How can to our own aloof we can remain?
And here is the hymn and its translation:
ષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહિયે
જે પીડ પરાયી જાણે રે
પર દુ:ખે ઉપકાર કરે તો યે
મન અભિમાન ન આણે રે. ॥ધૃ॥
वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये
जे पीड परायी जाणे रे ।
पर दुःखे उपकार करे तो ये
मन अभिमान न आणे रे ॥
vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye
je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re,
para duḥkhe upakāra kare to ye
mana abhimāna na āṇe re
Call those people Vaishnavas who
Feel the pain of others,
Help those who are in misery,
But never let self-conceit enter their mind.
સકળ લોકમાં સહુને વંદે,
નિંદા ન કરે કેની રે
વાચ કાછ મન નિશ્છળ રાખે
ધન ધન જનની તેની રે. ॥૧॥
सकळ लोकमां सहुने वंदे,
निंदा न करे केनी रे ।
वाच काछ मन निश्चळ राखे,
धन धन जननी तेनी रे ॥
sakaḷa loka māṁ sahune vande,
nindā na kare kenī re,
vāca kācha mana niścala rākhe,
dhana dhana jananī tenī re
They respect the entire world,
Do not disparage anyone,
Keep their words, actions and thoughts pure,
The mother of such a soul is blessed.
સમદૃષ્ટિ ને તૃષ્ણા ત્યાગી
પરસ્ત્રી જેને માત રે
જિહ્વા થકી અસત્ય ન બોલે
પરધન નવ ઝાલે હાથ રે. ॥૨॥
समदृष्टि ने तृष्णा त्यागी,
परस्त्री जेने मात रे ।
जिह्वा थकी असत्य न बोले,
परधन नव झाले हाथ रे ॥
sama-dṛṣṭi ne tṛṣṇā tyāgī,
para-strī jene māta re,
jihvā thakī asatya na bole,
para-dhana nava jhāle hātha re
They see all equally, renounce craving,
Respect other women as their own mother,
Their tongue never utters false words,
Their hands never touch the wealth of others.
મોહ માયા વ્યાપે નહિ જેને,
દૃઢ વૈરાગ્ય જેના મનમાં રે
રામ નામ શુ તાળી રે લાગી
સકળ તીરથ તેના તનમાં રે. ॥૩॥
मोह माया व्यापे नहि जेने,
दृढ़ वैराग्य जेना मनमां रे ।
रामनाम शुं ताळी रे लागी,
सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमां रे ॥
moha māyā vyāpe nahi jene,
dṛḍha-vairāgya jenā manamāṁ re,
rāma-nāma śuṁ tāḷī re lāgī,
sakaḷa tīratha tenā tanamāṁ re
They do not succumb to worldly attachments,
They are firmly detached from the mundane,
They are enticed by the name of God (Rama),
All places of pilgrimage are embodied in them.
વણ લોભી ને કપટ રહિત છે,
કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યાં રે
ભણે નરસૈયો તેનું દર્શન કરતાં
કુળ એકોતેર તાર્યાં રે. ॥૪॥
वणलोभी ने कपटरहित छे,
काम क्रोध निवार्या रे ।
भणे नरसैयॊ तेनुं दरसन करतां,
कुळ एकोतेर तार्या रे ॥
vaṇa-lobhī ne kapaṭa-rahita che,
kāma krodha nivāryā re,
bhaṇe narasaiyo tenuṁ darasana karatāṁ,
kuḷa ekotera tāryā re
They have forsaken greed and deceit,
They stay afar from lust and anger,
Narsi says: I’d be grateful to meet such a soul,
Whose virtue liberates their entire lineage.
….jo peed parayi jaane re.
