Devotional Songs & Poems

Devotional Poems of Mirabai

from The Devotional Poems of Mirabai (c.16th century)
by A.J. Alston, 1980

146
Here are the clouds of the rainy season,
The rainy season so dear to my heart.
My heart overflows with delight
This rainy season
As I have heard Hari will come
Thick and threatening clouds have collected,
The lightning brings with it steady rain.
Now the lightning is accompanied by light drops
And a delighful cool breeze.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara
This is the time for auspicious hymns.

150
The Beloved has come to my house
After many an age of expectation,
The abandoned one has found her Lover
I am offering Him jewels as a present
And performing the Arti in His honor
The Beloved is compassionate
And sent me a message.
My darkling Beloved has come,
Every limb in my body throbs with joy
My love is for that ocean of love, Hari
His love has entrapped my eyes.
Saya Mira: His joy is abundant,
I have enthroned Him on my brow

158
You cannot call this true devotion,
To bathe one’s forehead and apply the tilak
Without cleansing the impurities of the heart.
The butcher of anger remains within me,
How can I hope to meet Gopal?
The greedy senses are like a cat,
And I keep on giving them food.
Weakened by hunger for sense objects
I do not take the Name of God,
I worship not God but myself
And glow with ecstasy. Now that I have built up
This towering rock of pride,
Where can the water of true wisdom collect?
You cannot deceive Him who knows
The inmost recesses of your soul.
The Name of Hari does not enter my heart,
Though I tell with my lips
The beads of my bejeweled rosary.
Learn to love the compassionate Lord,
Give up faith in the world.
Mira is the slave of the courtly Giridhara,
She has adopted the path of simple detachment.

159
How can one come to meet the Lord?
For fifteen hours one is busy,
And the remaining nine one sleeps.
Having received the priceless gift of human birth,
We remain asleep and it is wasted.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara
She says: What is to be must be,
Worship the Lord.

160
O, my companion, the sight of Brindavan
Has become very clear to me.
In every house the Lord is worshipped
By the offering of Tulsi-leaves,
And they enjoy the sight of the Lord with reverence
The pure water of the Yamuna flows,
And their sole nourishment is milk and curds.
The Lord sits on a gem-studded throne,
Wearing a crown of tulsi leaves
O Shyam, I walked from bower to bower,
Listening to the sounds of Thy flute.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara,
She says, “Without worship of the Lord,
Man is a feeble creature”

191
Do not mention the name of love,
O my simple-minded companion.
Strange is the path when you offer your love.
Your body is crushed at the first step.
If you want to offer love
Be prepared to cut off your head and sit on it.
Be like the moth,
Which circles the lamp and offers its body
Be like the deer, which, on hearing the horn,
Offers its head to the hunter.
Be like the partridge, which swallows burning coals
In love of the moon.
Be like the fish, which yields its life
When separated from the sea.
Be like the bee,
Entrapped in the closing petals of the lotus.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara
She says: Offer your mind
To those lotus feet

192
Only he knows the bitterness of love
Who has deeply felt its pangs.
When you are in trouble
No one comes near you:
When fortune smiles,
All come to share the joy
Love shows no external wound,
But the pain pervades every pore.
Devotee Mira offers her body
As a sacrifice to Giridhara for ever.

193
Go to that impenetrable place
That Death himself trembles to look upon
There plays the fountain of love
With swans sporting on its waters
There the company of Holy (beings) is available
And one may talk of spiritual knowledge,
There one can meditate on Shyam
And purify one’s mind.
There one may bind on
The anklets of good-conduct.
There one may adopt a headpiece of gold
And the sixteen kinds of adornment
Let there be love for Shyam
And indifference to all else.

194
That dark dweller in Braj
Is my only refuge.
O my companion,
Worldly comfort is an illusion,
As soon as you get it, it goes.
I have chosen the indestructible for my refuge.
Him whom the snake of death
Will not devour.
My beloved dwells in my heart.
I have actually seen that Abode of Joy.
Mira’s Lord is Hari, the Indestructible.
My Lord, I have taken refuge with thee,
Thy slave.

195
O My Mind,
Worship the Lotus Feet of the Indestructible One!
Whatever thou seest twixt earth and sky will perish.
Why undertake fasts and pilgrimages?
Why engage in philosophical discussions?
Why commit suicide in Banaras?
Take no pride in the body,
It will soon be mingling with the dust.
This life is like the sporting of sparrows,
It will end with the onset of night.
Why don the ochre robe
And leave home as a sannyasi?
Those who adopt the external garb of a Yogi,
But do not penetrate to the secret,
Are caught again and again in the net of rebirth.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara.
Deign to sever, O Master,
All the knots in her heart.

197
Life in the world is short
Why shoulder an unnecessary load
Of worldly relationships?
Thy parents gave birth to thee in this world,
But the Lord ordained thy fate.
Life passes in getting and spending,
No merit is earned by virtuous deeds.
I will sing the praises of Hari
In the company of holy (beings),
Nothing else concerns me.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara,
She says: Only by Thy power
Have I crossed to the further shore.

198
Do not forget thy duty to serve,
O servant.
Thy joys are of short duration,
Like the blossoms on the pomegranate.
You came here for the sake of profit,
But forgot your capital
And threw it away.
Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara.
She says: In this world you must practice detachment.

200
O my mind,
I repeat continually the Name of Shyam.
O ye living creatures,
Through repeating the Name of Shyam
I have absolved a million sins.
The Name of Shyam has destroyed
Ancient sins of many a former birth.
It is a draft of nectar
In a golden cup,
Who could refuse to drink it?
Mira’s Lord is Hari, the Indestructible.
She is dissolved in Shyam.
Body and mind.

201
My love for Shyam has set in,
And my eyes have known
The joy of His sight.
O my companion,
I arrayed myself in full adornment,
And the Beloved came running to meet me.
I have chosen no miserable bridegroom,
Who will die at each rebirth.
O my companion,
I have chosen Shyam for my bridegroom
Who will be my crest-jewel immortal.
Krishna has requited my love,
That has lasted from birth to birth.
Mira says, O Hari! O Indestructible One!
When will you come to my side?

Bhaktivinoda Thakura: from Saranagati (c.1893)

Siddhi Lalasa : Hankering for Spiritual Perfection

dekhite dekhite, bhulibo va kabe
nija-sthula-paricoya
nayane heribo, braja-pura-sobha,
nitya cid-ananda-moya

brsabhanu-pure, janama loibo
yavate vivaha ha’be
braja-gopi-bhava, hoibe swabhave
ano-bhava na rohibe

nija-siddha-deha, nija-siddha-nama
nija-rupa-swa-vasana
radha-krpa-bale, lobhibo va kabe
krsna-prema-prakarana

jamuna-salila aharane giya,
bujhibo yugala-rasa
prema-mugdha ho’ye, pagalini-praya
gaibno radhara yasa

1) When, in a flash, will I forget my gross bodily identity? I will behold the exquisite beauty of the realm of Vraja, full of eternal bliss.
2) I shall have my birth in the town of King Vrsabhanu, and eventually be married nearby in Yavat-gram. My sole disposition and character shall be that of a cowherd girl, and I shall know no other mood.
3) When will I obtain, by the power of Radha’s mercy, my own eternal spiritual body, my own realized name, my own form, my own dress? And when, by Her mercy, will I receive initiation into the techniques of expressing divine love for Krsna?
4) As I go draw water from the Yamuna, I shall cherish knowing the confidential mellows that unite the divine pair Radha and Krsna. Being enchanted by sublime love, I will sing Sri Radha’s glories just like a madwoman.

(3)

brsabhanu-suta carana sevane
hoibo ye palya-dasi
sri radhara sukha, satata sadhane
rohibo ami prayasi

sriradhara sukhe, krsnera ye sukha
janibo manete ami
radha-pada chadi sri-krsna-sangame
kabhu na hoibo kami

sakhi-gana mama, parama-suhrt
yugala-premera guru
tad-anuga ho’ye, sevibo radhara,
carana-kalapa-taru

radha-paksa chadi, ye-jana se jana
ye bhave se bhave thake
ami to’ radhika paksa-pati sada,
kabhu nahi heri ta ke

For serving the lotus feet of the daughter of Vrsabhanu, I shall become a protected maidservant of one of the gopis in Vraja.
I will always strive to bring about the pleasure of Sri Radha.
2) Within my heart I know that Radha’s pleasure is Krsna’s only source of joy. Therefore I never to desire to abandon Her lotus feet for enjoying His exclusive company.
3) The sakhis are my best friends and teachers concerning the love uniting Radha with Krsna. By following their example, I shall serve Radha’s lotus feet, which are like wish-fulfilling trees.
4) I myself am always partial to Radhika’s camp and therefore never look upon those who have abandoned Radha’s entourage, whoever they may be and whatever their ways.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur from Gitavali, ‘Sri Radhastaka’ (c.1893)
Parisista
(supplementary poem)

1) bhojana-lalase, rasane amar,
sunoha vidhana mor
sri-nama-yugala- raga-sudha-rasa
khaiya thakoha bhor
2) nava sundar piyusa radhika-nam
ati-mista manohar tarpana-dham
3) krsna-nam madhuradbhuta gadha dugdhe
ativa jatane koro misrita lubdhe
4) surabhi raga hima ramya tanhi ani
aharaha pan koroha sukha jani
5) nahi rabe rasane prakrta pipasa
adbhuta rasa tuwa puraobo asa
6) dasa- raghunatha-pade bhaktivinod
jaco-i radha-krsna-nama pramod

1) O my tongue, you who are overwhelmed with the desire for tasting material enjoyment, please hear my instructions. Always remain deeply absorbed in drinking the nectarean loving mellows of the beautiful names of the divine couple Radha and Krsna.
2) The name of Radhika is ever fresh and lovely, and is pure ambrosia. It is very sweet, utterly enchanting and is the abode of complete satifaction.
3) With great care, you should eagerly blend this ambrosial name of Radha with the wonderful sweet condensed milk of the name of Krsna.
4) Now add into that mixture the sweet fragrance of loving affection, which is both cool and delightful. Drink this nectar day and night, and you will know what true happiness is.
5) No longer will there remain on the tongue a thirst for mundane tastes, for these wonderful transcendental mellows will fulfill all of your desires.
6) At the lotus feet of Raghunatha dasa Goswami, Bhaktivinoda begs for ecstatic rapture in hearing and chanting the divine names of Radha and Krsna