SAINT NAMDEV, 1270 – 1350:- ( Marathi Poet )

“Sant Namdeva (1270 A.D. – 1350 A.D.) was one of the most outstanding saints from Maharashtra. He devoted his life for the emancipation of the downtrodden and stood for high ideals of universal brotherhood in the true tradition of Hindu thoughts. He was a saint poet who in his teachings placed a special emphasis upon the purity of heart, humility, self surrenders, forgiveness and the love of God.

*
The thundering resonance of the Word
has liberated me while living;
Such is the service, O Lord,
rendered by Thy minister, the Saint.
How can I ever repay Thee, O my Benefactor?
Thou art my mother, Thou art my father,
Thou art my munificent Lord.
Thou hast blessed me with Thy overflowing
love within.
Through Thee have I experienced the glory
of freedom.

**
Thou art the Creator, Thou alone art my friend;
Thou, O Lord, art all-pervading.
True meditation revealeth Thee
in all Thy perfection;
And the snares of illusion
are rendered ineffective.
Vast and vicious is this mesh of illusion,
Whose intricate tentacles suck one dry.
Sing with all thy heart, the Name of the Lord;
It costs thee nothing, O Nama,
to repeat His Name. *

***
The Saints are an Ocean of Mercy, says Namdeva,
and they bestow upon us Knowledge, Devotion, and Love

He alone is a Saint, says Namdeva,
who is able to show God.
How fortunate am I,
that I have been able to see Him
in the company of such Saints.

Without the favor of these Saints,
the secret of spiritual life does not reach us.
The Names of God are various;
but unless the Saints confer favor upon us,
we shall not know how to meditate on the Name of God.

**

He is the One in many,
Themes
Heart
Water

****
He is the One in many,
countless are His shapes and forms.
He pervades all that exists;
wherever I look, He is there.
But very few perceive this reality,
for Maya ever enchants us
with her multiple reflections
of color and alluring beauty.

Everything is Gobind,
Gobind is everything.
Nothing that exists
is without Gobind:
the one thread strings
innumberable beads —
Prabhu Himself is the thread,
the threader, the threaded.

River and waves,
foam and bubbles
have all their being
within water itself.
This play of things
is the sport of Parbhama.
The One cannot be thought
different from the other.

Hope is a lie
and desire a mere dream —
yet both are construed
as actual reality.
But when my guru
gave me his holy wisdom,
I awoke from my dream
and my heart yielded.

Namdeva says,
Behold Hari’s creation;
ponder upon it
with all your heart,
and you will see
that in every pore,
in every living thing,
there is only the one Murari.

*****

The drum with no drumhead beats;
clouds thunder without the monsoon;
rain falls without clouds.
Can anyone guess this riddle?

I have met Ram the beautiful,
and I too have become beautiful.

The philosopher’s stone turns lead into gold;
costly rubies I string with my words and thoughts.
I discovered real love; doubts, fears have left me.
I found comfort in what my guru taught me.

A pitcher will fill when plunged in water,
so Ram is the One in all.
The guru’s heart and the disciple’s heart are one.
Thus has the slave Namdeva perceived Truth.

Translated by Nirmal Dass