Upstream

(330)  Amara hiyay bhul kare hay

Alas, my heart strays...
Lord, You came this day,
Covering the earth with glamorous display,
Causing everyone to sing and dance.

I light a candle beneath Your altar;
For You I pour out all life's nectar.
Your divine light, Your divine light,
Has brightened my entire existence.

My mental Jamuna^[1] flows upstream,
The current of all my thoughts in but one drift.
Your divine wave, Your divine wave,
Has engulfed my entire consciousness.

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Melody from afar

(329)  Ajike dakle more durera sure

Today, You summoned me with a melody from afar;
Please tell me why.
My mind won't stay still, it heeds no hindrance;
I don't see why.

My flowers' closed petals, tethered by the mind,
Remained in a tiny garden.
With the impact of Your melody, alas, now they
Are afloat without a shore.
Bumblebees hum Your divine song,
Whispering that instigation.

With Your song, upward the sunflowers,
They are gazing.
The jasmines^[1] sway; and, lying in the dust,
They decorate Your path.
Excited by Your tune, the birds,
They convey that sensation around the world.

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Fetching smile, affectionate eyes

(328)  Tomar madhur hasi niye eseche

Your fetching smile has brought
All of Creation close to Thee.

A heart beating, an age changing—
You've imbued everything with sweetness.
You come in cadence and dance, rhythm and undulation;
On every memory^[1] You have poured ambrosia.

Come, Lord, in the ecstasy of Krsna's^[2] assembly;
Your affectionate eyes have filled us with life.

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Mission and submission

(327)  Saomya shanta cetanananda

Enlightened Bliss, Tranquil Majesty,
Reveal to me Your lotus feet.
You are hope for the gloomy, love for the woeful,
Life's last refuge for the vulnerable.

From start to finish, You are ubiquitous,
The affectionate undercurrent that sweetens.
From left to right, above and below,
Every direction brims with Your compassion.
Everyone's most beloved, everyone's most respected,
You can never be grasped by erudition or intellect.

My limitation, the boundaries innate to being born,
Beyond that limitation, I cannot think one bit.
Beyond that limitation, You are endless and original;
On contemplating You, in You I get diffused.
The casket of my mind, like the stamen of screwpine,^[1]
Rushes toward You, bearing all alongside.

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Divine revolution

(326)  Tumi nityashuddha paramaradhya

You, the ever-pure and supremely reverend,
You've brought a tidal wave in the sea of light.
You've filled the world with color and form,
And animated it with new life.

With Your touch the universe has awakened;
You arouse all-round exuberance.
With Your cheer the cosmos becomes jubilant;
You delight everyone with effulgence.
You are one, but You've come in countless modes
To bestow life in countless flows.

You have kept the blue sky alight
With myriad hues and abundant stars.
You've appeared before disconsolate lives
Arrayed as everybody's Polaris.
You are one, but You've come in many incarnations
To perform for all the muktisnán.^[1]

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To Thee we sing

(325)  Sakal manete sthan kariyacho

You've made Your abode in every mind;
Your seat is in every home.
You are the passion of every life;
Other than You there's nothing more.

We are but a tiny candle flame;
We get our fire only from You.
Our candlelight is just Your blaze;
We carry on our brow its soot.^[1]
You exist, so all exist;
We find You in the public midst.

Tenderness and affection, love and compassion,
Knowledge and comprehension... all that we attain,
By Your grace, everything occurs;
Under Your shelter, we make headway.
Into our heart of hearts, come regally;
We want to hold You near.

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Political leaders

(432)  Rupkathar ek raja chilo

In legend, there was a king;
Alas, he knew not how to laugh.
With his hands he would walk;
Puffed rice he ate with his feet.

In the cool sunshine at midnight,
He dined on pie off a row of backs.
With strength of tongue he chewed sugarcane;
Its juice he sucked with his teeth.

In the middle of the tennis court,
He spread a net to catch fish.
Fearing ghosts in the afternoon,
Beneath the river he hid.

Soaring upward with his racing sailboat,
He fanned himself in the distant sky.
During work hours his eyes were closed;
Pretending to sleep, he snored.

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Be all and end all

(324)  Moder dhara rup peyeche

Our earth took its shape,
In the guise of Your grace.
That's why I behold Thee
Inside every entity.

You are there in every stream;
That's why nothing is missing.
Within You I also live;
I come and go in Your service.

In every thought You abide,
And all dwell in Your mind.
Even by mistake, I can't imagine
That outside You something exists.

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Should've been impossible

(323)  Bhalabasiyachi tomare

Lord, I'm in love with You...
In my life and in my psyche,
Outwardly and inwardly.

Seeing that honey-sweet smile,
Hearing that magic flute,
Somewhere my mind goes soaring—
With such a cord You've bound me.

Tell me, how do I forget
This chain of flowers?

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Piercing the clouds

(322)  Tumi esechile varasar rate

You came on a rainy night,
Heady with fragrance of screwpine flowers.^[1]
Inkstained was the day of that dark fortnight,^[2]
When the ambrosia of light was cast.

Then, amid deadly thunderbolts, budding kadam^[3]
Shuddered over and over again.
On that stormy night, the bamboo grove
Gave off a sound of flogging;
And rain-filled clouds were floating,
Weeping and weeping in sorrow.

Indoors, smiling daughters
Plait their hair,
Adorning it with jasmine sprays,
Pinned to a topknot that dances.

Even now Your screwpine fragrance
Is imprinted upon my heart.

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Struggle and seek

(321)  Sabar majhe hariye gecho

Amid the throng You went missing;
Are You this person or that?
Whether I may find You or not,
Dawn to dusk, I seek, I seek.

Kindly take pity on me;
To my upraised eyes catch hold.
Tell the mantra to summon Thee;
My lips will never stay closed.
I will surely find You... I seek.

As I am in love with Thee,
I can but rush in Your allure.
All blockading walls I breach;
I will surely get You... I struggle.
I will surely find You... I seek.

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Caetanya

(320)  Nandanavana manthana kari

Harvesting a garden of eden;
I brought sandal and honey.^[1]
Spreading the pollen of amaranth,^[2]
I dispensed the nectar of life.

Then, on a moist breeze, jasmine fragrance
Drifted down from the distant heavens.
My mental lotus, its heart swelling,
Blossomed in self-realization.
Amid that transition, beginning alone,
I threaded a garland for Thee.

Then, assembling in the tamal grove,^[3]
Were bumblebees, both light and dark.
With sandal perfume and tonal accord,
To greet You wholeheartedly,
Those bees were gathering.
Enraptured by this very atmosphere,
I composed my songs to Thee.

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Shiva's courtyard

(319)  Dur niilimay hatchani dey

Beckoning from the blue yonder,
I have one distant Amigo.
He tells me: "Why stay afar...
Come, please come, to My patio.

"I've kept it adorned with a string of stars,
With countless colorful forms and affectionate games.
Open your eyes to see that behind closed doors,
You have so many sorrows and so many pains."

Constantly He gives the call to novelty;
He sings only of newer and newer.
When I listen to my Friend closely,
Myriad musical melodies are to be heard.

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Gold lifeline

(318)  Rauniin svapan maner matan

Per heart's desire, a colorful vision
Took shape today upon this earth.
All barriers broken, it rushes onward,
In countless flows and supplications.

It is You alone that I love;
I love You, Lord, I love You.
In my hidden mind, in my private world,
I always listen to Your flute.
In rapt attention on a clear sky,
I hear Your songs descending from afar.

In Your direction only do I gaze;
I look to You, Lord, I look to You.
In thunderous, violent storms,
In trying times, I gauge Your grace.
The days and nights pass by
Through a golden tie with Thee.

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Dancing on and on

(317)  Runujhunu runujhunu nupura baje

Runujhunu... the bells on Your ankles ring.
Counting days and counting seasons, in spring,
With the flowers You arrived, with the flowers.

Wholeheartedly, we want to welcome You,
Every hour, in retrospection and rumination.
As You have come, please stay forever,
Adding hearts to Your charming ornaments.

With rhythms of dance and with billowing bliss...
By such phenomena You've transported one and all.
You are our common pride and our heart of hearts;
Getting swayed by You, everyone dances—
Today, everyone dances.

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One beat, one tune, one song

(316)  Tumi ele caridik raune bhare uthalo

You came, and the four sides^[1] arose, full of color;
The rising sun, it put on a sweet smile.
In the smile's afterglow, earth forgot its every woe;
With festive mood, all drew close to each other.

Sorrow lost in one meter, one melody, and one song,
The universe is now passionately jubilant.

Take any secret longings, adrift in the stream of light;
And, Helmsman, kindly row them to shore.^[2]
In rhythmic music, all are drawn to the golden glittering;
Today, everyone was set dancing to the surge of Your beat.

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Bolt from heaven

(315)  Kon alakar dola ese lagalo

What auspicious jolt has struck
The half-blown flower of my mind?
By that jolt surged tearfully my psyche,
That which had been ignorant and asleep.

For so long, out of shame, I could not blossom.
Today, the Unknown snatched my hidden nectar;
Now, night and day, I constantly chase after Him,
Undeterred by shyness or by fear.

Bud petals were ensnared by phenomenal allure;
Getting a jolting impact, that allure went away.
Heart full of love, mouth full of sweet words,
Devoutly I have welcomed Him, the Lord of mind.

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Ode to the Ineffable

(314)  Tomar parash charaye rekhecho

You have extended Your divine touch
On earth, sky, and heaven,
To each entity every instant.
Infusing exhilaration, You impart
Manifest splendor.

Your sweetness defies explanation...
Inanimate and animate, known and unknown,
Penetrating all, uniting all,
Consciousness awakens everyone.
Your sweetness defies explanation...
At Your direction, heaven's glow
Is brought down to this earth.

With Your smile, the moon also smiles;
With that smile comes the rising tide.
With Your light, this world is upraised;
With rhythm do the sky and air vibrate.
With Your love, celestial nectar
Inundates the three worlds;^[1]
They shine, shine, shine.

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The far-flowing stream

(313)  Amar jiivane amar parane

Into my life, into the core of my existence,
Come, Lord, with the rhythm of dance.
To charm the world and delight my mind,
Please put on Your sweet smile.

Krsna severe, the philosopher's stone,
Kindly transmute my life into gold.

In my stagnant, polluted lagoon,
Please let loose the far-flowing stream.
With a flood of light dispelling gloom,
Paint, Lord, in bright colors of dawning.

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