The look of love

(1290)  Anupama rupe susmita niipe

In peerless beauty, in a smiling kadam,
Like a flower strewn, You please come.
In white lily and blue lotus, and in the screwpine stamen,
Like a peacock-tail or pennant, You please grin.

In a damp-close wind and in kohl-darkened firmament,
In music baritone and in a thunderbolt's revelation,
Like the pleasant panic of a lightning bug's glow,
Integrated with such raiment, You please float.

Twixt You and me the heart-exchange,
No one knows when it had taken place.
That fond attachment, a love everlasting,
'Twas not proclaimed by even any history.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Divine Taskmaster

(1289)  Praner parash diye

The touch of life having given,
With delight the world You filled.
Then through life's succulence,
To humanity You brought completion.

Those who'd been asleep in utter darkness,
In their eyes light's strike was felt;
Their age-old slumber was broken.

Those who'd moaned in dejection hopeless,
They went and got the wand of resurrection;^[1]
You bestowed their trip's travel expenses.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

New-age Krsna

(1288)  Tumi phire eso tumi phire eso

You please come back, oh please come back.
With spring colors^[1] that have painted psyche,
Made it dance to Your meter and melody,
Oh my Gopal^[2] of mind, lovingly,
Once again please come back.

Today the mind I've purified with Your name and song;
The mind I've embellished with winter's crimson dawn.
Gopal of mind, laugh honey-sweetly at mind's interior.

Not a thing do I own; everything is Yours indeed...
So Your things I gave to Thee, not a trace is with me.
Mind's Gopal everlasting, with a smile please appear.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Attitude

(1287)  Bhalo besechile

You had cherished me;
But I've not held You dear.
Ebony You moved aside,
But I've not wished to enter light.

In the flower's exudation, indication of life,
You elicited vibration on a drunk springtime.
With colors flower You did paint;
Indeed, You did imbue grace.
But that grace I've not wished to take.

You told: "Do not fear... near to Me is varábhay;^[1]
You are getting fortitude... your refuge is Mine.
Opening your eyes, behold Me;
With a new mind-set examine everything."
Yet though my eyes are opened, still I haven't seen.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

To boldly go

(1286)  Dharme tomay dharechi

In Dharma Yourself I have seized;
In heart I have yielded unto Thee.

From crack of dawn, the twilight sun,
Endlessly, an image of You only it does sketch.
Both thought and words You transcend,
Yet I have got to know You through action.

In tone and tune, tempo and beat, You take form,
The Shapeless, Inconceivable, Unattached One.
Ever going toward an unexplored attraction,
To just You I've become bound with a thread of love.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Krsna was born

(1285)  Kuyashar kalo muche diye

Fog's ebony, having wiped away
And having banished despair's trace,
The lamp of hope, taking in hand,
At midnight, He'd arrived.

Filled with love were His eyes,
With luster His visage made bright,
Silently His roundabout excursion
Finished, He had paused at my door.

Coated with clouds was the firmament,
Mind's sky was abrim with ideation,
Thinking, thinking about Him,
In the eyes tears had gathered.

Jasmines on that monsoon eve
Had poured scent into atmosphere.
With moon behind a cloud-screen,
Peacocks had danced on witnessing.

In His footdust was compassion;
In my thinking was illusion.
With the touch of that dust on misconception,
A vibration had awakened.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

His color abides

(1284)  Tumi esechile phaguner dine

You had come on a day in Phalgun,
Bearing color with sweetness of mind.
Never does that color get removed
On weary summer-night.

That color has remained in sky and air,
In verdant beauty on the sun's emergence.
In spring's scent, that color has remained,
Very pleasing in heart's heaven.

That color, never does it go missing
In summer wind, unkind and harsh.
That color will forever persevere
Upon eyelids like the polestar.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Liege

(1283)  Gane tomare paiyachi priya

In song I am finding You, my Dear;
At life's core I want also to receive.
In thought's feelings too, I am yearning
To obtain You through love's tears.

In the outer world, in floral essences,
In star-smiles and in gentle winds,
In moon-beams and in mind's pleasure-garden,
With the humming of a lyre, I find You ever.

You have bided, concealed in sweetness of psyche;
In dormant wisdom and in intuition, You are hiding.
Unknown to me, silently and secretly,
In a niche of heart, You have taken Your seat.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Look inside

(1282)  Tomar phele asa carandhuli

The ancient dust from Your feet,
This dust of Brajabhumi,
Their heads to touch, they come running
Even now, the devotees.^[1]

Krsna, I do love Thee;
I laugh and cry for Your glory.
The flora and fauna are charmed;
In Your name, they still dance presently.

That story goes untold,
Unbearable its sorrow.
This Vrndavan without Mohan,^[2]
Even so, in mind He's still enthroned.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

With You, my Lord

(1281)  Tomar saunge amar prabhu

My Lord, with Thee
There's a bond of love, a joyful binding.
By Your grace, under its shelter,
My life, it moves onward.

Roused at bright moment of daybreak,
The day passes by on Your wave.
Your instrument, Your incantation,
Goes on working per command.

When You call, I'll run along;
I will fill the world with song.
Upon Your tune, the flute therein
Imbues each thought with purpose.
Brimming with ideation is that Vrndavan.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Reflections

(1280)  Aksay tumi avyay tumi

You are endless and immutable,
Beyond measure, oh Lord Radiant
With the splendor of highest heaven.
In the stamen of a blossom
And the luster of a palash flower,
Gracious One, You are celebrated.

In the cloud cover art Thou resonant;
The mental realm is shaded by rhythm and song.
In cadence surging from the ocean-floor,
With purpose You are pregnant, oh Billowy One.

Both origin and end, to nothing You defer;
Everlasting, You alone are the endeavor.
With Your implication and Your wholesome ideation,
I am lionized, oh Consciousness Personified.
Beyond censure and praise, indeed supramundane,
Is Your seat, oh Effulgent One.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Abhidhyana and Aradhana

(1279)  Tomare satata nandita kari

Constantly pleasing Thee,
On Your path I proceed.
Thoughts of You and Your feeling,
I've no other fund for my journey.

With Your name and Your song, preoccupied do I remain
In resolute pursuit of You, dabbed with a speck of grace.
In hearing of, thinking of, and meditating on the Lord,
I realize that without You there is not another.

Gamboling and caroling in ecstasy,
In calamity, in injury, in mourning, and in glee,
Desert-heat or polar freeze...
Each and everything I find in Thee.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Divine Mother

(1278)  Keu alokei mishe jay

Some mingle with the light only,
And some in gloom go missing.
Some want to find You only,
And some look for Your offerings.

Some make haste to the light-heaps
In Elysian Fields;
And some with an old bone weep
In a grove wrecked by reeds.
Then some who deem just You as cream,
They go in search of Thee.

Some, amid Your kind light-stream,
Ignite the lamp of reasoning;
Some skip along expansively.
For them, with anything but Thee,
Satisfaction cannot be achieved.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

How could You?

(1277)  Bhalo jadi na basite

Had You not held us dear,
Nor laughed gently-sweetly,
In that case, to attain Thee,
We would not have been worried.

Why had You loved,
And why oh why had You laughed...
Ensnaring in a fraud,
Why did You make Your liila?

You know so much cosmic sport,
Many games with hue and form...
With colors of a cloud,
Such affection pouring out.

In liila's deception You come near,
And having come You sit in psyche...
In that same cosmic game You go far away;
Do You perceive heart's burning pain?

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

My Krsna

(1276)  Kii ba haraiya giyache tomar

Oh what of yours has gone missing,
For whom do you weep constantly?
Who took the string of pearls round your neck?
Eyes watering, whose garland do you thread?

From a throat choked up with tears,
No true notes can emerge.
Still, feelings by both hands checked,
Why rehearse tune to the last breath?

Who's that mind-thief whose sweet flute
Snatched the smile from your two lips?
Seated by the jalousie with whose love-thread,
With what passion and grace do you braid your tress?

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Carry me away

(1275)  Tomar gane tomar sure

On Your song, on Your strain,
I do travel far away.
You're my heart's Beloved;
At Your love-tryst...
I do travel far away.

Please don't render me confined
To tiny room devoid of light.
Tormented on account of Thee,
Set me adrift upon Your melodies.

My bosom friend, time out of mind,
With only thoughts of You, preoccupy.
The dark night will become morning
Through Your song's essence of honey.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

His favorite

(1274)  Esechile prabhu surera mayay

Lord, with melodic magic come You had,
Ever singing songs upon the path.
None was there to welcome Thee;
At daybreak all were fast asleep.

You don't discern greetings or wreathes,
And by devotees You weren't ringed.
On Your mouth was a grin, tuneful flute in company;
You appeared, assuming shape with rhythmic beats.

With anklets jingling on sweet feet,
You took the readied place in niche of psyche.
In mind's Vrndavan, privately and in a trice,
You arrived, kohl on Your eyes,
Filling the heart of a favorite.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

My playful Master

(1273)  Amay niye e kii khela

With me such fantastic sport
You've kept making, oh Merciful Lord.
You gave to me residence and victuals,
What You gave is more than I can tell.

You gave a mother's warm affection
And the shelter in a father's heart.
You gave an ally-friend-benefactor,
And, through life, knowledge of all sorts.

You gave romantic love's caress
And moonlit night's joyfulness.
You gave the heady wine of spring
And music full of poetry.

You disclosed the final destination,
And bestowed supreme accomplishment.
You wiped away my doubts and bondages,
And did make me stout-hearted...
Oh Playful Master, my Playful Master.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

And so He is the heart-thief

(1272)  Amar gopan katha jene niyeche

He has taken note of my secrets;
My heartache He knows that.
He knows both my good and bad;
Everything is at His fingertips.

I have wanted to conceal,
And I have not forsaken hiding;
But everything to light He brings.

In the depths of heart He dwells there,
And sweetness of psyche on life He does smear;
Words of love He speaks into every ear.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Ramananda

(1271)  Tomay ami bhalobesechi

I have been in love with You;
With naught but thoughts of You I've been consumed.
Alongside You both day and night
I do survive;
You are coated with golden light.

In both joy and sorrow, at Your face
Steadfastly gazing I remain.
With but Your strength, I propel
Your chariot-wheels;
Tender or severe, You are there concealed.

Authority's vanity,
You etched its crooked lines upon my psyche.
When I get spattered away from You,
I will be lonesome from afar;
That's the script singed on my brow.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

And I love You

(1270)  Tava patha ceye

Watching Your footpath,
I am waiting...
I'm in love with You only;
I love You with all my heart.
Abstractedly, I think of Thee
In all my deeds, constantly.

Should any sound enter my ears,
I think it is the stepping of Your feet.
Before my eyes should some image come floating,
As it is only Yours, so I pay heed.
Your cosmic sport,
For aught that I fathom,
It resides at heart's core.

Though You came not within my reach, no harm is done;
Just thinking of You I obtain happiness.
That same bliss, all of the time I want to get,
Seated in the pose for meditation.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Sweet tiredness

(1269)  Amar krsna kothay bal re

Where is my Krsna, do tell me,
You please tell me, tell me please!
In myrtle bower and in kadam arbor,
I don't see Him anywhere.

Becoming sorrowful from always roaming,
Crying constantly, in search I journey.
Upon eye-water I do float, upon my love's overflow,
Even though to catch Him He did not permit.

On the banks of Jamuna, in its smiling blue waters,
His reflection I pursue, filled with fervent emotion.
My days elapse upon the wings of a goose,^[1]
With many tunes of weariness.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording
Another audio recording

I need You

(1268)  Nayane mishe thako priyatama

Remain imprinted on my eyes, oh Darling...
Doting affection and sweet yearning
Please make fruitful, Innermost Dear.

Age after age, I am in love with Thee,
My complete existence having ceded within psyche,
Like a fragrance cast upon the gentle southern breeze.

In my life, You alone are the cynosure;
I cannot abide even for an instant without You...
At springtime of mind, You are like the magic moon.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Oh that sparkling chariot

(1267)  Alor rath jay, kata hiya alakake chunye

Light's chariot does advance,
It does advance, it does advance.
Many a heart-heaven having touched,
Many shadows of attachment having crossed,
So much love having snatched and carried off,
It dashes ever along its own path.

This chariot, never does it heed any interdict;
This chariot, never does it get startled or falter;
This chariot, out of fear, never does it crawfish...
It always faces forward.

Having bathed everybody in affectionate effulgence;
Having strengthened both hands on the path of righteousness;
Having merged its meter with song's melody and rhythm...
It glitters on a sea of ambrosia.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

What is this inside of me?

(1266)  Jyotite ujjvala priiti samujjvala

In radiant splendor, affection-beaming,
Over my heart He does reign graciously.
Acclaimed by ten million suns, His gorgeous feet revered,
He resides in crimson beauty at the core of psyche.

I concede Your dignity can't be seen by speech or thought;
And I know that also it exceeds both logic and reason.
After You had mercy, what is there that cannot be?
Please stay with me in my every deed.

Like the magnolia bud, You are matchless elegance;
You are innermost in everybody's inner self.
I am bowing at Your feet; please show this mercy to me
That mind may dance in Your ecstasy.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording
Another audio recording

Somehow He sanctifies

(1265)  Amar ahvane sara diyecho

To my call You have replied.
After keeping deaf for a long time,
Now You are hearing my heart's cry.

The tender reddish leaf, it came of age;
Each thing I've seen, its state did not remain.
Grace took place, and You arrived at the finish;
Getting You with bliss, life You've fulfilled.

You know diverse magic tricks that I cannot decipher;
I just look at You in speechless wonder.
Only You recognize Your liila's greatness;
Heart and mind of mine You have made sacred.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Our polestar

(1264)  Tomake jara bhule thake tara

Those who are forgetting You,
They continue, lost in darkness.
Upon river's coastline they do
Yearn to find permanence.

Coming and going, the same game proceeds
From ere the beginning to eternity.
Your refuge is the guiding star intrepid;
Everything else moves adrift.

All things that seem "mine", oh Dearest Beloved,
They meet with naught, like desert-mirages.
In Your imagination, they arrive and leave;
Having shown up for a moment, in a trice they disappear.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

He sweetly defeats

(1263)  Tomare harayechi

By You I have been vanquished
Through my swollen egotism.
Pride had made me sightless,
Closing my windows and doors.
Of just myself I have thought,
In ignorant confusion.

There is neither light nor air in a tiny home;
And seeing oneself in the dark, it is a no-go.
Under those same circumstances, I had been alone,
In a sorrow, by own hand composed.

Through a tiny hole, a light-ray You exposed;
My welfare You crave... that is what You told.
For my benefit, day and night You are woke
With aurora borealis of the North Pole.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Vital essence

(1262)  Praner parash ganer haras

The touch of life, the joy of song,
You are my Dearest Love.
In my crept-up state of lethargy,
A song You sang, oh Peerless One.

There is no end to sweetness;
So too I find no end to song...
With dance and tones in heart's abode,
Pregnant with purpose, like ambrosia.

In winter, the caress of warmth,
In summer, luscious coolness...
Ungrudgingly upon lute-strings,
That You dispensed, Unruly One.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Krsna took birth

(1261)  Manera gahane niirava carane

Walking softly into depths of mind,
With burst of color You'd arrived.
You'd arrived...
With dyed feet and painted eyes,
With winsome face, You had smiled.

To label mine, nearby was none;
All were busy with chores of their own.
But You had come and sat up-close...
Honey on tongue, You had spoke,
You had spoke.

Getting doused was all Earth's light;
Love-and-affection's stream was running dry.
But I am here without fear and not in two minds...
Because my load of sorrow, You shoved it aside,
You shoved it aside.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording

Our younger relations

(1260)  Marur jahaj cale marava dviipe

The ship of the desert^[1] plies an arid island;
Oh my, such a figure upon the surface of Earth!
In every stratum of existence, it alone keeps doing work,
Through day and night, at dusk and dawn.

The young have become rugged in this place;
The world's become a little like a bear.
Could it be the earth, waiving its orbit,
Starts to dance in the blue heavens?

Bird abode^[2] with guardian jujube trees encircling,
A pleasant cooing suffused with sweetness of psyche,
In this magic garden mind gets made aware of
Human kinship incessant from above.

Sarkarverse article
Audio recording