Ever to strive for greater excellence

(1405)  Ganer parash dao pranera pare

The touch of song on life You give
With shelter green, shelter green.
To halt for aught You don't acknowledge;
Song You go on singing, oh You go on singing.

The day when not a thing had been,
You were there, and there was Your endeavor.
You were contest and contestant and desideratum;
That ancient song was there, and it was in concert.

The day when not a thing will live,
You will keep abiding and also Your endeavor.
Inside of You will reside every phenomenon
With that never-ending song, in its unknown residence.

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From sea to shining sea

(1404)  Priiti bhara sei giiti avavahikar

Love-filled is that song from the river-basin;
A golden dream rises upon psyche.
Memory of melody with glint of someplace distant,
Together were they both held dear.

As much bháv^[1] was there, to such extent was no language;
Ten thousand doubts existed but were all hope-filled.
Myself I'd forgotten on the coast of attainment,
Alongside of Self-awareness.

In Your eyes was profound affection;
From Your throat, fearless pronouncement.
My breast swelled with Your strength sovereign,
At my feet was complete liberation.
Having got You nearby, having plied love's absorption,
I was in a transcendental ambience.

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Just one wee thing

(1403)  Tomari carane varane varane

Ever ready to receive Your holy feet,
I've kept offerings arranged, oh my Deity.
Please gaze at me with eyes of kindness,
Pardon sins and defects, remove ignorance.

Forsaking You, I've no one in these worlds three;^[1]
In both life and death, You are the associate of everybody.
Never kick me away, I've no other place to be–
Where can anybody go that's outside of Thee!

I seek no boon; I don't crave any esteem,
Luster of gems and jewels, or some worldly vanity.
Just keep me as footdust, look fondly and sweetly–
Grant me capacity for doing Your deeds.

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He tames the wayward heart and mind

(1402)  Ke gay madhu jhara varasay

Who sings in the nectar-spilling rains,
Despite so much rattling of the peacock-tail?

Like kadam stamens shook by wind,
The wayward heart does quiver.

Unto the kadam-blossom pollen's body,
In what hope comes the mind, like a honeybee?

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He loves me more

(1401)  E ki akarsan smarane

In reminiscence, such allure...
In thought, such emotive surge!
The mind yearns to go undeterred
To feet with sweet jingle.^[1]

Today, a nightingale keeps singing
Only to attain the holy contact's nectar...
In this world, such rapt attention!

Today, a heart ignores shyness and fear
In light of the dauntless achiever...
With the ringing, such true consciousness!

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Under shelter of Your love

(200)  Tumi esecho man je kerecho

You've arrived, and the mind You have enticed;
From memory You've banished one hundred fires.
Day and night, in the stream of reverie,
You have strung a wreath of songs with their melody.

The comet-flames turned into sandalpaste,
Your vital touch having obtained;
The desert-thirst, losing its way,
Went off somewhere neath verdant shade.
Today, all torments and all pains,
A flower-basket,^[1] I see they became.

Waiting and waiting, the heart churning,
Lonesome and ever soul-searching,
This alone I've come to know and concede:
You give love effusively.

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Turning tables

(199)  Hiyara majhare niirava prahare

At core of heart, on hours silent,
Who is calling through song lyrics?
He says: "Come, be seated by My side;
Why are you far away at this late time?"

"Gone are many colored dawns
And many high-upsurging nightfalls.
Why came you not, why sat you not...
To the One inviting you, why gave no response?"

Oh Lord Gone Far, with such type of magic
Today You bound me with a strand of flowers.
After so very long, to me was owed a great debt;
This Your floral garland I will wear around the neck.

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The elusive tune

(198)  Amar e manoviina chandahiina

This my mental lute is rhythmless;
It will sound only when He plays it.
A melody made to mingle with His tune,
It will have to be, to play upon the lute.

In every psychic state, He simply smiles;
When offered seat, He does not sit beside.
Where does heart's laughter go floating off...
In some land exotic, oh it just gets lost!

Eyes gaze toward Him, but He fails to submit;
He dances away with melodic magic.

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When You I'm with

(197)  Sathii amar bandhu amar

My Companion, my Abiding Friend,
You had been in some strange location.
My entire heart's dike, it gets shattered,
Yourself having seen and fallen in love with.

You exist, and I am here;
In Your rocking cradle, I have gone on dancing.
On this day, dropping everything, close to me
You came for what reason, smiling and laughing?

Now, heart poured out, to Your melody
I go on dancing, buoyant and floating.

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Clear the way, open the gate

(196)  Amare ke nebe bhai

Krśńa
Who will take from Me, oh My kin,
That which I want to give,
To every mind distributed?
Your doors, they are fastened...
Pathway obstructed,
How do I go ahead?

Cowherds^[1]
Come, Brother, all of us, everybody,
We are ready
From You to receive.
Entrance-pebbles moved aside,
The psyche bright
We have made with light.

Krsna
Then, My kin, I excite everyone,
One and all, oh please come,
In recollection and reflection.^[2]

None of You are distant,
Within Me you exist,
In amity's vibration.

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Fair trade

(195)  Eso mor prane eso mor mane

My life and mind, please enter;
Come with dance-gestures.
Oh Sea of Beauty, heart's pitcher
Fill up to the brim.

All flower-buds are half-opened
In hope of Your luster.
At far blue yon, all are struck dumb
With Your tune's expectation.
Through Your light, through Your music,
New pulsation You bring unto Earth.

Those who love, You love them;
Those who don't, them too You feel for.
In exchange for a mind, at each chance,
You suffuse with heart's nectar.

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Life of my life

(194)  Tomake bhuliya, ke kotha thakibe balo

Unmindful of Thee,
Please say, who will be anywhere?
This same realm of life becomes lively
With You only, glittering.

Unmindful of Thee, all that I think,
It becomes mere fantasy;
All that I speak, mere prattling.
Without Your touch, everything's a web of lies,
All the world's laughter and light.

Your blessing having coveted
And Your touch having received,
Each and everything feels good.

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Keep your eyes on Him

(193)  Andhar sagare patha hariye

When the way gets lost in a sea of darkness,
Forget Him never, the polestar of existence.
Lo, past the sea of gloom, like heart-thief^[1] amorphous,
Who dances round and round light's absence!

On mind's altar, keep alive a heap of blooms;
Inside psyche, infuse smiles washed with dew.
Cross the vast and lovely sky, see arise His luster
On a form-free ocean, personifying Consciousness.

There's not any entreaty, there's no want-and-receive;
Just behold Him very near, and life is replete.

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By my worshiping Thee

(192)  Manasa mandire eso prabhu krpa kare

Into the mind-temple, please come kindly, Lord;
The altar I have kept adorned.
From formless world, come to the realm of form,
Be seated nearby even more.

Igniting the lamp of life, I do greet Thee;
In conception's fragrance I steep the offering.
Unto spirit's blooming, hundred-petaled lotus,^[1] expanded,
Today I've brought a bouquet of flowers.

There is no vanity of knowledge or cargo of conceit;
I've arrived with a heart carefree.

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In Him we reside, and He resides in us

(191)  Tumi puspete madhu enecho

With the flower, honey You have brought;
With music, melody You've given.
Sea of light made billowy,
The cosmos You have rocked.

On midnight, mute and moonlight-filled,
You have sung a song of consciousness.
Amid the cavern, dark and gloomy,
You've supplied awakening.

You are everywhere, at every time;
You were always, and You shall abide.
Sitting at the core of each psyche,
The songs of Infinity You'll sing.
All wishes and all acquisitions
You have fetched from heaven.

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I stood before Thee

(190)  Campaka vane haraye phelechi

In magnolia grove, I've let go
My tiny piece of poetry...
'Fore sweet scent I concede defeat.

Not looking inside, outward I've walked;
I paid no heed to Your message.

All pain that was strung at heart's core,
What words had been, that's all got lost.
On Whose fragrance this transformation...
Consciously I could not fathom.

My poem, my short ode,
It's not mine, that I know.

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Still bound by samsara

(189)  Duhkhera sathii tumi sukhera bandhu tumi

You are pleasure's friend and grief's companion;
Please don't hide me from Eye's vision.
In waterfalls of laughter or in tears of affliction,
Please don't render me abandoned.

Through many a dance-cadence, do preserve my garland;
Mid the colored flowers, see a basket^[1] I've adorned.
Smiling gently, coming near, lovingly carry me,
Please don't ever be loath or displeased.

What You want me to give, even though I am not able,
That which I can, don't disdain it!

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From bedrock a bloom rises

(188)  Tumi nije ele dhara dile

In person You arrived and surrendered;
Why so, I don't know.
Onto Earth's dust You descended;
Fathom why, I don't.

For many an age, night and day,
Under light or shade, and in despair,
So much time, has it not passed...
Don't You know that?

Finally, on silent night, You did arrive
To play a tune upon the harp of mind,
To make a flower bloom in stone solid,
To give revelation.

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In His bliss

(187)  Tomake ceyechi ceyechi sab kaje

In every deed, Yourself have I always craved;
Your portrait, inside heart, may it ever reign.

To this world, oh I have come to keep engaged in work,
Truly, to stay floating on a stream of Your ideation,
Going on making known a tiny bit of Your grace,
Taking care that in psyche Your strain ever plays.

On lonely nights, with the moon and stars alongside,
May the peacock of the mind dance with fantail wide.

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Into my mind please come

(186)  Eso amar mane baso amar mane

Please come into my mind, in my mind be seated;
Oh Lord, speak inside of thought itself.
Oh my deity most intimate,
Come within cognition, come in meditation.

Sweetness Pristine, in honeyed entrance
To the region tangled with giddy visions,
Heart gladdening with floral fragrance,
Please come, eliminating anxiousness.

With greater rhythm and melody, and with more songs,
Come, Lord, into every corner of the heart.

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From despair to bliss

(185)  Diner aloy ganer tarii

By the light of day a song-boat
I had floated toward the remote sky.
In the gloom, to You will I,
I will get close... that's the hope.

To lilt of waves, a beat does rise;
In the mind its swaying sets in.
You went to a strange, faraway location,
Footprint having traced on all sides.

Now, with song of stars in both mind and heart,
I will row the boat on flower-fragrance.

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Shut up, and go to work!

(184)  Runu jhunu jhunu rave pranbhara saorabhe

With a sweet tinkling sound and most pleasing fragrance;
He has arrived, making heart effusive.
With the lute's jingle, He made me yearn for
Reaching the Enchanter^[1] at mind's core.

Please purge each and every gloominess,
And finish with inertia's inaction.
Leave far behind everything causing dolor,
Witnessing the Enchanter in a hundred forms.

Today all language and all speech, go you silently,
Time and again, reflecting on the Heart-Thief.

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What matters

(183)  Ganer jagat kache peyechi

The world of song I've found nearby;
To oblivion the old life I've consigned.
I've gained You, everything I've acquired;
All childplay I've set aside.

The moth, she races toward a lamp;
She does not realize that she flies to death's visage.
Consciousness having forgot, staying with inert matter,
Verily, that is death; I have come to understand.

I will go ahead, hurrying in Your direction;
In the song of You only, I will stay absorbed.
For each and every want, each and every acquisition,
The last word is 'You're the essence', I have learned.

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In ecstatic reverie absorbed

(182)  Sabar citta aj eki sure udgiita

Today, in just one melody, every mind is sung aloud;
Everyone dances ahead, in thought of the One...
In the One's boundless love, in His sweet-sounding house,
Facing in the same direction, they hasten forward.

On Earth, everybody's bound by the One's love-string;
On the One's ambrosial stream, they all move in harmony.

With everyone's form and flow, everyone in reverie absorbed,
A stream of nectar showers down, taking with it one and all.

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Our Source and Summum Bonum

(181)  Tumi nikata haite aro nikatete

Oh You, from nearby to closer still,
Please enter my psychic midst
And the heart's resonance,
Its vital palpitation,
In raiment always novel.

From unembodied You have come in form,
Oh Ruler of the Formless Realm.
Today, all longing was fulfilled;
All searching was successful.
Today, everyone looks at You to heart's content;
They gaze at You in every occupation.

Except for You, nobody and nothing last;
The universe is grasping that!

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Love-power

(180)  Supta hrday jagiya utheche

Dormant heart, reviving, has arisen,
Has advanced in Your direction.
All the ties and all the fetters
Torn, she's gone on with song after song.

Any fiber of attachment blind shall not bind;
Any worldliness won't be able to entwine.
All unreal strings and all inertia,
Ripped asunder, she proceeds in Your direction.

Compared to the vigor of a mighty elephant,
How much power do the cobwebs have?
She disregards them as rejected;
She moves on, under pull of the Boundless.

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My secret love

(179)  Dhara dile tumi prabhu

Lord, You did grant embrace
Mid the storm and hurricane.
Stay in the mind's white lotus,
Every minute, ages and ages.

So many crimson morns and twilights,
Not so many turned into a moonlit night!
Was there a time opportune, hey Radiant Lord,
For a steadfast chase of the Timeless One?

Inside my heart, inside my psyche,
You had shown up secretly.
Due to that stealth, Your arrival
Was not known by any people.

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