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Monday, August 15, 2005

Vaishnava Janatho...

Mahatma Gandhi's favourite song was said to be "Vaishnava janatho..". Recently, SB had written a post called "Main Nathuram Bol Raha Hoon" and in a sudden impulse, I chose to look up this song up on Google. The words of the song encradle some very simple, high thoughts; thoughts which every human should have but unfortunately, many don't. A man who harbours such noble thoughts is indeed a Mahatma and it is fitting that this was Mahatma Gandhi's favourite! Here's my salute to the Father of the Nation and the country that he unshackled on its 58th birthday....

The lyrics and meaning were originally taken from http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/c1297.html.

Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je
PeeD paraayi jaaNe re

One who is a Vaishnav (Devotee of Vishnu)
Knows the pain of others

Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye
Man abhimaan na aaNe re (Vaishnav...)

Does good to others
without letting pride enter his mind.


SakaL lok maan sahune vande
Nindaa na kare keni re

A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world.
Does not speak ill of others

Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe
Dhan-dhan janani teni re (Vaishnav...)

Keeps his promises, actions and thoughts pure
your mother is blessed indeed.


Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi
Par-stree jene maat re

A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice
respects women as he respects his own mother

Jivha thaki asatya na bole
Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re (Vaishnav...)

though his tongue may tire he will utter no untruth
Never touches the property of others.

Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene
DriDh vairaagya jena man maan re

A Vaishnav is one who does not succumb to worldly attachments,
Who has devoted himself to staunch detachment from worldly pleasures,

Ram naam shoon taaLi laagi
SakaL tirath tena tan maan re (Vaishnav...)

Who has become addicted to the elixir coming by the name of Ram,
For whom all the religious sites are in the mind.


VaN-lobhi ne kapaT-rahit chhe
Kaam-krodh nivaarya re

A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments
he has renounced lust of all types and anger

BhaNe Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta
KuL ekoter taarya re (Vaishnav...)

The poet Narsi will like to see such a person By who's virtue,
the entire family gets salvation

18 comments:

Zeppelin said...

subha,

Happy Independence Day ! Marvellous post... and a truly soul-touching song...

Jai Hind !
-ak

Anonymous said...

Jai Hind !

-Vasu

BB said...

Amazin lyrics!

Jai Hind!

Anonymous said...

one of my favorite songs. U beat me to this post.

Aatma said...

Nice post Subha. happy independence day

Unknown said...

happy independence day!!

Naan Vaishnav nahi:(

Ram said...

great song, great man and the Greatest Nation on earth...Jai Hind!

Agnibarathi said...

This and Hari tum harO are amongst my favourites. It seems Gandhi wanted to listen to Hari Tum Haro sung by M.S. But M.S. did not know this song and so replied back through Sadasivam saying that she does not know the song and Gandhi will have listen to it sung by someone else. Gandhi replied back saying 'I would rather have the song spoken by M.S. than sung by someone else!!'

TJ said...

Excellent Song! Soul stirrer.
I had an out of the world feeling when i visited Narsi Mehta's home in Junagad in Gujarat. The tulsi maadam in the couryard of the house, is supposed to be the centre of his concentration!

Arvind Srinivasan said...

Nice oppurtunity to know the meaning of the words, that been just words before :-)

Are you going to break the monotony of somber posts ?

The Doodler said...

All,
Happy independence day and Jai Hind!

The Doodler said...

Praveen, Everyone is god's child and hence a Vaishav!
Minimal Ego,
I like Sachin's pic..:)
Agnibarathi,
Thanks for the info!
Anand,
Thanks for stopping by.

The Doodler said...

tj,
cool that you've visited his house!
Karthik Gurumoorthy,
I didn't translate..I just got it off the web..:) Thanks for stopping by!
Arvind,
yeah I've been in soga raagam lately..well, my next post should entertain you..:)

പാപ്പാന്‍‌/mahout said...

Thanks for posting the lines. I never knew the lines, or their meaning. When I was a kid, the AIR had a program on Fridays called "Gandhi Margam" (I think), and it used to open with this song. Your post brought upon me a tsunami of nostalgia.

Saravana said...

I'm a vaishnav ... atleast according to the defenition of this song

Anonymous said...

tres excellente,j'ai tres heureux.
i love ur post. keep up the good work. i hope to read other good stuff frm u. i'm definately coming back, :) - rhea

Known Stranger said...

very much impressed with this as my name is vaishnava.

my friend gave the link to your page and was feeling good but not sure if i deserve the name

Tapas said...

Well its Gandhi JAYANTI today and the last post was in 2005.Have we forgotten HIM!