Aatma Shatkam or Nirvana Shatkam ~ Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara (788 ~ 820 AD)

Painting By Raja Ravi Varma (1904)

I am not mind, not intellect, not ego, not thought.
I am not the ears, the tongue, the nose or the eyes, or what they witness,
I am neither earth nor sky, not air nor light.

I am knowledge and bliss.
I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

I am not the breath of prana, nor its five currents.
I am not the seven elements, nor the five organs,
Nor am I the voice or hands or anything that acts.

I am knowledge and bliss.
I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

I have no hatred or preference, neither greed nor desire nor delusion.
Pride, conflict, jealousy -- these have no part of me.
Nothing do I own, nothing do I seek, not even liberation itself.

I am knowledge and bliss.
I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

I know neither virtue nor vice, neither pleasure nor pain.
I know no sacred chants, no holy places, no scriptures, no rituals.
I know neither the taste nor the taster.

I am knowledge and bliss.
I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

I fear not death. I doubt neither my being nor my place.
I have no father or mother; I am unborn.
I have no relatives, no friends. I have no guru and no devotees.

I am knowledge and bliss.
I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

Free from doubt, I am formless.
With knowledge, in knowledge, I am everywhere, beyond perception.
I am always the same. Not free, not trapped -- I am.

I am knowledge and bliss.
I am Shiva! I am Shiva!

Truly, I am Shiva, pure awareness.
Shivo Ham! Shivo Ham!

~ Adi Shankara 

(Translated By Ivan M. Granger)

Shri Rudram Chamakam

..Tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushhtivardhanam

Urvarukamiva bandhananmrity rmukshiya maamritath..

..He who has divine fragrance, 

He who makes men powerful and full of plenty, 

Him even we worship, the three-eyed Rudra. 

Like a ripe berry from its stalk, 

release me from death, and 

Let me not turn away from immortality and enlightenment..

~ Yajur Veda

Are You There..? ~ W.H. Auden

Are You There?

Each lover has some theory of his own
About the difference between the ache

Of being with his love, and being alone:

Why what, when dreaming, is dear flesh and bone

That really stirs the senses, when awake,

Appears a simulacrum of his own.

Narcissus disbelieves in the unknown;

He cannot join his image in the lake

So long as he assumes he is alone.

The child, the waterfall, the fire, the stone,

Are always up to mischief, though, and take

The universe for granted as their own.

The elderly, like Proust, are always prone

To think of love as a subjective fake;

The more they love, the more they feel alone.

Whatever view we hold, it must be shown

Why every lover has a wish to make

Some kind of otherness his own:

Perhaps, in fact, we never are alone. 

~ W.H. Auden

(1907~1973)

Love Letter ~ 

Marsha Karagheusian  

Rābiʻa : Nor My Eyes Find Ease Of Sleep..

My cup, my poured spirit      
and companion are three.
I am Rabi'a the fourth,      
Fevered and longing
For the One I belong to       
who waits on me.
Round the clock, round the room,      
in the cupbearer's hands
Goes the gratifying cup      
of grace and jubilee.
If I stare, none see me      
except by Him.
If I'm there, none see the Me     
as separate from our We.
O small men who rebuke me,     
His beauty has swept me!
By God, I block my ears     
to your abuse. I can see.
How many a soulburning      
night of surfeiting
Fixation made my head      
like a fountainhead weep!
The drops won't dry away,      
nor my oneness with Him
Abide, nor my eyes     
find ease of sleep.



~ Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya aka Rābiʿah al-Baṣrī 


Lover Of Lovers : Translated By A.Z.Foreman

Kabir's Sunta Hai Guru Gyani ~ Kumar Gandharva

SUNTA HAI GURU GYANI

~ Kabir

Performed by Kumar Gandharva

Aa... aa...
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai, hai, sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai, hai, hai
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Gagan me awaaz ho rahi hai jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai, hai, sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Paahile aaye, aaye, aaye, paahile aaye
Naad bindu se peechhe jamaya paani, paani ho ji
Paahile aaye
Naad bindu se peechhe jamaya paani, paani ho ji
Sab ghat puran guru rahya hai
Alakh purush nirvaani ho ji, nirvaani ho ji

Your soul originated from “naad bindu” [dot of celestial music]
And here you hoard water [referring to things which by their very nature flow freely]
The whole world says repeatedly, This is how it is and must be.
While Brahma is Himself without words. [noiseless]

Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Gagan me awaaz ho rahi jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Vahaa se aaya, vahaa se aaya pata likhaaya
Vahaa se aaya pata likhaaya
Trishna toone bujhai, bujhai
Trishna toone bujhai, bujhai
Amrut chhod chhod vishay ko dhaave
Amrut chhod chhod vishay ko dhaave
Khol de phaans phansaani ho ji, phansaani ho ji

Your soul arrived from There to an address in this world
For quenching its own thirst (desire for God)
But leaving Nectar you are drinking Poison again and again
Going in reverse, you now toss and turn in your own trap.

Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai,
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Gagan mandal mein, mandal mein
Gagan mandal mein gau biyaanii
Gagan mandal mein gau biyaanii
Bhoii se dahii jamaaya, jamaaya
Bhoii se dahii jamaaya, jamaaya
Maakhan maakhan santon khaaya
Maakhan maakhan santon khaaya
Chhaachh jagat baparaanii ho ji, baparaanii ho ji

The celestial cow [of knowledge] Brahman is milked
God makes curd for benefit of everyone
Knowledgeable, wise men reach for the creamy layer
Buttermilk is what the world remains content with.

Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Gagan me awaaz ho rahi hai jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Bin dharti ek, ek, bin dharti ek mandal diisee
Bin dharti ek
Aa... aa...
Bin dharti ek mandal diisee
Bin dharti ek mandal diisee
Bin saruvar joo paani re
Bin saruvar joo paani re
Gagan mandal mein ho ujiyala
Gagan mandal mein ho ujiyala
Bole guru-mukh baani ho ji, mukh baani ho ji

Instead of seeing earth, see it as merely a sphere [planet]
Seeing a lake, understand it is nothing but water
Celestial sphere lights up [when one experiences this Principle]
So says the voice and words of the Guru.

Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai, hai, sunta hai, sunta hai, sunta hai

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Oham, soham baaja baaje
Oham, soham baaja baaje
Trikuti dhaam suuhaanii re
Trikuti dhaam suuhaanii re
Iira, pingala, sukhaman naarii
Iira, pingala, sukhaman naarii
Iira, pingala, sukhaman naarii
Sun dhvaja phaharaani ho ji, phaharaani ho ji

Koham, Soham surround
Trikuti sacred land [relaxed inner self] is wonderful
Ida, Pingala and sukhmana energies flow freely
upon listening to devotional songs.

["Some say that when a child is born it cries, Koham-Koham which means Who am I? That is when the universe replies back, Soham. You are the same as I am."]

Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani
Gagan me awaaz ho rahi hai jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni
Sunta hai guru gyani
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Kahe Kabir, Kabir
Kahe Kabir, suno bhai saadho
Kahe Kabir, suno bhai saadho
Jai agam ki baani re
Jai agam ki baani re
Din bhar re jo nazar bhar dekhe
Ajar amar ho nishani ho ji, nishani ho ji

Says Kabir, Listen O knowledgeable, wise man.
Understand the world of "Agam" which works all day long with just a single glance to look after the universe. Un-moving and eternal remains that sign.

Sunta hai guru gyani gyani, gyani, gyani, gyani
Gagan mein awaaz ho rahi hai jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni, jheeni
Sunta hai guru gyani, gyani, gyani.

The one anointed by the Guru, hears
Soft melodious, cosmic sounds saying

Kumar Gandharva