DAS GANU
Translated from the marathi by Smt.Zarine Taraporevala and
Edited by Dr. Smt.Indira Kher,
Ex.Executive Editor, Shri Sai Leela (English Edn)
A HUMBLE TRIBUTE OF PRAISE TO SHRI SAINATH
I bow down to Shri GANESH.
Oh,MAYURESHWARA ,You are the one on whom we depend,
Oh,son of GAURI, the all-knowing.
Oh,You inconceivable one.
You with an immeasurable belly.
Protect me,oh,Shri GANAPATI ….1
You are the first and foremost of all the Ganas'
and of all the deities;
Therefore, you are called "GANESH"2
You are acknowledged by all the "SHASTRAS" [sacred books]
You of sacred countenance, oh, BHALACHANDRA! .2
1. A term for certain troops of inteniror deities considered as Shiva's attandants,
and under the especial superintendence of GANESH.
2. A name formed by the combination of JU and B©e i.e. Lord.
Oh, SHARADA,Goddess of Speech !
You are the mistress of the realm of words;
Because of your existence,
All wordily transactions are carried on. ….3
You are the deity revered by all authore;
You are eternally the pride of this nation;
Your infinite power prevails everywhere.
I bow to you, JAGADAMBE.
….4
You are the Supreme Spirit and beloved of the saints !
incarnation in human form of PANDHARIRAYA
You are the ocean of kindness and infinite compassion;
Oh Pandurang Narahari ! ….5
You, who control the world like a puppeteer with his strings,
You are omnipresent.
All the sciences and scared books are still delving
To plumb the essence of your nature. ….6
Those who are pedagogues,
To them, you are not revealed, Oh CHAKRAPANI ;
All those foolish people
Only indulge in the jugglery of words. ….7
Only the saints understand you
Others remain baffled.
To you, My obeisance.
Respectful and with my whole body
prostrate in veneration before you ….8
Oh, you five - headed SHANKRA,
Oh, you wearer of garland of skulls,
Oh, you blue - throated DIGAMBARA,
Oh, you BRAHAMRUPA PASHUPATI ! ….9
One who recites your name all the time,
His worldly adversities are immediately dissolved
Such is, oh DHURJATI,
The power of your name. ….10
With obeisance at your feet,
I am writing this paean of praise;
Help me always to complete this mission,
Oh, you NILAKNTHA - the blue - throated one! ….11
Now, let me bow to the son of Arti (DATTATREYA),
To the family deity of Indira (VISHNU)
To Tukaram and all other saints;
So, also, to all the devotees. …..12
Hail, hail to you, Sainath,
Redeemer of sinners and mereciful one !
I lay my head down at your feet;
Now give me your protection ….13
You are the whole world, the abode of bliss:
You, yourself , are Vishnu, the paragaon among men;
One whose wife is Uma !
You are also that enemy of Cupid3 ….14
3. i.e. You are also Shankar
You are God in human form !
You are the sun in the sky of knowledge!
You are the ocean of kindness!
You are the anti - dote for worldly maladies! ….15
You are the CHINTAMANI of the poor and the down - trodden !
You are the divine purifer (Ganges river ) for your devotees!
You are a raft for those drowing in worldlinees!
You are the refuge of the timid. ….16
You are the very cause of this creation!
That which is pure CHIATANYA !
You are that Oh, very treasure of compassion,
The universe is only one of your LEELAS. ….17
You are not born!
Death also does not affect you!
This is the final conclusion
Which one arrives at, after a thoughtful search. ….18
Birth and death,
These concepts are born of ignorance!
From both you are free
Oh, Lord of course! ….19
If water appears as a spring,
Does it imply that its source is there?
It existed already, full and flush,
Merely sprang up from within the earth. ….20
Water that springs up in a hallow
Is ,therefore, so described or named;
A "spring becomes its proper name
Without the water, it is only a hallow. ….21
To spring up and to dry up and disappear,
This is not the nature of water:
Because the water of the spring
Has no importance for the hallow it fills.
It is only the hallow that is mistakenly proud
Of itself, rather than the water that filled it.
Therefore, when the water dries up
The hollow becomes impoverished. ....23
The human body is really like the hallow water bed;
The spirit (pure energy) is like the pure clean water of the spring; Although there are innumerable such hallows
The essence is the same in everyone. ....24
Therefore, you, who are without a beginning,
I say to you, merciful one,
To destroy the mountain of ignorance
Please become the thunderbolt of Indra ....25
Until now, such hollows (beings)
Have existed in large numbers, on this earth.
Many more exist even now,
And, in the future, as the goes by, many more will come ...26
Each such hollow (being)
Is given a separate and different name and appearance;
That is how in this world, They are identified. ...27
Therefore, to distinguish that spirit
In terms of "you and me" is not proper;
Because. as there is no duality
That itself is most surely, the Spirit ….28
And, since the Spirit
Truly encompasses the whole world,
Then, the "you and me" the duality concept,
How can it possibly be entertained? ....29
Water latent in the clouds
Is all the same;
But when it descends upon the earth,
It assumes different forms4 ….30
4.Examples brooks river springs, lakes etc.
That which falls in the Godavari bed
Is known as the (sacred) River Godavari;
That which falls into a well
Does not have the same worthliness of prestige. ….31
Saints are the river Godavari,
And, you are the water in it
We are the puddles , wells and lakes;
That is the difference between us. ….32
For the fulfillments of our lives
We must surrender to you,
Always, with folded hands,
Because you are the embodiments of piety. …33
It is due to its water -bed
That the waters of Godavari have become holy;
Considered merly as water,
I's the same everywhere everywhere. ….34
The bed of Godavari
That is considered as truly sacred,
Owes all its sanctity
To the quality of the land through which it flows ….35
The water latent in the clouds
Does not alter that part of the earth on which it falls;
Yet, that very part of the earth
Is called Godavari (or pure) by the scholars
of the scared books. ….36
Where the water has fallen elsewhere,
It has acquired the qualities of the soil of those places;
Contaminated, bitter salty it becomes
Though. originally sweet ….37
Same is the case with you, oh, GURURAYA,
In whom there is no impurity of the six - vices5
To that holy form
This title, "Saint " is befitting. ….38
5. These are lust, anger, greed, desire, ego, envy.
Therefore, saints are Godavari
so full of grace:
Amongst all the beings
Your place is the highest! ….39
From the beginning of creation
Godavari has been in existence;
It has been full of water
And it has never lacked it till today. ….40
Look, the enemy of RAVAN6
Came to the banks of the Godavari
But it's water has flowed
And the water at present is not the same as old water. ….41
The bed alone remains the same.
The waters have flowed into the ocean,
The sanctity is eternal
Of the river - bed, to this day. ….42
6. i.e. Rama
Each year,
The old waters go and the new
Flow into the river bed;
It's the law, as you know. ….43
A century is like a year
The sages of that century
Are like the flowing waters
While the great souls are like the waves on the water. ….44
Of these saints who are like Godari,
In the early centuries,
There was a great flood
Of SANAT - SANAK - SANANDAN.7 ….45
7. Three sons of Bramadev who were born of his own mental conception.
Followed by NARADA and TUMBER8
DHRUVA, PRAHLD, powerful king BALI,
SHABARI,9ANGAD, 10 VAYUKUMAR11,
VIDUR 12, GOPE - GOPIKA13 ….46
Thus ,many came the present time
In each of the centuries in the past,
The floods came repeatedly,
which I am unable to recount. ….47
In this present century,
The sacred Godavari
Has for certain flooded this land
In your form, Oh , Sainath! ….48
Therefore at your divine feet
I make obeisance;
Maharaj, of my faults
Take no notice, I plead. ….49
8. A devotee of God with the face of a horse.
9. A Bhil woman , a devotee of Shri. Rama.
10. Son of Vali 11. Hanuman 12. Pandavas' Uncle.
13. The dairy lads and maids, companions of Shrikrishna.
I am a poor, wretched, ignorant man,
The greatest of sinners;
Ridden with vices,
But do not cast me off! ….50
The inherent defects of iron
Are ignored by "parisa"14
The small streams of the village, Lendi and ohol
Are not rejected by the Godavari. ….51
I am full of vices within.
By your mrercitful glance.
Do, do quickly destroy them.
This, only, is the plea of "DAS" ….52
It after coming in contact with the the 'parisa"!
The iron"s inherent defects
Do not change GURUVARA,
Then, it is to the discredit of the "parisa"! ….53
14. Imaginary stone that turns iron into gold
Don't let me be a sinner
Don't belittle yourself;
Look ,you are 'parisa',I am the iron;
My discharge is your concern too.
A child always commits mistakes, ….54
But a mother does not scold;
Remembering this,
Grant me your grace. ….55
Oh,Sadguru Sainath,
You are my "KALPATURU"!15
You are the means for crossing this worldly ocean,
You alone are so - undoubtedly. ….56
You are "KAMDHENU"!16
You are "CHINTAMANI"!17
You are the sun in the sky of knowledge.
You are great mine of virtues !
Oh,you are the ladder to heaven ! ….57
15. Wish - fulfilling tree. 16. Cow yielding all desires.
17. Gem giving whatever is desired.
Oh, pious, purest one,
Oh, embodiment of peace and bliss,
Oh the supreme self,
Oh the non-dual one, the ocean of knowledge; ….58
Oh, incarnation of the supreme wisdom, the best among men,
Oh, abode of forgiveness and peace,
Oh, refuge of devotees,
Bless me, bless me ! ….59
You are the Sadguru MACHINDER18
You are the Mathama JALANDER19
You are NIVRATINATH, DNYANESHWAR,
KABIR, SHEIKH MOHAMMED, EKNATH you are. ….60
You are BODHLA 20 You are SAVATAMALI,
You are truly RAMDAS
You are TUKARAM Sainath,
You are SAKHA 21 You are MANIKPARABHU22 ….61
18. The great founder of nath Panth. 20. Mankogi Bodhale of Dhamangaon.
21. SAKHaram Maharaj of Loni. 22. Saint from Humanabad.
Your present manifestation,
And your manifold nature
are really difficult to understand !
The knowledge about your caste and creed
You do not reveal to anybody. ….62
Some say you are a Muslim,
Some say you are Brahmin.
Thus like Krushana,
You too, are inscrutable! ….63
Having observed SHREE KRUSHNA,
Different people called him by various names.
Some call him 'YADU BUSHAN'
Some call him a cowherd. ….64
YASHODA23called him a darling
KANSA 24called him the great evil.
UDDHAV 25called him beloved,
ARJUN called him Omniscient. ….65
23. Shrikrishna's foster mother. 24. Krishna's uncle.25. krishna's devotee.
Thus oh GURUVARA ,To you
According to each person's conclusion
Based on his mental attitude,
Names are give ,by them. ….66
The masjid being your dewelling,
And your ears not being pierced.
Nothing your offering the 'FATEHA'
To call you a Muslim is logical.26 ….67
source -
http://www.shirdisaibabakripa.org/2009/10/shri-sainath-stavan-manjari-lyrics-in.html