Bapuji’s Bhajans
Over his life, Swami Kripalu composed dozens of bhajans, devotional songs. A talented musician and lyricist, he poured his love for the Lord into music and words. Below are transliterations and English translations of ten of the 69 known bhajans.
AAGE CHALO! HAJU AAGE CHALO
Aage chalo! Haju aage chalo!
Vigatane visari, vartamanne smari,
kBhagyana bandh dwar kholva chalo!
Aage chalo! Haju aage chalo!
Nirashani ratma asha no deep lai
Pragatine panthe pagala mando!
Aage chalo! Haju aage chalo!
Ankho achala kari lakshya ni lai chhabi
Kashtona kantako khudata chalo!
Aage chalo! Haju aage chalo!
Ure ullas bhari ange uttsaha dhari
Bhirutanu lanchhan luchnata chalo!
Aage chalo! Haju aage chalo!
Dhairyanu Dhanush lai nishchayanu ban saji
yamani Sathe ye yudha khelta chalo!
Aage chalo! Haju aage chalo!
ARPI CHARANAMAN EAKA SUMAN
Arpi Charanman Eaka Suman
echoon Choon Nirakhe Aapanan Nayan.
Dhoopa deepa Chandana Aa Ja Sumanaman,
Vandana Manhi Samasta Stavan,
Antaraman Che Akhanda Smaran,
Krandana Manhi Prema Pujan.
Udadhi! Hun Aavyo Abhaya Sharanaman
Parvata Shrunga Thi Paami Patan,
Kasto Nun Karato Nathi Hun Kathan
Pamine Swami! Jivana Nutan.
Prakatyun Prabhata Ne ravi ugyo, Nabhaman,
Ghora Timiranum Thayun Prashaman
“Kripalu” Thayun Jiva-Shivanun Milan,
Jara Mrityunun Thayan Unmulan.
Vilaya Karum Swaro Rhadayvinana
Prasanna Swaronn Thayu Sargan
Kripa kari Aape Pran Jivan
Rome Rome Vyapyu Prun Kunjan.
ATTAINMENT
After offering a flower at your holy feet,
I pray your eyes will see it
In only this flow, I am offering frankincense,
ghee wicks, and sandalwood paste.
In this pranam, I am expressing all my
prayers for you.
In my consciousness, I am always remembering you.
My crying is my loving worship.
Oh, Ocean of Compassion, I have fallen
from the peak of a mountain to the
fearless refuge at your holly feet.
Oh, my Master, I have received new life.
I cannot describe the har… (note: manuscript faded past legibility)
Dawn came, sun rose in the sky and
darkness disappeared.
Kripalu here manifested the union of
Giva and Shiva.
Hardship and death disappeared.
The sad tune of the sitar of my heart
faded away.
A sweet tune is created.
Oh, my master of pran, you have
guided me.
The sound of your love pervades,
fills every cell of my body.
LIFE PILGRIMAGE
March forward, still march on,
Forgetting the past,
Minding the present.
March on to open the closed doors
of the future.
March on, still go on marching,
Taking the light of hope
in the night of hopelessness.
Mark the footprints on the road
of forwardness.
Go ahead, still go ahead.
Make your eyes stand still,
Taking the view of your target.
Go ahead, care not the thorns of pains,
still go ahead, march forward!
Have the heart full of pleasure
and the body full of enthusiasm.
March on, wiping out the stigma
of cowardice.
March forward, still march on!
Taking the bow of patience,
and dressed with the arrow of
determination, go ahead.
Fighting the war even with Yama
(The Lord of Death).
March forward, march on.
AVAGUNA KOINA JOSHO NAHI
Avaguna koina josho nahi antara melun karasho nahi
Antara melun karasho joto Govindajine gamasho nahi.
Ho…madhamakhi jeva thajo ne
Sanga sumanno tajasho nahi
Kamaniya kunjaman vasajo jai
Meli makhi jeva thaine
Mela para banabanasho nahi
Avale raste chadasho nahi.
Ho…Santana guno oti ganine
Chanavanum tame chukasho nahi
Hansapanum Kado bhulasho nahi
Goli vali fchanani vahala
Giga jeva banasho nahi
Bhundanman jai bhalasho nahi.
Ho…parana dosho jova jatan
Nijana dosho jadashe nahi
Ghatani gandaki ghatashe nahi
Adhara vankan untanan ango
Toye kahe kutarane jai
“Vanki puchadi sari nahi.”
Ho…satsanga jalathi snana karya vina
Duramati duragati talashe nahi
Tyana sudhi Sadaguru malashe nahi.
“Kripalu” Sadaguru malatan
Drashti man dosho takashe nahi
Damodara dura thashe nahi.
THE HIGHEST GOAL
Do not look at the faults of others and
hold impurities in your heart. If you make
your heart impure, you will not receive the favor of the Divine.
Be like a honey bee and do not leave the
company of the flowers. Always stay in
the company of the good. Don’t be like
that dirty bee and keep buzzing in the dirt.
Do not be distracted by the wrong.
Consider the good qualities of the Saints as
pearls and, like a swan, do not miss an
opportunity to feed yourself on them. Don’t
join the company of those who perform wrong
actions for you’ll be like the worm who likes
to crawl in the cow dung.
If you keep trying to find the faults of others,
you will not find your own and your impurities
will not diminish. The camel has 18 different
curves to his body and that wise fellow goes
to the dog and says, “What a funny thing you
have, your tail is curved and that’s not good.”
Without taking the shower of satsanga,
your wrong inclinations and misfortunes will
not be removed and you will not find the
Sadaguru. Kripalu says that once you come
in touch with a Sadaguru, you will not have
impurities in your eyes and the Lord will
not be away from you.
AVAGUNA KOINA
The title of this bhajan is “The Highest Ideal”.
That ideal can be called Siddhantha (the basic principle). The word siddhantha is made up of two words: Siddha and antha. One who has realized the complete truth is called siddha. Such a master who has realized the truth, what he teaches is realized truth, siddhantha. The specialty of siddhantha is that it is the common truth for jnani yoga, bhakta yoga and karma yoga. One who has not known the siddhantha does not know anything.
There are two types of acharyas in this world. The acharya that gives the training to the4 society through is thoughts is a thinker. He does not have the experience. Another type of acharya is a yogi. He is practicing…(tape ends).
The word vichara can be split into two parts: “vi” is the first part, means vishesh, means special; chara means movement; vichara means special (subtle) movement. As long as there is no harmony between the thought and the action, neither thought nor action is complete. The great masters, the siddhantha, the truth that they have shown, is associated both with the actions and with the thoughts in a harmonious way. Such a siddhantha is called “adarsha”, ideal. One meaning of adarsha is “mirror”; you can see your face in the mirror.
The description of the bhajan is this: do not look at the faults of anybody. By doing so, your own conscience will become impure. If you make your own conscience impure by harboring on the faults of others, you will not be loved by the Lord. False action is a similar word to fault. What happens when you look at the faults of others? You can think about it with your intellect and logic. If there is something that is dirty and stinking and if you hold it in your hand, what will happen? And take that hand near your nose. How could you taste it? So, when you dwell on the thoughts of others which are dirty, it will dirty your mind. Now did you understand it clearly, what will happen if you look at the faults of others?
If at all you want to look at faults, look at your own. To look at your own faults is great quality (guna). To look aat the faults of others is one of the biggest faults of you. Then you will say, “Gurudev, you don’t look at the faults of us at all because your mind will become dirty.” But the guru is quite expert. He shows the faults of disciple in such a way that this conscience is not dirtied, it does not become impure.
If you want to catch the snake, you have to use the forcep, big one. The guru, the parents, they see your faults, but they see in order to help you so that your life may not be spoiled. After seeing your faults, if they do not show you your faults, it is very likely to hurt you. From this point of view our own kin look at our faults.
If we look at the faults of others without love, then our conscience becomes impure.
Once is so happened that a colander and a needle got together. The colander’s eyes fell on the hole of the needle and said, “Oh, the needle has a hole.” The needle said to the colander, “My dear older sister, you have especially graced me by showing me my fault. But, my sister, why do you always look up? Maybe you woulds like to look a little bit down!” When the colander looked down she saw innumerable holes in herself and the colander was ashamed.
In order to further explain this principle it is said: It is suggested that “live like a honey bee and do not leave the company of flowers.” The meaning of this is that where there are flowers, this is where you must choose to live. You go in a beautiful place and find your abode in the company of flowers. The honey bees sit on the flowers. But there is another kind of bee also, that never chooses to sit on the flowers. It always chooses to go to sit on the impurities and where there is a dirty smell. This saint is saying, “do not be like that dirty bee and buzz over the stinking dirt. It is the wrong way; it is the wrong path.”
The thoughts and actions of saints are like the pearls, and if you ever get the opportunity to be close to the saint, do not forget to get hold of these pearls of good thoughts and good actions. If you would live in this manner, you would qualify to go in a very special class of consciousness. You’ll be considered to be a swan (hans) because the swan always chooses to fish up the pearls. The satsangis that you are like hans, they get hold of the good qualities of the saints.
The swan is a bird and among birds it is considered to be the best. The crow is also among the birds. It doesn’t pick pearls. He is like that dirty bee, he is always after the impure things. In India there is a small insect and it is called “gigo.” It goes to the dung. And it picks up a little bit of the dropping from the cow and it rolls it. What it does is it rolls it into small balls. It looks like an art from the artist’s point of view. But this gigo always lives in the dung. The saint says do not go in the company of the impure.
In order to further clarify the siddhantha, it is said: If you try to look at the faults of others, you will not be able to see your own faults, and as a result, your own impurities will not reduce. This impure eye is the eye that looks very far. It is able to see the faults of others. Such an ability is not much of a help. In yoga also, the yogi has an ability to foresee things. Yogi may be sitting in his room and he can see any scene happening thousands of miles away very easily. This fact is clarified further through the principle of television.
Those who are looking at the faults of others, their ability is so keen, that even if others are hiding their faults in some unknown corner, they find it out. You may have seen the camel. It is said that he has 18 curves in his body. One of these camels look at one of the dogs and he felt, “He has a curved tail!” So he went close and said, “AAHH, you have so much curve in your body.” The dog asked, “What is it that is curved?” The camel said, “Oh, you don’t even know that? Your tail is curved.” The dog very carefully looked at every one of his curves. His eyes went up 18 times and down 18 times. Don’t look at anybody’s faults.
What should be done about it? Satsang is like a lake. Take a bath in it. By that your desire to perform wrong acts or to think wrong thoughts would be removed. As long as the thoughts and the actions are not purified, you cannot recognize the guru even if he is right in front of you, even if you have him. As soon as you receive the guru who can shower the grace upon you, you will not have any faults in your eyes. You don’t have to do anything. My name is also “Kripalu”. When you meet the guru, your faults and impurities are removed, but when? Only after that you begin to recognize that you have faults and you look at them carefully, and find out the reasons for them and remove the causes of the faults. And when all these impurities are removed, God is right there. You can think hundreds of tons of thoughts. It is difficult to practice an ounce of it.
This is the most important principle, that one should not look at the faults of others. This siddhantha that we heard does not make it an integral part of our lives. For that, one has to experiment with it for their entire life; then you can have it as an integral part. You do not enjoy practicing as much as you enjoy listening to it. In practice you have to work hard and you have to suffer a bit too.
When somebody describes your faults and shortcomings, you would naturally feel bad. If you find that you do have that problem, then try to remove it and thank the person who helped you to see your faults. To bear with it, it is very easy to speak of it, but to practice it is very, very difficult.
In India, there was one highest saint named Tukaram. Tukaram’s wife was constantly quarreling. When Tukaram used to chant the names, “Ram, Ram, Krishna, Krishna, Shiva, Shiva” she was really irritated. And all of a sudden she used to come and stand right in front of him and imitate him and say, “Ram, Ram, Krishna, Krishna” what is this nonsense: You are a worldly man and what is this “Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram all the time?” Tukaram used to just then imitate her and say, “Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram” with her. Then patni (wife) used to get tired of it. She gave up and left the home. One day it so happened that one of his devotees invited him to his field. First he denied, but when the devotee insisted, he agreed.
He reached there. He welcomed him. There he chanted for a while. When it was time for Tukaram to return home, the devotee collected 10 or 15 sugar canes and bound them into a bundle and gave it to him. He was carrying that burden on his shoulder and walking towards his home saying, “Narayan, Narayan, Narayan”. On the way he met young children. Tuka dada means “grandfather Tuka.” the children were saying “Grandfather, sugar cane, grandfather, sugar cane”. (Tuka dada sheridi, tuka dada sheridi). They saw the sugar cane and wanted it. So Tukaram started making pieces of the sugar cane and offering it to the children. When he arrived home he had only one small piece of sugar cane left. Wife saw him coming from a distance. She got mad. “You went as far as the field and you brought only one piece?:” He entered the home sat down, then he gave that piece of sugar cane to his wife, “Here, take it.” Wife took it. She s very mad. She took it and banged it over him. It was broken in two pieces. Tukaram wasn’t a weak husband. He was a gentleman. In such a condition he would be angry. But as if nothing had happened he spoke. He took both pieces and he gave one piece to his wife and said, “Here is your piece and this is one is mine.” What a patience! Such a big insult for the husband to bear. This is why he was a great man. He never looked at the faults of his wife. He used to feel that, “I should not have married; it is my fault that I got married, So where is the fault of my wife?” This is the thought line of the devotee.
So long as we do not make this thought line our own, we will not be able to progress on this path. Each one of you must listen to these examples and remember the siddhantha principles and try to practice it. The sadhak who does not have plenty of the siddhanthas held in his heart, is not a sadhak. In order to become sadhaks, you hold such siddhanthas and practice each da
BHAGAWANAMAN AMARAN
Bhagawanaman amaran mana rakhajo Kripalu
Darashananan dan daine daya dakhajo, dayalu.
Gheri vale na amane janjalanum a jalun
Prablu bhakti kerun barun sada rakhajo ughadun.
Tame asharo ne asha cho bala badhum amarun
Ame baltan jaltan avya leva sharana tararun.
Agnananum adharun gnana janmothi chavayun
Gnana jyotine jalavi ene dur karo dayulu.
Sadachar ane sayanma a lakshya ho amarun
Ashisha do na bhulie kadeye vachana tamarun.
BHAKTADHIN
Banavi Govindane Gopi Aje Khelie Holi
gopalane Ghero Ghate, Chino Vastra Vate
Charniyo Chundadi Odhadi Aje Khelie Holi.
Anjo Anjana Eni Ankhe, Natharni Ghalo Nake
Bhale tiladi Chontadi Aje Khelie Holi.
Hirakankarna Komala Hathe, Hemakundala Kane
Sajavi Ene Enge Choli Aje Khelie Holi.
Monghan Moti Gunghi Varle, Verni Guntho Mathe
Parovi Pagaman Jhanjhar Jodi Aje Khelie Holi.
Pita Nandjine Same Mata, Yashodani Pase
Nachavi Kirpalu Ne Gori Aje Ikhelie Holi.
BHOLO (Lord Shiva).
The title of the bhajan means bholo the innocent one, one who is free from cunningness, simple.
Hai Ye VaSYO Che Hara Bholo re
Mare Haiye Vasyo Che Hara Bholo.
Lord Shiva is staying in my heart.
Lord Shiva is staying in my heart.
Shire Jatajuta Jahnavi Shobhe
Sohe Che Bijachandra Goro Re
Mare Haiye Vasyo Che Hara Bholo.
At the top of his head there is an
abundance of hair with the Holy Riverr
Ganges flowing and a milky white moon
appears there, too. Lord Shiva is
staying in my heart.
Lochana Lalate Kundala Kani
Naga Lapetyo Kanthe Moto Re
Mare Haiye Vasyo Che hara Bholo.
At his forehead is a third eye, at his
ears he’s wearing earrings, and on his
neck he keeps a big cobra. Lord Shiva
is staying in my heart.
Karaman Trishulane Damarun Viraje
Shringinada Chede Anero Re
Mare haiye Vasyo Che Hara Bholo.
In his hand he holds a 3 headed spear
with a drum. And an extraordinary sound
is coming from his conch. Lord Shiva
is staying in my heart.
Vyagrambara Vintyun Kati Para Vahale
Ange Chorlyo Che Rakhodo Re
Mare Haiye Vasyo Che Hara Bholo.
He is wearing a tiger skin on His
waist and His entire body is covered
with sacred ashes. Lord Shiva is
staying in my heart.
Brahmeshvarane Bharli Kripalu Mohyo
Devoma Nathi Eno Jotore
Mare Haiye Vasyo Che Har Bholo.
Kripalu has a strong attraction towards
Lord Brahmeshvar for no other Deva has
His power or His capacity in the world.
Lord Shiva is staying in His heart.