The Holy Name

Far away I saw someone meditating, Oh! He was a sage,

I at once went closer, thinking he might have a nice adage.

Now I could see him closely,

He was all skeletons and wore his clothes loosely,

Oh! How fiercely was the Maharaja chanting

It seemed as if there were 100 lions roaring.

Trembling in ecstasy and sweating

The great sage was chanting.

Now, I am an illiterate person,

Bringing my ears to his mouth I tried to get the chanting’s darshan,

As the ears got closer, the words got clearer.

And finally I heard what he was chanting.

The great Sage was chanting,

The great Sage was chanting the name of a movie star

Oh! He was no sage, no cool

He was just an ordinary fool,

This movie buff read a spiritual book

And only one teaching, he took.

Chant the name and you feel the transcendental

And he thinks he will experience this movie star

As he keeps on chanting

Oh! What ignorance!,

He does not know what is transcendental,

Nothing of this material world, even the movie star can give the higher taste

It is indeed not so easy to find the sat-chit-ananda or the eternal blissful consciousness

But there is one name which can give the spiritual rasa,

There is one and only one nama which is not of this material world

But is definitely present in this material world.

That name is not a mundane syllable constitution,

One cannot take it as a humdrum sound vibration.

The Holy Nama reflects the omnipotence of our Krishna.

So, when we chant “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

The Holy Nama gives us the experience,

The experience of the potency of the supreme personality of Godhead.

The spiritual nama is thus a gift for us - the fallen souls,

In this material world where everyone is envious,

We have the power of the Holy Name.

The Holy Name which is as powerful as Krishna Himself

That Holy Name which chanted daily with a pure heart

Gives us the bhakti and the Shakti for the whole day.

It is the Holy Name which protected the great Bhakt Prahlad from his vicious father,

It is the very same Holy Name which didn’t let the poison harm the great devotee MiraBai,

Such is the power of the Holy Name

Because Krishna’s Name and He are not different,

The Holy Name will save you from your greatest misery, sorrow, pain and dangers.

And so chant the Holy Name with full devotion,

because as stated in the Srimad Bhagvatam:

āpannaḥ saḿsṛtiḿ ghorāḿ

yan-nāma vivaśo gṛṇan

tataḥ sadyo vimucyeta

yad bibheti svayaḿ bhayam

Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, which is feared by fear personified.

The Mahabharat continues...

Several years ago, Mahabharata had shaken Mother Earth.

When the tree of Dharma shook

And the demon of Adharma grew enormous

The Mahabharata occurred

And it still continues.

The end of Duryodhana, Dushasana and Shakuni was not the end of Mahabharata

It was just the message, the light for the continuing Mahabharata.

Till this date it continues,

We see it everywhere,

Be it corrupt people exploiting others

Or nations at war, the Mahabharata continues.

Causes are several for this eternal clash between Dharma and Adharma

But there is one vital cause: the presence of Anarthas in our hearts

The anarthas of pride, lust, greed, anger are the pillars for this waging Mahabharata in our society.

And to add fuel to the fire,

We have meat-eating, lewd thoughts in our minds, intoxication like drinking and smoking, gambling and lot more.

O!Krishna! You personally guided Arjuna,

In today’s conditions also, we need Your guidance to end the Mahabharat both inside us and surrounding us,

We need Your mercy to end the Anarthas dwelling in our hearts.

And for this reason You spoke the Bhagavada Gita,

Bhagavada Gita – the message of peace,

Bhagavada Gita – the message which settles the waves of anarthas in our hearts

The Bhagavada Gita emanating from Your Lotus mouth stands as a weapon

To protect ourselves from today’s Duryodhana, Dushasana and Shakunis.

It stands as an impetus to make us stand faithfully on the side of Dharma

And not be dragged down by Adharma like the great warrior Karana.

We see it infront of our eyes,

What can be the most potent protection of all, other than Krishna’s instructions?

The song sung by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

So, bow down in humility and accept the Bhagavada Gita with all reverence

Until then the Mahabharata continues…

Take Care, Mon Ami

(This is for my friend in India who is very sad right now. For those who dont know what Mon Ami means, it means "My friend" in French)

Stay calm Mon Ami, for what is gone is now the past,

Stay calm Mon Ami, for what happened is now the past,

Stay calm Mon Ami, for the one who does not have you

Has lost a lot;

 

I remember our friendship days Mon Ami,

How you would cheer me up in the darkest of skies,

How you used to help the bird of hope fly in the

Strongest of winds,

How you helped me always see the silver lining amongst the dark clouds,

Now that you are sour, it is my turn, my duty

To see to it that no one pains you again,

Now that you are gloomy, it is my duty

To bring that beautifool smile back on that face

 

Shed no tears Mon Ami, for tears worth zillions

Shouldn’t be wasted on something as down as that,

Alas! But this is life,

A plate of pizza with some rather many rotten mushroom toppings,

But what lesson does it teach you?

Do not get the pizza from the same place, for you will be betrayed again.

See the hope, learn from what has happened

 

Alas! But this is life,

Look into the past just once and for all,

And see what not others but what you did wrong,

Learn from it; implement it in your life Mon Ami

And so one by one when you have removed all the rotten mushrooms,

You can enjoy the pizza of life,

See the sorrow not as a loss,

It is a gain since you have learnt not to trust that easily,

For you have learnt the right thing to do, at the right time

And I hope you are learning to choose friends who won’t abandon you in dismay

 

Oh Mon Ami, we all are with you,

We will help you remove all those rotten mushrooms,

But it is you not me who actually has to remove the mushrooms.

I know it is difficult, sometimes even rotten mushroom tastes good,

But as the word says it is indeed “rotten”, so remove it.

 

So, do not be sad,

For when you shed tears,

I can feel the flood here,

For when you are upset, I can feel the sadness around me.

So, at least not for your pizza but for my pizza

Keep smiling, Mon Ami

Keep smiling Mon Ami,

For you should have the faith that whenever again you find a rotten mushroom,

We, your old friends, shall always help you make your pizza, your life happier;

Take care, Mon Ami!