Goswami Tulsidas poems
Goswami Tulsidas(1543-1623 / Rajpur, Uttar Pradesh / India)
Sound Celestial
- by Goswami Tulsidas 11
Listen, O friend, to the thunderous roar of Shabd,Which reverberates throughout the firmament.
Water, which becomes turbid by relishing the earth,
Gets cleansed of its impurities when filtered.
Waves of pure bliss emanate from the heart
When the moss that covers it is removed.
Hold the arrow, be still, stretch the bow taut,
Fix your aim sharp at the target, pierce the firmament.
The invisible world is contained within the human eye,
So say and describe all men of inner knowledge.
Behold the Brahmand within, through your astral eye.
When that eye is opened, everything stands revealed.
The soul in Sunn will hear resounding peals of Sound,
She will uncover and know the essence of Shabd.
They alone, O Tulsi, will know that perfect state,
Who have seen and experienced it themselves.
[Translation by S. L. Sondhi]
The Rainy Season
- by Goswami Tulsidas 10
In whom longing for the Beloved hath taken abode,Every moment his body becometh feeble and enervated.
A stream of tears constantly flows from his eyes;
The pangs of pain ceaselessly smart his body and mind.
Like rivers in Sawan and Bhadon, overflows the stream of my love.
Day and night I long for Him and tears fall like incessant rain.
The pain for my Beloved increasingly penetrates my being every moment;
My attention can be transfixed on nought but him,
Even as the moon bird never gets satiated by looking at the moon.
Dark clouds gather and burst with thunder, and lightning dazzles the eyes.
The peacock crows in delight and the rain bird sings his longing.
I yearn for thee evermore, my body keeps wasting away in anguish.
When I listen to the Sound, I lose my patience and I write to my Beloved.
With mind and soul as my couriers, I send my message to His inaccessible abode.
When I hear the tidings of His well-being,
My heart is filled with love and delight.
Ever since this yearning for the Lord has taken hold of me,
I have severed all connections with the world.
[Translation by S. L. Sondhi]