Sunday, March 9, 2014

Yasoda Inducing Krishna To Stay Nearby


Kanha, don't go so far to play,
you do not know the 'hau' is here,
I've learnt of it today.
one boy came running just now
I saw him crying away,
the 'hau' clips the ears away
of little boys astray.
come let us be up and gone
to near our place of stay,
Sur, Shyam on hearing this,
with Balaram came away.

The Welcome Of The Women Of Braj


'Tis morn, O Krishna, awake, all the pretty young milkmaids are calling for you; arise O Braj's prince, The sun is up in the sky, the moon pales, the tender tamala trees are in full bloom .

The women of Braj have stringed a garland of flowers of many kinds and wait to greet you. Arise dear child, wash your face and have your breakfast, O my heart's delight!

Says Sura, my Lord of large lotus-like eyes is the abode of bliss that never abates.

The Lord Is His Devotees' Slave


Whatever is a devotee's
caste, clan, family, or name,
Rama's love for him is the same.

Beggar and king
are one to him.

Say, of what caste could be
Brahma or Shiva?

Rama will never abide
in the egotistic man's heart
therefore his slave, Suradasa,
has abandoned pride.

Rama was born in the Raghu clan
Krishna found his home in Gokula.

Words fail to tell of
the Lord's love
universal, all-embracing;
Dhruva was a Kshatriya,
Prahlada a demon and Vidura the son of a maid:
yet the Lord gave them his supreme love,
Krishna washed the devotees' feet
at the Rajasuya.

The Lord is the slave
of his devotees
age after age.
The tongue can't relate
his countless deeds.

Says Suradasa, the Puranas and Vedas
are witness to these.

The Lord Helps His Devotees


The voice falters
when it sings of the deeds of the Lord
who's an ocean of mercy.
He gave guileful Putana, who posed as his mother, a
mother's reward!
He of whom the Vedas and the Upanishads sing as the Unmanifest,
let Yashoda bind him with a rope,
lamented Ugrasena's grief,
and after killing Kansa made him king
paying him obeisance, bowing low;
Freed the kings held captive by jardsandha
at which the kingly hosts sang his praises;
removing Gautama's curse
he restored life to stone-turned Ahalya:'
all in a moment he rescued Braj's ruler from the sea-monster running to his
aid as a cow to her calf,"
he came hastening to rescue the king of the elephants;
he got Namadeva's hut thatched.
says Suradasa, O, make Hari hear my prayer.

The Invigorating Dawn


Awake, O Krishna awake,
the night has gone arise,
no longer laze breathe the pure air of early morn;
the cowherd-lads come and gaze at you,
and seeing you asleep,
depart as swarms of bumblebees
fly from the lotus clusters.

O darling boy,
dark as the tamala,
if you don't believe me,
open your large eyes
and see for yourself.

The Formless Brahma Has Incarnated As Krishna


Krishna awoke;

Yashoda was enraptured to see his face blooming as a lotus that captures the rising sun's first rays. Taking off the coverlet she said, 'awake, darling boy, awake, your loveliness makes me swoon your bewitching face is like the full moon seen through the sea's foam when it was churned for nectar.'

He for whom the Shrutis say 'not this, not this? whose name is chanted by Brahma, Shesha and Shiva that Formless Brahma has taken birth in Braj, in human form, so 'tis heard.

The First Meeting Of Radha And Krishna


Krishna went playing in the lanes of Braj,
a yellow silk garment round his waist,
holding a top and a string to spin it with,
a crown of peacock-feathers adorning his head
his ears with charming ear-rings decked,
his teeth flashing brighter than the sun's rays,
his limbs anointed with sandalwood-paste.

On the Yamuna bank he chanced to see Radha;
a tika mark of turmeric on her brow,
dressed in a flowing skirt and blue blouse,
her lovely long wreathed hair dangling behind,
a stripling, fair, of beauty unsurpassed
with he a bevy of fair milkmaids:

Krishna's eyes met her's;
love woke in his heart,
says Suradasa, bewitched by her,
he gazed and gazed.