Salutations to the Guru

Sortas

baṃdau guru pada kaṃja kṛpā siṃdhu nararūpa hari.

mahāmōha tama puṃja jāsu bacana rabi kara nikara..5.. [1-0-5]

I bow to the lotus feet of my Guru, who is an ocean of mercy and is no other than Śrī Hari Himself in human form, and whose words are sunbeams as it were for dispersing the mass of darkness in the form of gross ignorance.(5)

Chaupais

baṃdau guru pada paduma parāgā. suruci subāsa sarasa anurāgā..

amiya mūrimaya cūrana cārū. samana sakala bhava ruja parivārū.. [1-0-1]

sukṛti saṃbhu tana bimala bibhūtī. maṃjula maṃgala mōda prasūtī..

jana mana maṃju mukura mala haranī. kiēom tilaka guna gana basa karanī.. [1-0-2]

śrīgura pada nakha mani gana jōtī. sumirata dibya drṛṣṭi hiyaom hōtī..

dalana mōha tama sō saprakāsū. baḍaē bhāga ura āvai jāsū.. [1-0-3]

ugharahiṃ bimala bilōcana hī kē. miṭahiṃ dōṣa dukha bhava rajanī kē..

sūjhahiṃ rāma carita mani mānika. guputa pragaṭa jahaom jō jēhi khānika.. [1-0-4]

I greet the pollen-like dust of the lotus feet of my preceptor, refulgent, fragrant and flavoured with love. It is a lovely powder of the life-giving herb, which allays the host of all the attendant ills of mundane existence. It adorns the body of a lucky person even as white ashes beautify the person of Lord Śiva, and brings forth sweet blessings and joys. It rubs the dirt off the beautiful mirror in the shape of the devotee’s heart; when applied to the forehead in the form of a Tilaka (a religious mark), it attracts a host of virtues. The splendour of gems in the form of nails on the feet of the blessed Guru unfolds divine vision in the heart by its very thought. The lustre disperses the shades of infatuation, highly blessed is he in whose bosom it shines. With its very appearance the bright eyes of the mind get opened; the attendant evils and sufferings of the night of mundane existence disappear; and gems and rubies in the shape of stories of Śrī Rāma, both patent and hidden, wherever and in whatever mine they may be, come to light.

Dohas

jathā suaṃjana aṃji dṛga sādhaka siddha sujāna.

kautuka dēkhata saila bana bhūtala bhūri nidhāna..1.. [1-1]

as for instance, by applying to the eyes the miraculous salve known by the name of Siddhāñjana (the eye-salve of perfection) strivers, adepts as well as men of wisdom easily discover a host of mines on hill-tops, in the midst of forests and in the bowels of the earth.(1)

Chaupais

guru pada raja mṛdu maṃjula aṃjana. nayana amia dṛga dōṣa bibhaṃjana..

tēhiṃ kari bimala bibēka bilōcana. baranau rāma carita bhava mōcana.. [1-1-1]

baṃdau prathama mahīsura caranā. mōha janita saṃsaya saba haranā..

sujana samāja sakala guna khānī. karau pranāma saprēma subānī.. [1-1-2]

sādhu carita subha carita kapāsū. nirasa bisada gunamaya phala jāsū..

jō sahi dukha parachidra durāvā. baṃdanīya jēhiṃ jaga jasa pāvā.. [1-1-3]

muda maṃgalamaya saṃta samājū. jō jaga jaṃgama tīratharājū..

rāma bhakti jahaom surasari dhārā. sarasai brahma bicāra pracārā.. [1-1-4]

bidhi niṣēdhamaya kali mala haranī. karama kathā rabinaṃdani baranī..

hari hara kathā birājati bēnī. sunata sakala muda maṃgala dēnī.. [1-1-5]

baṭu bisvāsa acala nija dharamā. tīratharāja samāja sukaramā..

sabahiṃ sulabha saba dina saba dēsā. sēvata sādara samana kalēsā.. [1-1-6]

akatha alaukika tīratharāū. dēi sadya phala pragaṭa prabhāū.. [1-1-7]

The dust of the Guru’s feet is a soft and agreeable, salve, which is ambrosia as it were for the eyes and remedies the defects of vision. Having brightened my eyes of discernment thereby I proceed to relate the story of Śrī Rāma, which secures freedom from the bondage of mundane existence. First I reverence the feet of Brāhmaṇas, the very gods on earth, who are able to dispel all doubts born of ignorance. Then I make loving obeisance, in a polite language, to the whole body of pious souls, the mines of all virtues. The conduct of holy men is noble as the career of the cotton plant, the fruit whereof is tasteless, white and fibrous (even as the doings of saints yield results which are free from attachment, stainless and full of goodness).* Even by suffering hardships (in the form of ginning, spinning and weaving) the cotton plant covers others’ faults and has thereby earned in the world a renown which is worthy of adoration. The assemblage of saints, which is all joy and felicity, is a moving Prayāga (the king of all holy places) as it were. Devotion to Śrī Rāma represents, in this moving Prayāga, the stream of the holy Gaṅgā, the river of the celestials; while the proceeding of an enquiry into the nature of Brahma (the Absolute) constitutes the Sarasvatī (a subterranean stream which is traditionally believed to join the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā at Prayāga, thus accounting for the name ‘Triveṇī’, which signifies a meeting-place of three rivers). Discourses on Karma or Action, consisting of injunctions and interdictions, have been spoken of as the sacred Yamunā-a daughter of the sun-god in her angelic form-washing the impurities of the Kali age; while the anecdotes of Viṣṇu and Śiva stand out as the triple stream known as Triveṇī, bringing joy and blessings to those who listen to them. Unwavering faith in their own creed constitutes the immortal banyan tree and noble actions represent the royal court of that king of holy places. Easy of access to all on anyday and at every place, this moving Prayāga assuages the afflictions of those who resort to it with reverence. This king of holy places is beyond all description and supra-mundane in character; it bestows the reward immediately and its glory is manifest.(1-7)

• * The fruit of the cotton plant has been characterized in the original as ‘Nīrasa’, ‘Visada’ and ‘Gunamaya’, which words can be interpreted both ways as in the rendering given above.