Arati Songs
By Giggling Geckos and Volunteers
Over the past couple of weeks, as part of the camp activities, the entire camp had the precious opportunity to learn the Madhyan Arati from our beloved Ammagaru! The Madhyan Arati has been sung at Shirdi for over a 100 years. The goal was to understand the meaning behind the Madhyan Arati, learn the correct pronunciation, and sing it at the Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi during the upcoming Guru Purnima celebrations. Our beloved Ammagaru taught everyone with incredible patience and love. For many Geckos and volunteers, these sessions with Ammagaru have been one of the highlights of this year's camp! The geckos love to sing, and when their voices unite, it creates a beautiful sense of oneness, allowing them to feel whole and connected to something larger than themselves. Singing is also a way for everyone to connect with Guruji Tatayya and Baba Tatayya. Keeping them in our thoughts while singing brings a sense of deep connection with them.
Lyrics and Translation by our Guruji
VIII. NAMASKĀRĀṢṬAKAM [ same as Dhūp.V]
[Eight verses on Obeisance]
Composed by :: Sri Mohini Raj (Marathi)
1. Anaṅtā tulā te kase re stavāve
Anaṅtā tulā te kase re namāve
Anaṅtā mukhānchā śine śeṣa gātān.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
2. Smarāve manī tvatpadā nitya bhāve
Urāve tarī bhakti sāṭhī svabhāve
Tarāve jagā tārunī māyatātā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
3. Vase jo sadā dāvayā saṅtalīlā
Dise ajñya lokāṅparī jo janāṅlā
Parī aṅtarī jñāna kaivalyadātā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
4. Barā lādhalā janma hā mānavāchā
Narā sārthakā sādhanī bhūṭa sāchā
Dharu Sāī premā galāyā ahaṅtā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
5. Dharāve karī sāna alpajña bālā
Karāve āmhan dhanya chuṁbonī gālā
Mukhī ghāla preme kharā grāsa ātā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
6. Surādīka jyāṅchyā padā vanditātī
Śukādīka jyāte samānatva detī
Prayāgādi tīrthe padī namra hotā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
7. Tujhyā jyā padā pāhatā Gopabālī
Sadā raṅgalī chitsvarupī milālī
Karī rāsakrīdā save Kṛṣṇanāthā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnātha!
8. Tulā māgato māgane eka dhyāve
Karā jodito dīna atyaṅṭa bhāve.
Bhavī Mohanīrāja hā tārī ātā.
Namaskāra sāṣṭānga Śrī Sāīnāthā!
Translation
1. O Infinite One, how can I extol thee! O Boundless Being, how to make obeisance to thee! Even Adisesa, having innumerable faces, is exhausted singing thy ineffable glories. Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations to thee!
2. Daily I contemplate thy holy feet with ardent devotion. That contemplation (in turn), strengthens my devotion to thee. Only by such steadfast devotion can one escape from the snares of illusory worldly attachments. Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations to thee!
3. The object of thy life (as Sai Baba) is to bless the pious with the leelas of thy divine glory. To the ignorant, thou too seem to be such a one. But, in reality, thou art the bestower of true knowledge and enlightenment. Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations to thee!
4. It is a rare fortune to have this human birth. One should utilize it by earnest endeavours to realise the Self. Hence, (I) subdue the ego and kindle love towards thee in my heart. Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations to thee!
5. Carry me, this ignorant child, in thine arms, make me blessed by caressing me affectionately and feeding me lovingly with thy prasād. Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations to thee!
6. To whose holy feet all gods make obeisance; to whom great sages such as Suka pay homage as their compeer; at whose feet all holy places such as Prayag lay humbly. To thee, Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations!
7. In order to obtain the good fortune to be always at thy holy feet, the milkmaids of Brindavan (Gopabali) took part in thy divine sport completely absorbed in the ecstatic joy of pure Awareness. Thou art verily Lord Krishna, O Sainath! My worshipful prostrations to thee!
8. With folded hands I humbly implore thee, with ardent devotion, for naught else but to save me, Mohini Raj (the psalmist), from the snares of worldly attachments and desires. O Lord Sainath, my worshipful prostrations to thee!
Commentary
This lucid octave, with its forcefully effective refrain, was composed by Sri Mohini Raj, an ardent devotee of Sri Sai Baba who worked as a Mamlatdar at Nasik. Experiencing an unconditioned state of blissful ecstasy is the goal of all spiritual endeavours, and effacing the conditionings of the ego which get in the way of realizing that state is the essence of all spiritual disciplines. Ego has an instinctive, self-perpetuating tendency which doesn’t allow it to throw itself off happily. When encountering an overwhelming situation or an overpowering personage, the ego experiences unpleasant reflexes and grabs at all possible self-defensive positions. Only on the path of devotion are the subtle conditionings of ego loosened by the overpowering emotion of devotion and the ego allows itself to be blissfully lost in its own image of the divine magnitude. Namaskar symbolizes this state of the ego’s readiness to lose itself. Gestures like uniting one’s two palms together or prostrating while doing namaskar suggest the state of merger or union. Thus namaskar is not merely a deferential gesture of greeting. It is a meaningful technique handed down over centuries by the masters of mystic wisdom as a means of effacing the ego. It should not be simply treated as an adjuvant ancillary to other devotional moods and practices. In fact, it has been given an independent status as a mode of devotional discipline. Namaskara bhakti is one of the nine modes of devotional approaches (Navavidha bhakti) enumerated in the tenets of devotional literature. (6) Literally, the term namaskar may be said to be a compound of three root-words in Sanskrit: na (=no) + mama (=I)+āskāra (= scope), i.e., it means “no scope for the ‘I’ ”. Thus, it is a state of mind in which the self is effaced by an expressive recognition of the divine magnitude; to bear such a self-effacing feeling in mind is true namaskar. Sastanga Namaskar means ‘namaskar with eight limbs’: sa=with; ashta = eight; anga = limbs. Sastanga namaskar is making reverential obeisance by prostrating in such a way that the eight limbs of the body, viz., two hands, two legs, two shoulders, chest and forehead, touch the ground. All the devout gestures such as folding of hands (keeping the palms together before the heart, anjali mudra), kneeling, bowing down in obeisance, prostrating, etc., are only ingenious devices conducing to effecting a feeling of self-effacing humility in our hearts. Bereft of such a feeling namaskar becomes merely nominal, a gesture empty of meaning. This Hymnal Octave of Obeisance [Namaskar Astakam], if meaningfully recited, enables us to do perpetual prostration-sastanga namaskar- to Sri Sai Baba (in our minds), by making the eight stanzas of the hymn represent the eight limbs required!
IX. AISĀ YEĪ BĀ– (Prārthanā) [same as Dhūp VI]
[Such art Thou, Baba]
(Traditional Prayer) (Marathi)
Dhr. Aisā yeī Bā, Sāī Digambarā,
Akṣyarūpa avatārā, sarvahi vyāpaka tū.
Śṛuṭisārā, Anusayā’ Trikumārā.
Bābā yeī Bā.
1. Kāśī snāna japa, pratidivaśī.
Kolhāpū ra bhikṣesī, Nirmala nadī Tungā,
Jala prāśī, nidrā Māhura deśī,
Aisā yeī Bā.
2. Jholī loṁbatase vāma karī,
Triśūla-damarū-dhārī, bhaktāṇ varada sadā sukhakārī,
Deśīla muktī chārī,
Aisā yeī Bā.
3. Pāyī pādukā japamālā kamandalu mṛgachāyā,
Dhārana kariśī Bā.
Nāgajatā mukuṭa śobhato māthā,
Aisā yeī Bā.
4. Tatpara tujhyā yā je dhyānī, akśaya tyāṅche sadanī,
Lakṣṃī vāsa karī dinarajanī,
Rakṣisi saṅkaṭa vāruni,
Aisā yeī Bā.
5. Yā parī dhyāna tujhe Gururāyā dṛśya karī nayaṅāyā,
Pūrnānaṅdasukhe hī kāyā,
Lāvisi hariguna gāyā,
Aisā yeī Bā.
Dhr. Sāī Digambarā,
Akṣyarūpa avatārā, sarvahi vyāpaka tū.
Śṛuṭisārā, Anusayā’ Trikumārā.
Bābā yeī Bā.
Translation
Refrain: We invoke thee, O Sai Digambar! Thou art the immortal incarnation of the indestructible spirit which animates the infinite forms in this universe. Thou art all-pervasive and the essence of all revealed scriptures! I invoke thee, my Lord, the son of Sage Atri and Anasuya!
1. I invoke thee, O Sai Digambar, who perform thy daily ceremonial ablutions at Kashi (Benares), accept alms at Kolhapur, partake daily of the pure waters of the Tung Bhadra, and retire to bed every night at Mahurpur. (7)
2. Adorned with mendicant bag round thy left arm and trishul (trident), and holding a damaru (two-sided hand-drum) in thy right hand, thou always make thy devotees happy by granting them boons and leading them on the path of Liberation. Such as thou art, O Sai Digambar, I invoke thee!
3. Wearing wooden sandals on thy comely feet, holding a rosary and a kamandalu (water-pot) in thy hands, and dressed in a deer-skin, thou shine forth as Lord Shiva with a crown of matted locks coiled like a serpent on thy head. Such as thou art, O Sai Digambar, I invoke thee!
4. Thou takest all care to see there is no dearth in the houses of thy devotees who devoutly contemplate thee, and thou make the goddess of wealth never to leave their homes. Thou art ever vigilant day and night to ward off troubles from thy devotees. O Sai Digambar, I invoke thee!
5. O Master of Masters! Bestow on me the boundless bliss of having constantly the vision of thy blessed form and bless me to contemplate thee uninterruptedly. Make my body always adore thee in singing thy glories. O Sai Digambar, I ardently invoke thee!
Commentary
This is also one of the traditional [Varkari] hymns adapted for the Psalm Book of Shirdi Aratis by substituting ‘Sai’ for ‘Datta’ in the refrain.