Song
Name: Asalo Katha Bolte
Author: Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
Book Name: Baul Sangit
(Songs of the Madman)
(1)
āsalo kathā bolte ki tomār kenthā-dhorā, kapni-āṅṭā-saba phāṅki
(2)
dharma-patnī tyaji’ ghare, para-nārī-saṅga kore, artha-lobhe dvāre
dvāre phire, rākhle ki bake
(3)
tumi guru bolcho vaṭe, sādhu-guru niṣkapaṭe, kṛṣṇa-nām deno
karṇa-puṭe, se ki emon hoy meki?
(4)
jebā anya śikṣā dey, tā’ke ki ‘guru’ bolte hoy? dudher phal to’
ghole noy, bheve’ citte dekho dekhi
(5)
śama-dama-titikṣā-bale, uparati, śraddhā ho’le, tabe bheko
cāṅda-bāul, bole, eṅcaḍe peke habe ki?
TRANSLATION
1) O you have so much to say about being genuine! You are seen to
be wrapped in an old tattered blanket and wearing a simple
loincloth, just like a renounced ascetic -- but in actuality all of
this is simply pretentious.
2) Leaving your legally married wife at home, you go off and keep
the company of the wives of others. In your greed for acquiring
more and more wealth, you wander like a poor beggar from door to
door, and you secretly keep so many surpluses stored away.
3) You are quite confident in presenting yourself as a saintly
spiritual master, and thus you are busily engaged in initiating
innocent people by reciting Krishna-nama into their ear -- is this
behavior not a great charade?
4) Can anyone be called a "guru" simply because he gives advice to
others? A cook can never use whey in a recipe that calls for milk.
Now think about this and just see what I see.
5) On the strength of the true qualities of peacefulness, sense
control, and tolerance, one's mundane desires are renounced as true
spiritual faith arises. That being the case, the renunciant Chand
Baul says, "What will become of your premature imitation of
spiritual perfection?"
