With the coming birthday of Sri Chaitanya on Sunday, the 28th, I wanted to share this poem; a sort of rewrite of His eight verses known as sikshastakam.
Chaitanya’s Versus
Victory to the sacred sound that cleanses all around
There’s filth in the heart, piled up from the start
Many births of desires, have burst up like fires
Therefore, the kirtan charge, is for humanity at large
It’s a practice so cool, like the rays of the moon
It’s the fruit of wisdom, with joy that’s arisen
So sweet to the taste, we go there in haste
You who are Divine, this sound is sublime
With thousands of names, they all are the same
In them all energies are invested, the names are the same
Rules? Not hard and fast, it’s easy to pass
Out of sheer kindness the sound is sure to bind us
Attractive! Accessible! Approachable! Doable!
But what is most unfortunate… I can’t always appreciate it
To approach the sound, one must be humbly-bound
Like the straw in the street, one has to be meek
Like a tall, stout tree, tolerant as can be
I’m telling you brother, it’s the ego we have to smother
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.... respect is how it should be
With the right attitude, the constant sound has platitude
Oh, power behind the universe
I’m not looking to be fabulously rich
Not to be overwhelmed by the lustful itch
Nor entangled in the name/fame hitch
I’ll have my bhakti list, though birth persist
Oh, son of Nanda
I love you and I will assist you
But I’m in an ocean, drowning without devotion
Pick me up from this ocean of death, before my last breath
While those lotus feet are handsome, place me there like an atom
When will the time come, when tears of love will run
And flow so constantly, while chanting in ecstasy?
When will my voice choke up, in the course of shake-up?
When will hair stand on end, as we chant to transcend?
Govinda is your name, separation makes me insane
One moment lasts forever, like twelve years or whatever
Tears come like rain, your absence gives such pain
This vacancy in life, creates so much strife
But I know only you as my lover, there is no other
Even when it’s rough, I’ll never have enough
Of heart-felt embrace, or when we find no trace
Of you in your freedom to act, so I’ll state the fact
That I love you, I love you, I always will love you
Source: http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/2021/03/tuesday-march-23-2021.html
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