THE SOLE REFUGE

O Ram, I take refuge in Thee,

Thou art my love, my life, my lead,

I am in Thee, Thou art in me,

Thou art my father, mother, indeed.

Thou art the Life that pervades all.

In Thee all things and lives reside,

Thou art the Life in great and small,

In Thee my friend and brother abide.

Thy lotus feet my constant thought,

Thy light Divine my only dream,

To serve Thee is my pleasing lot,

Thou art my wealth, name and fame.

O Ram, how charming is that sound,

O lips, utter Ram Ram

O mind, meditate Ram Ram,

Forget thyself in Him — in Him.

— Swami Ramdas

How I understand it:

Beloved Papa Swami Ramdas has used the alternate rhyme scheme of ‘ABAB ABAB…” in the first two paragraphs of the poem.

The first three paragraphs are addressed to Ram — the Divine within, and the last paragraph is addressed to his mind.

Beloved Papa begins the poem by praying to Ram — God — and stating that he takes refuge at HIS holy feet. Total surrender has been the touchstone of Beloved Papa entire life and was the bedrock of his transformative spiritual quest.

To surrender totally to the Lord within, one needs to have complete, unshakable faith and unconditional love towards HIM. Ram is therefore looked up, by Beloved Papa as his love, his life, his lead and also his mother, father, friend and brother. The Divine was his all-in-all from the very start of his spiritual life. In fact, the verity of which is corroborated from many little incidents recounted in many of Beloved Papa’s books: IN QUEST OF GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, etc.

Here is a little incident once narrated by Beloved Papa: He went to someone’s house and was sitting with them. Suddenly felt his Inner Voice — an intuitive calling from Ram within — asking him to leave the place. Without any doubts or misgivings about this calling, Beloved Papa immediately got up and started walking out. After he reached the gate, he received another calling to go back inside. He, again, without question, followed the Divine lead and went back in.

One may wonder about this relationship that Beloved Papa had with Ram. To quote his own words: “Very often Ramdas tells friends that Ram told him this and that. You will find even in his books how he had conversations with Him. People wonder in what way Ramdas talked to Him and how He responded to his feelings, impulses and talks. This is a wonderful thing, but it is there all the same. Ramdas remembers one thing, that all through his Sadhana God was guiding him in a mysterious way from the very beginning. He knew it was God who gave him strength and it was by His grace he could boldly walk on the path, hold on to Him and attain the goal.”

Pujya Swami Muktanandaji repeatedly reminds us in his talks that Beloved Papa often described the Divine as the “Indwelling and All-Pervading Reality”; this idea finds expressions in the next paragraph of this poem: “Thou art the Life that pervades all. In Thee all things and lives reside.” The Lord encompasses and transcends everything. Therefore, all beings and things reside in the Divine. Elsewhere, Beloved Papa has mentioned, “The microcosm is the macrocosm. The individual is the universal. God dwells in every being and thing, however small, in His entirety and perfection.”

The theme of a Shloka from the Kathopanishad is echoed in the next line where he mentions: “Thou art the Life in great and small”. The Shloka goes as follows:

अणोरणीयान् महतो महीयानात्माऽस्य जन्तोर्निहितो गुहायाम् ।

तमक्रतुः पश्यति वीतशोको धातुप्रसादान्महिमानमात्मनः ॥२:२०॥

Anoraniyan Mahato Mahiyan Atmasya Jantor Nihito Guhayam;

Tam Akratuh Pasyati Vitasoko Dhatuhprasadat Mahimanam Atmanah

The Self that is sublter than the subtle, greater than the great; It dwells in the heart of living beings. He who is free from desire and free from grief, with mind and senses tranquil, beholds the glory of the Atman.॥2:20॥

Swami Parmanandaji explains it thus: “Although this Atman dwells in the heart of every living being, yet It is not perceived by ordinary mortals because of Its subtlety. It cannot be perceived by the senses; a finer spiritual sight is required… It is subtler than the subtle, because It is the invisible essence of everything; and It is greater than the great because It is the boundless, sustaining power of the whole universe; that upon which all existence rests.” (Source: Four Upanishads)

Beloved Papa’s one-pointed devotion for Ram is distinctly evident in the next two paragraphs where he says that dwelling on the lotus feet of the Lord is his constant though, to attain Light-Divine was his only dream and serving Him was his pleasing lot.

The very name of Ram is so appealing to Beloved Papa that he wanted his lips to constantly utter “Ram Ram”, and the mind to continuously meditate on Ram, forgetting himself totally, getting lost in Ram, thus becoming one with Ram!

Prem Sudha:

The Marathi translation of this poem, as enshrined in the collection called Prem Sudha, is given below:

सर्वाधार

करी आश्रया तव अंतरी रघुनायका,

मम प्रीति तूं, मम प्राण तूं, पथदर्शका,

तुजमजि मी, मजमाजि तूं वससी सदा,

मम तूं पिता, जननी खरी प्राणायाम्बुदा.

तव चित्कला सकळांस व्यापुनिया असे,

तुझियामधें अवघें चराचर हें वसें,

तव चेतना विलसे अणू-मेहतांमधें,

मम मित्र वा, मम बंधु हे तुझियामधें.

तव पादपंकज चिंतनें मज संतत,

तव दिव्यकांतिच होय एक मनोरथ,

तव सेवनीं मम वृत्ती उल्हसिता सदां,

तवची प्रभो मम कीर्ति हि, मम संपदा.

प्रभु, 'राम' हें तव नाम मंजुळ, सुंदर,

वदना वदे तरि 'राम राम' निरंतर.

करि 'राम राम' चि मानसा, प्रभुचिंतनीं,

विसरोनिया निजता तुझी सकलावनीं.

The mp3 of the Bhajan is also attached herewith.