COURAGE

COURAGE! victory is thine
The Lord is thy friend and aid.
He hath held thee by His hand,
His grace lights on thee,
He is thy prop — trust Him
And thou art saved.
So faint not — fear not.
— Swami Ramdas

How I understand it:

In this poem Beloved Papa urges the devotee to have courage and patience while pursuing Sadhana. He also assures that courage and patience will ensure success in the spiritual endeaours as the Lord is the aspirant’s friend and prop along the way.

The implied message in the poem is to surrender unconditionally to Him in every situation. Beloved Papa used to tell the story of the kitten and the baby monkey. He said: “It is safe to be like the kitten that is held by its mother, and not to be like the baby monkey that holds on to its mother. God should hold us, not we Him. So, the safer and surer way is to take refuge in God and be ever under His grace and protection.”

He therefore urges the aspirant to trust Him and surrender to Him. As then there would be no scope for fear: physically, mentally or spiritually.

Beloved Papa’s life is a fine example of surrender. We too, from our experience can vouch that the moments when we have had the courage to hold on to Him and surrender to Him, we have been saved from many difficult situations.

As in many of his poems, here too Beloved Papa has uses the last line to add emphasis to the theme of the poem — courage. Hence, “faint not — fear not”! 

Prem Sudha:

Pujya Mataji Krishnabai, the foremost disciple of Beloved Papa, had some of his poems translated into Marathi. These were them made into Bhajans, which are regularly sung in Anandashram.

The translation of this poem in Marathi is as follow:

धैर्य
धैर्य धरी रे. मग विजय तुझाची बा रे.
असे प्रभू तो सखा त्वदीय
सहाय्यकर्ता, एक शरण्य
स्वये तुला तो प्रभूवर धान्य, हस्त धरूनि नेई.
कृपा तयाची विलसे तुझावर
आश्रय तव तो  एकचि सुंदर भाव तया ठेवी.
निश्चिन्तचि मग तव उद्धार
निरूत्साहता टाकुनिया तर
निर्भय तूं होई.

The mp3 of the Bhajan is also attached herewith.



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