SOAR UP


Soar on the wings of faith and aspiration
To the seat of the Beloved.
Be garbed in the robes of purity and peace
And seek His presence.
Sweetly sing the name of the King of kings.
And draw Him to thy heart.
Apply the collyrium of love to the eyes
And behold Him everywhere.
— Swami Ramdas

How I understand it:

In this poem, the aspirant is urged to soar up from the down-pulling tendencies with the aid of the wings — faith and aspiration — to the seat of the Beloved within. Faith and aspiration are the key elements that can aid the ascent of the aspirant to the Realm Eternal. Therefore, Beloved Papa Swami Ramdas has symbolised them as wings.

It is in a still mind alone that the Truth is revealed. The mind can attain stillness only when it is pure and equipoised. Therefore, Purity and peace are the attire for seeking the presence of the Beloved within.

 Time and again we have been told by Beloved Papa about the glory of singing the Divine Name, he states: “Chanting the sweet Name of the Eternal Beloved arrests distracting thoughts, subdues unregulated desires and enlightens the intellect. The Divine Name, after enabling its devotees to achieve thorough concentration of mind, helps to draw the mind inward and attain complete absorption in the Eternal Reality… The Divine Name is the way, the means and the goal, for it stands for the highest Truth the Supreme Godhead. The Name unlocks the fountain of your heart and floods your being with immortal light, knowledge, peace and joy.” Elsewhere he also states: “Verily, Name is God. He is present where His names are sung with love.” Therefore, the aspirant is counselled to draw the attention and love of the Beloved, who is King of kings, by sweetly singing His Name and glories.

The aspirant is further advised to see the indwelling Lord everywhere, which can only be done if we love Him — the Common Denominator — in everyone and everything. The following words of Beloved Papa explain how this can be achieved: “A man who has found God within, truly loves all because he sees in all the same God… On what basis can you love another unless you have dived deep into yourself and found that you and he are one? The same Spirit that dwells in you dwells also in him. And this oneness of the Spirit makes you automatically love another as yourself. If you want to love another as yourself, then you must see something common in both of you. intellectually and physically you are different from others. But still there is something common between you and them, and that is the Universal Spirit which we call God. Truly, we are all manifestations or forms of the one Divine Spirit, and in the light of this knowledge alone we can truly love one another, giving up our petty spirit of exploitation, ill will and hate.” It is thus that we can see the Beloved everywhere. The love that the Gopis had for Krishna made them see Him in everyone and everything.

This poem conveys the very essence of Divine love and is replete with Bhakti. Reading this poem gives us an inkling of the love and devotion that Mira, Radha and the Gopis had for Krishna.

The imagery in their poem transports us to the realm of the Gopis all dressed up to meet their Beloved Krishna in the woods and perform the Raas Lila. Every Gopi sees Krishna dancing with herself.

Beloved Papa extolled the Bhakti that Gopis had for Krishna. He said, “Gopis’ love for Krishna was wonderful. It is difficult to find words to describe this love. When the Gopis thought of Krishna, they were simply lost in Him. They forgot themselves and their surroundings. They were in a state of ecstasy. All their worldly desires and thoughts were drowned in that ecstasy. Their love was of the purest and holiest type, grand and sublime. Very few can understand the sublimity of this love.”

 This poem brings to mind, simultaneously, the manifest and the unmanifest aspects of the Reality. The depth of it can be understood from both these aspects. Which is probably why Pujya Mataji Krishnabai said: “How beautiful are Papa’s compositions!  They deal with both Nirguna and Saguna Swarup. That is why, perhaps, they are not always easy to understand. We have to hear them many a time before we can imbibe their true import. That is because Papa’s vision encompassed the universe and, in his compositions, he has looked upon the Saguna Swarup as one whole and also covered the Nirguna Swarup. He sings of the highest truths which cannot be understood at first glance.”

Prem Sudha:

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

भरारी
प्रभुपदिं जाया मार भरारी
श्रद्धा आणी मुमुक्षतेच्या पक्षद्वयांनी वरी. ।। ध्रु ।।
प्रभू सान्निध्याचा शोध करी,
शांती आणी पावित्र्याचा वस्त्रें घालूनि वरी!
निजहृदयीं तूं आण ओदुनी,
राजाधिराज प्रभूवर्याचे नाम मधुर गाउनी!
सर्वांठायी पाही प्रभूवर,
नेत्रीं घालुनि अंजन उज्ज्वल प्रेमस्वरूपी वर!

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