A bhajan by Raidas sung by Geeta Mali in Shree Muktananda Ashram.
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Please do not copy, record, or distribute.
English rendering from Swami Chidvilasananda, Enthusiasm (SYDA Foundation, 1997), pp. 67, 70, 77, and 80.
This wonderful
bhajan music reverberated in each cell of my being. I am feeling the ecstasy of love in my heart, where I am connected to Gurumayi, in that place where distances are nonexistent.
Icel, Turkey
This sweet, melodic
bhajan takes me back to the courtyard in Gurudev Siddha Peeth and to Sunday morning
bhajans that transported me to the inner courtyard of my own heart. To hear this now has the same effect, made even more dear as the years have passed. It is monsoon here. There are droplets on every flower.
This
bhajan brings me so close to Gurumayi. I am grateful!
Riberas del Pilar, Mexico
This has been a favorite
bhajan of mine since my childhood. It evokes the feeling of longing in me—the longing for the Sadguru.
I’ve contemplated the words many times. Verse 4 is especially meaningful for me: “O Lord, you are the Master and I am your servant.” When I read this verse, I experience the space of humility, studentship, and unconditional love. I experience a great longing for the Guru, who is everywhere.
Thinking of myself as a servant gives me inner strength. I am a school teacher, so seeing myself as a servant of the Guru makes me better able to love and serve my students.
Basamathnagar, India
Many years ago, in the midst of challenges I was experiencing at work, I used to listen to the tapes of various
bhajans during long drives in my car.
Though I did not know the meaning of the words, I found one particular
bhajan to be captivating. I used to listen to it over and over, and a feeling of love and devotion for the Lord arose in me whenever I heard it. What a wonderful surprise, after so many years, to find a translation of this
bhajan on the Siddha Yoga path website!
Finding the
bhajan here—filled with a student’s devotion to his Guru—is like meeting an old friend. As I reflect on that earlier challenging period in my life, I see how Gurumayi’s grace supported me and carried me through it.
California, United States
The sweet, pure, love-filled voice singing the
bhajan enveloped me as if with the sandalwood-fragrant grace of my beloved Gurumayi. I meditated there, inhaling and exhaling the fragrance of the sandalwood.
Nairobi, Kenya
The singer’s voice and feelings helped me experience the devotion expressed by the
bhajan very strongly.
Pune, India
This morning during a discussion with other Siddha Yogis I found myself saying, “I am Gurumayi’s servant.” In saying this, I felt such a deep connection with my heart. Then, on the website, I saw the words of Saint Ravidas: “O Lord, you are the Master and I am your servant.” I was so touched. I realized that truly we are connected.
I pray for such devotion all the time.
a Gurukula student in Gurudev Siddha Peeth
Today on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, I woke up feeling very happy. I opened the Siddha Yoga path website and saw this
bhajan. I read the words
Prabhu ji Tuma Chandana Hama Pani. Then
, I started singing the
bhajan, and I will sing it the whole day with all my heart and mind.
Allahabad, India
After reading this
bhajan, I took a walk under the moon and contemplated Raidas’s words and images, and my relationship to the Guru. I was happy, and as I walked, I felt my own happiness as the manifestation of the Guru Principle. The Guru principle has seemed abstract to me. But tonight, I felt it as elemental to me as the moonlight that provides sustenance for the
chakora bird, and as the light that fulfills the wick’s existence in Raidas’s
bhajan.
When I got home, there was a sense of yearning and devotion in my heart. I had planned to watch a movie, but I was drawn to protect the sacredness of my experience. I spent the rest of my evening in meditation.
New York, United States
“O Lord, you are the sandalwood and I am the water:
Your fragrance permeates my entire being.
Your fragrance pervades everything.”
This image captures me! I am water, and I am permeated with the fragrance of my Guru. I may look the same as I ever did, yet I am changed in a way that can never be undone. I am forever steeped in the fragrance of grace.
As I move through the activities of my day, I am returning to this image, over and over. It instantly brings me to the Guru’s presence. It attunes me to her divine fragrance, which is, indeed, everywhere.
Adelaide, Australia