Is this Proper to Do?

Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2008 23:19:38 -0000 To: am-global@earthlink.net From: "Amriteshwar Verma" Subject: Is this Proper to Do? Baba "Ka'lo jetha'y a'loy meshe, sa't sa'gar pa're..." (1867) Purport: Baba, after crossing the seven oceans there is a land where the blackness and effulgence meet: the world of immortality, i.e. satyaloka. O' my dearmost, by Your grace I will get You there-- at that effulgent tangential point.* Baba, Your and my intimate closeness has been going on since eternity. It is beyond the relative factors of time, space, and person. Baba, our relation knows no limitations. In the begininng we were one; during my entire movement through saincara and pratisaincara our unifying link has remained. Baba, today I feel Your love in my heart; in the past also I felt that love; and by Your grace in the future our love will remain. Baba, You alone are my eternal Companion. Everything else in this mobile universe comes and goes. Under the ignorance of avidya maya I foolishly depend on worldly things-- thinking those things will be with me up to eternity. Baba, by Your grace when awareness comes, then I understand that everything in this expressed world is ephemeral, except You-- Parama Purusa. Baba, even the vast, boundless ocean of avidya maya cannot create obstacles in our relation. Baba, between You and me there is a strong attraction. You are pulling me with Your infinite love. Whatever obstacles come along the way will be smashed. Our love will go on and on and I will become one with You by Your grace. Baba, in the past I misunderstood everything and I got captivated by my blind attachments. I temporarily lost the path of divinity and got caught in the net of avidya maya. That was my darkest hour. But now, by Your grace, I realise that I was Yours then and that still today I am Yours. So many lifetimes have passed and by Your grace I remain under Your shelter. Today, I keep Your sweet memory in my heart. My each and every thing is for You. Baba, by saturating me in Your love, make me Yours. Sometimes my mind gets attracted by the worldly colours, and I get attached with those transient things. Baba, please shower Your causeless grace. Please love me so much that Your love dominates my entire existence; then, by Your grace, I will not get attracted by anything else. Baba, please colour me by spreading the love of Your heart-- Your divine love. O' my dearmost, reside eternally in my heart as my most loving One. ASTERISK NOTES (*): *Ka'lo...a'loktiire= These are the opening and closing Bengali words of the first paragraph of the above song (#1867). This entire first stanza carries a deep philosophical meaning and is characterized by this below explanation and quotes. The basic idea is that beyond the multifarious expressions of this mundane existence there is a heavenly abode. By the path of sadhana one can cross the darkness of the unit mind and reach up to that divine threshold-- the abode of Parama Purusa. Baba, being the Taraka Brahma reamins eternally in that divine stance. These following quotes lead in that direction and provide insight into the deeply philosophical meaning of the first stanza of the above Prabhat Samgiita. Baba says, "Satyaloka or the Abode of Truth is the ultimate state, of the highest state of tranquillity (supramental state of witness-ship beyond the scope-of the mind). In philosophical language it is called Brahmaloka or the abode of Brahma." (AMIWL-5) Baba says, "And when the sa'dhakas transcend the illusory bondage of their buddhitattva -- existential “I”-- and race towards the ultimate reality unhindered by any reflection on the mental plate, their intellects and indeed their whole identities merge in Consciousness in its pure form. That unreflected A'tman is alone called the pure Nirgun'a. This state is the unchallengeable position in satyaloka – this state is Consciousness itself." (AMIWL-5) Baba says, "In this sadhana of stabilising the citta the meaning of progress is to gradually cleanse every kos'a of its impurities. When ka'mamaya kos'a is stabilized, the citta will follow the dictates of the manomaya kos'a and will not be swayed by the lower propensities, by sensual proclivities. Then again, when manomaya kos'a becomes tranquil the citta will be free from the influence of kamamaya kos'a. It will then merge its own entity in the atima'nasa kos'a – the supramental mind. In other words, it will exhaust the remaining sam'ska'ras. It cannot perform any original action (pratyayamu'laka) without citta-suddhi, (mental purification) because these non-original actions keep the lower kos'as active. Thus one must continue with sa'dhana' ceaselessly with a view to gradually establishing harmony and equilibrium in the kos'as one after another. The moment the indistinct sensibility of the hiran'maya kos'a (subtle causal mind) is free of the least vestige of impurity, the sa'dhaka shines with the dazzling radiance of the Satyaloka. That is an auspicious moment for a sa'dhaka as it is unification between A'tman and Parama´tman." (AMIWL-5) Baba says, "The perfect sa'dhana' is the sustained effort to completely identify every kos'a with the inner self, thus the more sa'dhakas progress on the path of sa'dhana', the more their cakras and propensities (vrttis) are gradually controlled by the higher and higher kos'as. But the sa'dhakas must not stop here. At the final stage of their sa'dhana' even the stance of a'jina cakra, even their entire mind entity – has to be taken to a higher state of existence, the Brahmaloka, and merged in the Purus'a Bha'va or Cognitive Bearing. It is in the Sahasra'ra Cakra (pineal plexus) that sa'dhakas establish themselves in the true blissful state and transcend the bondages of pleasure and pain. That state is the ultimate state of attainment for microcosms, it is the original stance of Brahma. There exists neither you nor He, the two become One. It is by means of sa'dhana' that this supreme rank is attainable. So you see, the destiny of human beings is in their own hands. You are certainly capable of controlling yourself. Here “yourself” means your propensities – the demons within you." (AMIWL-5)

== IS THIS PROPER TO DO?==

Namaskar, Just as the lines and phrases in the above Prabhat Samgiita contains unique philosophical and devotional meaning. Similarly there are various terms employed throughout His collection of Prabhat Samgiita which are more than mere literary forms. This following letter reviews the meaning of the name 'Ajana Pathik' and discusses whether it should be translated or not.

CALLING HIM

One of the greatest things in the life each and every devotee is to have the opportunity to call the Lord. As we know Baba the Parama Purusa has multiple names, yet it appears that a few jinanis are confused about how to treat these beautiful appellations of Baba. Kindly read the following and share your own thoughts as well.

OUR HOLY BABA NAM KEVALAM MANTRA IS NEVER TRANSLATED AND SUNG

As each and every margii has the feeling in their heart, our Beloved Baba, the divine Entity for whom we have full adoration and love, is our be-all and end-all of life. He is our Ista and with great reverence we chant His name in our Baba Nam Kevalam kiirtan. But we never attempt to literally translate each term of that kiirtan and sing the translated version as: 'father name only', instead of Baba Nam Kevalam. Means no one sings it as: 'father name only'. Because the words Baba-Nam-Kevalam carry a special meaning in our heart, and to sing 'father-name-only' does not reflect that same inner feeling. So we do not do like this. Because while chanting Baba Nam Kevalam then deep inside the idea is there that in our hearts we are calling Baba.

THEY STARTED TRANSLATING "AJANA PATHIK"

Unfortunately certain jinanis have chosen to translate one of the revered names of Baba. Means a few jinanis literally translate 'Ajana Pathik' to 'unknown traveler'-- when any true devotee knows that the term 'unknown traveler does not at all carry the inner beauty and meaning of the name: 'Ajana Pathik'.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD

Then who knows what these jinanis will do next. Tomorrow they might literally translate our 'Baba Nam Kevalam' kiirtan to 'father name only'. Or in their confusion they might translate His name 'Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji' as 'charm charm bliss embodiment'. Of course devotees will never do like this because we feel more close to Him by saying Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. The problem is however that a few of these jinanis are likely to do anything, since already they have literally translated the beautiful name 'Ajana Pathik' into the term 'unknown traveler'.

PROPER NOUNS ARE NEVER TRANSLATED

The general rule and ethic is that nobody likes to literally translate anything which is the proper noun of any person or place. Because then all types of confusions can come. For example if we literally examine the name 'Washington DC', then in their foolishness someone could change that into 'washing' + 'ton'. Literally meaning 'cleaning' + 'tons', meaning 'the city where a huge piles of laundry is done'. So no sane person does like this. Similarly no one literally translated 'Bombay' to 'Bomb' + 'ay', meaning 'the place where explosive bombs are manufactured'. Likewise no one literally translates 'New York' as 'Fresh York'. The overall notion is that literally translating names or proper nouns does not work.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE TERM 'AJANA PATHIK'

The divine name 'Ajana Pathik' denotes one of Baba's special attributions, but those jinanis do not have any sense so they do crazy types of things like literally translating that term. Yet we should not allow anything to occur which goes even one iota against the spirit of Ista or reverence to Guru. So those jinanis who are incapable to think in the proper direction should not touch this delicate type of work of translating Prabhat Samgiita, otherwise they will prove their impotence and futility each and every step along the way. And ultimately they will create a mess. And that is what they have done here. In Prabhat Samgiita number 227 these jinanis have translated the line 'Ajana Pathik ek eseche' as 'the unknown traveler has come'. But their chosen term 'unknown traveler' is just related with tourism. It does not have any devotional value.

ONE POSSIBLE SOLUTION

Instead in the translation we should keep the line as 'Ajana Pathik has come', and mark it with an asterisk note which carefully explains that the beautiful term Ajana Pathik is one of the names of Parama Purusa and that it denotes one of His special attributions. So the best way is to write it as 'The Ajana Pathik has come'. And then by the asterisk note readers will easily understand that in this instance Baba wants to be called Ajana Pathik. And so we will call Him that way then in the back of our minds we will devotionally remember that: The term Ajana Pathik means 'The Divine Entity Parama Purusa Who moves around this entire universe and Who resides everywhere and knows everything, and irrespective of where one goes He remains along with you'. That is one of His many unique attributions and that is the speciality of the name 'Ajana Pathik'. Means the name 'Ajana Pathik' denotes this special quality. Hence if in translation one jinani just omits the term Ajana Pathik and instead literally writes 'unknown traveler', then this does not at all carry the special meaning or inner beauty of the term. And ultimately anyone reading that (mis)translation will not be able know what Parama Purusa really wants to say in His song.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace in our devotional life we should move ahead according to His direction then we are sure to reach our cherished Goal. Baba says, "Success is yours for the asking. Go on making the correct effort." (AV-23, p.129) Namsakar, Amriteshwar Note: All family members should kindly write in with their thoughts and suggestions. By collective sharing we will surely comes up with the best way to move ahead and serve Baba & His creation.

*************************************** Negative Teaching Makes People Cowards

Baba says, "Starving people...basing their lives' ideals on the wrong religious concept and philosophy throughout their genealogical traditions they come to regard their own miserable circumstances as the God ordained destiny. If, in those days they had a high-spirited leader, if they had heard his fiery speeches, or could get a proper lead and guidance, they would perhaps have made a concerted assault on the then social structure." (HS-1, p.76)

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