Sant Mat Poetry from India: Saint Namdev: Archived Show on Demand - Spiritual Awakening Radio - Click the Link to Hear Streaming Audio:
Namdev Books in English: "Hindi Padavali of Namdev", by Winand M. Callewaert
From Poetry Chaikhana -- Sacred Poetry from Around the World: "Namdev was born in 1270 or 1269 AD into a family of low-caste tailors, though as he grew he showed little interest in the family profession or in any worldly affairs. .... Namdev came under the influence of the bhakti poet-saint Jnanadev, who was several years his senior. Namdev became a wandering minstrel, traveling through the countryside chanting and singing songs of devotion. In his fifties, Namdev settled down again and a group of devotees gathered around him. It was in the household of Namdev that Janabai served as a maid, a revered poetess in her own right."
God* is the One in Many
He is the One in many,
countless are His shapes and forms.
He pervades all that exists;
wherever I look, He is there.
But very few perceive this reality,
for Maya ever enchants us
with her multiple reflections
of color and alluring beauty.
Everything is Gobind*,
Gobind is everything.
Nothing that exists
is without Gobind*:
the one thread strings
innumerable beads --
Prabhu* Himself is the thread,
the threader, the threaded.
River and waves,
foam and bubbles
have all their being
within water itself.
This play of things
is the sport of Parbhama*.
The One cannot be thought
different from the other.
Hope is a lie
and desire a mere dream --
yet both are construed
as actual reality.
But when my guru
gave me his holy wisdom,
I awoke from my dream
and my heart yielded.
Namdeva says,
Behold Hari's* creation;
ponder upon it
with all your heart,
and you will see
that in every pore,
in every living thing,
there is only the one Murari*.
*Names of God: Gobind, Prabhu, Parbhama, Hari, Murari:
Jai Guru, All for the love of Wisdom and radio,
James
Spiritual Awakening Radio, and, Sant Mat Radio
Namdev Books in English: "Saint Namdev", Published by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (in the 'Mystics of the East' Series)
