Tuze Roop Chitti Raho

 Ga Di Ma….

I had written a tribute to my mother recently and in that I had highlighted the fact how a person of distinction is able to get recognized by a simple generic name that garners adoration, awe and respect all at once. That post was inspired by Smt. Vijaya Mehta who came to be known simply as Bai. 

Another such name is GaDiMa. This is a towering personality who cannot be described in words. People refer to him as a modern day Valmiki who wrote the Geet Ramayan in Marathi. Besides the Geet Ramayan , Ga Di Madgulkar has penned several beautiful devotional songs in his long career as a poet. Many of these songs are so popular among ordinary folks that they lump them together with traditional abhangas authored by saints from earlier times. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi famously rendered the song Indrayani Kathi and when asked about the source he replied “it’s a traditional song “. Ga Di Ma had to humbly point out to correct Panditji’s oversight and reluctantly say that he had penned it for the old Marathi movie Batatyachi Chaal. It was an honor in disguise for his composition to be mistaken as coming from old time saints!

Ga Di Ma has written many such songs that drive a listener to believe that he is a saint who returned to earth to continue the message of devotion. One such popular songs of GaDiMa is written for the movie on the real life Saint Gora Kumbhar who was a contemporary of Sant Dnyaaneshwar and Sant Namdev in the later part of the thirteenth century. In the movie it is picturized on the saint as he attends to his daily job as a potter. 

The lyrics breathe into a listener the deep sentiments of Bhakti ( divine love). All that the saint asks from God is the constant remembrance of his name and form. However he does not dismiss the fact that ordinary duties of life remain imperative even while living this life in the devotional love of God. 

This song has touched my heart so much that I go on playing it several times in the day when I’m free. It momentarily transports me into that conscious state where everything is forgotten and only a blissful state of surrender abides. Almost like a psychedelic drug. Except it is not. It is just deep conscious emotional dissolution where bodily awareness disappears for a short interval. May be that experience gives a kick like a psychedelic and creates the desire to experience it over and over again. Unlike the after effects of a drug, when the mind eventually returns to its ordinary state of consciousness it  is more refreshed than before and cognitive ability is improved, not impaired. 

The theme of the song is to make contemplation on the formless one who is the source of creation the single pointed focus of one’s life and give up personal investment into material life. The art of attending to all assigned duties in the material world and yet expecting nothing for oneself from it is the second part of the message. 

I did not have to write a commentary on GaDiMa’s song. It needs no commentary. It is exquisite and perfect the way it is and yet very crystal clear for a novice to understand. What prompted me to write was something else that came to mind as I was listening and watching the video segment from the movie. In that scene Sant Gora Kumbhar gets so deeply lost in the divine consciousness that his physical body continued to make the pots on the moving wheel while he was in a trance. The body consciousness ran on automatic mode. So unaware of physical surroundings he became that he couldn’t recognize the moment when his infant son crawled into the pile of mud he was stamping down to prepare it for his pottery. The child was inadvertently trampled under his own feet!

Those saints went the entire nine yards in their quest for surrender to the higher consciousness. Whether it was Sant Tukaram or Gora Kumbhar, we are too far unqualified to find fault in them. Their degree of surrender is beyond ordinary conception. A follower in their footsteps musnt take those extreme consequences as unavoidable and necessary. Instead even more caution must be taken to stay vigilant about the task at hand. Ordinary people are distracted while attending to regular work but their distraction is towards worldly matters. The person on a devotional path must be several times more attentive to the work and the distraction when it occurs should be towards the formless consciousness that pervades everything. This difference is truly of importance to be understood and practiced. Empty thoughts must not wander on ideas where there are expectations for personal gratification from the world. If one catches the mind wandering that way then it must be brought back and reminded of what the goal is. Spiritual pursuit is not a part time activity. If it is, then it is not spiritual pursuit. It is a state of confusion. 

Listen to this soulful song in Babuji’s( Sudhir Phadke) voice with an understanding of the meaning of each word. But try to remember the word of caution when watching the video. Do not let mind emulate the saint’s lapse in awareness towards his job. It is not at all a cakewalk for everyone to survive the guilt of such a horrendous mistake if it happens from one’s hands. The saints do not incur sins with their mistakes but a folllower must not take home a message that negligence is ok. Premeditated or callous negligence is a sin. This needs to be clear in the mind. 

Here’s the meaning of GaDiMa’s song:

तुझे रूप चित्ती राहो मुखी तुझे नाम |
देह प्रपंचाचा दास सुखे करो काम || धृ ||

देहधारी जो जो त्यासी विहीत नित्यकर्म
सदाचार नीतीहूनी आगळा न धर्म
तुला आठवावे गावे हाच एक नेम || १ ||

तुझे नाम पांडुरंगा सर्व तापनाशी
वाट प्रवासासी देते स्वये पायराशी
दिसो लागली तू डोळा अरुपी अनाम || २ ||

तुझ्या पदी वाहिला मी देहभाव सारा
उडे अंतराळी आत्मा सोडूनी पसारा
नाम तुझे घेतो गोरा म्हणूनी आठयाम || ३ ||

Tujhe roop chitti raho mukhi tuze naam
Deh prapanchacha das sukhe karo Kam

May your form/thought be firm in the deepest core of my consciousness at all times and your name dwell on my lips always.

The body is a servant of samsara( worldly responsibilities). May these tasks be fulfilled smoothly and happily.

Dehdhari jo Jo tyasi vihit nityakarm
Sadachar nitihuni aagala na dharm
Tula athavave gave hach ek nem

Whoever is born with a physical body he has an assigned daily duty. There is no superior religion than righteous and ethical living. Singing your name fondly is my only personal commitment. ( The other tasks are assigned, not mine by personal choice.) 

Tujhe naam panduranga sarv taapnashi
Vaat pravasasi dete swaye payarashi
Diso lagali tu dola arupi anaam

Your name oh Panduranga is capable of destroying all sins. It clears the road for one’s own rightful journey. As I keep going ahead I get a clearer vision of the formless and nameless you.

Tujhya padi vahila mi dehbhav Sara
Ude antarali atma soduni pasara
Naam tujhe gheto gora mhanuni aathayam

I have surrendered my entire bodily arrogance (ego) at your feet. My soul now takes flight away from the messy material world into a higher realm. With this being the situation Gora takes your name continuously without pause throughout his day. 

——————————————————

That concludes the line by line meaning of the song.

While writing it, I was reminded about a thought that has been rumbling in my mind for some time. When I watch YouTube videos of spiritual songs and some of these videos show pictures or video graphs of young women or men suggestive of romantic love, it bothers me heavily. Such visualization is in complete contradiction, violation of the spiritual message. Understanding of the Parabramha must eliminate physical idols of any kind. Not impress such images on the mind. Saints use the holy name and sometimes particular image as a tool to grasp the formless and nameless. The heavy role of metaphorical imagery in spiritual concepts must be maturely understood. Taking a young sensuous woman or man as a model in a video playing a deeply spiritual song in the background is nothing but blasphemy. I condemn such cheap presentations. There are plenty of romantic songs to employ for such sensuous imagery. Use those. Allow what is sacred to remain untouched by distorted thoughts. That’s my take on it. Not that the sacred message will be rendered impure. It remains untainted and steady where it is. Forever pure. It is the presenter who ends up putting his own mental aberrations on public display and humiliating himself with those graphics. Anyways.

These songs are meant to be savored with eyes closed. That is the best way to forget yourself when you listen.