By Bhaktimarga Swami
Introduction
The 8 verses are an expression coming from Chaitanya addressing His full
appreciation for Krishna in the form of His name, carrying the spirit of
the feeling of separation:
Victory to the sacred sound, that cleanses all around.
There’s filth in the heart, piled up from the start.
Many births of desires, have burst up like fires.
Therefore, the kirtan charge, is for humanity at large.
It’s a practice so cool, like the rays of the moon.
It’s the fruit of wisdom, with joy that’s arisen,
So sweet to the taste, we go there in great haste.
You who are Divine, this sound is sublime,
With thousands of names, they all are the same.
In them all energies are invested, the names are tested.
Rules? Not hard and fast, it’s easy to pass.
Out of sheer kindness, the sound is sure to bind us.
Attractive! Accessible! Approachable! Doable!
But what is most unfortunate.. I can’t always appreciate it.
To approach the sound, one must be humbly-bound,
Like the straw in the street, one has to be meek,
Like a tall, stout tree, tolerant as can be,
I’m telling you brother, it’s the ego we have to smother.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.., respect is how it should be.
With the right attitude, the constant sound has platitude.
Oh, power behind the universe,
I’m not looking to be fabulously rich,
Not to be overwhelmed by the lustful itch,
Nor entangled in the name/fame hitch,
I’ll have my bhakti list, though births persist.
O Son of *Nanda*,
I love you and I will assist you,
But I’m in an ocean, drowning without devotion.
Pick me up from this ocean of death, before my last breath,
While those lotus feet are handsome, place me there like an atom.
When will the time come, when tears of love will run,
And flow so constantly, while chanting in ecstasy?
When will my voice choke up, in the course of shake up?
When will hairs stand on end, as we chant to transcend?
*Govinda* is your name, separation makes me insane.
One moment lasts forever, like twelve years or whatever.
Tears come like rain, your absence gives such pain.
This vacancy in life, creates so much strife.
But I know only you as my lover, there is no other –
Even when its rough, I’ll never have enough,
Of heart felt embrace, or when we find no trace
Of you in your freedom to act, so I’ll state the fact
That I love you! I love you! I always will love you!