shrî sadâshiva caritâmrta - english version by Mahendra Bâbâ, Shâstrîjî Shrî Bâbâjî (me reader txt) 📕

SADĀSHIVACHARITĀMRITA

The Nectar of Sadāshiva’s Life and Nature

Translated from the Sanskrit, Old Avadhi and Hindi

by Dieter B. Kapp

Sadāshivacharitāmrita

Om, Reverence for the Sadguru!

The NectarFlagon of Creation

First Flagon

Benediction

1. Om, I revere you, o Ganēsha. You are the Guru, the ocean of knowledge bestowing wisdom, the leader of [Shiva’s] hosts, Mahēsha’s son. Your feet are revered by the king of Gods. You are adorned with a lovely appearance and a curved trunk.

Forever I revere you, o Shrī Ganēsha. You are the Gurudēva, the immeasurable ocean of knowledge bestowing wisdom, the leader of [Shiva’s] hosts, the most beloved son of Shiva and Ambā. Your foot-lotuses are revered by all Gods headed by Indra. You are adorned with an exceedingly lovely appearance, endowed with the face of an excellent elephant and embellished with a curved trunk.

2. I revere Shankara, the divine Sadguru, who is the highest of all, whose forehead bears the crescent of the moon, who bestows the brilliance of wisdom and resides in Haidākhāna.

Forever I revere Sāmbasadāshiva, the lord of all the blessed, the Sadguru who resides in Haidākhāna, whose very beautiful divine forehead is embellished with the crescent of the moon, who adorned with an exceedingly divine appearance bestows the excellent divine brilliance of wisdom as the highest truth.

3. I revere Shrī Shankara, the Sadguru, the consort of Girijā, the hoard of virtues, the jewel of the day, who causes the lotus of wisdom to bloom, Shankara, the bestower of supreme bliss, the destroyer of the darkness of delusion, the true, beautiful Shiva, praised by the Vedas, the ruler over Kāshī, the annihilator of the sins of the Kali-Yuga, the wishing-tree of happiness.

Forever I bow down to the feet of Sāmbasadāshiva, the Sadguru who has the power to cause, like the sun, the lotus of men’s wisdom to bloom, the bestower of absolute and supreme bliss, the destroyer of the darkness of delusion caused by ignorance, the true and beautiful Shiva who is praised by the Vēdas, the annihilator of all sins accumulated in the Kali-Yuga, the most generous of the benevolent resembling the wishing-tree, the ruler over Kāshī, the hoard of virtues.

4. (Dōhā:) I revere Shiva of Haidākhāna, the most magnanimous Sadguru, with the help of whose looks of mercy human beings are capable of crossing the worldly existence.

Forever I bow down to the foot-lotuses of Shiva of Haidākhāna, the magnanimous highest God, the lord of all the blessed, the divine Sadguru, with the help of whose looks of mercy human beings are capable of crossing the joyful ocean of worldly existence.

5. Praise be to Shiva of Haidākhāna, to Shankara, the most beautiful! O lovely one whose darshana is auspicious, may you take your abode in my heart for ever!

O essence of beauty, o Shiva-Shankara of Haidākhāna, praise be to you! May you bestow upon me your most beautiful darshana and may you take your abode in my heart-lotus for ever!

6. Praise be to the lord of Mahēndra’s heart, the foremost of the Yōgīs, the wishing-tree of all desires, the bestower of supreme bliss who is attained through meditation and is present in every smallest particle!

O foremost of the Yōgīs! By fulfilling all desires of your devotees, you resemble the wishing-tree. Forthwith you make your appearance as soon as they meditate upon you, and forthwith you comfort the hearts of your devotees. O God, your entity pervades every smallest particle. You are the bestower of supreme bliss and the king of the heart of Shrī Mahēndra Svāmī-jī Mahārāja who has taken refuge at your feet.

7. May you grant us your favour, o shelter of mercy! You are endowed with immeasurable knowledge and a blissful appearance, clad in a kurtā and a tōpā. You are of divine grace, o Guru, o king of Mahēndra’s heart!

O seat of mercy, ocean of compassion! You are endowed with an appearance possessing divine splendour with copious radiance, and your divine form is adorned with a mirzāī-kurtā and a beautiful tōpā. Endowed with such an excellent appearance and beautifully adorned like a king of kings, you rule over the heart of your disciple-jewel Shrī Mahēndra Svāmī-jī Mahārāja. May you grant me, who am without any protection, the favour of your compassion!

8. When beholding your magnificent appearance, it takes abode in one’s heart. Within one instant, the fetters of worldly existence break to pieces and strength flows into one’s body, mind, and heart.

When beholding this unique appearance, the worldly fetters of existence disappear within one instant and body, mind, and heart are imbued with strength.

9. As long as human beings are not yours, they wander about in vain. As soon as they have abandoned everything and fallen to your feet, they will behold God [Rāma] and let others behold him, too.

O God! As long as a human being of this world does not come to your refuge with his whole being, he passes his life in vain, as he is subjected to the worldly temptations. However, if he renounces all his passions and seeks the protection of your feet only, he receives, with his absolute eyes, the magnificent darshana of Shrī Sacchidānanda and is satisfied.

10. O Sadguru! You are benevolent to the poor and I am without any protection at all. The Vishnu Brahmin has fallen to your feet. Seize his hands and grant him your protection!

O Sadguru-Dēva! You are benevolent to the poor and I am a very poor person and without any protection at all. The Vishnu Brahmin has already fallen to your feet-lotuses. Hold your hand, that grants boons, out to him and bestow upon him your protection!

11. When your foot-lotuses are in my heart, I am undaunted at all times. For those whose master is Shrī Mahēndra, the worldly affairs are not filthy.

O my beloved to whom I have come for refuge! When your foot-lotuses are in my heart, I always wander about without quailing. For I have the strong belief that, for those human beings who are protected by my most venerable Guru, the renowned and highly esteemed Shrī Mahēndra Svāmī-jī Mahārāja, the worldly affairs which, because of the filth in form of manifold sufferings, are difficult to overcome, are easily overcome.

There is your residence, Haidākhāna. Here your eyes may still my thirst. When my hands rise to praise you, grant me your darshana and still the thirst of my heart!

O Sadguru, o Shankara, residing in Haidākhāna! Grant me the favour of taking your abode in my eyes for ever (so that no other worldly beauty is able to settle down in these eyes)! And when I concentrate myself in order to praise you, o Shiva, and raise my hands in the state of deep meditation, please, grant me your darshana, as well as the favour of stilling the thirst of my heart with the nectar of your darshana!

13. O Sadāshiva of Haidākhāna! O immensely wise Shankara! Rise in the sky of my heart as a sun that bestows the splendour of knowledge for ever!

O Sadāshiva of Haidākhāna! You are the refuge of knowledge and wisdom, the noble sun that disseminates the splendour of knowledge in the world. May you rise in the sky of my heart for ever and so grant me the favour of filling my heart with amazement by your unearthly, divine splendour!

14. Neither is inherent in me the power of constantly chanting the name of God, nor the power of asceticism, nor the power of singing bhajanas, nor physical power, nor mental power. By the power of your feet only these powers are all inherent in me.

O Lord! You are the refuge of those who are without refuge. I am a sinful human being of this world only. The power of constantly chanting the name of God is not inherent in me, nor the power of asceticism, nor the power of singing bhajanas, likewise I am entirely short of physical, as well as of mental power. The only power inherent in me is the power of your foot-lotuses that governs all powers.

15. Our ignorant eyes are full of longing and our mind roams about everywhere. O great ascetic of Haidākhāna, you pervade all sites!

O Lord of all blessed! The ignorant eyes of us human beings who are involved in worldly affairs, long for a darshana of your form, and the mind of us human beings roams about everywhere for the sake of a small drop of the nectar of your favour. The fact that we wish to receive your darshana at one spot and at one moment is owing to the ignorance of us human beings being involved in worldly affairs and seized by delusion.

16. Forever you are in the temple of my heart and constantly I chant your name. You are the breath of my life. You alone are Krishna, Shiva and Rāma.

O God of all Gods! Your beneficial form is for ever in the temple of my heart. You alone are my life and my life-breath. O Lord of the Three Worlds! As for me, you alone are like Krishna, the God of plays, you alone are Shrī Rāma, the God who strictly observes the social order (e.g., we look at the image of the Lord as we think and feel at this very moment). In the manner in which a devotee meditates on the Lord according to the words of the most venerable Shrī Gōsvāmī-jī Mahārāja, in this very manner Bhagavān grants his darshana in order to still the longing of his devotees, and so bestows contentedness upon them.

17. A poor Brahmin is standing at your door with respectfully folded hands. Open your eyelids and have a look at him!

O Sadguru, o Shambhu! With respectfully folded hands, a poor Brahmin is here standing at your door for the sake of alms in the form of the favour of your nectar. O God! Open your eyelids and be so kind as to only once have a look at him!

18. O Lord! You are omniscient and wise. I know but little and am ignorant. The protection of your feet, o Lord, is my life-breath.

O Lord of the Three Worlds! You are omniscient and very wise. I am a human being of this world who knows but little and is ignorant. O God! The protection of your foot-lotuses alone is my life-breath. Excepting the protection of your foot-lotuses I have no support anywhere else in the world.

19. Having sheltered me, never forget me again! You are a friend of the poor. Then, wherefore do you not rescue me?

Never forget that I, a poor servant, am yours! O Lord of the poor! They call you a friend of the poor. Then, wherefore do you not wish to rescue me, a poor human being? Therefore, please, rescue me, a poor human being, at least to preserve your name as a friend of the poor!

20. O Sadāshiva, forever I behold your all-pervading form before my eyes. In whichever direction my eyes look in order to behold you, there I see you incarnate before me.

O all-pervading Sadāshiva! Thanks to your mercy I behold you, in every instant, incarnate before me. O God assuming all forms! Wherever my eyes look I behold your form enchanting the senses, incarnate before me. The fact that to a poor Brahmin boy you grant the favour to forever protect him by your nearness and so to please him, all that is the fruit of your incomparable grace.

Sadāshivacharitāmrita

Om, Reverence for the Sadguru!

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