Vaishnava Jana To

Narsinh Mehta
"Vaishnava Jana To"
Song by Several artists like
Lata Mangeshkar
Jagjit Singh
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Language Old Gujarati
Published 15th century
Genre Bhajan, devotional poetry
Songwriter(s) Narsinh Mehta

Vaishnava Jana To is one of the most popular Hindu bhajans, written in the 15th century by the poet Narsinh Mehta in the Gujarati language. The bhajan was included in Mahatma Gandhi’s daily prayer. The bhajan speaks about the life, ideals and mentality of a Vaishnava Jana (a follower of Vishnu).

Lyrics

Lyrics of the bhajan:

Gujarati Devanagari IAST Transliteration Translation

વૈષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહિયે
જે પીડ પરાયી જાણે રે
પર દુ:ખે ઉપકાર કરે તો યે
મન અભિમાન ન આણે રે. ॥ધૃ॥

वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये
जे पीड परायी जाणे रे ।
पर दुःखे उपकार करे तो ये
मन अभिमान न आणे रे ॥

vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye
je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re,
para duḥkhe upakāra kare to ye
mana abhimāna na āṇe re

Call those people Vaishnavas who
Feel the pain of others,
Help those who are in misery,
But never let self-conceit enter their mind.

સકળ લોકમાં સહુને વંદે,
નિંદા ન કરે કેની રે
વાચ કાછ મન નિશ્છળ રાખે
ધન ધન જનની તેની રે. ॥૧॥

सकळ लोकमां सहुने वंदे,
निंदा न करे केनी रे ।
वाच काछ मन निश्चळ राखे,
धन धन जननी तेनी रे ॥

sakaḷa loka māṁ sahune vande,
nindā na kare kenī re,
vāca kācha mana niścala rākhe,
dhana dhana jananī tenī re

They respect the entire world,
Do not disparage anyone,
Keep their words, actions and thoughts pure,
The mother of such a soul is blessed.

સમદૃષ્ટિ ને તૃષ્ણા ત્યાગી
પરસ્ત્રી જેને માત રે
જિહ્વા થકી અસત્ય ન બોલે
પરધન નવ ઝાલે હાથ રે. ॥૨॥

समदृष्टि ने तृष्णा त्यागी,
परस्त्री जेने मात रे ।
जिह्वा थकी असत्य न बोले,
परधन नव झाले हाथ रे ॥

sama-dṛṣṭi ne tṛṣṇā tyāgī,
para-strī jene māta re,
jihvā thakī asatya na bole,
para-dhana nava jhāle hātha re

They see all equally, renounce craving,
Respect other women as their own mother,
Their tongue never utters false words,
Their hands never touch the wealth of others.

મોહ માયા વ્યાપે નહિ જેને,
દૃઢ વૈરાગ્ય જેના મનમાં રે
રામ નામ શુ તાળી રે લાગી
સકળ તીરથ તેના તનમાં રે. ॥૩॥

मोह माया व्यापे नहि जेने,
दृढ़ वैराग्य जेना मनमां रे ।
रामनाम शुं ताळी रे लागी,
सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमां रे ॥

moha māyā vyāpe nahi jene,
dṛḍha-vairāgya jenā manamāṁ re,
rāma-nāma śuṁ tāḷī re lāgī,
sakaḷa tīratha tenā tanamāṁ re

They do not succumb to worldly attachments,
They are firmly detached from the mundane,
They are enticed by the name of God (Rama),
All places of pilgrimage are embodied in them.

વણ લોભી ને કપટ રહિત છે,
કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યાં રે
ભણે નરસૈયો તેનું દર્શન કરતાં
કુળ એકોતેર તાર્યાં રે. ॥૪॥

वणलोभी ने कपटरहित छे,
काम क्रोध निवार्या रे ।
भणे नरसैयॊ तेनुं दरसन करतां,
कुळ एकोतेर तार्या रे ॥

vaṇa-lobhī ne kapaṭa-rahita che,
kāma krodha nivāryā re,
bhaṇe narasaiyo tenuṁ darasana karatāṁ,
kuḷa ekotera tāryā re

They have forsaken greed and deceit,
They stay afar from lust and anger,
Narsi says: I'd be grateful to meet such a soul,
Whose virtue liberates their entire lineage.

Influence

This bhajan has inspired many people, and was one of the favourite bhajans of Mahatma Gandhi.[1]

In 1999, this song was rendered in a single album by top artists such as classical vocalists Gangubai Hangal and Pandit Jasraj, pop star Remo Fernandes and also including Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Narayan on the sarangi, flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia and santoor exponent Shivkumar Sharma played an instrumental rendition.[2][3] Along with "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram", the song is also sung regularly by Delhi's best known western classical choral groups — The Capital City Minstrels at their annual Peace Concerts coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti. Carnatic guitarist Baiju Dharmajan created an instrumental guitar version of the prayer in 2013.

Elements of the hymn were included in the Hollywood film Gandhi (1982), in Bollywood films like Water (2005), Cheeni Kum (2007) and Road to Sangam (2009), and Kollywood film Hey Ram (2000). The hymn was also used as a title song for several Indian films. In the Telugu movie Prathinidhi (2014), the first stanza of the song is used during the climatic scene. In the Malayalam movie Indian Rupee (2011), the first stanza of the song is used in the climatic scene and sung by Bombay Jayasree. The song also appears in the Gujarati biopic of the author Kunvaar Bhainu Mameru.
An instrumental rendition of the song was featured in the strategy video game Sid Meier's Civilization VI as the musical theme for the Indian civilization.

See also

References

  1. "Gandhi's Favourite Hymns".
  2. "Album on Gandhi’s hymn". Tribune. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  3. Nalini Natarajan; Emmanuel Sampath Nelson (1996). Handbook of Twentieth-Century Literatures of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-313-28778-7. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
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