Thursday, July 2, 2009

Vaishnav Jan to tene kahiye je - the lyrics and their meaning

It's a beautiful song. I always liked to hum it. Never got to understand it's meaning. If you omit the link it makes between a Vaishnav religion and the name here, I think it talks of the kind of life a human being is expected to live...should live. No matter what your religion is! 
You can hear the song as you read on, here -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLbqn7hmOo0
The English meaning is inline to the Hindi Verses.

   Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je    
   [One who is a Vaishnav]           
   PeeD paraayi jaaNe re         
   [Knows the pain of others]         
   Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye  
   [Does good to others, esp. to those ones who are in misery]          
   Man abhimaan na aaNe re           
   [Does not let pride enter his mind]         
   Vaishnav...                 

   SakaL lok maan sahune vande           
   [A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world]         
   Nindaa na kare keni re           
   [Does not say bad things about anyone]         
   Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe           
   [Keeps his/her words, actions and thoughts pure]         
   Dhan-dhan janani teni re           
   [O Vaishnav, your mother is blessed (dhanya-dhanya)]                   
    Vaishnav...         

   Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi           
   [A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and 
     avarice]
   Par-stree jene maat re           
   [Considers some one else's wife/daughter as his mother]        
   Jivha thaki asatya na bole           
   [The toungue may get tired, but will never speak lies]
   Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re           
   [Does not even touch someone else's property]        
   Vaishnav...         

   Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene           
   [A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments]        
   DriDh vairaagya jena man maan re           
   [Who has devoted himself to stauch detachment to worldly   
    pleasures]
   Ram naam shoon taaLi laagi           
   [Who has been edicted to the elixir coming be the name of 
    Ram]
   SakaL tirath tena tan maan re           
   [For whom all the religious sites are in the mind]        
   Vaishnav...         

   VaN-lobhi ne kapaT-rahit chhe           
   [Who has no greed and deciet]        
   Kaam-krodh nivaarya re           
   [Who has renounced lust of all types and anger]
   BhaNe Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta           
   [The poet Narsi will like to see such a person] 
   KuL ekoter taarya re           
   [By who's virtue, the entire family gets salvation]
   Vaishnav... 

13 comments:

Day Dreamer said...

Even I like this song a lot and very rightly said just ignore the mention of Vaishnav and you get an idealistic song....

If you listen patiently its not that difficult to understand :)

I searched religiously once for the MP3 version of this and I am still unsuccessful. Thanks for the youtube link.

Hope said...

I can send u the MP3 version! I have it :)

Day Dreamer said...

Oh thanks ..that will be great :)

Swati said...

Hey Thanks for the meaning:)

Unknown said...

Beautiful song with profound meaning. Now I know why it was Mahatama Gandhi's favourite song. It can be a life changer if one follows it. No wonder it is still so difficult to understand Gandhi even today...we are all so far from it..

Rohit said...

thanks 4 da meaning...
evergreen 15th century hymn of Narsinh Mehta.

Unknown said...

Lovely bhajan. ... Thanks for the meaning. ....

SARTHAK BRAHMA said...

Here the word "Vaisnav" does not tell about a perticular religion or cast here Vaisnav means the person who is supreme among all other persons.

pdkamath said...

Hi thanks for sharing the lyrics with meaning. God bless you sir

Unknown said...

thanks for the meaning!!!
luv u gandhiji

Unknown said...

(It's my opinion) vaishnav word is important..........vaishnav is lover of God.....and a true lover of God has to have the above mentioned qualities....:)

Blushing Shimmers said...

Beautiful song,lyrics n music.........:-)

Unknown said...

Thank you very much with meaning . it means alot to me.