खोज

क्या खोजते हैं सन्यासी
नश्वर जगती की राहों पर ?

क्या उकेरते हैं शिल्पी
इन पत्थर चट्टानों पर ?

क्या माँगते मर्त्य मनुष्य
अमर देव स्थानों पर ?

काल के अटल प्रवाह में
हैं सभी क्षणिक प्रतिबिम्ब ।

प्रतिबिम्ब खोजते सत्य को
सत्य में मिल जाने को ।

अपना अंतःकरण उकेरते
नयनों को दिखलाने को ।

दया माँगते मर्त्य मनुष्य
पाषाणों को पिघलाने को ।

प्रतिबिम्बों को ही फिर खोजा करते
प्रतिबिम्बों के खो जाने पर !

स्वर

स्वर अभी भी गूंजते हैं
फूटे थे कोमल अधरों से बन कर राग
आग्रही प्रेम के गीतों में ढल
स्वप्नों के रंग से रंजित मोहजाल ।

निशा निमंत्रण बन कर गूंजे थे...
वे कभी घृणित हुए थे दंभ भरे
समझे थे नश्वर को सत्य
अपमान भरे विष प्यालों जैसे ।

असीम वेदना के भी वाहक
रूक रूक कर करुण पुकार बने
वे आर्द्र थे उस संध्या को
लगते थे स्वयं में डूबे ।

आज भी इतने समय के बाद
और भी अनगिनत रूपों में
उल्लसित, शांत, करुण...
वे स्वर अब भी गूंजते हैं ।

चलो संग

प्रतीक्षाओं के लंबे साए
और जीवन के चुनिंदा गहरे पल
यही मूल है कुछ भी कहो
अश्रु भरी अकेली आंखों का ।

तारागण मुस्काते हों
और सौंदर्य विस्मित बने रहो
सच के साथी कुछ पल छोटे...
ढूँढ सको तो चलो संग ।

एकाकी खडे रहो तुम चुप
अश्रु ह्रदय से हो कर निकलें
सोच रहे हो गत काल प्रवाह ?
विषपान नहीं और जीवन कथा !

दीपों से सजी मधुर वीथिका...
स्वप्नों की प्राचीरों पार करते वास
अनादि सुरों से अनजाने
जाते कहाँ वैरागी आज !

मूरत के श्याम

श्रद्धा से नत मस्तक ले प्रभु द्वार तुम्हारे आया हूँ ।
पट खोल ह्रदय के तुमको अपने साथ ले जाने आया हूँ ।
वे कहते हैं कि . . . तुम ही तुम हो जग में ।
पर हे मूरत के श्याम, मैं तो तेरी यह छवि ले जाने आया हूँ ।

Time

O Time! In your inexhaustible flow
Deep into the moments
I wonder
Where I have reached!

I searched for peace at times
And then lost in intrigue
On hearing some footsteps
I’ve been waking up from bewildering sleeps.

In pursuit of truth I turned into a seeker at times
And then unknowingly became a story untold
With tears rolling from my eyes
You only know whom all I have been calling back…!

O time! You kept walking with me
And in your unknown dimensions
I kept making countless efforts
Searching your meaning.

In detached moments of life
Pulling my self towards higher levels
Knowingly at times and at times with no idea about it
I’ve been putting on new robes.

I’ve been seeing new sun every morning
Spreading its fresh rays and shine
It setting then in far horizons, getting lost
I’ve found myself roaming silently in desolate forests.

I kept playing with joy
And then stopping suddenly at some moments
O Time! Trying to pull the strings on you
I’ve been fighting wars in my thoughts.

In a small hut
Amidst the cool breezes
All alone in evenings disappearing fast
I’ve been having visions of storms.

O Time! Even after knowing the meaning
Of your laughter so loud
I do not really know why
I’ve been attempting to take lasting forms…!

Accepting my very own, even the shadows around me
Mixing up and singing melodies with them
I’ve found their sizes increasing with your flow...
Getting lost all of sudden into unknowns.


You have turned into the destroyer at times
And at times I’ve found you to be the protector on my side
Whether I’m with you or you are with me…
I’ve been searching this thread for long.

समय ....

Composed on October 29, 1989
--------------------------------


समय ! तेरे अजस्र प्रवाह में
गुजरते पलों की गहराईयों में
मैं न जाने कहाँ से कहाँ
चला आया हूँ ।

मैं खोजता रहा शांति कभी
और फिर क्षोभ ज्वार मॆं डूब
कभी किसी पदचाप को सुन
अनजानी नींदों से जागा हूँ ।

सत्य साधक बना कभी
फिर व्यथित सा अकथ कथा बना
कुछ आँसू ढुलका
न जाने किसे बुलाता रहा हूँ ।

तू काल ! चलता रहा संग
मैं तेरे अनजान आयामों में
करता अनगिनत उपाय
तुझे खोजता रहा हूँ ।

मैं जीवन के वैरागी क्षणों में
अनुभूति को ' परा ' की ओर से
खींच कर जाने अनजाने
नए आवरण ओढ़ता रहा हूँ ।

नए सूर्यों को हर सबेरे
बिखेरते अपनी लालिमा और कांति
हर सांझ डूबते, खो जाते देखता
निःशब्द निर्जनों में घूमता रहा हूँ ।

मैं करता रहा हास
फिर रूक कर अचानक किसी पल
समय ! तेरी डोर खींचने को
विचारों मॆं लड़ता रहा हूँ ।

मैं मन्द शीतल हवाओं में
छोटी सी कुटी छा
हर सांझ नितांत अकेला
तूफानों को स्वप्न करता रहा हूँ ।

समय ! तेरे हास के अर्थ
जान कर भी न जाने क्यों
हर दिन जाने अनजाने
नए नए बिम्बों में ढलता रहा हूँ .

मैं छायाओं को अपना समझ
घुल मिलकर संग गीत कहते
फिर उनके बढते आकार ...
यकायक विलीन होते देखता रहा हूँ ।

कभी बना तू कराल
या तुझे बनाकर अपनी ढाल
तू मेरे संग या मैं तेरे
मैं यह सूत्र खोजता रहा हूँ ।

Krishna...Krishna....

Krishna Janmashtmi, September 04, 2007

Krishna...Krishna.... so echoed the soul stirring name of the eternal spirit called Krishna.

The echoes were so real and deep within that tears rolled out of the eyes and my soul got filled with 'bhakti' (devotion) for the Lord.

The place was Ujjain and I was at Sandipani Ashram - the place where lord Krishna received his education under his teacher named Sandipani. Located in the same premises is a place called 'Baithak' where Vallabhacharya gave discourses on Lord Krishna. When I entered the 'Baithak', the sweet sound of Krishna...Krishna.... started echoing in my very existence and I witnessed Krishna in my whole consciousness across the ages....! There was silence in the hall and there was this deep echo in my heart...!

Krishna... Krishnaa... O Lord, I offer you my salutations and my heart is overjoyed with your presence in my very being !

Sunrise to Sunset...

Sunrise to sunset
And sunset to sunrise
The journey continues
As if forever.

The moment rolls over
The moment arrives
Ah, a moment was there
And the moment is awaited!

Sunrise to sunset
And sunset to sunrise
The witness creates the images
And images witness the moments.

How short is the day
And how long is the night
The moments between the moments
And the moment after the moments!

Time...The Fundamental Building Block

The world is created out of time. As the time unfolds, the world appears. And as the time folds back, the world disappears...! The time is the most fundamental building block. Matter, energy, space...all are created out of time.

Realisation

Our seemigly individual existences have a connecting thread !

Explore that connection and you might stumble upon a life shaking experience...the Lord of the Universe manifests in a variety of forms and one of them starts exploring the Self and comes across the Self itself on the road built by Himself.

Silence

Is silence a fact or a feeling (?)...is it about acoustics or is it about aural capabilities...?

On a deeper thought...silence is all about cessation of vibrations...you could choose which one...!

In Sanskrit (संस्कृत) there is a word - 'spandana' (स्पन्दन) - which stands for quivering, palpitation, etc. and also connotes the beginning of life or the activity of the mind.

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः (yogah chitta vrtti nirodhah) - so says Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Vrtti connotes flutuations or movements. Chitta connotes mind, intellect, feeling of self - all inclusive. Yogah connotes union of the limited self with the supreme self - state of supreme bliss, peace, silence. Nirodhah connotes cessation.

So here lies the deeper meaning of silence and a hint to achieving the same by cessation of fluctuations, vibrations...

Kaala Chakra - The Wheel of Time

dinayaaminyau saayam praatah
....shishiravasantau punaraayaatah
kaalah kriidati gachchhatyaayuh
....tadapi na mujncatyaashaavaayuh

________________________

..............Aadi Shankaracharya (Bhaja Govindam)

The time rolls on…how(?).
Day and night, dusk and dawn, winters and springs keep coming again and again – like points on a rolling wheel. As if, while the time plays its game - lo and behold! The life has passed away.
One by one everything ebbs away…but, still…
One does not leave (how strange!) the desire (a breath full of expectations) for more.

Self Acceptance

Accept your own self. And an amazing phenomenon will start unfolding. What all would happen...here's a glimpse in the form of a small story...

"There was a beautiful girl named Asha. She lived in a village at the banks of river Mahi near Anand in Gujarat. This girl had a boon given to her by a sage that whatever she would truly believe in, would happen. Such was the power of the boon that whatever this girl named Asha would truly believe in, would happen.

So the life was passing by.

Asha believed that she had to study and help her mother at home in daily chores and this would go on for years before she would one day get married to a young boy. So her days used to pass like that...slowly.

One day there was a strong storm and the sky was clouded. Then there were rains lashing the ground. Asha looked at the sky and felt charmed by the lightening and the pattern of clouds and she felt within that it would be so wonderful to be like clouds wandering around the world. How free they looked like. And she really believed that such would really be a very good life...She went to bed.

Next morning she suddenly got up and found water below her bed. The utensils were floating and then with a huge sound her house collapsed.
When Asha opened her eyes again she found herself in a train. It was night and she was bewildered. What happened to her family...she looked around and was relieved to see that her mother and father were sleeping beside her. After a few hours there was morning and her parents got up. She asked them what happened. She was told that their house had got destroyed in the rains and now they were travelling to her mother's place in Delhi. She and her mother would be staying there for a month while her father would be going back to Anand to get the house rebuilt...and Asha suddenly thought about her desire to be like a cloud...!"

Accept your own self as it is and you would start to notice that it is you who creates this world...but it all happens so slowly and gradually that it makes you feel that it all got superimposed on you from outside.

You want to enjoy the phenomenon and in turn you forget that you created it. So, first accept what is around you as it is and then you'd see that it all is your own creation...a notional world... and then with a bang you'll see your own Self all around...such is the power of Self Acceptance.

The Little … Small Fights…Challenges and Opportunities

These so called little things in life are important to handle. Remember that there is no way out...though there is a way through!

Going through these worldly fights with attachment OR without joy is not the right thing to do. They will come back time and again.

What life presents to you is because of the pending transactions that you need to clear. Handle it with duty and enjoy the outcome, whatever it is. But be fully involved when doing your job and out of it once through.

It matters a lot how you handle your present. Nature does not allow you to evolve or rise without crossing the current barrier. One must win the fight at hand!

Also, opportunities in life do not come your way out of any fancy of nature. They are your destinies. You need to handle them too. Value them.

Think on your own and decide for your own self.

Think…

Keep looking at your thoughts and separate your original ones from those that come from others or from books. Analyze your motivations and desires. Take care of your desires by fulfilling them through fair means and hard earned fruits of life. Refine your motivations.

Analyze what you like most and when you are happier than rest of the times. Think what situations make you feel better and what make you feel uncomfortable. Never decide under persuasion, greed, pressure or shyness. Be on your own and take your decisions yourself. Never worry on what others would say or how the world would look at you because of your failure or success.

I think if you can reach this level first at least in your worldly life, rest you will know how to handle.