‘Those Who Keep the Bad Company of Rama’

Contagion, Community

Think twice before you keep
The bad company
Of someone like me.

The bitter neem that keeps
The bad company
Of a sandalwood tree
Begins to smell like sandalwood.

The piece of iron that keeps
The bad company
Of the philosopher’s stone
Turns into gold

Waters that drain
Into the Ganges
Become the Ganges.

And those who keep
The bad company
Of Rama, says Kabir,
End up

A bit like Rama.

(Kabir: A. K. Mehrotra)

The regal realm with the sorrowless name:
they call it Queen City, a place with no pain,
No taxes or cares, none owns property there,
no wrongdoing, worry, terror, or torture.
Oh my brother, I’ve come to take it as my own,
my distant home, where everything is right.
That imperial kingdom is rich and secure,
where none are third or second — all are one;
Its food and drink are famous, and those who live there
dwell in satisfaction and in wealth.
They do this or that, they walk where they wish,
they stroll through fabled palaces unchallenged.
Oh, says Ravidas, a tanner now set free,
those who walk beside me are my friends.

(Ravidas: John Stratton Hawley and Mark Juergensmeyer)

To the gift of elephants
I will say no
To the gift of a huge fortune
I will say no
To the gift of a vast empire
I will say no
But, to the gift of the wise sayings
Of your devotees,
Just for a moment
I will even give you away
O Ramanatha.

(Devara Dasimayya: H. S. Shivaprakash)

My head? Sold to your feet.
My speech? Only your name.
My eyes? See only you.
My body? Laid out before you.

Vatsara says: Keep company with saints;
Cheat death.

(Vatsara: Jerry Pinto and Neela Bhagwat)

The Name

The name of Rama is a universal tree
That shelters us in these fallen times —

And merely recalling it has taught me
To be true to my own:

For I, Tulsidas, who was as scrawny and dry
As a leaf of cannabis,

Have now turned as green and life-giving,
As a leaf of the tulsi-plant;

The name of Rama has brought me to delight in my own.

(Tulsidas: Anand Thakore)

I Have Wasted Much

I have wasted much but now no more —

The night of my existence has passed;
I have woken and will not unroll my sleeping mat again;

For I have found this jewel, this name of Rama
That is now on my lips; and close to my heart I shall keep
it safe —

I have slept long but now no more.
This dark pure form of Rama, is a touchstone

Against which I shall rub the gold of pure consciousness —
Ha, yes they have laughed at me all night, loud and long —

My eyes and ears, my skin, my nostrils and my tongue —
But now that the lord has brought them into my stride,

They shall laugh no more!
See: my heart has turned into a little honey-bee

Who will find his true place, soon, surely,
At the lotus-feet of the lord.

(Tulsidas: Anand Thakore)

Lord of the forsaken
Stanced on the Brick
Makes his devotees fearless
With his inviting arms

Experience liberation sharing meals together
Men women children all
He gives to each whatever they fancy
Lovingly fondling every face

Says come I’ll give you
All the joy I have

Says Chokha He is
So devoted to his devotees
He is really present
Where his name is spoken

(Chokhamela: Dilip Chitre)

And then you drenched me
with your grace,
colonized me, claimed me.

Is it fair now to deny the fact?

Even if I plunge headlong
into the ocean now
it’s your call —

Fish me out
or leave me to drown.

You that are One
You that are Many
You that are beyond
Form.

Your call, my Uma.

(Abhirami Bhattar: Arundhathi Subramaniam)