Someone could translate "Washington D.C." into 'washing' + 'ton'. meaning 'the city where a huge piles of laundry is done""
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:19:28 -0000
To: am-global@earthlink.net
From: “Amriteshwar Verma”
Subject: Is this Proper to Do?
Baba
“Ka’lo jetha’y a’loy meshe, sa’t sa’gar pa’re…” (1867)
Purport:
Baba, after crossing the seven oceans there is a land where the
blackness and effulgence meet: the world of immortality, i.e. satyaloka.
O’ my dearmost, by Your grace I will get You there– at that effulgent
tangential point.* Baba, Your and my intimate closeness has been going
on since eternity. It is beyond the relative factors of time, space, and
person. Baba, our relation knows no limitations. In the begininng we
were one; during my entire movement through saincara and pratisaincara
our unifying link has remained. Baba, today I feel Your love in my
heart; in the past also I felt that love; and by Your grace in the
future our love will remain. Baba, You alone are my eternal Companion.
Everything else in this mobile universe comes and goes. Under the
ignorance of avidya maya I foolishly depend on worldly things– thinking
those things will be with me up to eternity. Baba, by Your grace when
awareness comes, then I understand that everything in this expressed
world is ephemeral, except You– Parama Purusa. Baba, even the vast,
boundless ocean of avidya maya cannot create obstacles in our relation.
Baba, between You and me there is a strong attraction. You are pulling
me with Your infinite love.
Whatever obstacles come along the way will be smashed. Our love will
go on and on and I will become one with You by Your grace. Baba, in the
past I misunderstood everything and I got captivated by my blind
attachments. I temporarily lost the path of divinity and got caught in
the net of avidya maya. That was my darkest hour. But now, by Your
grace, I realise that I was Yours then and that still today I am Yours.
So many lifetimes have passed and by Your grace I remain under Your
shelter. Today, I keep Your sweet memory in my heart. My each and every
thing is for You. Baba, by saturating me in Your love, make me Yours.
Sometimes my mind gets attracted by the worldly colours, and I get
attached with those transient things. Baba, please shower Your causeless
grace. Please love me so much that Your love dominates my entire
existence; then, by Your grace, I will not get attracted by anything
else. Baba, please colour me by spreading the love of Your heart– Your
divine love. O’ my dearmost, reside eternally in my heart as my most
loving One.
ASTERISK NOTES (*):
*Ka’lo…a’loktiire = These are the opening and closing Bengali words of
the first paragraph of the above song (#1867). This entire first stanza
carries a deep philosophical meaning and is characterized by this below
explanation and quotes.
The basic idea is that beyond the multifarious expressions of this
mundane existence there is a heavenly abode. By the path of sadhana one
can cross the darkness of the unit mind and reach up to that divine
threshold– the abode of Parama Purusa. Baba, being the Taraka Brahma
reamins eternally in that divine stance.
These following quotes lead in that direction and provide insight into
the deeply philosophical meaning of the first stanza of the above
Prabhat Samgiita.
Baba says, “Satyaloka or the Abode of Truth is the ultimate state, of
the highest state of tranquillity (supramental state of witness-ship
beyond the scope-of the mind). In philosophical language it is called
Brahmaloka or the abode of Brahma.”
(AMIWL-5)
Baba says, “And when the sa’dhakas transcend the illusory bondage of
their buddhitattva — existential “I”– and race towards the ultimate
reality unhindered by any reflection on the mental plate, their
intellects and indeed their whole identities merge in Consciousness in
its pure form. That unreflected A’tman is alone called the pure
Nirgun’a. This state is the unchallengeable position in satyaloka – this
state is Consciousness itself.” (AMIWL-5)
Baba says, “In this sadhana of stabilising the citta the meaning of
progress is to gradually cleanse every kos’a of its impurities. When
ka’mamaya kos’a is stabilized, the citta will follow the dictates of the
manomaya kos’a and will not be swayed by the lower propensities, by
sensual proclivities. Then again, when manomaya kos’a becomes tranquil
the citta will be free from the influence of kamamaya kos’a. It will
then merge its own entity in the atima’nasa kos’a – the supramental
mind. In other words, it will exhaust the remaining sam’ska’ras. It
cannot perform any original action (pratyayamu’laka) without
citta-suddhi, (mental purification) because these non-original actions
keep the lower kos’as active. Thus one must continue with sa’dhana’
ceaselessly with a view to gradually establishing harmony and
equilibrium in the kos’as one after another. The moment the indistinct
sensibility of the hiran’maya kos’a (subtle causal mind) is free of the
least vestige of impurity, the sa’dhaka shines with the dazzling radiance
of the Satyaloka. That is an auspicious moment for a sa’dhaka as
it is unification between A’tman and Parama´tman.” (AMIWL-5)
Baba says, “The perfect sa’dhana’ is the sustained effort to completely
identify every kos’a with the inner self, thus the more sa’dhakas
progress on the path of sa’dhana’, the more their cakras and
propensities (vrttis) are gradually controlled by the higher and higher
kos’as. But the sa’dhakas must not stop here. At the final stage of
their sa’dhana’ even the stance of a’jina cakra, even their entire mind
entity – has to be taken to a higher state of existence, the Brahmaloka,
and merged in the Purus’a Bha’va or Cognitive Bearing. It is in the
Sahasra’ra Cakra (pineal plexus) that sa’dhakas establish themselves in
the true blissful state and transcend the bondages of pleasure and pain.
That state is the ultimate state of attainment for microcosms, it is the
original stance of Brahma. There exists neither you nor He, the two
become One. It is by means of sa’dhana’ that this supreme rank is
attainable. So you see, the destiny of human beings is in their own
hands. You are certainly capable of controlling yourself.
Here “yourself” means your propensities – the demons within you.” (AMIWL-5)
Namaskar,
Just as the lines and phrases in the above Prabhat Samgiita contains
unique philosophical and devotional meaning. Similarly there are various
terms employed throughout His collection of Prabhat Samgiita which are
more than mere literary forms. This following letter reviews the
meaning of the name ‘Ajana Pathik’ and discusses whether it should be
translated or not.
One of the greatest things in the life each and every devotee is to have
the opportunity to call the Lord. As we know Baba the Parama Purusa has
multiple names, yet it appears that a few jinanis are confused about how
to treat these beautiful appellations of Baba. Kindly read the following
and share your own thoughts as well.
As each and every margii has the feeling in their heart, our Beloved
Baba, the divine Entity for whom we have full adoration and love, is our
be-all and end-all of life. He is our Ista and with great reverence we
chant His name in our Baba Nam Kevalam kiirtan.
But we never attempt to literally translate each term of that kiirtan
and sing the translated version as: ‘father name only’, instead of Baba
Nam Kevalam. Means no one sings it as: ‘father name only’. Because the
words Baba-Nam-Kevalam carry a special meaning in our heart, and to sing
‘father-name-only’ does not reflect that same inner feeling. So we do
not do like this.
Because while chanting Baba Nam Kevalam then deep inside the idea is
there that in our hearts we are calling Baba.
Unfortunately certain jinanis have chosen to translate one of the
revered names of Baba. Means a few jinanis literally translate ‘Ajana
Pathik’ to ‘unknown traveler’– when any true devotee knows that the
term ‘unknown traveler does not at all carry the inner beauty and
meaning of the name: ‘Ajana Pathik’.
Then who knows what these jinanis will do next. Tomorrow they might
literally translate our ‘Baba Nam Kevalam’ kiirtan to ‘father name
only’. Or in their confusion they might translate His name ‘Shrii Shrii
Anandamurtiji’ as ‘charm charm bliss embodiment’. Of course devotees
will never do like this because we feel more close to Him by saying
Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. The problem is however that a few of these
jinanis are likely to do anything, since already they have literally
translated the beautiful name ‘Ajana Pathik’ into the term ‘unknown
traveler’.
The general rule and ethic is that nobody likes to literally translate
anything which is the proper noun of any person or place. Because then
all types of confusions can come. For example if we literally examine
the name ‘Washington DC’, then in their foolishness someone could change
that into ‘washing’ + ‘ton’. Literally meaning ‘cleaning’ + ‘tons’,
meaning ‘the city where a huge piles of laundry is done’.
So no sane person does like this.
Similarly no one literally translated ‘Bombay’ to ‘Bomb’ + ‘ay’, meaning
‘the place where explosive bombs are manufactured’. Likewise no one
literally translates ‘New York’ as ‘Fresh York’.
The overall notion is that literally translating names or proper nouns
does not work.
The divine name ‘Ajana Pathik’ denotes one of Baba’s special
attributions, but those jinanis do not have any sense so they do crazy
types of things like literally translating that term.
Yet we should not allow anything to occur which goes even one iota
against the spirit of Ista or reverence to Guru. So those jinanis who
are incapable to think in the proper direction should not touch this
delicate type of work of translating Prabhat Samgiita, otherwise they
will prove their impotence and futility each and every step along the
way. And ultimately they will create a mess.
And that is what they have done here. In Prabhat Samgiita number 227
these jinanis have translated the line ‘Ajana Pathik ek eseche’ as ‘the
unknown traveler has come’. But their chosen term ‘unknown traveler’ is
just related with tourism. It does not have any devotional value.
Instead in the translation we should keep the line as ‘Ajana Pathik has
come’, and mark it with an asterisk note which carefully explains that
the beautiful term Ajana Pathik is one of the names of Parama Purusa and
that it denotes one of His special attributions.
So the best way is to write it as ‘The Ajana Pathik has come’. And then
by the asterisk note readers will easily understand that in this
instance Baba wants to be called Ajana Pathik. And so we will call Him
that way then in the back of our minds we will devotionally remember that:
The term Ajana Pathik means ‘The Divine Entity Parama Purusa
Who moves around this entire universe and Who resides everywhere
and knows everything, and irrespective of where one goes
He remains along with you’.
That is one of His many unique attributions and that is the speciality
of the name ‘Ajana Pathik’. Means the name ‘Ajana Pathik’ denotes this
special quality.
Hence if in translation one jinani just omits the term Ajana Pathik and
instead literally writes ‘unknown traveler’, then this does not at all
carry the special meaning or inner beauty of the term. And ultimately
anyone reading that (mis)translation will not be able know what Parama
Purusa really wants to say in His song.
By Baba’s grace in our devotional life we should move ahead according to
His direction then we are sure to reach our cherished Goal.
Baba says, “Success is yours for the asking. Go on making the correct
effort.” (AV-23, p.129)
Namsakar,
Amriteshwar
Note: All family members should kindly write in with their thoughts and
suggestions. By collective sharing we will surely comes up with the best
way to move ahead and serve Baba & His creation.
Negative Teaching Makes People Cowards
Baba says, “Starving people…basing their lives’ ideals on the wrong
religious concept and philosophy throughout their genealogical
traditions they come to regard their own miserable circumstances as the
God ordained destiny. If, in those days they had a high-spirited leader,
if they had heard his fiery speeches, or could get a proper lead and
guidance, they would perhaps have made a concerted assault on the then
social structure.” (HS-1, p.76)
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Ananda Marga Ideological Forum 