કીર્તન મુક્તાવલી
Translation
(1) Sakhī premī jāṇe vāt prītnī jo
Sakhī premī jāṇe vāt prītnī jo
Only one with love [for God] knows the way of love.
Shu jāṇe bījā e rītnī jo...
What would others know?
Sakhī bhramar lobhī ras sārnā jo,
Look how a bee only relishes nectar.
Shu jāṇe dādūr bhogī gārnā jo... sakhī 1
What would a frog – who lives in mud – know [of nectar]?
Sakhī hans to muktāfaḷne jame jo,
Look how a swan only grazes on pearls.
Mūā baglāne ek māchhlā game jo... sakhī 2
But a seagull only likes fish.
Sakhī premījan hans motī Shyām chhe jo,
Ones with love for God are like swans and God is like a pearl.1
Jene Shyām vinā bīju harām chhe jo... sakhī 3
For one who loves God, everything else is worthless.
Sakhī amrut pitā ṭaḷī vāsanā jo,
By drinking amrut, all desires are destroyed.
Te nav jāṇe benī svād chhāsnā jo... sakhī 4
One who likes buttermilk (worldly pleasures) would not know this.
Sakhī jīvavu jenu Nāth kārṇe jo,
For one who lives for God...
Premsakhī jāye tene vārṇe jo... sakhī 5
Premsakhi says he sacrifices himself to them.
1. In this analogy, the devotees of God are swans (hansa) and God is the pearl (moti). True hansas graze on pearls, meaning true devotees of God only relish the form of God. Brahmaswarup Yogiji Maharaj used to share this folktale of genuine hansas.
BLACK HANSA IN KALI-YUG
Once upon a time there was a king. One day he commanded his minister, “I want several hansas as pets.” The minister said, “Sire, only in Satya-yug are white hansas to be found. In Treta-yug they are green, in Dwapar-yug, yellow and in Kali-yug, black.”
The king replied, “That may be so, but I really do want some pet hansas.”
The minister replied, “In Satya-yug the hansas used to graze on pearls. Now they eat khir and puri.”
The king said, “Very good. Find the hansas.” The minister was a very devious and clever man. He brought twenty black birds from Bhal and put them into a cage. He thought to himself, “Where would I go to find real hansas. These will do in their place. The king will never know the truth.” He locked them in a cage and everyday would feed them milk, puri, shak and khir.
For six months the deception continued. The holy Sharad Purnima day came. And with it arrived real hansas! They settled down in the royal garden. The crows recognized the true hansas and said to themselves, “Our enemies are here. If we have them killed we’ll be saved, or else our daily bread will be taken away from us.” They were very worried.
The crows went to a guard and said, “Our enemies have come. Only if you shoot them will we stay here.” The true hansas then said to the guard, “We’d just like to stay the night in the garden. We don’t want anything to eat.”
Hearing the hansas speak the guard asked, “Who are you?”
They replied, “We’re hansas.”
The guard said, “But these pets of the king are hansas! Are you different? And where have you come from?” Although the guard asked the questions he was impressed. He had heard the hansas’ sweet words. “I’d better notify the king,” he thought to himself.
He informed the treasurer, who went to the king. “Sire, hansas have come to your palace.”
The king replied, “But our minister has already brought several hansas, has he not?”
The treasurer answered, “These hansas say they are real hansas.”
The king went to have a look. The treasurer and the now very worried minister also went with him. All three saw that the hansas were white, righteous, handsome and beautifully winged. Even their beaks were nice. Seeing them, the king thought, “These birds are of a fine breed. These must be hansas.” He said to them, “Our minister says that only in Satya-yug are white hansa to be found. In Dwapar-yug they are green, in Treta, yellow and in Kali-yug, black. That is why we have black hansas for pets.”
The minister had also convinced the king that the hansas of long ago grazed on pearls and the hansas of today lived on khir and puri. The king mentioned this to the real hansas.
They replied, “Sire, there is one test still. A true hansa can separate a mixture of milk and water.”
The king felt this to be true. The hansas told him, “Call your pet hansas here.” Then a golden container with five liters of water was brought. Five liters of milk was added to it. The real hansas then said, “Tell your pet hansas to separate the milk from the water.”
The crows replied, “Give us half an hour and we’ll separate the two.”
The minister released the crows. One said to the rest. “If we add something sour to the mixture, the milk will separate.” And so using their beaks all the crows gathered pieces of tamarind fruit and leaves. They dropped the tamarind and leaves into the golden pot. But nothing happened. In desperation, one crow jumped into the pot. He overturned it.
Then one hansa said, “That is not the way to separate milk from water. Bring another container.” The mess was cleaned up and another five liters of water and five liters of milk were mixed. The two became one. A real hansa came forward. He dipped his beak into the mixture. At once the milk and water separated. The hansa said, “Sire, judge for yourself. Who told you that hansas are white, green, yellow and black? In all four ages hansas are the same. And true hansas can separate water from milk. They do not eat khir and puri. They graze only on pearls.” The king ordered that 150,000 rupees worth of pearls be scattered in the garden. The hansas ate them.
The sadhus of Bhagwan Swaminarayan were paramhansas – hansas of the highest order. But what of now? The sadhus of today have to be as pure as they were in the time of Maharaj. They should have the same commitment to dharma-niyams and love of spiritual discourses. Such a sadhu, with one peck, shows truth from falsity. He drives out false love for the world from our hearts.
[101 Tales of Wisdom - Brahmaswarup Yogiji Maharaj]
