Vaishnava Jan to Tene Kahiye – Narsinh Mehta
Every Indian has heard the Gujarati Song “Vaishnava Janato Tene Kahiye“ Gujarati song, that was largely popularized by Mahatma Gandhi. Some of us even think Mahatma Gandhi composed it. This famous song was actually composed by a great Krishna Bhakth called Narsinh Mehta, 600 years ago. Narsimha Mehata was born in Talaja village in Junagadh in Saurashtra, Gujarat. He is called the father of Gujarati poetry. When Dharma was waning and foreign invaders were slaughtering our people and slandering our places of worship, the only way our people held their faith was by developing intense love and devotion to their Gods, despite the blasphemy that was brought on their religious beliefs. Developing love and devotion was the basis of the Bhakthi movement. Narsinh Mehta was an integral wave in this movement that soon spread throughout India.
He used to associate with the sadhus or wandering holy men who used to sing praises Lord Krishna. Full of love and devotion for Lord Krishna he too began composing. According to legend he once experienced a vision in which he saw Krishna dancing with the Gopis. This mystical experience turned his life.
Narsinh Mehta and his wife lived with his brother’s family. The sister-in-law was an evil lady who insulted Narsinh very much one day, and he left for the forest to meditate and fast. Lord Shiva came to him after seven days of worship and offered him a boon. Narsinh wanted to see Krishna Leela, and he was taken to Vrindavan to participate in the raas leela. He was so deeply engrossed in his love for Krishna, that he burned his hand with the torch he was holding. Lord Krishna blessed him and sent him back to Earth to sing songs and spread the love. Narsinh followed the Lord’s orders and began writing hymns in praise of Krishna.
He continued to live in poverty with his wife and children. In one incident, when his daughter was having a baby, it is a custom for the father of the girl to present the new born with some gifts. Narsinh was very poor to afford any presents, so it is believed that Lord Krishna himself came down to earth, disguised as Narsinh Mehta to present gifts to his daughter.
(A similar story is believed to have happened in a village near Trichy in Tamil Nadu. Lord Siva disguises as a girl’s mother to attend to her child birth, when her mother, a staunch devotee of Siva, is stuck at another village due to inclement weather conditions and floods. Even today, Lord Siva is worshipped in the name of Thayumaanavar – the one who also became a mother, by the people of this village.)
On another occassion when Narsinh Mehta and his wife were performing the yearly rites for his father’s death, his wife gave him some money and told him to buy some Ghee to help the priests continue their prayer offerings. It is a great sin to neglect the yearly rites for one’s parents. Narsinh left the house, but before he finished his chore, he got distracted by some singers on the street and began singing songs in praise of Krishna. He was completely engrossed in his love for Krishna that he was forgetting the ghee, and the priests were getting restless as the auspicous time was running out. Lord Krishna decided to take charge of the situation. Once again, he went to Narsinh’s house with the ghee, and left after handing it over to the priests. After several hours, the original Narsinh returned, and his wife thanked him for doing the chore well, and that is when he realized what had happened. The Lord himself had come down to prevent his devotee from being cursed for neglect of Dharma.
There is yet another episode where Narsinh Mehta and his brother are fed a sumptuous meal by an unknown stranger when they were passing through a forest, singing hymns. After having a hearty meal and thanking their benevolent host, they started to continue on their pilgrimage. After a few minutes, when they turned back to see the house, it was gone. Lord Krishna himself helped his devotees again.
(There is a similar story in the Sai Sat Charita, where Akkalkot Swami Samartha’s devotees meet a lady called Annapoorni who feeds the tired devotees in the middle of the forest. After a few minutes, the house and Annapoorni have vanished into thin air)
These incidents strengthen the faith and love for God in the minds of the simple devotees and help them to continue believing in God, when adharmic forces like tyrannic foreign rulers are trying the best they can to break our faith.
Until the time of his death, Narsinh Mehta had composed nearly 22000 hymns in praise of Krishna. All these hymns had the central theme of devotion, faith, brotherhood and unity – indeed, these were the need of the day to withstand the foreign invaders.
वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये जे, पीड़ पराई जाणे रे|
पर दुख्खे उपकार करे तो ये, मन अभिमान न आणे रे||
सकळ लोकमाँ सहुने वन्दे, निंदा न करे केनी रे|
वाच काछ मन निश्चळ राखे, धन धन जननी रे||
सम दृष्टी ने तृष्णा त्यागी, परस्त्री जेनी मात रे|
जिंव्हा थकी असत्य न बोले, परधन नव झाले हाथ रे||
मोह माया व्यापे नही जेने,दृढ वैराग्य जेना मनमाँ रे|
राम नामशुं ताळी लागी, सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमाँ रे||
वण लोभी ने कपट रहित छे, काम क्रोध निवार्या रे|
भणे नरसैय्यो तेनुं दर्शन करता, कुल एकोत्तेर तार्या रे||
Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je
PeeD paraayi jaaNe re
Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye
Man abhimaan na aaNe re (Vaishnava)
SakaL lok maan sahune vande
Nindaa na kare keni re
Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe
Dhan-dhan janani teni re (Vaishnava)
Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi
Par-stree jene maat re
Jivha thaki asatya na bole
Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re (Vaishnava)
Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene
DriDh vairaagya jena man maan re
Ram naam shoon taaLi laagi
SakaL tirath tena tan maan re (Vaishnava)
VaN-lobhi ne kapaT-rahit chhe
Kaam-krodh nivaarya re
BhaNe Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta
KuL ekoter taarya re (Vaishnava)
Meaning: One who is a Vaishnav (Devotee of Vishnu) Knows the pain of others. Does good to others without letting pride enter his mind. A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world.Does not speak ill of others Keeps his promises, actions and thoughts pure your mother is blessed indeed. A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice respects women as he respects his own mother though his tongue may tire he will utter no untruth Never touches the property of others. A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments he has renounced lust of all types and anger The poet Narsi will like to see such a person By who’s virtue, the entire family gets salvation.
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