Wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wake up!!!!!!!!!!!

Many of us have grown up listening to Mohd Rafi songs. One of Goswami Tulsidas’ compositions, which was rendered into a melodious but melancholic number by Rafi has the following lyrics: -

उठ जाग मुसाफिर भोंर भई, अब रैन कहाँ जो सोवत है, जो जागत है सो पावत है, जो सोवत है वह खोवत है !

तुक नींद से अँखियाँ खोल ज़रा, ओह गाफिल रब से ध्यान लगा, यह प्रीत करण  की रीत नहीं, रब जागत है तू सोवत है!!

जो काल करें सो आज कर ले, जब चिड़िया खेत चुग डाली, फिर पछताए क्या होवत है, उठ जाग मुसाफिर भोर भइ!!!

The verses are poignant in that the poet is exhorting us to “wake up” from our present situation of “ignorance” and come into the “knowledge” of our Higher Self. Different languages and different religions have named “God” differently. Urdu invariably uses the word “Rab” to identify Him. Wonder really, what’s in the name, because He is the Real One. How does it matter, by what name we call HIM.

We are all “travelers” in this world, having come into this mortal plane for fulfilling certain “vasanas” and grow within ourselves before departing; only to return again for continuing this journey. This constant coming and going will continue till we have realized the true knowledge about our Inner Self, which when fully realized, there is no more any need to return for a fresh journey in this world. But so long as we are travelers here, we need to be ever awake to realize the True Knowledge of the Lord of our Hearts, Lord Jagadeeshwara.

As Tulsidasji says, “Hey traveler, wake up, it is already dawn, where is the time now available for sleeping. The one who is awake, gains and the one who sleeps, loses”. If we try to understand his true meaning; the journey that we have come into, is a short one. We assume that this life is very long, but really speaking this life is but a small dot in a long and constant coming and going process. And for such a short journey, if we don’t spare enough time for realizing His true nature, we are literally asleep to the reality of life.

Continuing, Tulsidasji says “You open your eyes from your sleep and devote your attention on the Lord; for this is no way of Love that the Lord is Awake and you are asleep”. If we introspect on this verse, the poet says, shift your attention from the day-to-day and mundane wants, likes, dislikes, passion, anger, fear and anxiety driven desires and transfer it towards the Lord, who is your Inner Being; who is your Consciousness and guiding you always. This Consciousness is always Awake (meaning it is nothing but the life spark in us) whereas, we in our ignorance, claiming to love Him, we are always asleep. Metaphorically, we always seem to spend a little time in prayer every day. But we need to introspect and answer to ourselves, are we Awake in Prayer. We always pray while desiring for something. How many of us can claim that when we pray, we offer all our desires, feelings, emotions, thoughts, possessions and everything else, at His Feet. We claim to be praying, but really, most of us are only begging; to give something, to get rid of something, to get some happiness, to protect someone whom we love etc etc. In each of these interactions with the Lord, we are “asking” Him to do something. But real prayer will happen only when we turn internally, within ourselves, and allow Him to dwell in our Hearts, where He really belongs!!

Lastly, Tulsi says, it is never too late. If we believe in His True Nature and want to shift our focus, we can begin NOW, no matter where we are and what our life situation is. It is better to start now than regret later. He asks us to act on the determination of our Hearts, for there is no use regretting tomorrow after the birds have ruined the crops. So wake up Oh Traveler, It is Dawn.

Let us invoke these sentiments in our Hearts and start in right earnest, before “Sunset”, i.e. before depart from this mortal plane.

Prem & Om

Suresh