श्याम पिया मोरी रंग दे चुनरिया ।
ऐसी रंग दे, के रंग नहीं छुटे ।
धोभिया धोये चाहे सारी उमरिया ॥
लाल ना रंगाऊं मैं, हरी ना रंगाऊ ।
अपने ही रंग में रंग दे चुनरिया ॥
बिना रंगाये मैं तो घर नाही जाउंगी ।
बीत ही जाए चाहे सारी उमरिया ॥
मीरा के प्रभु गिरिधर नागर ।
प्रभु चरनन ने लागी नजरिया ॥
श्याम पिया मोरी रंग दे चुनरिया ।
Shyam Piya More Rang de Chunaria
Aisi rang de ke rang nahi choote…Dhobiya dooye chahe ye sari umariya
Lal na rangavu Mei…Hari na rangavu…Apne hi rang me rang de chunaria
Bina rangaye mai to ghar nahi javongi…beet hi jaaye chahe saari umariya
Meera ke prabhu, giridhar nagar…prabhu charanan ne laagi najariya
Sri Krishna spoke at length about the many types of yog, and jnana yog is one of the ways in which to obtain nirvikalpa samadhi, or absolute stillness, he said.
But what if I don’t have the inclination for the pursuit of true knowledge? What if I find it cumbersome, or difficult, or plain not doable? Does that mean that I have no hope? Will Sri Krishna not accept me, because, in contemporary terms, I failed to make the cut?
The odd thing about us is that we work in reverse. This whole process is in reverse.
When I was uneducated, when I didn’t know…a stone was a stone.
I gained education, and became learned…when I knew…then a stone was not a stone.
Then I reached the pinnacle of knowledge, and I again didn’t know…and a stone was a stone.
Jnana yog pretty much works the same way. We spend our whole lives trying to find a purpose, to find a meaning, to find God, and then, if you by chance reach the pinnacle of knowing, when you become knowledge…then a stone is a stone – you are the stone, and everything else around you. There are no more boundaries of identity, and you know that God is nowhere else, but within you, as much as you are within God.
Unfortunately, not many of us have the patience to get to this pinnacle of knowledge, and we instead stay content with our degrees instead.
And so Sri Krishna says – it is ok if you cannot seek the way of Hatha (physical) or the way of Karma (action), or the way of jnana (knowledge). There is still one more way, and oddly enough, it is the easiest and the best.
Just surrender to me.
Wow, that easy? And here we were trying to fix our karmic wheel and twist ourselves into pretzels and memories the Vedas…when all we had to do was surrender!
Well…surely sounds easy. But it isn’t.
Bhakti yoga is the easiest, and the most difficult of all the methods of discovering the truth.
Easy, because all you need to do is forsake your own identity – your ego – your self. Difficult because, you need to forsake your own identity – your ego – your self.
And so for those who think that knowledge is better than bhakti, here is an exercise for you.
Rang de Chunariya – just ten minutes. Try to keep your degrees, your knowledge, your ego and your intelligence aside, and melt into Krishna. For Holi is also the leela of Radha and Krishna. Radha melted into Krishna and Krishna into Radha, and that is why they are immortal. They represent bhakti at it’s pinnacle – a height that Meera wished to reach through her devotion. This bhajan is just a glimpse, but if we are able to have that glimpse today, it is truly a day to celebrate.
Here is the finest rendition that you can find – by Anup Jalota. Rang de chunariya…Close your eyes, listen, feel and enjoy the bliss that this bhajan brings you…Jai Shri Krishna…Happy Holi!