Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

About Ravidas

Timeline (1398? - 1448?)

Ravidas, Ravidas poetry, Yoga / Hindu, Yoga / Hindu poetry, poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, Sikh poetry

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English version by
Nirmal Dass

Upon seeing poverty

Themes

Pain and Wounding

Recommended Books

	Guru Ravidas: Life and Teachings (Mystics of the East series) , by K. N. Upadhyaya
	Songs and Saints from the Adi Granth, Translated by Nirmal Dass
	Songs of the Saints of India, Translated by John Stratton Hawley / Translated by Mark Juergensmeyer
	Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Translated by Gurbachan S. Talib
	Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Translated by Winand M. Callewaert

Upon seeing poverty
people laugh and jeer,
and such was my plight.
But now I hold the powers
of creation
in the palm of my hand --
all because of Your mercy.

You know I am nothing,
O Ram, Destroyer of fear.
All creatures seek Your refuge,
O Prabhu, Fulfiller of desires.

Those who find Your refuge
suffer no more afflictions.
Because of You,
the high and the low --
all have gone across,
escaping from the prison
of this world.

Ravi Dass says,
The tale cannot be told,
so why speak further?
You are what You are.
What metaphor
can I possibly use
to describe You?

-- from Songs and Saints from the Adi Granth, Translated by Nirmal Dass

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

About Ravidas

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World