{"id":6528,"date":"2019-08-23T06:57:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T13:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6528"},"modified":"2019-08-23T06:57:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-23T13:57:52","slug":"rasakhan-enchanted-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/23\/rasakhan-enchanted-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Rasakhan – Enchanted"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enchanted
\nby Rasakhan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Shyamdas<\/font><\/p>\n

I put my fingers in my ears
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to block the sound
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whenever Krishna gently plays His flute!<\/em><\/p>\n

Declares Raskhan,
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt happens when enchanter Mohan
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 climbs to the rooftop
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to call His cows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI issue a warning to all the people of Braja.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tomorrow, I will not be able to console them.<\/p>\n

<\/em>\u201cO, friend! Having glimpsed His smile,
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I cannot\u2026
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I cannot\u2026
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will not
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 control my love.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Treasure House of Love: Poems of Rasakhan<\/a>, Translated by Shyamdas<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\/ Image by vishalmisra<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Today is Krishna Jayanti or Krishna Janmashtami in the Hindu calendar, the day celebrating the birth of Krishna. Naturally, I thought we should select a poem in honor of Krishna\u2026<\/p>\n

Krishna is often depicted standing in a relaxed posture holding a flute to his lips. Think of Krishna as the pied piper of India, but it is lost souls he calls to himself.<\/p>\n

I put my fingers in my ears
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to block the sound
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whenever Krishna gently plays His flute!<\/i><\/p>\n

When you think about it, this opening line can be read in two different ways. On the surface, Rasakhan (speaking as Radha, the cowherd girl who loves Krishna) seems to be petulantly blocking out the music of Krishna\u2019s flute, not wanting to come when called. Of course, even this implies that the Lord\u2019s music is so enchanting that the only way not to be drawn by it is to try to block it out. This hints that we are already hooked by the call of God, that union is inevitable, and we can only temporarily put it off.<\/p>\n

But there is another, esoteric way to read this, as well. The flute of Krishna is the quiet tone heard deep within the base of the skull when we sit in silent, devoted meditation and prayer. It is this whisper in the inner ear that draws us to deepest union with the Eternal. Understood this way, Rasakhan could actually be describing a yogic technique of blocking out sound and quieting the external senses in order to better hear Krishna\u2019s call within.<\/p>\n

Declares Raskhan,
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt happens when enchanter Mohan
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 climbs to the rooftop
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to call His cows.<\/i><\/p>\n

We hear the flute when Mohan, another name for Krishna, climbs to the rooftop. In the language of yoga, this \u201crooftop\u201d can be understood as a reference to the skull in general or, more specifically, the crown chakra.<\/p>\n

\u201cO, friend! Having glimpsed His smile,
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I cannot\u2026
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I cannot\u2026
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will not
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 control my love.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

I love those lines! That\u2019s the passion felt by a true lover of God! \u201cI cannot\u2026 I cannot\u2026 I will not control my love.\u201d<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

Website Fixes<\/b><\/p>\n

The reason there was no poem email last week was that I was focused on fixing some technical issues with the Poetry Chaikhana website. It turned out to be a more challenging undertaking than I first imagined, but everything should be running smoothly once again.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Rasakhan<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Treasure House of Love: Poems of Rasakhan<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/small><\/td>\n<\/small><\/td>\n<\/small><\/td>\n<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\nRasakhan<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

India (1534? \u2013 1619?) Timeline<\/a>
\nYoga \/ Hindu<\/a> : Vaishnava (Krishna\/Rama)<\/a>
\nMuslim \/ Sufi<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Like Kabir and a few other celebrated poet-saints of India, Rasakhan melded within himself both Islam and Hinduism.<\/p>\n

He was born to a wealthy Muslim family in India, possibly near Delhi. His birth name was Saiyad Ibrahim, and he later took the spiritual name Rasakhan. He is said to have had a good education and he spoke both Hindi and Persian (Farsi).<\/p>\n

Most of his poems are ecstatic bhakti songs exploring the love between Radha and Lord Krishna, written in the Hindi language.<\/p>\n

Rasakhan also translated the Srimad Bhagavatam (one of the great scriptures in the Krishna bhakti tradition) into Persian<\/p>\n

More poetry by Rasakhan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enchanted by Rasakhan English version by Shyamdas I put my fingers in my ears \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to block the sound \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 whenever Krishna gently plays His flute! Declares Raskhan, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt happens when enchanter Mohan \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 climbs to the rooftop \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to call His cows. \u201cI issue a warning to all the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14,2291,1944,2289,2288,931,2292,974,2287],"class_list":["post-6528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-hindu-poetry","tag-inner-sound","tag-krishna-and-radha","tag-krishna-janmashtami","tag-krishna-jayanti","tag-krishna-poetry","tag-meditative-sound","tag-rasakhan","tag-vaishnava-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6529,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6528\/revisions\/6529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}