Verse 5

Try as you may
through esoteric practices and rituals
to become an adept,
end you will with
an oversized ego!
Without ardour, no chance
of seeing the invisible.
Who can unravel
Experience but a Wise one?
Fruit without labour;
gain without pain;
and counsel without concern –
go round and round in their search.
Seek out the Wise ones and
learn you may a step or two
of the saving Grace.

=./=./=./=./=./=./=./=./=./=./=./
Without an ardent desire, you would not touch the Being. Complex practices, procedures and rituals are of no help here. They only create a false pride. Only the wise ones can point it out and share their intimate experiences with you. Gain their company and you have gained a foothold on the sure path.

Verse 4

Devotion without feeling,
liberation without devotion
and power without strength
are not even words.
Relax and don’t tire yourself
to please the Lord.
Engage, hustle and struggle
with life, inattentive to your essence.
Pay attention to it
and the bonds break.

= ~=~=~
No need here for arduous work that affairs of the world demand. Remain quiet with an ardent desire to go into your being and see all bonds drop one by one.

Verse 3

Your pleasures are passing
pain impermanent;
your consciousness also is transitory.
They are not you. You are
What remains after they have left.
Dwell in yourself and know the real
From the unreal.
Move in the space that
authors the drama of life.
Life after life, you are striving
To hold this essence in your being.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

All objects that you experience and their properties that move you are transitory. The phenomena rise from the senses covering the being with personality. You aren’t able to then distinguish between the real and the unreal. It is only the union with the being that will deliver you from the illusions. That union requires Herculean determination.

Verse 2

Like churning for butter
drop off futile pursuits
and reach for the one
essence,
which will fill up
everything in your sight.

=~=~=~=~
Get rid of useless pursuits and head direct to your essence. You would then find it pervading the whole universe of objects and phenomena, as well as qualities and experience.

Verse 1

Step on the road inward
Move closer
Feel the self and stay in it
and you will be IT,
dissolving all bonds of the world.
With this yearning in you
go about your daily chores
trusting the essence within,
just as Pandavas found Lord Krishna
in their abode.

~~~~~~~~~~
As you begin to enter your Being, in the experience of that moment lies a release that is four fold: affinity, manifestation, identity and indivisibility. Immersed as you are in the world of duties, performance, roles and status, never lose touch with the Being.

Introduction

This is a translation of the Maharashtra Saint-Poet Sant Jnaneshwara's Haripaath. It is a rendering in verse of the Marathi mystical poetry, which enjoys the status of daily prayer offering in the Warkari sect in Maharashtra. Sant Jnaneshwara (1275-1296) is credited to have brought about a confluence of Adwait philosophy, Nath spirituality and the Bhakti or devotional movement. This confluence continues for the last 7 centuries unbroken in the form of the Warkari sect. But his appeal transcends the bounds of the sects through his commentary on the Gita, Jnaneshwari.

Haripaath is a short collection of 27 verses enjoying its unique status. It is recited daily by all warkaris, many of whom are illiterate, but united in their single-pointed devotion alongside very erudite devotees. The simplicity and the directness of the message of Haripaath conceals within itself many layers of meanings accessible only to the mystical initiate.

It is believed that Haripaath was revealed to Sant Eknath (circa 1540) almost 300 years after the samadhi of Sant Jnaneshwara. The latter appeared in Eknath's dream and exhorted him to purge the Jnaneshwari of all interpolations made by other commentators. Eknath came to Alandi, the resting place of Jnaneshwara, to undertake the correction. During his stay at Alandi, Eknath received a revelation in the form of Haripaath, which he transcribed for own and others' use. It is this Haripaath that is in currency for the last over 400 years.

I first read out translations of some verses to my friend Dr Balaji who suggested that I do the same for the entire collection. After reading the prose one, my friend Sandeep Apte suggested that I do the rendering in verse form. I completed it in Oct 2003 and printed it in a pocketbook form. I am happy to be able to put it out on the web for world readership.