Chintayo momo maanosho Hori...

Sri Ramakrishna loved songs. There probably was no normal day when he did not sing some songs.

Songs dear to Sri Ramakrishna

His conversations with devotees were interspersed with songs that drove home the point of discussion and intensified the spiritual mood of the gathering. Sri Ramakrishner Priyo Sangeet is a collection of songs that were sung by Sri Ramakrishna or sung in his presence by others. In this section we serialise these songs giving the English and Devanagari transliteration of the Bengali song, along with its English translation.

Meditate, 0 my mind, on the Lord Hari,

The essence of consciousness, free from all impurity.

Without equal is His glory, enchanting is His form!

How beloved is He in the hearts of His devotees.

The fresh beauty of newly awakened love

Casts into shade the effulgence of a million moons!

His glory flashes like lightning,

And His devotees' hair stands on end in sheer delight

Worship His feet in the lotus of your heart;

With mind serene and eyes made radiant

With heavenly love, behold that matchless sight.

Caught in the spell of His love's ecstasy,

In Him who is Pure Knowledge and Pure Bliss.

Setting: 1

Date: Sunday, 05 March 1882

Venue: Dakshineswar

Singer: Narendranath (later Swami Vivekananda)

Context: It was Sunday afternoon when M. came on his third visit to the Master. He had been profoundly impressed by his first two visits to this wonderful man. He had been thinking of the Master constantly, and of the utterly simple way he explained the deep truths of the spiritual life. Never before had he met such a man.