My Foolish Heart/Bhaja Govinda - Krishna Das

My foolish heart

Why do you weep?

You throw yourself away again

Now you cry yourself to sleep

Cry yourself to sleep…

My foolish heart

When will you learn?

You are the eyes of the world

And there’s nowhere else to turn

Nowhere else to turn…

Bhaja Govindam, bhaja Govindam

My foolish heart

Govindam Govindam Govindam

My foolish heart

My foolish heart

My foolish heart…

Raadhe Raadhe Govinda Govinda

Raadhe Raadhe Govinda Govinda

Govinda Bhaja Govinda

Govinda Bhaja Govinda

The words «Bhaja Govindam» are an exhortation to adore and love God.

In the 8th century, the great saint, Adi Shankaracharya, wrote a beautiful

hymn called «Bhaja Govindam.»

It is a unique prayer as it unifies the path of

Wisdom (Jnana Marg) and the path of Devotion (Bhakti Marg).

Shankaracharya

praises Devotion as a spiritual path that leads to liberation.

The legend is

that he was walking with his disciples when he saw an old scholar teaching his

young students the rules of Sanskrit grammar.

Shankaracharya told the old man

that now that he was so old he should turn his mind toward God and stop wasting

time.

In every verse he described the ways that life is passing by and with it

our opportunity to find freedom from suffering.

Each verse was addressed to «my

foolish mind/heart,» mudhamate in Sanskrit.

I wrote a couple of verses in

English with the same feeling