broken and ready

I remember a time when Sreejit mentioned in one of his posts that he considered Ra to be his blogging mentor. I, of course, headed directly to her blog to find out why. Since that time, I have discovered for myself what an amazing person she is. In addition to all of her other positive qualities, I have discovered she is a role model for how to live through adversity. I love the post she wrote this morning and decided to reblog it so you have the opportunity to read it too.

मनसा सततं स्मरणीयम् – Let Us Always Remember

I received an email from one of my Sanskrit teachers today asking us to learn a new chant.  I listened to it and loved the tune.  I then found a YouTube version that had the Devanagari script, the transliteration and the translation.  The translation brought tears to my eyes.  I think the chant is so beautiful in every way.

Here is the translation and the video:

Let us always remember,
Let us repeatedly speak out:
Our duty is to do good to humanity.

Let us not focus on material pleasures
Nor lay in the lap of luxury;
Let us be awakened always that
Our duty is to do good to humanity.

Let us not enumerate our sorrows
Nor constantly reflect on our happiness
Let us step up to take action:
Our duty is to do good to humanity.

Let us sail over oceans of misery,
Let us scale mountains of difficulty.
While roaming through the jungle of adversity,
Our duty is to do good to humanity.

Be it a dense forest of extreme darkness
Or surrounded by kith and kin
When we travel these paths,
Our duty remains – to do good to humanity.

(Note: Kith and kin means friends and relatives.)

*****