Sahajo

  Sahajo

(OSHO on Sahajo

Daya and Sahajo were both disciples of the great master Charandas (1703-1783). Charandas had great respect for the classical Indian traditions of the Upanishads, the Puranas and Hath Yoga, but became famous in his maturity for his ecstatic devotion. He was iconoclastic, indifferent to ritual, opposed to caste, and a major poet. Both Daya and Sahajo were renowned disciples of Charandas, and Sahajo, his cousin, was to succeed him as an important master in her own right after his death. Like Charandas, both his women disciples also wrote poetry.)

Sahajobai was a devout girl hailing from Rajputana of the state of Rajasthan, India. She had accepted the disciplehood of Sant Charandas ji Mahaaraj. The story of how she got converted to the path of devotion is quite interesting and inspiring.

Her marriage ceremony had just been over. Preparations were afoot to send her off to her in-laws' house. Her hair was being done. She was being meticulously dressed & decorated. Her friends were busy doing her make-up. It was then only, shall we say by the quirk of the fate that Charandaas jee appeared on the scene. Looking at Sahajo Bai whose make-up was in progress, he remarked,

Chalanaa hai rahanaa naheen chalanaa wishwaabees

Sahajo tanik suhaag par kahaan guthaavai sheesh

Statue of Shti Charandasji Maharaj

[O Sahajo! This world is not your permanent abode. We would have to leave, it is dead sure, this world. 
Would you trade your head for such a fickle & ephemeral conjugal bliss?]

No sooner than these words had been uttered, she put off all items of make-up and decoration, and gave up the very idea of going to her in-laws' place. Instead, she got herself married to a life of meditation and grew up, in due course of time, into a great devotee and sant herself. She could attain the Ultimate Perfection (Self Realisation) by meticulously and rigorously obeying the instructions of her Guru, and thus, she had gratefully experienced his infinite grace. 

It is with this deep sense of gratitude in her mind that she has expressed her heartfelt emotions towards her Guru in the following verses.

Original Verse and its translation in English:

"Ram tajoon pai guru na visaaroon |
Guru ke sam hari ko na nihaaroon || 

I may abandon Ram (God), but I can never forget my Guru |
I do not see God with the same sense of gratitude as I do my Guru ||

Hari ne janm diyo jag maanhee |
Guru ne aawaagaman chhudaaheen || 

God sent me into this world |
But Guru rid me of the vicious cycle of birth & death (transmigration) ||

Hari ne paanch chor diye saathaa |
Guru ne laee chhudaay anaathaa || 

God deputed five thieves (the five sensory organs namely eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin which keep on stealing (the pleasures in) objects of senses viz. form, sound, smell, taste and touch) to accompany me |
Guru rescued the helpless me from the captivity of these (thieves) ||

Hari ne kutumb jaal mein geree |
Guru ne kaatee mamataa bedee ||

God ensnared me in the trap of kiths & kins |
Guru, on the other hand, freed me by snapping the shackles of attachments ||

Hari ne rog bhog urajhaayau |
Guru jogee kar sabai chhutaayau ||

 God entangled me in various diseases (bodily as well as mental) and endurance of the fruits (of deeds performed in earlier births) |
While Guru liberated me from all these afflictions by making me a yogi i.e. by making me perform "Yoga-Sadhana" ||

Hari ne karm bharm bharamaayau |
Guru ne aatam roop lakhaayau ||

 God misled me into the illusory web of doing (good as well as bad deeds) |
But Guru made me see, taking me beyond these, my true Self ||

Hari ne mo soon aap chhipaayau |
Guru deepak de taahi dikhaayau || 

God hid or concealed Himself from me (though He is in me, I couldn't see Him) |
Whereas the Guru, lending me the lamp of inner eye/ vision, enabled me to see Him ||

Fir hari bandh-mukti gati laaye |
Guru ne sabahee bharm mitaaye || 

God brought me repeatedly in the fetters of the body and the four kinds of `mukti' |
But Guru, imparting the experiential knowledge of `kaivalya mukti' ended all my wanderings & delusions ||

Charandas par tan man waaroon |
Guru na tajoon hari ko taji daaroon ||"

I (Sahajo Bai) offer myself whole-heartedly, with all my physical and mental resources, in sacrifice at the lotus feet of (my Guru) Charandas ji |
I may renounce God, but can never ever forsake my Guru ||

(One day Mulla Nasruddin told his young son to climb a ladder. The boy climbed the ladder. Then Mulla asked him to jump down: "Jump into my arms." The son was a little scared. If he jumped

from such a height he might slip out of his father's reach and fall.

Mulla said: "Why are you afraid? Don't you trust me?"

The son jumped and Mulla moved away. The boy crashed on the earth. He began to cry and said, "Why did you do that?"

Mulla said, "I wanted to teach you a lesson. Don't even trust your own father. Don't ever trust anyone.

That is the characteristic of a wise man. Do you understand?")

Sahajo Bai AmritVaani: I Might Renounce God, But Can Never Abandon My Guru!

(Osho has spoken on all three of these "singers, poets and madmen," praising the purity of their vision and the strong simplicity of their writing. His discourses on Sahajo bear the title Showering White Clouds, a phrase drawn from Daya's verse. The title of this Volume, The Last Morning Star, is taken from Sahajo's poetry.

In Books I Have Loved, Osho describes Daya as "a contemporary of Meera and Sahajo" but "far more profound than either of them". He says: " Daya is a little cuckoo, but don't be worried. In fact, it does not have the meaning of being nuts. Daya is really a cuckoo-not nuts, but a sweet singer like the Indian koyal. On an Indian summer night….the distant call of the cuckoo, that's what Daya is….a distant call in the hot summer of this world.")

  

As a person who had grown up reading everyone from Dylan Thomas to Pablo Neruda, we find a stunningly modern voice in Sahajo. What’s more, she did not romanticize love but wrote about things one  did not think could be written as poetry, with imagery that burned into your brain. The one poem no one I can forget even today was about the dream-poet like nature of our life – ‘Sahajo, Supney Ek Pal’.

Sahajo, dreams last but one moment

Though within them, fifty years may pass.

The world is like the last morning star,

Sahajo says: it will not stay.

Just as the dewdrop appears to be a pearl,

Just like water cupped in the palm of your hand.

The mind hallucinates a fortress in smoke,

And imagines glorious kingdoms there.

It is a game of hide and seek, Sahajo.

Nothing happens. No truth exists here.

 

Life of Sahajo

Sahajo was born into a traditional Rajasthani family in 1725. As was the custom in those days, her marriage was arranged at the age of 11. A notable spiritual teacher, Charandas, who was her cousin, met her a few hours before the celebrations began. As beautiful little Sahajo was being meticulously dressed up in her bridal finery, Charandas said to her with a smile:

Oh Sahajo! Why beautify your face for mere married bliss?
When one must die, you cannot say.
But we all must go, of that you can be sure
Would you trade your head for such a fickle conjugal bliss?

It is said that upon hearing these words, the not-yet-teenaged Sahajo had an epiphany: she took off all her wedding jewelry and announced to her family that she would seek the Divine for the rest of her days.

From that day on, Sahajo became devoted to her teacher. She practiced yoga and meditated on chakras like his other disciples and attained self-realization. It was a time when in many parts of the world, women were still being burned for challenging religious paradigms. But Sahajo stood her ground even when she was mocked – even standing alone against society, she did not lose her femininity. And when she did write about love, it was about a love like no other.

( Mulla Nasruddin was telling me, "When I was young I swore I wouldn't rest until I was a millionaire."

So I asked him, "Then what happened?"

He said, "Well, when I was eighteen I saw that it is easier to forget a vow than to keep it.")


Sahajo says,

Those gone mad in love,

All of life is transformed for them.

Sahajo says: They don’t see

Who is a beggar or a king.

Those gone mad in love,

Caste and color have disappeared for them.

Sahajo says: The world calls them crazy,

And everyone near runs off.

Those gone mad in love,

Sahajo says: Their bodies waver

And their feet stagger out of control -

Then the divine takes care.

The mind is blissful,

The body is drunk with ecstasy.

Sahajo is with no one,

No one is with Sahajo.

This world is not your permanent abode. We would have to leave, it is dead sure, this world. Would you trade your head for such a fickle & ephemeral conjugal bliss?

No sooner than these words had been uttered, she put off all items of make-up and decoration, and gave up the very idea of going to her in-laws' place. Instead, she got herself married to a life of meditation and grew up, in due course of time, into a great devotee and sant herself. She could attain the Ultimate Perfection (Self Realisation) by meticulously and rigorously obeying the instructions of her Guru, and thus, she had gratefully experienced his infinite grace. It is with this deep sense of gratitude in her mind that she has expressed her heartfelt emotions towards her Guru in the following verses. 

When red melted iron was ready to embrace ephemeral world; suddenly a blacksmith named Baba Charan Daas appeared through the command of Providence for hitting on the red melted iron and he hit at appropriate time and spot on the hot iron on account of which flashed sparkling of renunciation and just within a few minutes hot iron became cool iron converting she herself into an embodiment of renunciation called 'SAHAJO BAI'.

  

Her friends were busy doing her make-up. It was then only, shall we say by the quirk of the fate that Charandaas jee appeared on the scene. Looking at Sahajo Bai whose make-up was in progress, he remarked,

Chalanaa hai rahanaa naheen chalanaa wishwaabees
Sahajo tanik suhaag par kahaan guthaavai sheesh

[O Sahajo! This world is not your permanent abode. We would have to leave, it is dead sure,this world. 
Would you trade your head for such a fickle & ephemeral conjugal bliss?]

No sooner than these words had been uttered, she put off all items of make-up and decoration, and gave up the very idea of going to her in-laws' place. Instead, she got herself married to a life of meditation and grew up, in due course of time, into a great devotee and sant herself. She could attain the Ultimate Perfection (Self Realisation) by meticulously and rigorously obeying the instructions of her Guru, and thus, she had gratefully experienced his infinite grace.

It is with this deep sense of gratitude in her mind that she has expressed her heartfelt emotions towards her Guru in the following verses.

Ram tajoon pai Guru na visaaroon
Guru ke sam hari ko na nihaaroon

I may abandon Ram (God), but I can never forget my Guru
I do not see God with the same sense of gratitude as I do my Guru


Hari ne janm diyo jag maanhee
Guru ne aawaagaman chhudaaheen

God sent me into this world |
But Guru rid me of the vicious cycle of birth & death or transmigration ||

Hari ne kutumb jaal mein geree 

Guru ne kaatee mamataa bedee

God ensnared me in the trap of kiths & kins |

Guru, on the other hand, freed me by snapping the shackles of attachments ||

Charandas par tan man waaroon |
Guru na tajoon hari ko taji daaroon ||

I (Sahajo Bai) offer myself whole-heartedly, with all my physical and mental resources, in sacrifice at the lotus feet of (my Guru) Charandas ji |

I may renounce God, but can never ever forsake my Guru ||

 Sahajo

No duality, no enmity. 

Sahajo says: One is without desire. 

In a state of contentment and purity, 

There is no dependence on the other.

When asleep, one is in the empty sky of the divine;

When awake, one remembers the divine.

Whatever one says are divine words.

One practices desireless devotion.

One is ever-drenched in love,

Intoxicated in one’s own being.

Sahajo says: One sees without discriminating,

No one is a beggar or a king.

The sage is alone, no need for company,

Her only companion is her own being,

She lives in the bliss of awakening,

She drinks the juice of her own self-nature.

The dead are unhappy, the living are unhappy,

The hungry are unhappy, the well-fed are unhappy.

Sahajo says: The sage alone is blissful, 

She has found the eternal joy.

Sant Charandas

Daya and Sahajo 

Daya and Sahajo were both disciples of the great master, Charandas (1703-1783). Charandas had great respect for the classical Indian traditions of the Upanishads, the Puranas and Hatha yoga, but became famous in his maturity for his ecstatic devotion.

He was iconoclastic, indifferent to ritual, opposed to caste, and a major poet. Both Daya and Sahajo were renowned disciples of Charandas, and Sahajo, his cousin, was to succeed him as an important master in her own right after his death. Like Charandas, both his women disciples also wrote poetry.

One thing we know for sure: that she meditated upon the name of her master. Her master was Charandas. He had two female disciples - Sahajo and Daya. I have spoken on Sahajo. Charandas has said, "They are likemy two eyes." Both were devoted to serving him throughout their whole lives.

(Why you picked it up?

One day Mulla Nasruddin took his battered watch to be repaired. It was in such a state that it was difficult to recognize that it had once been a watch. He had dropped it from the seventh floor of a building. He had leaned over to look at something below, stretched out too far, and the watch had slipped out of his pocket.

Because it fell so far, it was completely ruined. When he put the many broken bits and pieces of metal on the watchmaker's table, the watchmaker looked at them carefully and then adjusted

his glasses, as if trying to see what this object was. Finally he asked, "What is it, good sir?"

Nasruddin said, "This is the limit! Can't you see that it's a pocket watch?"

The watchmaker exclaimed, "Why did you...?" That was all he said, "Why did you...?"

Mulla thought he was about to ask, "Why did you drop it?" so he replied, "What could I do? It just fell. I was looking out from a seventh story window and I made a mistake."

The watchmaker said, "I am not asking you why you dropped it. I want to know why you picked it up? Why did you bother?")

Nectar of the divine

The state of the sadhus when immersed in love Is indescribable.

They cry while they sing and they laugh,

This is very paradoxical, says Daya.

Drunk with the nectar of the divine,

Their state of knowing is unfathomable.

The riches of the three worlds are but worthless

For a sadhu, says Daya.

He puts his feet in one spot, but they land elsewhere,

His body is ecstatic with delight.

The more he drowns in the beauty of godliness

The more his love grows, says Daya.

He laughs, he sings, he cries; he rises and falls again and again

He is ever-restless.

But once he has tasted the nectar of the divine, says Daya,

He can endure all pain of separation.

The flame of the anguish of separation is born in my heart,

Come, O divine, come my beloved,

J . : : Come, O enchanter of hearts,

Come, O Krishna, O simple one,

I long to see you.

My hands are tired of shooing crows,

My eyes of looking expectantly at the path.

My heart has fallen into the ocean of love,

And there is no shore, no exit.

On the path to godliness

His path of love in the search for godliness is the path of the mad ones. You can belong to the divine, but it will never be yours - because if it is to be yours one thing is required: that you should exist. Someone can be yours only if you exist. But the essential condition for meeting the divine is that you should be no more. It will appear only when you disappear; only when you no longer are will it be there.

So one thing is certain: you can belong to the divine but it can never be yours. Who can make such a claim when you are no longer there? "My" can exist only when "I" exists. When "I" no longer is,

what relevance is there to "my"?

On the path to godliness, there is nothing for the lover but to lose and lose; any talk of gain is futile. And the interesting thing is, it is in this losing that everything is gained. There is nothing else but to drown and to go on drowning; any talk of being saved

My mind was intoxicated

Sahajo Bai was an 18th century disciple of great Delhi teacher, Charandas. Here is one of her poems to her Guru: Raga Basant Spring has come. I am blessed, my five senses sing one song, as do the twenty-five elements which are bathed in delight. My mind was intoxicated. The king declared a holiday. I lost all awareness of my body, my consciousness faded away again and again. How can I describe the bliss I feel? All other games were of no account. Having come to the place where the three rivers meet, I sat and drank the nectar stream. A radiant child was there, resplendent like a god, invisible, incomprehensible, and I worshipped him. I bowed and gazed on him for a very long time. Guru Charandas raised his hand and I was content. Jaya Guru Omprem

Sahajo, dreams last but one moment

Though within them, fifty years may pass.

The world is like the last morning star,

Sahajo says: it will not stay.

Just as the dewdrop appears to be a pearl,

Just like water cupped in the palm of your hand.

The mind hallucinates a fortress in smoke,

And imagines glorious kingdoms there.

It is a game of hide and seek, Sahajo.

Nothing happens. No truth exists here.

Amazeing that a traditional Indian Rajput woman in the 18^th century with no education could express such lucid non-duality in verse form. Her own life story, according to historians, was no less amazing.

She was born into a traditional Rajasthani family in 1725. As was the custom in those days, her marriage was arranged at the age of 11. A notable spiritual teacher, Charandas, who was her cousin, met her a few hours before the celebrations began. As beautiful little Sahajo was being meticulously dressed up in her bridal finery, Charandas said to her with a smile:

Oh Sahajo! Why beautify your face for mere married bliss?

When one must die, you cannot say.

But we all must go, of that you can be sure

Would you trade your head for such a fickle conjugal bliss?

It is said that upon hearing these words, the not-yet-teenaged Sahajo had an epiphany: she took off all her wedding jewelry and announced to her family that she would seek the Divine for the rest of her days.

(Some historians take the story a step further: they say that as the bridegroom’s party approached, the groom’s horse was startled by a fire-cracker, tripped over a branch and fell. The groom died instantaneously. Impressed by what he considered to be Charandas omniscience, Sahajo’s father blessed his daughter’s wish.)

From that day on, Sahajo became devoted to her teacher. She practised yoga and meditated on chakras like his other disciples and attained self-realization. It was a time when in many parts of the world, women were still being burned for challenging religious paradigms. But Sahajo stood her ground even when she was mocked – even standing alone against society, she did not lose her femininity. And when she did write about love, it was about a love like no other.

( OSHO on Sahajo ..

So much has been written and spoken about male mystics but what about women? In this rich and rare book on the poems of Sahajo, Osho talks about what it means to be a woman, a seeker, and a mystic.

Sahajo is a simple-hearted woman form Rajasthan. Her statements are fresh and direct. She says things clearly and uniquely: nothing is hidden, nothing is borrowed. She is neither a poet nor a scholar but she is awakened.

On this journey with Osho and Sahajo it becomes clear that a woman experiences meditation primarily through love. Her focus is on the personal. Only when she is very close to enlightenment do her hitherto dormant masculine qualities help her take the final jump into consciousness to a place where the duality of male and female no longer exists.)

Raga Basant Spring has come. I am blessed,

my five senses sing one song,

as do the twenty-five elements

which are bathed in delight.

My mind was intoxicated.

The king declared a holiday.

I lost all awareness of my body,

my consciousness faded away again and again.

How can I describe the bliss I feel?

All other games were of no account.

Having come to the place where the three rivers meet,

I sat and drank the nectar stream.

A radiant child was there, resplendent like a god,

invisible, incomprehensible,

and I worshipped him.

I bowed and gazed on him for a very long time.

Guru Charandas raised his hand

and I was content.

-- Sahajo