Click here for a printable version (to be printed on both sides of one sheet to make a pamphlet)
1. Breaker of This World’s Chain
A translation of Khandana Bhava Bandana, a Bengali hymn by Swami Vivekananda
Breaker of this world’s chain, we adore Thee, whom all men love.
Spotless, taking man’s form, O Purifier, Thou art above the gunas three,
Knowledge divine, not flesh; Thou whom the cosmos wears, a diamond at its heart.
Let us look deep in Thine eyes; they are bright with the wisdom of God,
That can wake us from maya’s spell.
Let us hold fast to Thy feet, treading the waves of the world to safety.
Oh, drunk with love, God-drunken Lover, in Thee all paths of all yogas meet.
Lord of the worlds, Thou art ours, who wert born a child of our time; easy of access to us.
O Merciful, if we take any hold upon God in our prayer, it is by Thy grace alone,
Since all Thine austerities were practiced for our sake.
How great was Thy sacrifice, freely choosing Thy birth in this prison, our Iron Age,
To unchain us and set us free.
Perfect, whom lust could not taint, nor passion nor gold draw near,
O Master of all who renounce, fill our hearts full of love for Thee.
Thou hast finished with fear and with doubt, standing firm in the vision of God;
Refuge to all who have cast fame, fortune, and friends away.
Without question Thou shelterest us, and the world’s great sea in its wrath
Seems shrunk to the puddle that fills the hoofprint in the clay.
Speech cannot hold Thee, nor mind, yet without Thee we think not nor speak.
Love, who art partial to none, we are equal before Thy sight.
Taker-away of our pain, we salute Thee, though we are blind.
Come to the heart’s black cave, and illumine, Thou light of the light.
2. Om Hrīṁ Ṛtaṁ
A Sanskrit hymn to Sri Ramakrishna written by Swami Vivekananda
ॐ ह्रीं ऋतं त्वमचलो गुणजिद्गुणेड्यो
नक्तं दिवं सकरुणं तव पादपद्मम्।
मोहङ्कषं बहुकृतं न भजे यतोऽहं
तस्मात्त्वमेव शरणं मम दीनबन्धो॥ १॥
भक्तिर्भगश्च भजनं भवभेदकारि
गच्छन्त्यलं सुविपुलं गमनाय तत्त्वम्।
वक्त्रोद्धृतोपि हृदि मे न च भाति किञ्चित्
तस्मात्त्वमेव शरणं मम दीन बन्धो॥ २॥
तेजस्तरन्ति त्वरितं त्वयि तृप्ततृष्णाः
रागं कृते ऋतपथे त्वयि रामकृष्णे।
मर्त्यामृतं तव पदं मरणोर्मिनाशं
तस्मात्त्वमेव शरणं मम दीनबन्धो॥ ३॥
कृत्यं करोति कलुषं कुहकान्तकारि
ष्णान्तं शिवं सुविमलं तव नाम नाथ।
यस्मादहमशरणो जगदेकगम्य
तस्मात्त्वमेव शरणं मम दीनबन्धो॥ ४॥
ॐ स्थापकाय च धर्मस्य सर्वधर्मस्वरूपिणे।
अवतारवरिष्ठाय रामकृष्णाय ते नमः॥
ॐ नमः श्री भगवते रामकृष्णाय नमो नमः॥
ॐ नमः श्री भगवते रामकृष्णाय नमो नमः॥
ॐ नमः श्री भगवते रामकृष्णाय नमो नमः॥
om hrīṁ ṛtaṁ tvam acalo guṇajid-guṇeḍyaḥ
naktaṁ divaṁ sakaruṇaṁ tava pāda-padmam |
mohaṅ-kaṣaṁ bahu-kṛtaṁ na bhaje yato’haṁ
tasmāt tvam eva śaraṇaṁ mama dīna-bandho || 1 ||
bhaktir-bhagaś-ca bhajanaṁ bhava-bheda-kāri
gacchanty-alaṁ suvipulaṁ gamanāya tattvam |
vaktrod-dhṛtopi hṛdi me na ca bhāti kiñcit
tasmāt tvam eva śaraṇaṁ mama dīna-bandho || 2 ||
tejas taranti tvaritaṁ tvayi tṛpta-tṛṣṇāḥ
rāgaṁ kṛte ṛtapathe tvayi rāmakṛṣṇe |
martyāmṛtaṁ tava padaṁ maraṇormi-nāśaṁ
tasmāt tvam eva śaraṇaṁ mama dīna-bandho || 3 ||
kṛtyaṁ karoti kaluṣaṁ kuhakānta-kāri
ṣṇāntaṁ śivaṁ suvimalaṁ tava nāma nātha |
yasmād aham aśaraṇo jagad-eka-gamya
tasmāt tvam eva śaraṇaṁ mama dīna-bandho || 4 ||
om sthāpakāya ca dharmasya sarva-dharma-svarūpiṇe |
avatāra variṣṭhāya rāmakṛṣṇāya te namaḥ ||
om namaḥ śrī bhagavate rāmakṛṣṇāya namo namaḥ ||
om namaḥ śrī bhagavate rāmakṛṣṇāya namo namaḥ ||
om namaḥ śrī bhagavate rāmakṛṣṇāya namo namaḥ ||
You are to be adored; you are Truth unchanging; you are Lord of the Gunas.
In my weakness I have failed, O Taker-away of delusion,
to worship your blessed lotusfeet earnestly and unceasingly.
Therefore, you are my only refuge, O Friend of the lowly.
This evil dream called life can be dispelled by Love, Adoration, and Understanding.
These three can bring us back to our goal: the Truth of Brahman.
But, alas, though I speak these words with my lips, they find no echo in my heart.
Therefore, you are my only refuge, O Friend of the lowly.
O Ramakrishna, you are the path that leads to Truth.
If one offers you his heart, one soon overcomes the world and finds fullness of Eternal Life.
For your feet still the waves of death and bring immortality into the world of mortals.
Therefore, you are my only refuge, O Friend of the lowly.
Lord, your name, the name Ramakrishna, is goodness and purity itself;
graciously it awakens us from our delusion. He who chants your name, will become a saint, though he be a sinner.
O Goal of all the worlds, I have no refuge in this world;
Therefore, you are my only refuge, O Friend of the lowly.
To the establisher of dharma, to the embodiment of all dharmas,
to the paragon of avataras, to Ramakrishna do we bow down in worship.
Om, salutations to Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna, salutations again and again.
3. Sarva Maṅgala Māṅgalye
A Sanskrit hymn to the Divine Mother from the Chandi
ॐ सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके।
शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते॥
सृष्टिस्थितिविनाशानां शक्तिभूते सनातनि।
गुणाश्रये गुणमये नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते॥
शरणागतदीनार्तपरित्राणपरायणे।
सर्वस्यार्तिहरे देवि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते॥
जय नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते जय नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते।
जय नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते जय नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते॥
om sarva-maṅgala-māṅgalye śive sarvārtha-sādhike |
śaraṇye tryambake gauri nārāyaṇi namo’stu te ||
sṛṣṭi-sthiti-vināśānāṁ śakti-bhūte sanātani |
guṇāśraye guṇa-maye nārāyaṇi namo’stu te ||
śaraṇāgata-dīnārta-paritrāṇa-parāyaṇe |
sarvasyārti-hare devi nārāyaṇi namo’stu te ||
jaya nārāyaṇi namo’stu te jaya nārāyaṇi namo’stu te |
jaya nārāyaṇi namo’stu te jaya nārāyaṇi namo’stu te ||
jay śrī guru-maharāj-ji ki jay ||
jay mahā-māyi ki jay ||
O Thou the Giver of all blessings, O Thou the Doer of all Good,
O Thou the Fulfiller of all desires, O Thou the Giver of refuge,
Our salutations to Thee, O Mother Divine.
O Thou Eternal Mother, Thou hast the power to create, to preserve and to dissolve.
Thou the dwelling-place and embodiment of the three gunas.
Our salutations to Thee, O Mother Divine.
O Thou the Savior of all who take refuge in Thee, the lowly and the distressed,
Who takest away the sufferings of all,
Our salutations to Thee, O Mother Divine.
Glory be to Guru Maharaj Sri Ramakrishna!
Glory be to the Divine Mother!