In Search of God (and Other Poems) by Swami Vivekananda

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Item Code: NAE766
Author: Swami Vivekananda
Publisher: ADVAITA ASHRAM KOLKATA
Language: English
Edition: 2014
ISBN: 9788185301273
Pages: 104
Cover: Paperback
Other Details 7.0 inch x 5.0 inch
Weight 80 gm
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Fully insured
Shipped to 153 countries
Shipped to 153 countries
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More than 1M+ customers worldwide
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100% Made in India
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23 years in business
Book Description
Back of the book

Swami Vivekananda is generally know as a saint patriot and lover of humanity, very few outside the circle of his devotees and admirers know him as a poet.

Swami Vivekananda wrote some poems songs and hymns which though only a few in number may be classed with the creations of poetic art. Some of them were written in moment of great ecstasy. As such it is difficulty to say which is more prominent in them the poetic appeal or the spiritual urge. These two aspects are inseparably combined in them.

 

Preface to the second edition

This collection of poems by Swami Vivekananda remained out of print for quite a long time, but there was a persistent demand for a reprint. Now we have pleasure in placing this second enlarged edition in the hands of the public.

Poems that came to light since the last publication have been included in this edition. A few poems and hymns, hitherto not translated, have also been added here. As against the two sections in the earlier edition, three sections have been provided here. Under the third section, versified translations of hymns and songs by Swamiji himself have been brought together. The notes at the end explain the circumstances that led to the writing of these poems and supply as far as possible their dates and places of composition.

 

Preface to the first edition

Swami Vivekananda is generally known as a saint, a patriot, and a lover of humanity. Very few outside the circle of his devotees and admirers know him as a poet. A saint is sometimes an artist as much. Belonging as his thoughts do to a higher plane, the aesthetic sense of a saint and seer is spontaneously developed, and that sense may be expressed through various channels. So we find that some of the saints were great musicians, some were great poets, and so on. Mirabai, Kabir, Dadu, Tulsidasa, and Nanak are no less known for the expression of their devout thoughts in exquisite- poetry than for their sainthood. Shankaracharya wrote some hymns which belong to the treasure-house of Sanskrit literature.

Swami Vivekananda also wrote some poems, songs, and hymns—which though only a few in number, may be classed with the creations of poetic art. Some of them were written in moments of great ecstasy. As such it is difficult to say which is more prominent in them—the poetic appeal or the spiritual urge. These two aspects are inseparably combined in them. It would be good to know when and under what impulse each poem was written (or should we say revealed ?). Unfortunately, however, sufficient data are not now available, and only vaguely do we know how some poems were inspired. The inner workings of the mind of a prophet are undoubtedly beyond the reach of ordinary knowledge. Sometimes these are deliberately kept hidden from the profane eyes. The inner life of the saint and. the seer is too sacred and too deep to be known by, or communicated to others.

Outward events or external circumstances but remotely suggest what may be within that mind before thought finds expression in words which afterwards form part of spiritual legacy of the world.

Some of the poems of Swami Vivekananda clearly indicate the high ecstatic state in which they were shaped and expressed. The poem ‘Samadhi’ indicates beyond doubt that it is the expression of direct personal experience. No wonder that it tends to raise the mind of the reader to a very high plane and to infuse him with lofty aspirations. The same thing may be said of his poem ‘Creation’. These were written originally in Bengali. But even translation has not obscured the innate effulgence of the poems. . . . ‘The Song of the Free’ gives a glimpse of the inner joy of one who has cut asunder the bondage of Maya and has attained to ‘liberation-in-life’ as they say in Vedanta. Was the Swami speaking of his own inner spiritual experience of the highest monistic truth when he said:

‘Before the Sun, the Moon, the Earth,
Before the Stars or Comets free,
Before e’en Time has had its birth,
I was, I am and I will be.’?
Some of the poems were originally written in Bengali, some as Sanskrit hymns. Three of the hymns are sung during evening services at the Belur Math and other monasteries of the Ramakrishna Order. Some poems were written as songs; of them one was written in Hindi. Though they hardly admit of translation, they are given in English version for the sake of the English-reading public. The translations, though sadly lacking in the vigour, depth, and sublimity of the originals, will at least indicate the thoughts that poured forth from that mighty soul in moments of inspiration.

These poems, songs, and hymns are scattered over the pages of the seven* volumes of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda and other books. We have collected them together, and issue them now in book form so that readers may more clearly see Swami Vivekananda in this aspect, and derive additional inspiration there from.

For the sake of convenience we have divided the book into two sections. The first section comprises the poems originally written in English by Swami Vivekananda, while in the second section we have given English versions of the poems composed by him in Bengali, Sanskrit, and Hindi.

 

Contents

 

Section I: Original in English  
In Search of God 3
The Song of the Free 6
Misunderstood 8
My Play is Done 9
No One to Blame 12
The Cup 14
Hold on Yet a While, Brave Heart 15
The Song of the Sannyasin 16
To an Early Violet 19
The Living God 20
Requiescat in Pace 21
To the Awakened India 21
To the Fourth of July 23
Kali the Mother 25
Angels Unawares 26
Peace 29
To My Own Soul 30
Who Knows How Mother Plays! 31
Thou Blessed Dream 32
A Benediction 33
Many Happy Returns 33
Light 34
One More Circle 34
Section II: Translated From Swamiji  
On the Sea’s Bosom 37
A Song of Creation 38
A Song on Samadhi 39
Shiva in Ecstasy 39
The Dance of Shiva 40
To Shri Krishna 40
To a Friend 41
And Let Shyama Dance There 45
A Song I Sing to Thee 51
A Hymn to the Divine Mother 58
A Hymn to Shiva 61
A Hymn to the Divinity of Shri Ramakrishna 64
Whom to Fear? 67
Hymns to Shri Ramakrishna 69
Salutation to Shri Ramakrishna 72
Section III: Translated the Swamji  
Rudra-Prayer 75
The Hymn of Sweetness 76
The Hymn of Creation 76
Nirvanashatkam, or Six Stanzas on Nirvana 78
Renunciation Alone is Fearless 80
Thy Love I Fear 82
A Song of Suradasa 83
Notes 85

Sample Pages









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