Take Your Pick

From Bard To Verse


Take Your Pick

There are two ways to live;

Being a free bird is one,

A pet in captivity another.

There are two ways to think;

In dreams is  one,

In despair another.

There are two ways of living life on the edge;

Being on the move is one,

Falling off a running train another.

There are two things to listen to;

A person of wisdom is one,

Only your echo another.

There are two states of mind;

Being a prince is one,

A prisoner of thoughts another.

- Pooja Gupta

The Roads In The Woods Tell You Something.... Be Wise

If you had to choose a road between two paths in the woods, would you follow the path where the gravel is thin and worn away by travelers who believe,
"Others have gone this way, I must too!";
or would you take the path where the gravel is thick, unmoved, and shuffled little by the feet of travelers who think out-of-the-box, and say,
"Ay! This road is less taken, there fore I must explore it, as this is the road for me!"

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


- "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

- "The Road Not Taken" - Robert Frost, Mountain Interval, 1920.

What Is Success?

What is success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by

a healthy child, a garden patch

or a redeemed social condition;

To know that even one life has breathed

easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Aa Che Gandaa Ni Vanjar

This is an ancient Gujarati Bhajan, which says, Sri Narada Muni, the messenger of the Gods was so lost in his devotion of Hari, that he never built a house and married. He remained a nomad, and roamed the three lokas in devotion of the Gods. Meera bai was an ardent bhakt of Sri Krishna. She was madly in love with Sri Krishnas' idol and believed she was married to him. She was so intensely welded with the Divine, that she went crazy in love with him. Sudama led a life of poverty, a life as he lived before even after Sri Hari showered his family with riches and money, but he chose to be devoted to his Sri Hari. That is the charm of the Divines' love for his bhaktas, and the madness that revolves in the hearts of the bhaktas for Sri Hari.

Meera Bai lost herself in her devotion to her true husband, Sri Krishna. She was called crazy. Yes, she was crazy in the love of the Divine Supreme Personality of Godhead - Sri Hari.

Sri Narada, Vishnus' beloved, and always by his side. is so madly in love with his God, that he never got married, and lived as a householder, he wanders as a messenger and a nomad in the three lokas, in divine love for the Gods.

And so devoted is He to his devotees, who are a part of Him, and live in His heart dearly, that He has a special place for everyone who remembers Him and takes His name as just random as a mere thought. Sri Hari, Sri Krishna washes the feet of His devoted friend, Sudama, incarnation of Narad Muni, as a sign of unbound love for his devotee.

આ છે ગાંડા ની વણજાર ,
હેજી એનો કહેતા નાવે પાર 
જુઓ ભાઈ ગાંડા ની વણજાર 
શુક ગાંડો, ધ્રુવ ગાંડો અને
ગાંડો દૈત્ય કુમારજી 


નારદજી તો ભાઈ એવા ગાંડા
જેને બાંધ્યા નહી ઘર બાર - જુઓ...
ગાંડો હનુમંત, ગાંડો વિભિષણ
ગાંડી શબરી નાર જી
ગાંડા ગુહ્યે પણ ઘોઈ ને,
મારા પ્રભુ ઉતાર્યા પાર - જુઓ...


ગોકુલ ગામ ની ગોપીયો ગાંડી 
એ તો ભૂલી ઘર ની વહેવાર જી
બસંત નાદે ચાલી નીકળી,
એના સુતા મેલી ભારશાર - જુઓ...


ગાંડા સુદામે પ્રભુ ભજન માં 
વેઠ્યાં દુઃખ ને અંગાર જી 
પાંચ પાંડવ એવા ગાંડા,
જેને મલ્યા નહી કિરતાર જી,  


ગાંડો બોધાણો ભક્ત હરિનો 
એને કામ કર્યું હદ પાર જી
દ્વારિકા નો ઠાકોર આવ્યો,
હેજી ગામ મોજાર - જુઓ...


કબીર, તુલસી, સુર ગાંડો,
અને રોહીદાસ ચમાર જી,
ગૌરાંગ તો ભાઈ એવો ગાંડો,
એનો ગાંડો કીધો સંસાર
દાદુ ગાંડો, પીપો ગાંડો અને
તુકો અખૈયો સોનારજી,
સુખુ, મીરાં, કરમાં ગાંડી, 
જેને તોડ્યા જગ થી તાર - જુઓ...


ઘણો ગાંડો, ઘીરો ગાંડો, અને
ગાંડો પ્રીતમ પ્યાર જી
પંઠરપૂરનો ગોરો ગાંડો,
એતો ઘારનો ઘડનાર - જુઓ...


નામો ઝ્મો, ભોજે ગાંડા
પેલો મૂળદાસ લુહારજી 
જલારામ ની વાત શું કરવી 
જેને વળાવી ઘરની નાર - જુઓ...

Said The Robin To The Sparrow - Elizabeth Cheney

Said the Robin to the sparrow,

"I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush around and worry so."

Said the sparrow to the Robin,

"Friend, I think that it must be

That they have no Heavenly Father,

Such as cares for you and me."

- Elizabeth Cheney