Inside Vitthal, Outside Vitthal

Poem 277, from Mystical Poems of Jnaneshwar

I looked within myself

and I lost my me,

my mind

came to a screeching halt.

Inside, Vitthal; outside, Vitthal;

me myself am Vitthal.

This is how it is now.

Everything has become my me-ness; there is no other left.

This is what he did, that King Nivritti, says Jnandev.

this is what that great king of the gurus did.

our thoughts

My master, Swami Muktananda, used to sing this poem. He would become ecstatic as he sang it. As he sang it, you directly experienced what the poem describes. We give the poem here in the original Marathi, and an audio recording of it…

मजमाज पाहतां मीपण हरपलें

ठकलेंचि ठेले सये मन माझें

आंत विठ्ठल बाहेर विठ्ठल

मीचि विठ्ठल मज भासतसे

मीपण माझे नुरेचि कांहीं दुजें

ऐसें केले निवृत्तिराजे म्हणे ज्ञानदेवो

Transliteration:

maja maaja paahataa meepaNa harapale

thakalechi thele saye mana maaze

aata Vitthala bahera vitthala

meechi Vitthala maja bhaasatase

meepaNa maze nurechi kaahee duje

aise kele nivrutti-raaje mhaNe Dyanadevo

Note: N is a retroflex (hard) n