Vaishnava Jana To

Vaishnava Jana To is a Hindu bhajan, written in the 15th century by the poet Narsinh Mehta in the Gujarati language. The poem speaks about the life, ideals and mentality of a Vaishnava jana (a follower of Vaishnavism).

"Vaishnava Jana To"
Song by Several artists like Lata Mangeshkar , K.S.Chithra Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar Jagjit Singh M. S. Subbulakshmi
Language	Old Gujarati
Published	15th century
Genre	Bhajan, devotional poetry
Songwriter(s)	Narsinh Mehta

Influence

This devotional hymn became popular during the life time of Mahatma Gandhi and was rendered as a bhajan in his Sabarmati Ashram by vocalists and instrumentalists like Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar. It was popular among freedom fighters throughout India. Often sung by singers since then, it serves as the final song to end a concert and touch music lovers with the philosophical thought of poet Narsinh Mehta.

Lyrics

Gujarati	Devanagari	IAST Transliteration	Translation
વૈષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહિયે જે પીડ પરાઈ જાણે રે પર દુ:ખે ઉપકાર કરે તો યે મન અભિમાન ન આણે રે. ॥ધૃ॥	वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये जे पीड परायी जाणे रे । पर दुःखे उपकार करे तो ये मन अभिमान न आणे रे ॥	vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re, para duḥkhe upakāra kare to ye mana abhimāna na āṇe re	Call those people Vaishnav who Feel the pain of others, Help those who are in misery, But never let self-conceit enter their mind.
સકળ લોકમાં સહુને વંદે, નિંદા ન કરે કેની રે વાચ કાછ મન નિશ્ચલ રાખે ધન ધન જનની તેની રે. ॥૧॥	सकळ लोकमां सहुने वंदे, निंदा न करे केनी रे । वाच काछ मन निश्चल राखे, धन धन जननी तेनी रे ॥	sakaḷa loka māṁ sahune vande, nindā na kare kenī re, vāca kācha mana nischala raakhe, dhana dhana jananī tenī re	They respect the entire world, Do not disparage anyone, Keep their words, actions and thoughts pure, The mother of such a soul is blessed.
સમદૃષ્ટિ ને તૃષ્ણા ત્યાગી પરસ્ત્રી જેને માત રે જિહ્વા થકી અસત્ય ન બોલે પરધન નવ ઝાલે હાથ રે. ॥૨॥	समदृष्टि ने तृष्णा त्यागी, परस्त्री जेने मात रे । जिह्वा थकी असत्य न बोले, परधन नव झाले हाथ रे ॥	sama-dṛṣṭi ne tṛṣṇā tyāgī, para-strī jene māta re, jihvā thakī asatya na bole, para-dhana nava jhāle hātha re	They see all equally, renounce craving, Respect other women as their own mother, Their tongue never utters false words, Their hands never touch the wealth of others.
મોહ માયા વ્યાપે નહિ જેને, દૃઢ વૈરાગ્ય જેના મનમાં રે રામ નામ શુ તાળી રે લાગી સકળ તીરથ તેના તનમાં રે. ॥૩॥	मोह माया व्यापे नहि जेने, दृढ़ वैराग्य जेना मनमां रे । रामनाम शुं ताळी रे लागी, सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमां रे ॥	moha māyā vyāpe nahi jene, dhruda-vairāgya jenā manamāṁ re, rāma-nāma shu tāḷī lāgī, sakaḷa tīratha tenā tanamāṁ re	They do not succumb to worldly attachments, They are firmly detached from the mundane, They are enticed by the name of Raam, All places of pilgrimage are embodied in them.
વણ લોભી ને કપટ રહિત છે, કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યાં રે ભણે નરસૈયો તેનું દર્શન કરતાં કુળ એકોતેર તાર્યાં રે. ॥૪॥	वणलोभी ने कपटरहित छे, काम क्रोध निवार्या रे । भणे नरसैयॊ तेनुं दरसन करतां, कुळ एकोतेर तार्या रे ॥	vaṇa-lobhī ne kapaṭa-rahita che, kāma krodha nivāryā re, bhaṇe narasaiyo tenuṁ darasana karatāṁ, kuḷa ekotera tāryā re	They have forsaken greed and deceit, They stay afar from desire and anger, Narsi says: I'd be grateful to meet such a soul, Whose virtue liberates their entire lineage.

In popular culture

Elements of the hymn were included in the British film Gandhi (1982), in Bollywood films like Water (2005), Cheeni Kum (2007) and Road to Sangam (2009), and Kollywood film Hey Ram (2000). The hymn was also used as a title song for several Indian films. In the Telugu movie Prathinidhi (2014), the first stanza of the song is used during the climactic scene. In the Malayalam movie Indian Rupee (2011), the first stanza of the song is used in the climactic scene and sung by Bombay Jayashri. The song also appears in the Gujarati biopic of the author Kuvar bainu Mameru (1974). A Bengali adaptation of the song by Anindya Chatterjee was sung by Shreya Ghoshal in the Bengali movie Gotro(2019).

In 1998, this song was rendered in a single album by artists such as classical vocalists Gangubai Hangal and Pandit Jasraj, pop singer Remo Fernandes and also including Sarod musician Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Narayan on the sarangi, flute musician Hariprasad Chaurasia and santoor exponent Shivkumar Sharma played an instrumental rendition.[1][2]

On 2 October 2018, musicians from 124 countries performed the song to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi.[3][4]

See also

• "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram"
• "Hari Tuma Haro"

References

1. "Album on Gandhi's hymn". Tribune. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
2. Nalini Natarajan; Emmanuel Sampath Nelson (1996). Handbook of Twentieth-Century Literatures of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-313-28778-7. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
3. Staff, Scroll. "Watch: Musicians from 124 countries performed 'Vaishnav Jana To' mark Gandhi's birth anniversary". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
4. Team, DNA Web (2018-10-02). "'Vaishnava Jan To' Goes Global: Artists from 124 nations including Pakistan recreate Mahatama Gandhi's favourite bhajan". DNA India. Retrieved 2020-01-09.