Preet

I revere him...
I respect him...
I have full faith in him...
But do I love him??
Do I really love him or is it just reverence and respect?
Do I speak my heart out when I meet him?
Do I feel like a separated lover when I can’t meet him?
Is there a bond between us?

Whenever I hear the name “Meera”, I tend to ask myself these questions . The way she loved him...her lord...Krishna...madhav...govardhan...calling him endless names...showering him with absolute love...so pure...so selfless....so unconditional...her words showing complete dedication to one and only...her lord...her companion:

Paayo ji maine , ram ratan dhan paayo,
vastu Amolik Di Mere Sataguru ne, kripaa Kari Apnaavo
janam Janam Ki Punji Paali, jag Mein Sakhovaayo
kharcha Na Koi Chor Na Lutai, din Din Badhat Savayo
sat Ki Naav Khevatiya Satguru , bhavsagar Taravayo
meera Ke Prabhu Giridhar Nagar harash Harash Jas Gaayo

Such is the love that she calls herself his maidservant...she has achieved all the happiness...all the riches...all the pleasures just by being with him. After earning the love she is not concerned with the worldly relations she has lost. The love grows so beautifully that words fail to deliver.

We were always taught to go to temples, pray and respect the lord...but were we taught to love him ever? Where there is love, there is faith...there is complete surrender...

I have seen people so much in love with the lord that just a name evokes hundreds of emotions...their desire to be with the lord is so divine that words are not enough to describe them...

They may not have all the pleasures of life...but the moment they feel closer to him, their happiness is unmatched. They sing, dance, speak to the lord in front of them. For them the statue doesn’t remain a stone...it transforms into the divine...

As lovers always tend to sing praises for their partners I have witnessed a few of these lovers too...whose words for the lord are so pure that you feel the attachment and affection...

Pujyashri Jinrang Vijayji Maharaja in his hymn beautifully compares his feelings for lord shantinath- just as a fish is inseparable without water:

“मेरो मन तुम साथे लीनो , मीन बसे ज्यूँ जल में हो जिनजी,
तू मेरा मन में , तू मेरा दिल में”

Pujyashri Udayratna Vijayji Maharaja beautifully shares his bond with Shitalnath Prabhu in this hymn:

मुझ मनड़ा मा तू वस्यो रे , ज्यूं वसे कुसुम मा वास,
अळगो न रहे , एक घडी रे , सांभरे श्वासोश्वास ,
तुज शु रंग लाग्यो , रंग लाग्यो , रंग लाग्यो साथे रे धात ,
रंग लाग्यो श्री जिनराज तुज शु , रंग लाग्यो त्रिभुवन नाथ !

शीतल स्वामी जे दिने रे , दीठो तुम देदार ,
ते दिन थी मन माहरु रे , लाग्यु ताहरी लार ,
 
मधुकर चाहे मालती रे , चाहे चन्द्र चकोर ,
तिम मुझने प्रभु ताहरी रे , लागी लगन अति जोर
 
तिम जग मा प्रभु तुम वीना रे , मुज़ मन आवे रे कोई ,
उदय वदे पद सेवना रे , दीजे सन्मुख जोय

Pujyashri Anandghanji Maharaja states that he has got a “diamond” to cure the cycle of rebirths in this hymn to lord Parshwanath:

हे प्रभु पार्श्व , चिंतामणि मेरो
मिल गयो हीरो , मिट गयो फेरो , नित तेरो
प्रीतड़ी लागी प्रभुजी से मोरी , जैसे ही चन्द्र चकोर ,
आनंदघन प्रभु चरण शरण है , बहोत दियो मुक्ति डेरो

Whenever I sing any of these beautiful hymns, I feel closer to the lord...I feel the love... I feel the bond... I feel that he is near me...I realise that the easiest way to be closer to him is to love him...