A section from the journey
Narsinh Mehta of Gujarat
We come now to Gujarat, in the west. There the bhakti tide spoke through Narsinh Mehta, honoured as the first great poet of the Gujarati tongue. He sang of Krishna with deep tenderness. His most beloved song says that the true devotee of God is not the one who prays loudest, but the one who feels the pain of others and treats every person with kindness and honesty. Centuries later, Mahatma Gandhi made that very song his own.
From the far east, let us cross the whole land to the west, to Gujarat, by the warm Arabian sea. Here too the tide of devotion found a singer, and his songs are still sung in Gujarati homes today.
His name was , and he lived in the fifteenth century. He holds a special place, for he is honoured as the first great poet of the Gujarati tongue, the one who taught the language to sing. He gave his heart to Krishna, and his verses are full of a sweet and aching love for the Lord.
But of all that he made, one song is treasured above the rest, and its message reaches far beyond any one faith or land. In it, Narsinh Mehta asks a simple, piercing question. Who is a true devotee of God? What does real devotion actually look like?
His answer is not what you might expect. He does not say the true devotee is the one who prays the loudest, or fasts the longest, or knows the most scripture. He says, in our own words, that the true devotee of God is the one who feels the pain of others as his own. The one who is humble and honest, free of greed and pride, who is kind to every person and harms no one. Devotion, he teaches, is proved not at the altar but in how we treat one another.
Hold how quietly radical that is. It moves the test of holiness out of the temple and into the street, into the way you meet the next tired, struggling person you pass. Love of God and care for people are made one thing.
And here is a small wonder to carry forward. Many centuries after Narsinh Mehta, in the days when India sought its freedom, Mahatma Gandhi loved this very song so much that he made it one of his own daily prayers. So a poet of the far past reached, through one tender song about kindness, straight into the modern world. We will meet Gandhi himself much later in our journey.
Narsinh Mehta measured true devotion by whether a person feels the pain of others. By that gentle measure, when did you last feel close to the divine, not in worship, but in simple kindness to someone who was struggling?
The tide moved west as well, into Gujarat. Its great voice there was Narsinh Mehta, who lived in the fifteenth century and is honoured as the very first major poet of the Gujarati language, its founding singer. He poured his heart into songs of Krishna, full of love and longing. But his most treasured gift is a single song whose meaning travelled far beyond his land. In it he asks what a true devotee of God actually is, and his answer is gentle and searching: the real devotee is the one who feels the suffering of others as his own, who is humble, honest, and free of greed and pride, who treats all people with kindness and harms none. Devotion, this song says, is proved not in loud worship but in how we treat one another. Many centuries later, Mahatma Gandhi loved this song so dearly that it became one of his own daily prayers. So a saint of the fifteenth century reached, through one tender song, all the way into the modern age.
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