A Review of Manatita's Poem - A Song for My Beloved

Through this poem “A Song for My Beloved”, Manatita, the author, tries to elucidate his adoration, praise, and gratitude towards the Supreme Being whom he seems to spot directly in the effulgence of his own Master or Guru (Sri Chinmoy). The title itself shows how intimately related he is to God. By using the words “My Beloved” he emphasizes this relationship and love towards the Supreme.

Even though the writer explicitly seems to be addressing the poem to his Master, it becomes evident that it is an indirect rendition of the glories of God. Manatita is identifying his Master with God and seeing God in his Master’s form. He explains his adoration and praise of God by elucidating His unparalleled glories through nature’s eye in an ecstatic and passionate manner. He gives all the credit to God which is sublimely presented through each phrase of those lines.

See how beautifully he relates his relationship and closeness to the Supreme Being in those starting five lines. He tells us that he is a part and parcel intertwined with his master when he says “So too, I am immaculately woven from Thee”.

The poet tells us that just as the twinkling act is closely associated with the star or as brilliance to the moon; the majestic nature with falling snow and the rustling act of winds to the wind; so too he, the poet himself, is an inherent and inseparable part of that Supreme Being. There can be no better comparison to show their innate, intrinsic relationship and oneness.

By doing so, the poet might be indirectly comparing his master’s greatness also with the twinkling beauty of the stars, the shining brilliance of the moon, the majestic nature of the snow, and the cooling softness of the breeze. This is evident from this line where he wonders “With what heavenly Gods can I you compare!”

It should not be mistaken as if he is referring to the existence of many Gods. It is only one God that may be appearing in different forms to different people or at different times. Presently, he is seeing God in his Master’s form.

The poet further went on to elaborate how his intimacy and affection towards God and his Master took place. Here is the entire poem.

“As the stars twinkle sweetly,

And the moon shines brilliantly,

As the snow falls majestically,

And the wind rustles softly.

So too, I am immaculately woven from Thee.

As our paths did cross; Your Love shone from afar,

As Grace from above did quicken my Soul.

As the morning rose, sings Your enthralling sonata,

And Your inner Sun transforms me like coal.

Your sweet tenderness, elegance, compels me to stare,

With what heavenly Gods can I You compare?

You’re loving, compassionate, selfless and strong,

With concern and empathy whenever I’m wrong.

My heart sings Your graces when You are not near,

While my mind, so delighted, goes without fear.

I feel in my core that all’s welcome and right,

And the time has arrived to implore ‘the good fight’.

So pranams on my knees, with the best I can be,

My Beloved Supreme, I am all gratitude … to Thee.”

-Manatita: 22nd January 2011.

The poet tells us that he came in contact with his Master during his journey of life through the emergence of a Glow of Love from afar, just like the grace of God entrancing his soul from above. He relates to this as the esoteric poet does, through the imagery of all those beautiful morning roses singing, in enthralling and melodious tunes, the greatness of God.

Here, the inner Sun-like glow of his Master transformed his body just like coal gets transformed by heat. The sweet tenderness and elegance of his Master made him stare at Him with awe and he couldn’t find any better comparison to explain all this even among the heavenly Gods because of those glorious virtues of Him.

The poet glorifies the loving, compassionate, and selfless virtues of God in the form of his Master that always showed concern and empathy for him whenever he has been erratic. He says that his heart is always filled with praises for his Master whenever far away from him. So he is able to move all around without any fears as his Soul is always there with him.

He tells us that he is greatly indebted to his Master and so, he needs to implement all His messages through his sincere and honest efforts. The poet ends his poem expressing his unbound gratitude to his Master for making him that much strong and fit to carry out his mission.

1. "Gratitude is an offering that is precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it"- A.W.Tozer
2. "Genuine thankfulness is an act of the heart's affections, not an act of the lips"- John Piper
3. "To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us"- Thomas Merton

Here we must understand the real, implicit message that is being conveyed by the poet through this wonderful poem. For the poet, the Master and God are one and the same. Just like Christ has said “I and my Father are one” which means that God and Christ are one and the same entity, so too, the poet tells that his Guru or Master is only a physical representation of the Supreme Being. We should realize this fact that Christ or Guru or Master, whichever title you may give Him, is an embodiment or the manifestation of God and so, identical with God.

The poet presented everything in an awesome and beautiful manner using the daily natural happenings taking place in nature with wonderful, appealing comparisons. The entire poem is presented like a cute song emerging from the magical spell of his innate companionship with God. And, the entire rhyming is done beautifully.