Upadeśa – Song Eleven

Text 1

rūpera gauraba keno bhāi
anitya e kalebara kabhu nāhi sthiratara
śamana āile kichu nāi
e aṅga śītala ho’be aṅkhi spanda-hīna ro’be
citāra āgune ho’be chāi

O my brother, why are you so pleased by the beauty of the material body? The body is not eternal. It will not stay beautiful forever. When Yamarāja comes, nothing will remain. The limbs will grow cold. They eyes will be still. Then the flames of the funeral pyre will turn them into ashes.

Text 2

je saundarja hero darpaṇete nirantara
swa-śibāra hoibe bhojana
je bastre ādara koro’ jeba ābharaṇa poro’
kothā saba rohibe takhana?

Again and again you gaze at your beauty in the mirror. Where will you keep your favorite clothes and ornaments when the dogs and jackals eat your body?

Text 3

dārā suta bandhu sabe śmaśāne tomāra lo’be
dagdha kori’ gṛhete āsibe
tumi kā’ra ke tomāra ebe bujhi dekho sāra
deho-nāśa abaśya ghaṭibe

After burning your body at the cremation ground, your wife, children, friends, and kinsmen will all return to their homes. With whom have you a lasting relationship? Who has a lasting relationship with you? Please know this: The destruction of your body is inevitable.

Text 4

su-nitya-sambala cāo hari-guṇa sadā gāo
hari-nāma japoho sadāi
ku-tarka chāḍiyā mana koro’ kṛṣṇa ārādhana
binodera āśroya tāhāi

O my heart, if you wish to find a treasure that is eternal, then please chant Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glories. Always chant Lord Kṛṣṇa’s holy names. Turn away from the fallacies that are material logic, and worship Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is Bhaktivinoda’s shelter.