The Vaishnava Ideal - Ravhavan Iyer

A true Vaishnava is he

Who is moved by others’ sufferings;

Who helps people in distress, And feels no pride for having done so.

Respectful to everyone in the world,

He speaks ill of none;

Is self-controlled in action, speech and thought—

Twice-blessed the mother who bore such a one.

He has an equal-seeing eye, and is free from all craving, Another’s wife is to him a mother;

His tongue utters no untruth, And never his hand touches another’s wealth.

Moha and maya have no power over him,

In his mind reigns abiding detachment;

He dances with rapture to Rama’s name—

© `The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Raghavan Iyer, published (1998) by Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001.

1 Narasinh Mehta (1414-79); saint-poet of Gujarat.
2 This poem formed part of the daily prayers at the Ashram.
3 Goswami Shri Gokulnathji Maharaj, religious head of the Vaishnavas in Bombay.

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