Recital of Indian devotional songs

AUM 79e1. On Sunday, 20 March 1966, Chinmoy Kumar Ghose gave a recital of spiritual and devotional songs at the Indian Cultural Centre, 50 Central Park West, New York, N. Y. 10023. The songs were sung in Sanskrit and Bengali and they ranged from the Vedic era to modern times. The excerpts from the Indian scriptures were put to music by the singer himself. Sri Ghose explained briefly to the audience the spiritual or philosophical significance of each song. We give the Indian titles of the songs, the translation of the verses sung and the commentary given by Sri Ghose.

1. Invocation:³

A devotional song has a universal appeal. It appeals to the aspiring soul and elevates the consciousness. It appeals also to our hearts, minds and bodies. A devotional song expresses a universal spiritual emotion, a personal experience which rises like a flame towards God.

I wish to say a word about the Invocation I have just sung. The Vedas are the most ancient, the most inspiring and the most important of the Indian scriptures. The quintessence of the Vedic Truth is the concept of the Journey. This is the Journey of the Soul along the Path of Truth and Eternal Order. The Vedas overflow with love of life and energy for action; they invoke the Supreme with implicit faith for Guidance and Divine Inspiration.

The Vedas are four in number, each book containing several thousand hymns. The four Vedas are the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. The hymn I have just sung is from the Rig Veda, from that part of it devoted to the adoration of Agni, the God of the Eternal Divine Fire. The "Prosperity" mentioned in the hymn is not merely earthly prosperity, but is an inner and all-fulfilling prosperity, a plenitude of both the Spirit and the outer life.