kabe ha’be bolo se-dina āmār

LYRICS:

(1)
kabe ha’be bolo se-dina āmār
(āmār) aparādha ghuci’, śuddha nāme ruci,
kṛpā-bale ha’be hṛdoye sañcār

(2)
tṛṇādhika hīna, kabe nije māni’,
sahiṣṇutā-guṇa hṛdoyete āni’
sakale mānada, āpani amānī,
ho’ye āswādibo nāma-rasa-sār

(3)
dhana jana āra, kobitā-sundarī,
bolibo nā cāhi deho-sukha-karī
janme-janme dāo, ohe gaurahari!
ahaitukī bhakti caraṇe tomār

(4)
(kabe) korite śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāma uccāraṇa,
pulakita deho gadgada bacana
baibarṇya-bepathu ha’be sańghaṭana,
nirantara netre ba’be aśru-dhār

(5)
kabe navadwīpe, suradhunī-taṭe,
gaura-nityānanda boli’ niṣkapaṭe
nāciyā gāiyā, berāibo chuṭe,
bātulera prāya chāriyā bicār

(6)
kabe nityānanda, more kori ‘doyā,
chārāibe mora viṣayera māyā
diyā more nija-caraṇera chāyā,
nāmera hāṭete dibe adhikār

(7)
kinibo, luṭibo, hari-nāma-rasa,
nāma-rase māti’ hoibo bibaśa
rasera rasika-caraṇa paraśa,
koriyā mojibo rase anibār

(8)
kabe jībe doyā, hoibe udoya,
nija-sukha bhuli’ sudīna-hṛdoya
bhakativinoda, koriyā binoya,
śrī-ājñā-ṭahala koribe pracār

WORD FOR WORD TRANSLATION: Kabe Ha’be Bolo

TRANSLATION

1) When, O when, will that day be mine? When will you give me your blessings, erase all my offences and give my heart a taste [ruci] for chanting the Holy Name in purity? 

2) When will I taste the essence of the Holy Name, feeling myself to be lower than the grass, my heart filled with tolerance? When will I give respect to all others and be free from desire for respect from them? 

3) When will I cry out that I have no longer any desire for wealth and followers, poetry and beautiful women, all of which are meant just for bodily pleasure? O Gaura Hari! Give me causeless devotional service [bhakti] to your lotus feet, birth after birth. 

4) When will my body be covered with goose bumps and my voice broken with emotion as I pronounce Krishna’s name? When will my body change color and my eyes flow with endless tears as I chant? 

5) When will I give up all thought of the world and society to run like a madman along the banks of the Ganges in Navadvipa, singing and dancing and sincerely calling out the names of Gaura and Nityananda? 

6) When will Nityananda Prabhu be merciful to me and deliver me from the enchantment [maya] of the sense objects? When will he give me the shade of his lotus feet and the right to enter the market place [nama-hatta] of the Holy Name? 

7) When will I buy, borrow or steal the ecstasies of the Holy Name? When will I lose myself in the intoxication of the Holy Name? When will I immerse myself in the nectar of the Holy Name after grasping the feet of a saint who constantly relishes the flavors [rasa] of devotion? 

8) When will I feel compassion for all living beings [jivas]? When will I forget my own pleasure in genuine humility? And when will I, Bhaktivinoda, meekly go from door to door, preaching your message of love?

Kabe Ha’be Bolo

(Invocation of the Holy Name)

By Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

When, oh when will that day be mine?

When my offenses ceasing, taste for the name increasing.

When in my heart will your mercy shine?

When, oh when, will that day be mine.

Lower than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree.

When will my mind attain this quality?

Respectful to all, not expecting their honor,

then shall I taste the name’s nectar sublime.

Great wealth or followers, feminine beauty,

I won’t care for them or the comforts of my body.

Birth after birth, give me, Oh Lord Caitanya,

causeless devotion to Your feet divine.

When will I utter Krsna, Krsna, Krsna,

with words choked up and shivering body?

When will I be trembling all over, lose bodily color,

tears pouring from my eyes.

When in Navadvipa along the Ganges bank,

shouting ‘Gaura-Nityananda’ as a surrendered soul,

dancing, chanting, running everywhere,

when will I become half mad of mind?

When will Lord Nityananda show mercy upon me,

when will I reject the world of Maya:

Bestow unto me the shade of Your lotus feet,

let the right to preach the name be mine.

I will beg, borrow, or steal the nectar of the name.

By the name’s effect I will feel paralyzed.

Oh! Enjoyed of the nectar of the name

when will I touch your lotus feet till the end of time?

When kindness to all beings will be appearing

with free heart forget myself comforting

Bhaktivinoda in all humility prays

“Now I will set out to preach Your order sublime.”

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