This Sunday morning, I’m enjoying listening to one of my favourite bhajans (soulful Hindu devotional songs). Perfect for a rainy monsoon Sunday, it’s both wonderfully soothing and uplifting.
The song is called Tumhare Darshan ki Bela by Deva Premal. I was surprised to discover that she is in fact a German woman, born to a mystic/artist father and a musically talented mother. By the time she was five years old, she was already chanting the Gayatri Mantra daily. Her voice is incredibly haunting.
Apparently, Tumhare Darshan was taught to Deva by renowned Indian musician Manish Vyas. It’s a beautiful song that celebrates being in God’s presence. It’s particularly special for me because I discovered it while living in Manali three years ago. It brings back cherished memories of fresh air and mountains.
Here are the lyrics.
“Tumare darshan ki bela, ye mausam raas rachane ka”
The season has arrived where I will finally see you and dance with you.
“Liye ullas ki sanse, samay masti me jine ka”
With the breathing in of joy, it is time to live in bliss.
© 2010, Diary of a White Indian Housewife. All rights reserved. Do not copy and reproduce text or images without permission.
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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
really awesome. It connects to divine directly..! thanks for sharing
u shud listen to KD (Krishna Das) …..equally haunting voice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_9mLJxvLHM
Jurno, thanks for sharing. It is very powerful.
TD, take it straight to the pool room
Bihag, I’m not sure that I understand the direction of your question. You mean, what do I think of the pictures in the video?
Lovely Sharell, this is going to my favourites. I really needed this today, perfect for the sunday afternoon slump.
You are into Bhajans now, interesting for an Australian! Though, Germans’ interests in the old Hindu ideas have been proved to be the main reason for a great war.
Life is full of surprises. A German singing an Indian Bhajan and an Australian enjoying it, what an absolute amalgamation of cultures. Nice way to start the day Sharell.
Thanks O2L2. I think the great thing about the world these days is that we’re not just restricted to our own culture. We can share and appreciate other cultures too. We’re all becoming world citizens.
Please share what are your views about what has been described and depicted in this video..Waiting for your response..
sorry for being unclear.. i meant the words being sung, their interpretation pictorially and your understanding of the above as well as that of spirituality…
we are of-course spiritual beings having a human experience..:)
That’s okay, no problem. Here are my thoughts: the song is about loving and being at one with God, in God’s presence. The person who put together the YouTube video isn’t the singer, and given that many of the pictures show love between a couple, they’ve obviously taken a wider view of the words. But of course, that’s perfectly fine because there is a god of love after all: Kama! (And not to overlook the Khajuraho erotic temples, which depict couples together). The pictures in the video also show a range of other gods, which also makes sense to me. My view on spirituality is that “God” is universal energy that takes many forms for many people. Many paths, one destination you might say.
The rest of my spiritual beliefs are a bit contentious for some people around here. I do believe in reincarnation and that we choose our human life before we’re born, based on what the soul needs to experience and learn. Hope this is enough explanation for you. 
Thanks for sharing this.
I despise religion and the idea of idolatry as well. So no bhajans for me.
And why foreigners cant get over the illusion of “Indian Unity” ( Whatever’s that?? ) is beyond me. Most of’em say that they are fascinated by the “diversity” of religions here.
Like I said twice before today…..Wherever you see diversity, read– imbalance.
And the country’s history in the past 60 years proves that imbalance.
By the way,
Whatever happened to everyone taking that initiative to show each other’s pictures?
Abdullah K> took the first step. But what about others?
@Doctor Death
That is the problem with modern day Secularists (or pseudo Secularists) They connect any Ancient Indian practices to Hinduism, be it Ayurveda, Spirituality or Yoga.. They think that practicing anything will bring dishonour to their own religion..
But they forget that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life. The reason that Hinduism has survived is only because it was very flexible, It allowed people to absorb better things from other religions. It does not say you need to follow only this God, you may follow any other God, still you may follow Hindu way of life. It allows foreigners of other religions to follow Hindu ways without being legally converted to Hinduism.
I live in Bangalore now. Here I have been in contact with many converted Christians. The main thing I feel now is, these Christians may hold Indian documents, may earn and live in India, may their forefathers lived here, but they don’t feel connected to India at all by its History and its Philosophy. They can’t relate to Indian culture at all now. The conversion has brought a very rigid wall in between.
The foreigners are better in this regard. They religious practices are liberal, unlike converted Indians.
I feel any country has right to protect its own culture, its own history. But India, particularly South India is undergoing a dramatic change under the shadows of pseudo-Secularism and Vote bank politics.
The ancient History is all Hindu philosophy. It is because India was an Hindu country. But it doesn’t mean, that one should leave behind his own culture in name of religious freedom.
The freedom should come from inside, not being forced.
Sharell, you may put your comments. I would like to have your point of view.
@Doctor Death- what about you following Abdullah K in posting you picture?
Yes that was more than sufficient explanation.. And although I do want to discuss this a little more but I don’t want to make your blog a discussion/argument forum..:)
Anyhow, it is a video interpretation slightly different than what I am probably used to. I’ll look forward to discussing this when you have the time and when I have the opportunity.
Cheers.
Abdullah removed his picture quickly enough, soon after Sharell saw it. So his picture doesn’t count as well.
And Doctor Death, it’s also risky to post you picture publicly especially if you are an exotic (young) man. There are many (middle-aged love-starved American) women who’d use your picture as sex-object to satisfy their sexual fantasies.
I still remember those (lonely American) women in their 30′s or 40′s who used to hit on me in bars, and really, they used to come up with some hilarious lines to flirt, “Are you Venezuelan or Colombian (or some Spanish variety)?”. Another famous line was, “I like your hair, so thick and dark”.
“…but I don’t want to make your blog a discussion/argument forum…”
This sentence would surely make Sharell laugh!
@ Doctor Death
True, Dr. Death. The religious unity that one gets to hear about in India is just co-ordiality and tolerance, not really secularism. Like the Arabs, Indians strongly identify themselves by their religion and always seem to be paranoid that their religion is under attack by Christians or “western forces”.
There’s a huge “kirtan scene” in the US right now, especially in California, New York and Hawaii, but spread across the nation as well.
@Amit Desai.
Love-starved people will always seek means to relieve themselves from that starvation. Same applies for you and me…Only that we may not be as desperate as those women that you talked about.
As for relationships, I’ll get back to you about my take on that.
@Gopal
Thats the problem with the people of this country. They wake up only when shit hits the fan.
@Rubi
I know that it can be dangerous to upload your pics on the web because one day you might find it ending up on a porn site because some idiot copied and photoshopped it.
So I dunno if I can upload. It would have helped if there was a user avatar box in here.
@Amit Desai
Btw, I a not worth fantasising. I come across as quite repulsive…physically speaking.
And whats that big risk with that, really? It is not like you’re going to lose a day of your life if that happens. If fantasing is the only ‘risk’ I’d have to encounter posting my pictures online, I’d have plastered them all over.
“…And whats that big risk with that, really?…”
No big risk with online picture posting. It’s only a capitalism and/or property rights issue!
I enjoyed the song of german woman, sadly your you tube imagery are a bit out of context. The youtube imagery must go with sage vatsayanas kamasutra instead…let me send a fatwa your way now , oh wait, fatvas dont exist in hinduism but then….pun intended. Seriously, Iam not offended, but some people like your mom in law might (dont let her see this !!!). Cheers.
sharell,
on a sidenote, please do meet Francois Gautier, who had dedicated his life to India, the impossible task for any foreigner I must say. Good luck with work. Surya, chicago.
A beautiful song, with wonderful imagery….i listened to it many times with joy! Thanks for sharing….and yes, we are all world citizens, and should appreciate good things regardless of wherever they originate.We will find beauty or ugliness depending on whatever is the essence of our soul!
Just stumbled on your site- would like to recommend a music group:
http://www.aradhnamusic.com
Nice post. Look forward to following your future postings. For videos and posts about Bhajans and Bhakti visit http://hariom.tv/bhakti/ . YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/hariomtv
Exquisitely beautiful! Thank you for sharing it.
Oh, I’m glad you loved it as much as I do. That reminds me to listen to it again!
It’s been a while.
This is an amazingly beautiful and powerful song. Is it due to the words or the singer or a combustible mix of the two?
I first heard it over in a yoga lesson and youtubed it immediately. It produces immediate relaxation and i have learning the song to sing it to myself on particularly stressful days.
Thanks Deva Primal.
I’m so glad you loved it! (And that you brought my attention to it again — it’s been quite a while since I listened to it). I definitely think it’s a mix of words and singer. 8)
Oh GREAT ! loved the voices, sounds and lyrics. Only that IMO the stills in the Video don’t do justice to the feelings of lyrics.