I also changed the translated word “others” on line 15 to the Sanskrit word “Dikpal.” I felt that “the others” didn’t invite further inquiry. These changes were heavily influenced by the translation in the document, “Learn the Hanuman Chalisa in 40 Days,” at by Professor Philip Lutgendorf and Ram Rani Rosser. Other changes involved looking at alternative translations to find similar words that didn’t change the meaning but better fit the feeling I wanted for the song. Some of these were extremely minor, such as dropping off an article here or there.
Over time, I slightly changed some of the words to better fit the way I was singing it. It was Vasu that inspired me to learn this English version. He also led 108 rounds of Chalisa, 54 in Avadhi and 54 in English at the Taos Hanuman temple. He recently did a Yatra, singing 108 English Chalisas with people across the US.
I came across his version from my dear friend Vasu Jon Seskevich. Ramdas Lamb decided to translate it in a way so that it could be easily sung to any Hanuman Chalisa melody. When he was a young sadhu in India, Neem Karoli Baba asked him to translate the Chalisa for westerners so they would understand the meaning. This translation is mostly based on the work of Ramdas Lamb, Phd. It was also an excuse to pull out my banjo! At the same time, to hold a child’s attention, it has to be fun! I feel that the American folk traditions have a beautiful ability to hold both deep feeling and lighthearted fun. If I am going to sing the Chalisa, I want to put myself totally into it. In this song you will hear influences from country, blues, and bluegrass. Since the Chalisa is an Indian folk song, I thought it made sense to “translate” this English Chalisa into the style of the American folk tradition. Other questions I realize are more difficult conversations to have with a young child: “What are demons?” I have my own answer for this, however I trust that each parent on the path will explain these questions in a way that makes the most sense to them and their child’s developmental age. I imagined families listening to this together, as children used their inquisitive minds to ask questions such as, “What are the four fruits of life?”, “Why is Hanuman called the son of the wind?”, “How did Hanuman jump across the sea?” and “What does it mean to cleanse the mirror of the heart?” But we have devotees of Lord Hanuman everywhere in the world today. Kannada is a language spoken in south India, specially Karnataka state. The grace of the Guru is necessary to begin to understand the deepest levels of the story of Hanuman in the Ramayana. It begins with the phrase,I take the dust of the Guru’s lotus feet to cleanse the mirror of my heart.
Hanuman chalisa song translation pdf#
Kids tend to love Hanuman, and so singing the Hanuman Chalisa in English sounded like the perfect choice. Hanuman Chalisa in Kannada (Lyrics PDF and Image download) Complete Details). The Hanuman Chaleesa is a hymn of 40 verses that describes his life and exploits. I wanted to provide a way to bring Hanuman’s presence into the family home of our English-speaking satsang members.