Aarti Sai Baba in Bengali
আরতী সাঈবাবা
Aarti Sai Baba is the Shirdi Sai Baba aarti that most devotees know. Below is the complete Aarti Sai Baba in Bengali script, every line also in English letters, with the meaning of each verse in simple English.
- Bengali script
- 8 verses
- 5 min
- Madhavrao Vamanrao Adkar (1877–1955), who names himself in the last stanza
- Best on Thursday
Recite line by line, listen, count with a mala. The reader opens in Bengali.
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva
চরণরজাতল়ীং দ্যাবা দাসাং বিসাবা, ভক্তাং বিসাবা ॥ Charan Rajatali Dyava Dasa Visava, Bhakta Visava
Meaning
We offer the aarti to you, Sai Baba, giver of joy to every soul. In the dust beneath your feet, give your servants rest, give your devotees rest.
Visava means a resting place, the shade where a tired traveller sits down. The refrain is sung after every stanza.
জাল়ুনিয়াং অনংগ । স্বস্বরূপীং রাহে দংগ । Jaluniya Anang, Swaswarupi Rahe Dang
মুমুক্ষুজনাং দাবী । নিজ ডোল়াং শ্রীরংগ ॥ Mumukshu Jana Davi, Nij Dola Shrirang
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
Having burnt away desire, you stay absorbed in your own true Self. To those who long for liberation you show Shri Ranga, before their very eyes.
Anang, "the bodiless one", is Kama, god of desire, whose body Shiva burnt to ash. In singing, "dola Shrirang" is often repeated.
জয়া মনীং জৈসা ভাব । তয়া তৈসা অনুভব । Jaya Mani Jaisa Bhav, Taya Taisa Anubhav
দাবিসী দয়াঘনা । ঐসী তুঝী হী মাব ॥ Davisi Dayaghana, Aisi Tujhi Hi Mav
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
As is the feeling in someone's heart, so is the experience you give them. O cloud of compassion, this is your way.
তুমচেং নাম ধ্যাতাং । হরে সংসৃতিব্যথা । Tumache Nam Dhyata, Hare Sansruti Vyatha
অগাধ তব করণী । মার্গ দাবিসী অনাথা ॥ Agadh Tav Karani, Marg Davisi Anatha
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
When we meditate on your name, the pain of worldly life goes away. Your deeds are past all measure; you show the way to those who have no one.
কলিয়ুগীং অবতার । সগুণব্রহ্ম সাচার । Kaliyugi Avatar, Sagun Brahma Sachar
অবতীর্ণ ঝালাসে । স্বামী দত্ত দিগম্বর ॥ Avatirna Jhalase, Swami Datta Digambar
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
In this Kali age you have come as an avatar, truly Brahman in a form we can see. You have come down to us as Swami Datta Digambar.
Many devotees in Maharashtra see Sai Baba as a form of Dattatreya, the guru of gurus; Digambar, "clothed in the sky", is one of Datta's names. Some books and singers say "sagun Parabrahma" in the first line.
আঠাং দিবসাং গুরুবারীং । ভক্ত করিতী বারী । Atha Divasa Guruvari, Bhakta Kariti Vari
প্রভুপদ পহাবয়া । ভবভয় নিবারী ॥ Prabhupad Pahavaya, Bhavbhay Nivari
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
Every week, on Thursday, devotees make the journey to see the Lord's feet. You take away their fear of this world.
"Atha divasa", literally "every eighth day", is the Marathi way of saying "once a week". Vari is the word for the walking pilgrimage to Pandharpur; here Shirdi takes its place.
মাঝা নিজদ্রব্যঠেবা । তব চরণরজসেবা । Majha Nijdravya Theva, Tav Charanraj Seva
মাগণেং হেঞ্চি আতাং । তুম্হাং দেবাধিদেবা ॥ Magane Hechi Ata, Tumha Devadhideva
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
My one true treasure is service in the dust of your feet. This alone is what I ask of you now, O God of gods.
ইচ্ছিত দীন চাতক । নির্মল় তোয় নিজসুখ । Ichchhit Din Chatak, Nirmal Toy Nijsukh
পাজাবেং মাধবা যা । সাম্ভাল় আপুলী ভাক ॥ Pajave Madhava Ya, Sambhal Apuli Bhak
আরতী সাঈবাবা । সৌখ্যদাতার জীবা । … Aarti Saibaba, Saukhya Datar Jiva … Refrain, sung again
Meaning
Like the humble chataka bird waiting for rain, I long for the clear water of true joy. Give it to this Madhava to drink, and keep the promise you made.
Poets say the chataka drinks only raindrops, so it is the picture of someone who waits for one thing alone. Madhava is the poet's own name, Madhavrao Adkar.
About Aarti Sai Baba
This is the aarti most people mean when they say "Sai Baba's aarti". Madhavrao Adkar, a schoolteacher and singer who often stayed in Shirdi, wrote it there around 1903 or 1904. The Sansthan's own magazine, Shri Sai Leela, tells how he tried to keep the paper in his pocket and Baba asked him to read it aloud. It was printed in the Shri Sainath Sagunopasana, the aarti book used at Shirdi, which the Sansthan has published since 1923.
Questions
Is this the same Aarti Sai Baba that is sung in Hindi?
Yes. These are the same Marathi words, written in Bengali letters so you can read them aloud. It is a transliteration, not a translation into Bengali. The meaning of each verse is given in English.
How was the Bengali text prepared?
We keep one checked Devanagari edition (Marathi aarti by Madhavrao Vamanrao Adkar, as sung in the Shirdi Madhyan and Dhoop aartis. Devanagari collated from sites.google.com/site/vaibhavbirit (Madhyan aarti, word by word), aajtak.in (Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Dhoop Aarti) and marathi.webdunia.com (two pages), with bharatdiscovery.org; Roman checked against the aarti book of the Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Austin) and write it in Bengali letters with fixed spelling rules, so every verse matches the original letter for letter. The English-letter line is the common singing spelling.