Hey Ramchandra Keh Gaye Siya Se English Translation

Hey ramchandra keh gaye siya se, translates to English as, God Ram had said to Sita before he left… It is a song in Hindi, considered to be a bhajan due to the religious subtext. In the landscape of the Hindu religion, Ramchandra is one of the central characters, whilst Siya (also known as Sita), is his companion.

The lyrics of this song describe some of the immoral human behaviors that one expects to see during the kali yuug (dark times). This is a special time that has been prophesized, and marks the coming of the next avatar, Kali. During this time mankind and civilization will have become debased and devoid of all morality. Interestingly, Christianity and Judaism have something similar known as Armageddon.

The return of god was also repeated during the time of Krisha and found in chapter 4, text 8, of the Bhagavad Gita as it is. You can get more information about this from ISKCON.

paritranaya sadhunam

vinasaya ca duskrtam

dharma-samsthapanarthaya

sambhavami yuge yuge

"In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of religion, I advent myself millennium after millennium."

Have you ever thought that something was not quite right with this world? That perhaps this was not your world? Growing up in the kali yuug, one usually does not notice things being wrong, because this is the only reality one has ever known. However, if you are a swan eating seeds in the dirt, whilst the crows are living the high life eating pearls, then there could be a good reason for that besides bad luck. I know that the crows in my life played dirty by lying, cheating, stealing, and killing, whilst I got crucified at every turn. Hence this song goes a long way to explaining why my life is as it is. The lyrics are wonderful two line verses rich in metaphor, and in some places extremely complicated to translate. Due to the complex nature of some of the metaphors, and words with colloquial meanings, I have added another line with an equivalent approximation that might help.

Meaning and Context

Chukega, to eat or feed, usually with the beak. It’s a term usually used for birds

Dun, soil, sand, or dirt

Lathi, stick

Kheencha-tani, tug of war

Kala dhan, dark money, black money, which is dirty money derived from immoral activities

Kala mun, dark heart, or immoral thinking

Uchechake, similar to uchki-jaya in Gujarati, steal, take, lift

Nir-dhan, without money, poor, or poverty

Bahs, argument, or dispute

Lobhi, stingy and greedy

Bhogee, enjoyer of materialistic activities

Madhu-shaala, drinking-house, alcohol-house, or public-house

Sabha, audience, society

Baala, a young girl

Moorakh, fool

Jatan, precaution

Kotri, small room

Kajal, lamp

Sati, pious, religious, virtuous

Kaajal, black ash that a lamp makes, simplified to ash

Kamini, debased desires and yearnings, bad thoughts, and bad intentions

Naam-kaam, reputable, person of good name and good deeds

Phund, hangmans noose, but it also has colloquial meanings such as roped, trapped, and strangled. It can also mean false accusation placed around ones neck.

Kawwa approximates to crows. The concept of some men being compared to crows (vaayasam in Sanskrit) probably comes from the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Crows are considered chaotic, materialistic, and greedy, because they are always seen on garbage heaps fighting and picking away at anything they can find. They are common and found in large numbers everywhere.

Hans, swan

Translation

Hai ji re, Hai ji re...

It will be so, it will be so...

Hey ramchandra keh gaye siya se,

God Ram had said to Sita (before he left),

aisa kali yuug ayenga,

such a dark time will come,

hans chukega dana dun ka,

(when) swans will be feeding on seeds in the dirt,

kawwa moti khaye ga.

(and) crows will be eating pearls.

Siya ne poocha bhagwan,

Sita asked God,

Kali yuug mein, dharam karam ko koi nahi maanega?

In dark times, will nobody believe in the right way of living and consequences?

toh prabhu bola,

to which God replied,

Dharam bhi hoga, karam bhi hoga,

There will be a way of living, and its consequences,

parantu, sharam nahi hogi,

however, there will be no shame,

baat baat, pe maata aur pita ko,

in every matter, upon mother and father,

beta aankh dikhaye ga.

the son will show an evil-eye (and tell them what to do).

(Meaning: Instead of the parents controlling the child, the child will control the parents.)

Raja aur praja, dono mein,

The king and (his) subjects, in both,

hogi nis din kheencha-tani, kheencha-tani,

there will be continuous tug of war,

kadaam kadaam per karange dono,

at every step they will both,

apni apni munmaani munmaani.

do whatever their hearts desires.

(Meaning: Everyone will want to be the boss working above the law. There will be no hierarchical structure (sump-prathista). Neither the King nor his subjects will obey the law, they will do whatever they please, whenever they please, living above the law.)

Hai, jis ke haath mein hogi laathi,

The one who wields a stick in hand,

bahs wahi lai jaayenga.

they will win the argument.

(Meaning: Arguments and disputes will be settled by force and violence. The most violent will prevail, whilst the peaceful will suffer under their subjugation.)

Suno Siya, kali yuug mein kala dhan,

Listen Sita, in dark times, there will be black money,

aur kale mun honge.

and dark hearts.

(Meaning: Evil minded people will have no qualms getting rich quickly from immoral activities, however those trying earn through honest and decent means will struggle throughout their lives.)

Chor uchechake nagar seth,

The boss of the town will be the biggest thief lifting everything,

aur prabhu bhakt nirdhan honge.

and (true) worshippers of God, will remain in poverty.

(Meaning: During the dark times, the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Officials such as town mayors and prime ministers, who are supposed to be serving under the people, for the people, will have private planes carrying suitcases of money to secret Swiss bank accounts. Paradoxically, they will have money that far exceeds their official salaries... These crows (and their crow friends) will be living the high life on ill-gotten gains, whilst people of god (swans) will be poor and starving.

Hai, jo hoga lobhi aur bhogee,

Those who are greedy and lost in materialistic pleasures,

woh jyogi kehlaiega.

they will be called saintly men of god.

(Meaning: There will be many self-made gurus pretending to be swans (men of God), but actually they are just crows.)

Mandir soona-soona hoga,

The temples shall be completely empty,

bhari rahengi madhu-shaala madhu-shaala.

(whilst) drinking-houses shall remain full.

Pita ke sang-sang, bhari sabha mein,

Together with her father, in a full audience,

nanche gi, ghar ki baala, ghar ki baala.

dances, a young daughter of his house.

Kaisa kanya daan pita hi?

Where is the fathers charity of giving away his bride daughter?

kanya ka dhan khayenga.

instead, he lives on her money.

(Meaning: A good father usually gives away his daughter (kanya) in her wedding ceremony as charity (daan), which makes the goddess laxmi happy, who then returns this gesture with more prosperity for the daughters future. However in the kali yuug, a greedy father uses his daughter for money. The father neglects his most important duties to his children, which is to ensure that they are educated and married so they have prosperous fruitful futures of their own. Instead, he uses their time and money to go on an ego ride. He squanders their futures and inheritance, and even gives it away to worthless charities just to appear big in society.)

Moorakh ki preet boori, juey ki jeet boori,

Friendships of fools is bad, triumphs of gamblers is bad,

boore sang baaith, chain bhaage-hi-bhaage.

sitting in the company of bad people, your happiness always runs away from you.

(Meaning: If you associate yourself with poor quality people, then your life will have no happiness.)

Kajal ki kotri mein, kaiso hi jatan karo,

In the lamp room, however much precautions you take,

kaajal ka daag bhai lage-hi-lage.

you will always be stained by the ash brother.

(Meaning: In this world you are surrounded by temptation and it is difficult to remain clean and untainted.)

Hai kitna jati ho koi, kitna sati ho koi,

No matter how high cast some are, how much holy some are,

kamini ke sang kaam jaage-hi-jaage.

company of debased (people) always awakens debased deeds.

Hey suno kahe gopiram, jiska hai naam kaam,

Hey listen Gopiram said, (In the dark times) he who has a (good) name and does (good) deeds,

uska toh phund gale lage-hi-lage re bhai...

will always have a hangman’s noose placed around his neck brother...

(Meaning: A person of good character is always destroyed by the evil types, whilst evil characters always prevail and succeed in life.)

Are you a Crow or a Swan?

Crows are usually seen fighting a lot, either within their own group, or with others of their kind, but swans are rarely seen fighting unless it was to protect their territory or their young. Swans have only one partner for their entire lives, and if their partner dies, then they die too of a broken heart. Hence, they are seen to be following the monogamous traditions of Ram and Sita, or Radha and Krishna. However, the crow is not so monogamous and may have many partners at the same time. Consequently, crows breed in large numbers overpopulating any areas they settle. Whilst swans are becoming an endangered species and are protected in many countries, the common crow is found all over the world. Crows tend to settle wherever they can get a free meal, and farmers usually consider them a pest because a group of them can strip your land of all the seeds within hours. Crows usually make a very loud awful "caaw" sound that travels long distances and most people do not like that. In contrast, the swan is a much quieter bird that makes a "honk" sound. Swans are often seen performing a synchronized swimming dance, which makes them appear to be intelligent creatures of order, whilst crows appear to be a chaotic animal. On land, swans are mostly vegetarians and tend to eat grass and vegetables. In contrast, a crow eats almost anything including other birds. Crows also have a reputation for stealing and being greedy because they will steal eggs and chicks from other birds’ nests.