Maili Chadar Odh Ke Kaise Lyrics English Translation

Maili chadar odh ke kaise, dwaar tumare aaoon, loosely translates to English as, how can I stand before you with this soiled body. Maili means soiled, and chadar is the outer garment. It is a wonderfully engineered Hindi bhajan that explores the importance of living a clean life because on judgement day, when you stand before God, you cannot hide anything. Chadar is a covering garment, just like your body is a covering for your soul. However, in this context, it more closely refers to your mind (munn), which approximates to your intellect or faculties. When you sin, your very essence becomes soiled, and therefore how can a sinful person stand before god? On that day, when you stand there, there is no part of you that you can hide, and god sees you completely. A person that spent their entire lives sinning, and hiding that sin, cannot stand before god, for it would be too embarrassing (sharaam) for them to do so. As they say in the West, Sinner-man, where are you going to run to? There is nowhere to run to, and there is no place to hide that god cannot find.

Although dwaar approximates to door, in concepts of Hinduism, standing at the door is analogous to standing before god to seek his refuge. The term daagh means stain on the covering (chadar), which is analogous to a sin that your own mind keeps a record of. In this song, the singer remembers all the things they did wrong and questions what chance they have of gaining His shelter. They recognise the futility of removing stains accumulated over a lifetime, and ask, what possible garland of flowers (haar) could they offer to wash their sins? What possible song could they sing? Once you are dead, it is too late, and there is nothing one can do except ask for mercy.

The song reminds you that god gave you a pure beautiful (nirmal) body (kaaya), so you could be his instrument; instead you polluted it for your personal pleasures such as drinking and smoking. He gave you legs so you could walk to the temple, but perhaps you went to the pub instead. He gave you eyes and a head for praying; instead you wasted them on watching television. He endowed you with the power of speech, so you could sing his name, but instead you used it for swearing and deception. On the last day, God will see all of that, tally-up the score, and say that you cannot possibly be a part of his flock because you have never thought of him even for one moment! Since you cannot belong to him, you must belong to the guy downstairs...

However, God is above all (aparam paar), and he is also merciful (daialu), and therefore it is never too late to make good for the wrongs you did. Hence it is never too late even if you have only a few days left; it can make a difference to someone somewhere, including your very soul.

Meaning and Context

Chadar is an outer covering such as a garment like a shawl, and in this context refers to the mind which carries the memories of all the sins committed in a lifetime.

Paawan approximates to sanctity, purity, holiness, sacredness

Munn, approximates to mind, intellect, or faculties. In the old days, the soul was thought to reside in the heart, hence in some parts, munn became a colloquial term for heart.

Nirmal approximates to pure, or beautiful.

Kaaya approximates to body.

Daagh means stain, and in this context it refers to sin.

Vaani approximates to speech.

Janam-janam ki approximates to a whole life of...

Nain approximates to eyes.

Moondh-kar approximates to turning head.

Dhyaayaa approximates to meditate upon.

Veena is a lute type instrument which has strings (taaren).

Sunaaoo approximates to listen, but in this context, it means to present to you.

Parameshwar, and Harihar, have been approximated to God for simplicity.

Aparam paar approximates to above all, or most of all, the ultimate. In this context, it means infinite.

Sharan approximates to refuge, or shelter.

Nain-moondh approximates to eyes and head, and in this context I replace it with gaze to keep it simple.

Jahaan-jahaan is a term I approximate and simplify to wherever.

Aakar ke approximates to, up to the end, or all the way to the end. In this context, he refers to his entire life.

English Translation

Maili chadar odh ke kaise, dwaar tumare aaoon.

How can I come before you with this soiled mind.

Hai paavan, parameshwar mere, mun hi mun, sharmaaoon.

Holy God, with all my heart, I am embarrassed of my own mind.

Tune mujh ko, jag me bhejaa, nirmal deker kaayaa...

You sent me to this world, (and) gave me a pure body...

Aakar ke, iss sansaar me, maine, isko daagh lagaaya.

Right up to the end, in this world, I kept staining it.

I kept sinning right up to the end!

Janam janam ki, maili chaadar, kaise daagh choodaoon.

How can I remove the stains of a whole lifetime spent sinning?

Nirmal vaani, paakar tujhse, naam na teraa gaayaa.

You endowed me with beautiful speech, (yet) I never (once) sang your name.

Nain moondh-kar, hai parameshwar, kabhi naa tujhko dhyaayaa.

Dear god, I never (even) turned my gaze towards you to meditate upon.

Man veena ki taaren tooti, ab kyaa geeth sunaaoon?

The strings of my heart are broken, now, what song can I (possibly) present to you?

In pairon se, chal kar tere, mandir, kabhi na aayaa.

I never used these legs to walk to the temple (to worship you).

Jahaan jahaan ho, poojaa teri, kabhi naa, sheesh jhukaya.

Wherever there was your worship, I never (even) bowed my head.

Hai harihar, main haar ke aayaa, ab kyaa haar chadhaaoon?

O mighty God, I have come in defeat, now which garland (of flowers) can I place upon you?

Tuu hai aparam paar daialu, sara, jaagat sambhale.

You are above all merciful, maintainer of the whole world.

Jaisa bhee hoon, main hoon tera, apani sharan lagaale.

However I am, I am yours, take me into your refuge...

Chood ke tera dwaar gaata, aur kahin nahi jaoon.

(and) I will never leave your door, and go anywhere (else).

The Formula to Reach Heaven - The Karma Index

The secret is right in front of your face. It is every action you make. Every action determines your future. As you can see, God would probably use an algorithm such as this to calculate your karma index and therefore your next place. If we sum all your good actions, from birth to death, and subtract from another sum for the bad actions, the number must be greater than zero to attain heaven. A positive number, in karma units, means you move up that many steps, and a negative number means you move down that many steps. Human life, which God refers to as manah-shashthanindriyani (brain and six senses) is the first step to intelligent life. Below human life, are all animal lives.