Ghanshyam, O my beloved Ghanshyam,
why does your flute sing
Radha's name, Radha's name!
Why does that necklace at your throat weep—
such anguish floods my breast!
Tell me, what can I offer
to pay for all your pain!
Why does your flute sing
Radha's name, Radha's name!
That Yamuna there…
she too knows how arrow-fire burns,
you alone fail to understand me, O dark soul of my soul!
Why bind me with such threads, tell me, beloved!
If bind you must, why pull so far away?
Body and mind and the breath of my being,
all I have given in your name!
Then why, Shyam, does your flute
make me restless, drive me from home,
singing only Radha's name, Radha's name!
(Anyone who wishes may set this to music and sing it. You can then send the file to my page's WhatsApp.)