Kshirabdhi Shayana Narayana

I have several tapes of Sathya Sai Baba singing bhajans and I was listening to one of them the other night. Incidentally this was the first tape I ever received so I was listening and recalling some happy memories along with it. And then I came across Sai Baba singing the bhajan 'Kshirabdhi Shayana Narayana'. Here are the lyrics:

Kshirabdhi Shayana Narayana
Sri Lakshmi Ramana Narayana
Narayana Hari Narayana
Bhakta Jana Paripala Narayana

This is a bhajan in praise of Sriman Narayana (Lord Vishnu). The lyrics above represent how they are written in all of the bhajan books. The last line is a glorification of Sriman Narayana as the protector of His devotees, which is why 'bhakta' is mentioned.The funny thing is how Sai Baba sings it as:

"Natajana paripala Narayana"

Now this makes no sense, because 'Natajana' is a name indicative of Lord Shiva, a totally different deity. 'Natajana' roughly means 'Lord of the Dance' and is similar to the name 'Nataraja', another name of Shiva which means 'King of the Dance'. In that context, Sai Baba appears to be glorifying Narayana, the protector of Natajana (Shiva)?!

Yet another example of how confused Sai Baba is when it comes to a simple thing like singing bhajans.

Copyright © Sai Baba Bhajan Book 2006.