Ghalin Lotangan

Part 1 — the Marathi abhang, signed by Namdev

घालीन लोटांगण, वंदीन चरण। डोळ्यांनी पाहीन रूप तुझे॥ प्रेमे आलिंगन, आनंदे पूजिन। भावे ओवाळीन म्हणे नामा॥ ghālīn loṭāṅgaṇa, vandīn caraṇa ḍoḷyānnī pāhīn rūpa tujhe preme āliṅgana, ānande pūjina bhāve ovāḷīna mhaṇe nāmā I will throw myself down full length; I will honour your feet. With my eyes I will see your form. I will embrace you with love, worship you with joy, and with feeling wave the lamp — so says Nama. (Six acts in ascending intimacy, ending on the aarti itself. Mhaṇe Nāmā is the bhaṇitā — Namdev naming himself.)

Part 2 — tvameva mata, a floating Sanskrit shloka

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव। त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव॥ त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणं त्वमेव। त्वमेव सर्वं मम देव देव॥ tvam eva mātā ca pitā tvam eva tvam eva bandhuś ca sakhā tvam eva tvam eva vidyā draviṇaṃ tvam eva tvam eva sarvaṃ mama deva deva You alone are mother, and you alone father. You alone are kinsman, and you alone friend. You alone are learning, and you alone wealth. You alone are everything of mine, god of gods. (One of the most widely used shlokas in Hindu practice, and it has no fixed source — it circulates independently and is quoted in several collections rather than belonging to one.)

Part 3 — from the Bhagavata Purana

कायेन वाचा मनसेन्द्रियैर्वा। बुद्ध्यात्मना वा प्रकृतेः स्वभावात्॥ करोमि यद्यत्सकलं परस्मै। नारायणायेति समर्पयामि॥ kāyena vācā manasendriyair vā buddhyātmanā vā prakṛteḥ svabhāvāt karomi yad yat sakalaṃ parasmai nārāyaṇāyeti samarpayāmi Whatever I do — with body, with speech, with mind or senses, with intellect or self, or simply by the nature of things — all of it I offer to the supreme, saying: this is for Narayana. (Bhagavata Purana 11.2.36. The one part of this sequence that can be cited to a chapter and a verse number.)

Part 4 — the achyutam keshavam litany

अच्युतं केशवं रामनारायणं। कृष्णदामोदरं वासुदेवं हरिम्॥ श्रीधरं माधवं गोपिकावल्लभं। जानकीनायकं रामचन्द्रं भजे॥ acyutaṃ keśavaṃ rāma-nārāyaṇaṃ kṛṣṇa-dāmodaraṃ vāsudevaṃ harim śrīdharaṃ mādhavaṃ gopikā-vallabhaṃ jānakī-nāyakaṃ rāmacandraṃ bhaje Achyuta, Keshava, Rama, Narayana; Krishna, Damodara, Vasudeva, Hari; Shridhara, Madhava, beloved of the cowherd women; lord of Janaki — Ramachandra, I worship. (From the Achyutashtakam, traditionally attributed to Shankara. The attribution is traditional rather than established, as with a great deal of the Shankara corpus.)

Part 5 — the mantra

हरे राम हरे राम, राम राम हरे हरे। हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण, कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे॥ hare rāma hare rāma, rāma rāma hare hare hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. (Sixteen names. Its only textual locus is the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, a late and minor text among the Upanishads — which is a thin footing for the most internationally recognised mantra in Hinduism.)

What usually follows

In many temples and households a Sanskrit mantrapushpanjali — an offering of flowers with mantras, sung standing with folded hands — follows as the actual final item, and a Karpur Gauram shloka is often sung at the point where camphor is lit. Neither is part of Ghalin Lotangan proper, and practice varies by household, temple and sampradaya.

What is Ghalin Lotangan?

The closing item of a Marathi aarti session, sung whatever deity the session began with. It is not a single poem but five separate texts sung end to end: a Marathi abhang signed by Namdev, the Sanskrit shloka tvameva mata, a verse from the Bhagavata Purana, the achyutam keshavam litany, and the Hare Rama mantra.

What does 'ghalin lotangan' mean?

I will throw myself down full length — a full prostration, body flat on the ground. It is the first of six acts the abhang lists, and the lowest and most physical of them. Everything that follows in the poem rises from it.

What are the six acts in the abhang?

I will prostrate full length; honour your feet; see your form with my eyes; embrace you with love; worship you with joy; and with feeling wave the lamp. Six acts in ascending intimacy, from face-down on the ground to standing before the image with a flame. The progression is the poem, and reading it as a list loses it.

Who wrote Ghalin Lotangan?

Only the first part has an author. It closes with mhane Nama — says Nama — the signature of Namdev, the Varkari poet of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The four Sanskrit parts come from elsewhere, and who assembled the five into one sequence, and when, is not known.

Where does 'tvameva mata cha pita tvameva' come from?

It has no fixed source. It is among the most widely used shlokas in Hindu practice — you alone are mother and father, kinsman and friend, learning and wealth, everything of mine — and it circulates independently, quoted in several collections rather than belonging to one. That is worth saying plainly rather than assigning it a text it does not come from.

Where does 'kayena vacha' come from?

Bhagavata Purana, Book 11, chapter 2, verse 36. It is the one part of the whole sequence that can be cited to a chapter and a verse number, and it says that whatever is done by body, speech, mind, senses, intellect or the nature of things is offered to the supreme.

Who wrote 'achyutam keshavam'?

It comes from the Achyutashtakam, traditionally attributed to Shankara. That attribution is traditional rather than established — a very large body of stotra literature is assigned to Shankara, and much of it is later. The verse itself is a litany of names of Vishnu in his various forms.

Where does the Hare Rama Hare Krishna mantra come from?

Its only textual locus is the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, a late and minor text among the Upanishads. That is a thin footing for what is now the most internationally recognised mantra in Hinduism. It is a point about textual history and not about the mantra's devotional standing.

Why is Ghalin Lotangan sung at the end of every aarti?

Because it functions as a closing formula for the sequence rather than as an aarti to any particular deity — which is why it names no single one. A Marathi session may open with Ganesha and pass through Shiva, the Goddess, Vitthal or Datta, and it ends here every time.

Is mantrapushpanjali part of Ghalin Lotangan?

No. In many temples and households a Sanskrit mantrapushpanjali follows as the actual final item, sung standing with folded hands, and a Karpur Gauram shloka is often sung when the camphor is lit. Neither is part of Ghalin Lotangan proper, and whether they are included varies by household, temple and sampradaya.

Does anyone singing it know it is five texts?

Generally not, and that is the remarkable part. It is sung as one continuous item, nightly, by very large numbers of people, and the joins between a thirteenth-century Marathi abhang, a Puranic verse, a Shankara-attributed stotra and a mantra are entirely inaudible in performance.

What language is Ghalin Lotangan in?

Both Marathi and Sanskrit. The first part is Marathi — vernacular, personal, signed. The four that follow are Sanskrit — formal, liturgical, anonymous. The sequence moves from one man's stated intention to the tradition's language of self-offering, and the transition passes unnoticed.

Is Ghalin Lotangan only sung in Maharashtra?

It belongs to the Marathi tradition and is sung wherever that tradition has travelled, including at Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations well outside Maharashtra and among Maharashtrian communities abroad. Its Sanskrit components, particularly tvameva mata and the mahamantra, are known far more widely on their own.