Vaishnava Jana To

Vaishnava Jana To is one of the most popular Hindu bhajans, written in the 15th century by the poet Narsinh Mehta in the Gujarati language. The bhajan was included in Mahatma Gandhi’s daily prayer. The bhajan speaks about the life, ideals and mentality of a Vaishnava Jana (meaning: a follower of Lord Vishnu).

Lyrics

Lyrics of the bhajan:

Influence

This bhajan has inspired many people, and was one of the favourite bhajans of Mahatma Gandhi.

In 1999, this song has been rendered in a single album by top artistes such as classical vocalists, Gangubai Hangal and Pandit Jasraj and pop star Remo Fernandes and also including, Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Narayan on the sarangi, flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia and santoor exponent Shivkumar Sharma played an instrumental rendition of this song. Along with "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram", the song is also sung regularly by Delhi's best known western classical choral groups — The Capital City Minstrels at its annual Peace Concerts coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti. Carnatic guitarist Baiju Dharmajan created an instrumental guitar version of the prayer in 2013.