The Ideal Prayer to the Lord
By Margaret Magnus
The Ideal Prayer to the Lord
About prayer, Avatar Meher Baba said,
“The ideal prayer to the Lord is nothing more than spontaneous praise of His being.
“You praise Him, not in the spirit of bargain but in the spirit of self-forgetful appreciation of what He really is. You praise Him because He is praiseworthy.
“Your praise is the spontaneous appreciative response to His true being, as infinite light, infinite power and infinite bliss.” [1]
The Universal Prayer, given by Meher Baba, is that “ideal prayer” because it is in praise of the universal Divine Beloved.
The Universal Prayer
THE MASTER’S PRAYER dictated by Avatar Meher Baba in Dehra Dun, India, in 1953. The original is preserved by Beloved Archives and on display in Hamilton, NJ. A copy is on display at Meher Mount. (Photo: Beloved Archives)
The Universal Prayer was dictated in English in on August 13, 1953, in Dehra Dun, India, and edited by Meher Baba’s close disciple Eruch Jessawala.
It was made public in the Life Circular No.15 issued on September 14, 1953, by Adi K. Irani, Meher Baba’s secretary. [2]
By the time the prayer was sent to the West, it was known as the Master’s Prayer because of Meher Baba’s participation in offering it. [3]
This prayer starts with “O’Parvardigar,” and is also known as the Parvardigar Prayer. Parvardigar is a Sufi name for God, literally meaning sustainer. [4]
The Universal Prayer describes the attributes of God. It also uses the names of God from various faiths: Sikhism (Parvardigar), Hinduism (Prabhu, Parameshwar, Parabrahma, Parvardigar), Islam (Allah), Judaism (Elahi), Zoroastrianism (Yezdan, Ahuramamazda, Ezad) and Christianity (God the Beloved). [5]
The Master’s Prayer
O Parvardigar, the Preserver and Protector of all,
You are without Beginning, and without End;
Non-dual, beyond Comparison; and none can measure You.
You are without colour, without expression, without form, and without attributes.
You are unlimited and unfathomable, beyond imagination and conception; eternal and imperishable.
You are indivisible; and none can see You, but with eyes divine.
You always were, You always are, and You always will be;
You are everywhere; You are in everything; and You are also beyond everywhere and beyond everything.
You are in the firmament and in the depths, You are manifest and unmanifest; on all planes and beyond all planes.
You are in the three worlds, and also beyond the three worlds. You are imperceptible and independent.
You are the Creator, the Lord of lords, the Knower of all minds and hearts; You are Omnipotent and Omnipresent.
You are Knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite, and Bliss Infinite.
You are the Ocean of Knowledge; all-knowing, infinitely knowing; the Knower of the past, the present, and the future, and You are Knowledge Itself.
You are all-merciful and eternally benevolent;
You are the Soul of souls, the One with infinite attributes;
You are the Trinity of Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss;
You are the Source of Truth, the Ocean of Love;
You are the Ancient One, the Highest of the High; You are Prabhu and Parameshwar, You are the Beyond-God, and the Beyond-Beyond God also, You are Parabrahma, Allah, Elahi, Yezdan, Ahuramazda, and God the Beloved.
You are named Ezad: the only One worthy of worship. [6]
“I have given these prayers to humanity to recite.”
AVATAR MEHER BABA in prayer. (Source: TrustMeher.org)
The Master’s Prayer along with the Prayer of Repentance and the Beloved God Prayer are the three prayers repeated each morning and evening at Meher Baba’s Samadhi or Tomb Shrine in Meherabad, India. These prayers are followed by devotional songs and comprise what is called Meher Baba’s arti (the performance of devotional songs and prayers). [7]
About these three prayers, Meher Baba said,
“I have given these prayers to humanity to recite. They are for all posterity.
“Whenever anyone recites these prayers, they will be helped spiritually because of My personal participation. It has nothing to do with how quickly you read the prayer or how much feeling you read it with or anything of that sort.
“All that matters is My having participated in the prayers. Any time anyone repeats these prayers, I am there with them, and they will be helped spiritually.” [8]
The Master’s Prayer Is Set to Music
Pete Townshend, a follower of Meher Baba and the lead song writer for the rock band The Who, adapted the Master’s Prayer to music and recorded the song “Parvardigar.” It was in the Who Came First album released in 1972.
Parvardigar (Remastered 2017) · Pete Townshend Who Came First ℗ A UMC release; ℗ 2018 Eel-Pie Recording Productions Ltd., under exclusive licence to Universal Music Operations Limited Released on: 1972-10-01 Producer, Associated Performer, Guitar, Vocals, Performer, Studio Personnel, Engineer, Recording Engineer, Mixer: Pete Townshend Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Jon Astley Composer Lyricist: Pete Townshend
When Townshend introduced a live performance of “Parvardigar,” at the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1996, he said, “Meher Baba called it the Master’s Prayer, which is a prayer for anybody who is Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist… It kind of covers the whole kaput. And, and…yeah, pagan as well… There are lots of paths. This is really what this song is about.” [9]
In another introduction for Oceanic Concerts before he and Raphael Rudd performed “Parvardigar,” Townshend said:
“The Parvardigar Prayer is a prayer which Meher Baba dictated, in praise of not himself nor anything as finite as Meher Baba in the physical form, but all aspects of God in every shape. And it’s a universal prayer which He dictated for us so that when we are singing our praises of God, we don’t keep it limited to this one or that one or that shape or that shape. But it’s just completely open ended. This one covers the lot.” [10]
Near the end of “Parvardigar,” in the background you hear “Ki Jay" then "Meher." In Hindi/Sanskrit, “Jay” (Jaya) means glory or victory; “Ki” means to/from. Devotees usually sing or call out a name of God or a beloved spiritual master followed by Ki Jay (or jaya in sanskrit). Ki Jai is an exclamation of praise roughly translated to “All Hail.”
Footnotes
[1] Beams from Meher Baba, pp. 74-75, (c) Sufism Reoriented, Inc., U.S.A., 1958, 4th printing May 1996.
[2] Professor J.S. Rathore, “Parvardigar Prayer & The Prayer of Repentance: A Review,” Meher Baba Bhopal Centre, accessed online, January 29, 2022.
[3] Bal Natu, The Samadhi — Star of Infinity (North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Foundation), pp. 65. (c) 1997 Sheriar Foundation.
[4] Parvardigar is a Sufi name for God. Its literal meaning is sustainer, a name metaphorically and attributively used for Allan or God. The word has Persian roots and comes from “parwa/parva” meaning to foster, cherish, to nurture, to develop/care for. “Digar,” when applied in this sense, means “again and again.” Thus, Parvardigar means “to care again and again.”
Source: “Parvardigar,” Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, accessed online February 17, 2002.
[5] “O’Parvardigar,” Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, accessed online February 17, 2022.
[6] Opt.cit., Rathore, accessed online February 17, 2002.
[7] Arti (also arati) is a devotional song or prayer expressing the yearning for and the offering of oneself to the one worshipped; an act of devotion; the performance of devotional songs and prayers. Source: Meher Baba, Discourses (North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Foundation), Revised Sixth Edition, pg. 172. (c) 2007 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.
[8] Op.cit., Rathore, accessed online February 17, 2022.
[9] “Paravardigar,” Peter Townshend, Fillmore West, San Francisco, 1966. Minute 1:29 accessed online February 17, 2022.
[10] Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd, The Oceanic Concerts, 2001. Minute 0:24 accessed online February 17, 2022.