From all my foolish fancies now let me be free

• Now all my days with joy I’ll fill
• Full to the brim,
• With all my heart to [Visnu] cling
• And only him.
• He will sweep utterly away
• All dole and care;
• And all in sunder shall I rend
• Illusion’s snare.
• O altogether dear is he
• And he alone,
• For all my burden he will take
• To be his own.
• Lo, all the sorrow of the world
• Will straightway cease,
• And all unending now shall be
• The reign of peace.
• For all the bondage he will break
• Of worldly care,
• And all in sunder will he rend
• Illusion’s snare
• From all my foolish fancies now
• Let me be free,
• In [Visnu, Visnu] only is
• Tranquility.

— Psalm of Namdev

Namdev (c. 1270–1350) was a Hindu poet-saint who made significant contributions to the Varkari sect and is also venerated among Sikhs. Emphasizing the importance of living life in the family context — through marriage and children — Namdev saw the family as a vehicle for achieving release from “samsara,” the continuous cycle of death and rebirth which otherwise traps existence.