The text of the Aratrika hymns, the four vesper songs sung worldwide in the centres of the Ramakrishna Order. The Ramanam includes a complete version of the "Varnanam" as well as the four traditional songs. Text in Sanskrit with transliteration, English translation, and guide to pronunciation.
I have been asked many times, Why do you laugh so much and make so many jokes? I become serious sometimes--when I have a stomachache! The Lord is all blissfulness. He is the reality behind all that exists. He is the goodness, the truth in everything. You are His incarnations. That is what is glorious. The nearer you are to Him, the less you will have occasions to cry or weep. The further we are from Him, the more will long faces come. The more we know of Him, the more misery vanishes.
-Swami Vivekananda