The Epic Popularity Of ‘Hamare Sath Shri Raghunath’ Among Indian Youth

Amid the adolescence, the youth struggles with stress over various issues like career, relationships, peer pressure, studies and what not. In such situation, they often tend to turn to alcohol or other substances to cope with their problems. If we look at the record unemployment and the apocalyptic-like pandemic that made us sit home for two years, it’s not a rocket science to understand what the Indian youth is going through now. As their hopes and ambitions are kept hanging because of worsening economy, and as their families look at them with high expectations to take responsibilities, who do they turn to for peace and reassurance? 

The millennials and Gen Z usually do not tend to be too religious, at least that’s what our parents complain. But what if we told you there’s one Bhajan that’s binding the Indian youth across religious and ideological lines? It will sound like an exaggeration.  

But the epic popularity of a Bhajan (Hindu religious hymn) called “Humare Sath Shri Raghunath” tells us otherwise. Indian youth is exceedingly hitting Youtube and other music streaming apps to listen to this Bhajan. 

Listen to the Bhajan here: 

The Bhajan rose to popularity in the last two years. However, it was uploaded on YouTube in year 2016. Originally sung by Prembhushan Maharaj, a religious preacher, accompanied by his vocalists, the video has so far garnered almost 8 million views on YouTube. 

The reason for this Bhajan becoming so popular resides in its lyrics that is extremely soothing and assuring. 

The main verse of the Bhajan goes like: “हमारे साथ श्री रघुनाथ तो किस बात की चिंता, शरण में रख दिया जब माथ तो किस बात की चिंता”. This simply translates as: “When Lord Ram is with is, is there any reason to worry? When we have bowed our head in his feet, is there reason to worry?” 

Many of the other couplets in the Bhajan are hard-hitting and send the message home if you are frustrated or stressed in life. One such couplet is: “किया करते हो तुम दिन रात क्यों बिन बात की चिंता, तेरे स्वामी को रहती है, तेरे हर बात की चिंता”. It translates in English as: “Why do you worry day and night over nothing? Your Lord worries about your everything.” 

Apart from the Bhajan that soothes the listener and gives assurance that everything will be eventually alright, the comment section below the video is another thing that will melt your heart. 

One of the top comment on the video reads: “My dad met with an accident and is in critical condition.. Listening to this with complete believe and hope that he recovers quickly… Please pray and pray for him.”

Another youth, who says he is preparing for the JEE, wrote in comment section: “I’m in Kota preparing for jee and listening this relax me a lot…koi bhi tension ho, padhai ka stress ho, gharwalo ki yaad aaye ya koi bhi dar ho it helps me a lot. (whether there’s any tension, stress of studies, or whether I am missing my parents, it helps me a lot).”

However, one comment that grabbed out attention the most was this: “I guess I am the odd one out here. I am a Muslim and heard it on Instagram. Wanted to hear the whole bhajan. Captivating and so soothing. It is no different from our Sufi music, the essence is the same. Only the names are different. There is one power/ energy which has made us all. Different paths, same destination.” 

The entire comments section is filled with users narrating their experience how this Bhajan helped them deal with depression or stress caused by exams, relations or financial problems. 

The Bhajan is so popular that the youth has even started making memes on it. Here are a few memes we found that you may like: 

We talked to some of the youth who listened to this Bhajan once and then got hooked. Their views about the hymn are no different from the ones mentioned in the comments section. 

23-year old Priya, who happens to be a communications graduate, says: “Listening to this hymn, I get a positive vibe. The atmosphere gets filled with positivity. I get focused towards my work. And the heart says: ‘Do whatever comes to your mind, Raghunath is standing behind you. There is no need to take tension about anything. Even if you fail, then there is no sorrow. Just keep doing your work and don’t worry about the result’. On the other hand, if we talk about music and lyrics, then even an atheist person gets attracted by just listening to music and its lines.”

Vinay, a 27-year-old media professional says the Bhajan fills him with hope. “I am a person with a scientific temper, but I will not hesitate to say that this Bhajan has some miraculous powers. I don’t understand how it works, but it always fills me with hope. It soothes me and relieves me,” says Vinay. 

“Sometimes disparity grapples you, and you feel completely hopeless but this Bhajan is like a panacea for situations like these,” he further adds. 

26-year-old Vaibhav, a manager at factory manufacturing cooling towers, has a similar experience. 

“A while back I listened to “Hamare sath shri Raghunath”. This song/Bhajan has given me comfort that I wasn’t even seeking. I’m an atheist and I have never thought that I’ll ever enjoy or even relate to a religious song,” Vaibhav says. 

“It gives you comfort, it gives you hope to carry on, and it gives you assurance even though life is messy right now, it is going to be ok,” he adds.  

Vaibhav also says that he’s picked a beautiful message from the Bhajan about lord Ram. “This song shows Prabhu Ram’s intellectual righteousness. There comes a line बिभीषण को अभय वर दे किया लंकेश पल भर मे. This shows how generous Ram was, and if he can be so generous to the person who’s brother abducted Sita Maa, how generous he can be for you. This whole song/Bhajan shows who Prabhu Ram was and inspires me to try to be bit more like him. Indeed a soul soothing bhajan.”