Thursday, December 23, 2010

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Kalidasa and Tagore

Tagore's Sonnet on The Spirit of India: "Ekada e Bharater Kon Banatale" - A free translation

Once in some sylvan retreat of this land of India
Who thou wert noble soul, that spake aloud
In joyous fervour, ‘hear me, O people of universe,
Sons of the Immortal, all of the deities and
The celestial residents, I have known Him:
The exalted Purusha who, beyond darkness
Is radiant; only by knowing Him and beholding Him
Canst thou pass over death, no way else is there’.
-- Naivedya

Monday, June 28, 2010

SONG OF WAKEFUL NIGHTS: Translation of Tagore Lyrics

SONG OF WAKEFUL NIGHTS
[Nidra-hara raater a gaan…]

In what kind of tune do I
Set this song of sleepless nights.
From which stem of tuberose do I
Inhale deep its melodic notes.
My pain seeks its solace in tune
Much as the sun-struck
Seeks relief in shade
Meandering long on the forest route.

O, on this glade, in a distant dawn
Underneath her wavering feet
Some flowering grass of name unknown
Had trembled in its veil of dew.
Her braid of fetching hair decked
With a bunch of oleander red,
Her eyes sought some wondrous bloom
Far away in the azure sky.

-------

ANANDA-DHARA : A Free Translation in English of the Tagore Lyrics

Stream of Joy
[Ananda-dhara bohichhe bhubane…]


A great stream of joy surges over the world
Day and night - billowing nectar
Up Into the endless sky,
Whence the sun and the moon –
Take in a copious draught
And fill the earth forever with glow of life.

What keeps you bound in idle abstraction,
Why be so immersed –
In the insular self?
Behold; reach out with your heart,
Accept earthly woes as a small price –
For a life so filled with blissful love.

----------